what is life without co-mingling with the ones you find attractive? What's life without conversation, without flirtation, without butterflies and bright eyes? Even if you're coupled-up keeping that alive with your partner is the truth. Love in the big city can be a rollercoaster. But there are so many incredible people out there. I've learned the most important thing in this city is knowing what you want for yourself and out of others before you set foot in the murky waters of the LA dating scene. Most people here are pursuing a dream and a passion and sometimes that is priority number 1. You must realize that and if you don't have that priority you may have to be understanding if your mate does. The second most important thing is honesty and communication. I have just learned how to truly be honest with the opposite sex. I always thought I had to have this stereotypical relationship where it was all or nothing. Where i didn't have the voice to express what I wanted and what I could give. That ended up hurting me and hurting others and for that I am sorry and i've had to evolve. Now I have no problem being completely and utterly honest about what kind of dating partner I can be and it has brought me incredible empowerment and freedom. I also have found some incredible partners that start off as friends or maybe exclusively remain friends. An idea that still many people cannot comprehend. How can members of the opposite sex be friends? Very simply. We are not animals. We are more than sex. We are human and that is enough to reveal so much insight. If it starts with friendship there isn't that foggy haze of putting on a front for the other so they may find you more attractive. Friends are simply themselves. Not to impress but to share and find commonalities. Friends don't break out the tired LA tagline "I'm a producer" they simply start off by I am a dreamer, activist, gemini, animal lover, vegetarian. Those are things that friends say. They aren't trying to establish power or create a demand. They are simply expressing to find commonality. This is dating in 2018. With so many connections and matches wouldn't it be better to simply start everything off with friendship the only expectation is to show up on time and to have something to say. And we shouldn't feel any less important if that's as far as it goes. I met a girl from Iceland yesterday as I was sketching the beach landscape near the santa monica pier. She asked me for a light, she watched me sketch, she explained that she has an aunt that sketches landscapes and how she always wanted to try. I tore off a page from my sketch book and handed her a square of charcoal and said what are you waiting for. We sat in silence for like a half-hour and then laughed at how our sketches were so different. We went on to walk the venice boardwalk and compare our art to that of the local boardwalk fare before I had to return to my studio and turn that sketch into a color abstract of the same composition. We vowed to keep in touch and hang again and maybe we will. But most importantly we shared a memory. I learned a lot about Iceland and about her. I learned a little about art and a lot about myself. We exchanged so much without taking anything away from each other. We shared our humanity and were told about 5 times that we made a great couple. It was funny how people expect you to be a couple but I'm just fine being an individual sharing a moment with another individual without expectation and without force majeure. I have these encounters often in this town and they inspire me. I am a collector of human interactions you may say. People are beautiful, a beauty that is more than skin deep. When they are themselves that's where the magic happens. So go there where the authenticity is go where the love is. If someone loves themselves then they are authentic. BEWARE!! of anybody who is always trying to name-drop or tell you how they can help you those are the people to watch out for. Unless of course that person is your agent.. stay woke my friends.