Venice Beach: We Are the Weirdos Around Here

   I spent last Saturday adventuring with Miss Tara Graham (my writing heroine) on the boardwalk at Venice Beach. I'd been before, on the occasional bike ride and tourist trip, but had not once taken the time to actually evaluate the strange, extraordinary and absurd denizens of this bohemian wonderland. What Tara and I had initially expected to be an hour-long stroll down a typical tourist spot turned into an all-day affair spent interacting with and interviewing several of the vendors, artists and performers who make a living off either their ideals, creativity in the face of desperation or outright insanity. Some of these people wake up every day and decide, "I'm going to dye my beard blue and put on the Sponge Bob costume" or "I'm juggling razor-sharp knives on a unicycle to 80's dance music instead of swing." It's pretty mind-blowing to think that there is an entire community of folks who build life-sized sand sculptures, carve names on grains of rice, make chandeliers out of old teapots and silverware and paint themselves gold to moonwalk in front of strangers, all to pay the bills and put food on the table.