Where is LA?

One thing you may hear about LA is that it's not very neighborly. I call bullshit. First, I know all of my neighbors and their kids/animals pretty well. Also, LA as a whole has may distinct areas, such as Brentwood and Hollywood. And there are sub-areas within these (for instance, within Hollywood is the ThaiTown section) The LA Times as decided on taking on the thankless task of determining the exact borders of each one at this link.

Besides all of the local cranks who complain about a boundary being this street instead of another street, there's an interesting dynamic of how neighborhoods shift, particularly those primarily identified by their ethnic makeup. For instance, do the Koreatown borders change as Korean-American owned businesses move in or out? Should South LA (a name normally associated with African-American neighborhoods) have a different name now that is has a Hispanic majority?

Any border is arbitrary, but some are interesting. Using a very LA motif, Brentwood and Bel Air are separated by a freeway and Harbor Gateway is basically defined by the freeway that leads from the main part of the city to the port of Los Angeles. Some are defined pretty clearly due to sharing a border with fully surrounded city(ies), like Westwood which is bordered by Beverly Hills.

Of course, with some of the names and boundaries it's all about property values and prestige. Everyone's looking for an angle for some $$.

Los Angeles is Burning

Yes, my friends, it's that time again when Los Angeles burns. Technically, none of the fires are within the city limits. But, there are several in the burbs to the north and in Malibu. San Diego is joining in the fun as well. The HB and I were camping west of Malibu (yes, I know that sounds weird directionally, but the coastline runs east-west there), but left before the fires started. The fires won't make it my house. If they did, it would make the great Chicago and San Francisco fires look like weenie roasts.

While LA itself is not hilly (with the exception of the Hollywood Hills and some ocean bluffs), there is a ring of mountains around it. This gives us spectacular views, some very cool places to live and traps the smog. LA is not a desert, but it is arid. So, a lot of brush grows in these hills/mountains and when there's a drought and the dry winds blow off of the desert instead of the ocean, the hills burn. Some of the areas in Malibu which are burning now have burned before and will burn again. However, unlike places in the midwest that flood a lot, people here have insurance to rebuild, instead of soaking other taxpayers for it.

I'm afraid that these fires are going to last a while. It's been too dry for too long and with so many to fight the resources (people, ground equipment and water dropping aircraft) are stretched very thin.

It Was a Beautiful Day in My Neighborhood

One of the knocks on LA is that people are disconnected and it's not really one city. If you believe the latter, you should see this place when the Lakers or Dodgers are winning. As for the former, it's complete bullshit.

Friday night, the HB had a friend over from the neighborhood in the afternoon to hang. He's a great kid from Indian Guides, so let's call him IG. The HB invited to spend the night so they could have a 8/9 y.o. porno fest (read Pokemon Gameboy). I had to have IG home the next morning by 10 since my wife was off to the Indian Casino with her mom and sisters. So, we pack up and head over there. Turns out that an older (13) kid near them was coming over to give IG some skateboarding lessons. Well, this dude shows up with two other friends, so IG's younger brother and the HB get lessons too. We give the older kids $10 each for their time and the HB appears, for the time being, to have an interest in a physical activity. I'm thinking we'll get him a board today.

After the shred-a-thon, we were off to the annual summer block party that's put on by the families on the cul-de-sac. We haven't seen our neighbors as much as I would like this summer, partially because we're so out and about, so it was cool to hang with them, drink home brews, let all of the kids play, etc. It was scheduled from 2:30 to 6:30, but someone brought out a portable fire pit and it was still going strong when the HB and I left at 9:30. All very neighborly and enjoyable.

My wife had a great idea for today--head to Santa Barbara. While we were getting ready, we heard from my nephew's mom and he's going to join us. Should be very fun.

Snowbound, Pt. 2

My wife was in TX on business, so it gave me and the HB all day Saturday together. Since we missed out on some of the snow last weekend, we headed to the mountains for some sledding. I was a little unsure whether there was actually going to be much snow, but it’s only 90 miles, so it was a pretty small investment. When we got to 4000 feet and there wasn’t any on the ground I was getting a bit nervous. But, there was a road that ran north of a local ski area which is in the shadow of the mountain at about 6500 feet that was just the ticket. We stayed for a few hours and had a great time (and I was glad to soak in the hot tub when we got back).

Of the many things I like about living in LA is that we’re able to visit snow in the winter. Living in it completely sucks. I always make it a point to go to the beach after going to the mountains, just because I can. It’s a bit decadent, but it’s good to keep in the memory bank when I’m stuck in traffic.