California is home to many a laid back person. But when searching the streets of the sunburst state, especially in Southern California, particularly that of Los Angeles, there are few young adults that can truly astound you. I came across my subject Phillip Kim a year ago in a Journalism class. What shocked me the most was Phillip’s unrestrained mannerisms. He approached purely out of the blue and could make a conversation out of anything, and turn it into something meaningful. He is always looking to talk about something meaningful. Yet there are other times and sometimes it can be very dangerous when he wants to joke around.
We continued to converse throughout the year and everyday was a new experience from him. Phillip has always dreamt of going to New York and plans on transferring here for school in the Spring. He mainly wants to come to New York to “move out of his parents’ house.” But from what I have observed, this place would be a perfect palette for the world that he has created for himself.
I believe that he attained this trait from having grown up in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's a pretty difficult thing for people to let go of their fears and live life purely by instinct and the variety of moment. My friend Phillip Kim is an example of fearless living. Everyone back home knows him as the extremely lucky kid, the Golden Boy, the boy who could do wrong but with very good reason.
There were moments throughout the year that Phillip had surprised me completely. For instance when visiting the Bay area of San Francisco, I had turned around for a second and when I turned around Phillip had grabbed a rope and was trying to swing himself. I immediately thought to myself at how unstable the young man was.
When visiting in New York, he brought along his camera with him to go on many of his well-known “photo adventures.” Anyone who knows Phillip knows that he will always carry around his Nikon camera with him. And anyone who knows him even better that if you begin to pick up a conversation with, it will some how lead to photography, since he has on many an occasion professed it as his passion.
One would think that he would be the regular hipster if they saw him outside Starbucks in his green apron ( since he works there) sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes. However, once during a silly conversation gone serious, he asked what sort of category he thought that I believed he fell under. After regarding him, I took him for more of a surfer bum. He was surprised, since that was the first time anyone had ever called him that. and then thought to himself and agreed with me.
Usually over lunches we will try to get to know each other since we were only acquainted with each other for a year. He will usually ask me about my life. Phillip is always interested in what other people like and will stem his conversation on that. The last time I saw him he claimed that he was becoming a vegetarian. About a week after that he was eating meat again.
It is amazing that Phillip lives in the dull city of La Canada, CA, a very suburban city about 45 minutes away from Downtown Los Angeles with good traffic or speeding. Surprisingly with the fast paced way that Phillip lives, he is an extremely slow driver.
He has a vast knowledge of music thanks to who his sister who is an executive for a music company, I can never remember which one. When speaking he doesn’t realize that his Brazilian accent will slip out from time to time. He likes to crack jokes at inappropriate and appropriate times.
For the grief that he bestows on people sometimes as a bit of a slacker and a bit of flake, anyone friends with him or knowing of him that when given the chance to spend time with him, it is a time to do anything you want because he won’t object to anything, except if it will involve some sort of violence.
No comments:
Post a Comment