Just Cruisin’ Down The Street

Wassup. Me? Flobo. You? Reader.

Those of you that have stuck around my blog for a while know how much of a fan I am of road trips. Sure there’s the whole getting there and “enjoying the ride” thing, but to me there’s much more. A wise man once told me that to get to know someone you should travel with them, and I have to agree. People I thought were “cool” showed a completely different side when they were in your sight for an entire day or to. I’m sure there’s a physiological discussion about people and the “masks” they wear, but I’m not the guy to talk about that.

Sober anyway.

Driving, and for me it’s usually for music, can do a lot to clear your head or collect your thoughts. Before I moved to Southern California, I would go out on leisurely drives just to let the mind think about things. Seeing that the greater Los Angeles Area has completely sucked the fun out of that like airport security had done flying over the past ten years, you could understand why I’m testing alternate methods for the same effect.

Despite this, I will say there is something about driving during a certain part of the day with a certain type of song on the radio. When I was younger, this was an outright writer’s block buster. If I needed a brand new idea, all I had to do was go for a drive. Now, not so much. I’m not sure if this can be attributed to age, higher standard of what’s considered “good ideas”, or the fact driving in the Los Angeles area sucks….

…No really. It does….

but gone are the days where I can take ‘er for a spin and come back with the treatment to “War and Peace II.” That said, I still believe that the method is a good way to discover new characters. Like we’ve discussed before, characters can be a building block to your next greatest idea. So whether you’re doing 90mph on the freeway at noon with power metal blasting or stuck in traffic while jazz plays in the rain, take a moment to imagine what kind of “person” would appreciate your..er..”vibe on wheels.”

It’s not just for driving. My running mixtapes are notorious for blending genres so that I can feel the different “athletes” that bounce around in my head. For example, what kind of person would appreciate this song when running:

or

or even

See all over the place. Annnnnnd you can tell I pull inspiration from everywhere. I guess that was an inadvertent pro tip. Bonus!