Wanderlust

I found an excuse to travel to San Diego in November, and here I sit in the La Jolla coffee shop typing about the lack of surf. Actually, let's flip it and talk instead about the drive. I left home after work, dinner, and a quick nap. I drove through the night listening to WTF podcasts to stay awake and arrived in the pre-dawn at Blacks. I don't know the best access, but in the morning light I was able to figure out one. This means that it's entirely possible to make a strike on Blacks with only a single day off of work required. If I see an opportunity I want to capitalize on I can be here by dawn, surf once or twice, sleep the rest of the day and reverse the overnight drive and be back to work a day later. I'm not sure I'd be of much use that day at work, but with my new limited work schedule and the double day field days that I sometimes do in winter, I may not need to do much work if things work out just right.
Furthermore, Blacks is the furthest south spot I would drive that far for, with a few in between I'd like to surf as well, mostly bunched around Santa Barbara.
As for the present surf conditions, the CDIP buoy for Southern California shows 7'@12s from 315deg. I've been told Blacks is my best bet, and I can't really tell from the cliff angle/distance, but to me it looks waist high at best. The shape doesn't look appealing either with rangy walls that close out. I wonder if I was even looking at the right stretch of beach.
And since this is the only time I'll probably ever have a segway between surfing and a podcast, I want to talk about the WTF podcast. It is funny and deep and always entertaining. There is a stereotype of stand-up comics having tortured histories. The host of WTF, Marc Maron, is no exception and he speaks to my own frustrated with everything/nothing dark side. His interviews often try to bring out dark experiences of the comics he interviews. Sometimes he uncovers some deep dark shit, but because the stories are coming from comics they are layered with humor to break the tension. Other times the guest on the show will be a light hearted person without any dark side to uncover, but Marc still finds what makes them tick, what makes them special. With his comic style you might expect him to ridicule the guests softer side (or any side) but he always conducts the interviews with compassion, which helps the guest open up. Unlike a typical interviewer Marc interjects his own experiences as they relate to the topic, sometimes stepping on his guests stories. I thought this was irritating but I now believe it makes the show more conversational, and because Marc is opening up the guest opens up too. If I had the opportunity to talk to Marc about his interruptions I would say, "Keep it up, don't change a thing."
Anyway, this is what happens when I drive all night then have a capichino for breakfast, only to discover free WiFi and nothing else to do.