The Five People You Meet in Malibu.

This morning, Blake Lown and I were about to enjoy some delicious coffee at Starbucks (where holiday cups are back in full force, which is so exciting) when we had an extremely interesting encounter with another caffeine-addicted patron. Blake and I were patiently waiting in line to order; both of the registers were occupied with customers providing their beverage details to the baristas. The woman behind us steps up and says, "Can I go in front of you girls?" Now, if Blake and I had been obnoxiously scouring over each and every pastry, or if we had been struggling to decide which syrup to put into which latte, AND if this lady was on fire/in the hugest hurry ever, I would have understood her impatience. However, none of these things was occurring so, needless to say, Blake and I were extremely confused. We weren't in a rush so we allowed her to go ahead of us. How one can let a situation like this pass them by and not laugh is beyond me so laugh is exactly what we did. Perturbed by our enjoyment of her insanity, hurried-and-harried lady turned around and said, "I gave you the opportunity to say no." The phrase that instantly ran through my mind was, What is honestly happening here?

We were actually on Main Street in Santa Monica when this occurred but it reminded me so much of my former life in Malibu. Much of the time, that is my mindset when I am in that lovely coastal town: What is going on here? I love Malibu. It is so eccentric and most of the people who live there are unexpectedly fascinating. After having lived in Malibu for four years, I've decided that there are five specific types of people who reside there:


1) The secret celeb.
Secret celebs are, you guessed it, average-appearing people who are surprisingly renowned or wealthy. They maintain a relatively low profile and, in comparison to the Pamela Anderson-types zooming around the 'bu, they are less likely to be attacked by the paparazzi. But they crop up out of nowhere all the time.

My favorite instance regarding this type of Malibu-ite (what is the word for a local Malibu resident? Malibuan? Malibu-ite?) is rooted in a memory from this summer. I was working on some script coverage at Coffee Bean and this insanely hilarious elderly man struck up a conversation with me. He showed me magazine clippings of himself in his prime, told me all about his life and asked me out on a date, despite the fact that he is married. I came to learn that he was Mike Silverman, realtor to the stars. Not exactly a household name but worthy and successful enough to be written up in the New York Times at his ripe old age of 89. And how would I have ever known if he hadn't plopped down next to me with his tea latte and made conversation with me?

2) The overly-Botoxed 60-year-old.These interesting Malibu creatures rarely leave the comfort of their natural habitat, their natural habitat being their mansions tucked back in the hills, overlooking the ocean. On rare occasions, though, they will leave the safety of their homes to traverse down the hill into town to be seen at a charity event, to vote in any and every election and to brunch at Geoffrey's. Oh, and, obviously, to get their weekly Botox treatments. In case you didn't know, Malibu Urgent Care, located on PCH, was about to close until they started offering Botox treatments to clients. Now it is open and very busy, largely in part to these grandmothers who wish to be regarded as 35-year-olds for the rest of their lives. Most likely these Botox fiends are married to Mike Silverman-esque types who can afford to pay for their weekly treatments. They may have been famous back in the day but now they simply do work for charity.

3) The Pepperdine student.
Clearly, this demographic represents my favorite group of Malibu residents. Surprisingly diverse, the Pepperdine community contains a variety of individuals, ranging from conservative, overly-churched Church of Christ kiddos to Valley girls in possession of their daddy's credit cards. Most of my favorite people in this world are a part of this over-arching community, and they mostly represent the middle ground constituent found at Pepperdine. Hailing from Northern California, Southern California, Portland, Nashville, Colorado, Chicago and Texas, my friends all have relatively different backgrounds, allowing them to share their unique experiences with one another upon their arrival to school. The common thread that unites us is our faith in Christ, and it creates a powerful bond between us that is unlikely to be broken, regardless of what part of the country we've been scattered to after graduation.

Though I think 99.9% of the student body at Pepperdine is fabulous, not all Malibu locals agree. This is evidenced by the fact that every establishment (aside from the classy Jack in the Box and Malibu Inn) closes by 10:00 p.m. as if there was no one over the age of 11 living within the city's limits. A day person by nature, this fact has never really upset me, but it is clearly indicative of the fact that Malibu was meant to be a retreat for people, a place where things close early, where sleep is found easily, where noise doesn't keep people up at night, where there is an air of relaxation. I completely appreciate that attitude, except when it's imposed upon me by obnoxious neighbors residing in the Malibu Villas complex, where I lived for my last two years of college. Most of the adults living there are, in my opinion, secretly jealous that they are no longer in college and they wish to take that out on the students that live in their neighborhood. Mostly they call the cops at every chance they get, bang on shared walls if they hear even the slightest squeak after 9:00 p.m. and employ incompetent "guards" to protect their dwellings. Truthfully, this behavior was regarded by me and my friends as humorous, so it never impeded on our fun.

4) The hippie-surfer.
The hippie-surfer is the type most vacationers expect to encounter when coming to Malibu, I think. Back in the 1930s, when the community of Malibu as we know it today was truly born, the main constituents of the town were outdoorsy adventurers who loved to explore the nearby waters of the Pacific Ocean, mainly through the mode of surfing. Most of these people wish that Malibu was the way it was back in the day--clean, quiet and free of paparazzi. I still think Malibu is clean and relatively quiet (especially when compared to nearby Hollywood or downtown L.A., or even to Santa Monica) but I understand what they're saying about the celebrity photographers. A lot of the original Malibuans are best described using the term "granola": they're earthy, free-spirited and environmentally conscious. They don't like their land being dominated by gossip hounds and star-struck visitors and I get that. Malibu is so naturally breathtaking and its natural beauty should be preserved.

Malibu's local beaches are packed with surfers every day. The waves are full of athletes riding their long and short-boards. Some surfers get hostile, though, which I don't really like. They get territorial over their waves and their beaches, as evidenced by the paparazzi abuse instance back in June. Though not a surfer myself, I can understand where their angst comes from, even if I sometimes disagree with how they display their anger. I've been bulldozed by the paparazzi a few times while perusing the Malibu Colony and it's quite annoying. Malibu is a beautiful, sleepy town and the hippie-surfer locals are quick to speak their mind regarding the fact that it should stay that way.

5) The town astrologer.

The person I'm thinking of specifically as I begin to describe the fifth type of Malibu local is Space. He's a homeless man who can always be found at Starbucks. Whether you ask him to or not, he will provide you with your daily horoscope. He is hilarious, sometimes over-bearing and always refreshing. An example of a daily interaction with Space as is follows: Lindsay Jernigan and I were chatting with Space in his usual haunt (Starbucks, of course) when he observed that we had similar light blue eyes. He told Lindsay that though are eyes were alike, he liked hers better than mine. I teased him, asking him how dare he make such a blatant comment in front of my face. He leaned towards me and whispered, "She's new. I have to say that and try to get her. If it doesn't work out, I'll come back to you. " Flattering.

There's a huge community of men and women just like Space who live in Malibu. They are mostly found striking up conversation outside of Malibu Yo in the Malibu Colony Plaza. They are entertaining, ever-present staples of the Malibu community. I don't think the town would be the same without them.

I have a particularly fond memory of Space from this summer. Ashleigh Ferguson and I were frequenting Starbucks on a daily basis and one specific morning, we ran into Space as we were ordering our chai lattes. He summoned us over to where he was sitting, excited to show us a plethora of pastries, bagels and muffins a Starbucks employee had given him earlier that morning. This man, this homeless man who has nothing, asked us to choose some goodies to take home with us. Ashleigh and I quickly refused, claiming we couldn't take his baked goods from him, but thanks for the offer. Space insisted that we have some of the treats, even going as far as shoving muffins and scones into our purses. He forced us to bring a cookie home for "our tall friend," too (meaning Becca). I was blown away by this act of generosity. This man doesn't have anything; yet he wanted to give it all away to girls who have everything. This story is a reason, amongst many others, that I believe the Malibu community wouldn't be the same without astrologers like Space.

So there you have it. A brief synopsis of what Malibu locals are really like. Malibu Magazine did a great photo series in June, capturing images of locals in their everyday life. Truly, the Malibu community is a special one. Come visit and see for yourself.