"At Home" in the City of Angels
I've made no secret of my contempt for Los
Angeles. On most levels, it embodies everything I
hate: the people are shallow, open space is nearly
non-existent, the city is highly overcrowded. So it
is strange to feel at home as I spend a couple of
days here.
Perhaps it is because I've spent relatively
little time back in San Diego after living up here
for three years. Or maybe it's the ratio of friends
between the two cities (many more in L.A. than in
San Diego). Whatever the cause, I have lately felt
more out of place in San Diego than I do here in
L.A. today.
From my vantage point here in Starbucks, it
seems that nothing has changed. Most of the people
in here look like actors. Not an ugly face in the
crowd. And I'm the only one without a cell
phone.
It's impossible to say what my future holds. The
job market shows no signs of loosening up, and
opportunities in San Diego are scarce. Though I
vowed never to return to L.A., I may find myself
rescinding that promise sooner than expected.
Perhaps that earthquake last night was a
sign....
*..........*..........*
It almost seems wrong to be experiencing such
weather in the heart of winter. Though clear, sunny
skies with temperatures in the 70s are not unusual
for southern California in February, it seems
almost an insult to the rest of the country, which
has been wrestling with blizzards and subzero
temperatures much of the past week.
This morning, I'm sitting in a Starbucks in
North Hollywood, watching people walk by in shorts
and tank tops, enjoying just another day in
paradise. Tomorrow, back in San Diego, I have plans
to join a group of people bicycling around Mission
Bay. It's hard not to take such a perfect climate
for granted. Michelle used to tell me how much
Torontonians appreciated those rare days which are
so common here, since they faced temperature
extremes through most of the year—frigid snow
during the winter, oppressive humidity in the
summer. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to
figure out why the population of southern
California has exploded in the past 10-20
years.
And that's the flip side of our good fortune.
The secret's out—the cat got out of the bag
years ago. We live in paradise, but we share it
with millions of other people. The other side of
the coin is plain to see in L.A., where sunny skies
are more often brown than blue. On any given day,
it can take you an hour or two just to drive to the
beach. And once there, it'll take you another hour
just to find parking and an open spot on the sand.
The downside is less visible in San Diego, but
America's Finest City is rapidly going the way of
its bloated neighbor to the north. Traffic is
already reaching L.A. proportions, and much of the
rest of the city's infrastructure is showing a
strain. I can't help but wonder if a reverse-exodus
will take place in the next 10 years, as people fed
up with the overwhelming crowds and traffic return
whence they came. But then again, from what I can
tell, most other big cities have the same
problems—without the perfect climate. So the
crowds are probably here to stay.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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Daily Chuckle:
All I want is less to do, more time
to do it, and higher pay for not getting
it done.
What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
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something, anything, and post it here. It
is my intention to use this daily exercise
to jump-start my too-long-dormant creative
energies, and perhaps generate some
worthwhile material this year. Hopefully
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Today's
Column
Send
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Previously...
2/21:
Capri
Memories
2/20:
A
Man is a God in Ruins
2/19:
No
Man is an Island
2/18:
Iraq's
"Cooperation"
2/17:
Failure
to Communicate
2/16:
Cold
City
2/15:
Man-Eaters
of Tsavo
2/14:
Valentine
Gems
2/13:
Grab
Bag
2/12:
The
End is Near
2/11:
And
the Winner Is...
2/10:
Exploration
is Risky Business
2/9:
Staphylococcus
2/8:
Morning
Cup of Kofi
2/7:
Game
Over
2/6:
The
Eagle Never Landed
2/5:
Pope:
Potter No Problem
2/4:
Time
for Another Rewrite
2/3:
A
Matter of Opinions
2/2:
Suicidal
Bravado
2/1:
Godspeed,
Columbia
Archive: JANUARY
2003
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