Site Scene in L.A.

The following is a repost from a Myspace blog I posted on January 2, 2006. If I'm not mistaken that was probably the last time Los Angeles experienced a significant rainfall. Call me nuts but I  love this weather. I've been dying all summer. I'm not a fan of the sun, heat and uncomfortableness of triple digit temps. I love walking and/or singing in the rain. I prefer piling on the layers of clothing and blankets to summer wear. If you don't know me yet you will soon find out I'm not your typical California Girl. Tans and sunstreaked hair are not for me. Maybe I'm a descendent of the cave clans. I don't know, whatever it is I love the cold overcast days like we're having today. *Rainy Day Mind Game * Can you travel within your mind? Leave everything behind and find yourself in another city, state, country, and world. Today's rainy weather makes me yearn for the streets of San Francisco and I don't mean that 70s TV show with Michael Douglas ...

In mid-August of this year I decided to cut living expenses by canceling my land-line phone service along with the ridiculously expensive and seemingly unknown long distance carrier I had. It occurred to me that I was spending upwards of $100 a month for the sake of reporting spam to my email providers only to find the same messages in my box the following day. Seeing how I had access to the Internet at work I figured I could live without the nightly and weekend habitual mindless logons to email and Myspace. How was I to know that in a short couple weeks I would be dismissed of my position at Tu Ciudad thus finding myself without access to the Internet. Anyone in their right mind would be freaking out over the fact that they've just been "laid off" but that's where I'm different. When I was sitting in the office with my supervisor and the general manager going over the formalities of being let go all I could think of was how I had just been blindsided off the Inte...

Don't know about the rest of you but the Griffith Observatory has been a trusted fortress over the years -- a place to retreat when feeling like taking a break from the gridlocked streets below; a place to take first time visitors to L.A. for a spectacular panoramic view of the city from the valley to downtown and out into the ocean; a place to make out like crazy teenagers with a date no matter your age; a place to obsessively stare out wondering where in the hell your mate is on that star glittered night; or a place to reenact the famous knife fight scene from 'Rebel Without A Cause' -- come on Angelenos...you have to know what I'm talking about. I can't tell you how many times I came upon a spontaneous impulse to make a sharp turn up Vermont from Hollywood or Sunset for a visit to the Griffith Observatory. Most of the time it was to clear my head of some dumb situation I was in or it was to get my son out of the house on and off the sofa on a Friday night. Part o...

These days it's harder and harder to find a good cup of old fashioned coffee shop coffee in Los Angeles. It's hard to believe there was a time when coffee wasn't served by Barista's at caffeine pusher chains into cardboard cups with sleeves to protect your hand from burning. I'm talking about the days before the fancy latte and Tall, Grande or Venti servings. Ordering a cup of coffee was just that -- a cup of coffee poured into a heavy duty restaurant-style cup set nicely on a doily lined saucer. What was best about the deal is you could usually get an entire breakfast for what the average cup goes for now. Sure, I may be holding onto the past with an over glorified sentiment but I can't help myself. The impersonal interactions I've encountered when getting my morning rush fix have left me feeling weak. I miss the days of Norms, Chips, Googie, Tiny Naylor's and the rest. I've got a problem with leaving an obligated tip for someone who does nothing mo...

Last night was one of those humid L.A. summer eves that can easily drive you out of your mind and/or drive you out of your house in search of basic hydration. It was so bad I would have settled for anything liquid be it coffee, juice, a cocktail, water…whatever, just to get away from the cucaracha breeding stickiness of my floors and walls and into an air conditioned cool L.A. social setting. Seeing how I live in an area which has no such establishments catering to these needs I stayed home sweating up a thirst beyond reason. Within minutes I began to pace back and forth like a caged beast out of its natural element all the while pondering the reason for this sudden feeling of being under socioeconomic quarantine. In a city such as Los Angeles, why should I have to get in my car and drive 4 miles to the nearest Starbucks for a cup of coffee; 5 miles to browse a real magazine rack; up to 8 miles for a gin and tonic at a bar with a good selection on the jukebox; 9.6 miles to stock up on ...

One Wilshire Blvd. is located in the financial district of downtown Los Angeles at Grand. If you drove west to its very end you find yourself up against a decision of which way to turn on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. A left takes you to Venice Beach and the funky locos on rollerblades; a right heads you to PCH and up the coast as far as you are willing to go. How much more L.A. does this get? I have always had a fascination with this route, mostly because of it's ability to get you from Point A to Point B, which at one time, felt like a major excursion like the time my friend Val and I made our way to the Santa Monica Civic for a Mink DeVille concert with the help of a Thomas Guide and sheer luck. Hey, we were teens. Now it has become a daily routine for getting to and from work riding Metro's Red Rapid (west) from Boyle Heights, over the 6th Street bridge, smack down the crusty crack of skid row, through downtown, along the Miracle Mile, and finally to the pits of La Brea whe...

It took a recent (and first time) trip to New York City for me come back to Los Angeles feeling as though I need to pay more attention to my hometown. Up until this point my visits to San Francisco made me yearn for living in a true metropolis -- a place where you can walk to just about anywhere and/or utilize a public transit system which makes sense. Even Seattle hit me in that way. But NYC topped them all. I've always considered myself an observant person. One who appreciates the glory of a lone Victorian home tucked away on a neglected street or someone who still likes to take an occasional ride up the coast to Zuma Beach just to smell the ocean from up close and not have to wait until a fog brings in the scent to Boyle Heights on a summer night. I am also one who likes to peer into the crusty nooks and see what goes on within the shadows. Witness the underbelly of the city not glamorous enough to make it on the cover of a glossy mag or postcard. But lately though, I've fo...