From The Editor

Happy October(fest):

I was all set to write this letter yesterday, before I picked up Lori at the airport, so that I could get it done and have it out there but I’m glad didn’t. Yesterday after we’d had lunch, done some ever important cheesy Halloween decoration shopping (everything holiday, everything cheesy) and gone back to my house to visit with my husband we finally ended up at dinner, just the two of us.

We’ve been friends since our freshman year in high school, kept in touch and visited through college and finally ended up living together in Pacific Beach in a two bedroom apartment, with parking, on Turquoise street. About a year and a half ago I moved away and she moved in with her boyfriend.

It’s funny because I look back on my time in San Diego in three very distinct parts (or seasons as I often compare my life to a television show, how original huh?). The first season was all about my move and introduction to the wonderful world of San Diego. I lived in an apartment that was very overpriced, because it had a pool (something I thought I HAD to have, but never, not once, not one single time, used). I marveled at how different San Diego was from ANY city I’d been to before. I made it to the beach (probably three times, all when friends came to visit) and I explored what was easily accessible and didn’t require any friends (since I hadn’t made any yet). And I made fun of how girls dressed when they went to class at San Diego State (short skirts, high heels).

The second season was my first real “grown up” relationship, where I moved in with the guy I was dating and tried my hand at domestic bliss. Since he was a San Diego native I actually spent the year seeing a whole different part of SD, the local music part, the house party part, the restaurants his Dad liked to go to, the taco shops he went to from high school and all through college. Didn’t end well, but I did leave that relationship with a new look on San Diego.

The third season was Lori. It was Two Small Town Girls… in a big city.

I left San Diego for several reasons, a job offer that promised stability and predictability, a chance to be closer to the small town I grew up in, a change in life. My reasons for leaving San Diego were, at the time, “practical” but now seem “Moo” (like a cows opinion, doesn’t matter. It’s Moo). I had an idea of what I should want “as a grown up”, house, car, husband, child, office, parking spot, benefits, retirement plan and I actually got absolutely everything I wanted.

At dinner I talked to Lori about it:

“I constantly apologized for the life I was living, like it wasn’t a real life.”
“Why would you feel that way?”
“Because I had an idea of what real life was supposed to be, and it didn’t really involve any fun. It was job, house, family, retirement. Everyone told me that's what would make me happy and I thought it would make me happy. I was wrong.”
“Most people have to experience a wrong decision before they know exactly what they want. At least you figured it out.”
"And now it's time to go back."

Life is as much about making the wrong decisions as the right ones. It allows for inspiration. And it allows you to realize that a once foreign city did become home... My San Diego seems far away but I am working my way back.

This month, besides beer, we’re working on more specialized and original content. We will continue with “My San Diego” and have upcoming contributions from Blogger Cat Dirt Sez, musician Mike Press , artist Jean Beanabou and singer Toni Valdez who tell us all about their San Diego.

We'll also be starting a new feature, all about Rachelle, who is a brand new transport from New Mexico, making her way through San Diego. You can experience San Diego (again) for the first time.

And we will continue with all things San Diego. If you'd like to contribute, be featured, have an idea for an article or just want to give a shout out, you can email cutchawrites@gmail.com

And enjoy the beer.

-Cutcha