Dek Had It Worse

So, as the title suggests Dek had it worse and well Long Beach, here we came.

Now, you may be asking yourself: Who’s Dek? Why did he have it worse? And I suppose — worse than who?

First things first — I, yeah, of course me, because it's all about me, thought I had family issues. But Dek had it worse. He’s an outcast — smaller than the rest of his clan, treated like an inferior Yautja, and flown across the universe to prove he belongs. I get it. I left home at eighteen. Not because I was short. And sure, I didn’t go on some soul-searching interstellar mission, but the point stands — I feel for the guy. We’re both just trying not to get metaphorically, or literally, gutted by life, one hunting ground at a time. I just happen to not be as buff.

Oh, right — context. We drove an hour down to catch Predator: Badlands on IMAX in Long Beach — loud, bloody, and exactly the kind of sci-fi movie I go for. No plot holes big enough to fly a dropship through, just carnage and bass so heavy it rearranged my internal organs — only a slight exaggeration. After that, we hit The Fourth Horseman — a goth-metal pizza bar that looks like an emo-metal-punk haunted art gallery with beer taps. Think: tattoo parlor meets dungeon, but you can get garlic knots which is counterintuitive to the whole vampire thing, but I digress. I got the Slasher — basically just a pepperoni pizza, but it delivered. My buddy went for a vegan white-sauce pizza with a pentagram glaze because why not? The whole vibe felt hipster-meets-screamo, but I dug it nonetheless.

We kneaded donuts next — so Knead Donuts it was. Bright, Cambodian-owned, no gimmicks. A total 180 from the pizza coven — erm, I mean restaurant. The donuts themselves were slim pickings but solid — easily up there with DK’s or Colorado Donuts. I’m not looking for a place to reinvent donuts — not even perfect — just one that cares about the craft. Knead was that, for sure.

Wrapped the day the only way I know how on a Saturday — tacos at La Fogata.