Jacarandas on Camden Street
My favorite Spanish word is actually a verb, aprovechar, to seize the moment, or to make the most of something. I wonder if it has something to do with my “go-getter” personality, but probably not. Most of the time when an opportunity presents itself, I walk in the other direction, afraid of the consequences and suspicious of the reward. When I lived in Los Angeles, there were jacaranda trees lining my street. Southern California natives, they are prettier than palm trees but less well known….
Leaving Los Angeles
1. The first time I visited LA was our family’s one and only reunion. We stayed at a fancy resort hotel in Disneyland. This was fourth grade, the height of my obsession with all things cartoon. I don’t remember even stepping foot inside the city, but it didn’t really matter. If anyone at school or home mentioned Los Angeles from then on, there was only one person I could think of: Mickey Mouse. LA wasn’t even a place on a map, it was a series…
Music City
Music is everywhere in Los Angeles. Whether it’s the jazz station in my car or the man playing the saxophone on Flower downtown, you cannot drive outside your building before a beat starts pounding. If I were to have one regret about living in Los Angeles, it is that I didn’t spend more time listening. It’s funny. I came to Los Angeles in love with surf rock and the Beach Boys and I am leaving not even really sure what it is I like. Like…
Recent Projects
Here’s a music video I directed a couple of weeks ago for The Pom Poms, which is an awesome band that you should check out, in the following video and on their website. Feedback is always welcome in the comments.
Story Notes: Lifting the Veil
In between everything else in my life right now, I am recording some footage for a documentary about downtown Los Angeles, and its efforts at recovery. I am especially interested in the push to breathe new life into the old movie palaces that dot downtown, like the Cameo or the Orpheum, all now closed or repurposed. I had decided the other day to attend the unveiling of the old façade at Clifton’s. Sure it didn’t have anything to do with the movie palaces, but anyone…
Adult Children
This week I have very exciting news to report: I am co-writing and co-directing a sketch show at the iO West in Hollywood, “Adult Children.” If you are out here in Los Angeles, I suggest you take strong measures to see this–my first sketch show on the main stage! It is a big step for me, and one I am not sure I could handle, if not for a very talented cast and crew. “Adult Children” is my take on people my age surviving their…
Every Image is Precious
In the past two years, both of my grandmothers passed away. I have reminders: two photographs perched on the center of my bookshelf. Believe it or not, no matter how many times they came to visit, and no matter how many photographs we snapped together, these are the only two I have in my apartment. I plan to hold onto these. A handful of years before my grandma Debbie died, I was lucky enough to conduct a biographical interview with her on camera when she…
7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Moving to LA
LA is a tough read. Sure, there are people with connections, family, and the like, but more often than not the sort of people who move here are totally free agents. Especially for “creatives,” those odd people who want to be in entertainment, there aren’t too many instructions and even fewer allies. Misleading road signs on the 10 Freeway, these instructions (from friends, friends of friends, distant cousins) should only be used with caution and the clear certainty you know the way back. That written,…
My LA Moments
Please share your LA (or any other city) moments in the comments! Carmageddon LA is a city obsessed with the apocalypse. Whether being blown up on film in 2012, Volcano, and countless others, or simply threatened by that one killer earthquake, Angelinos always have Armageddon on their minds. It’s no surprise then that two of my favorite stores here are The Last Bookstore on Fifth and Spring, and Record Surplus on Santa Monica (which aptly bills itself as “The Last Record Store”) Carmageddon, perhaps…
Pershing Square: A Ringside Seat at the Circus
It’s Wednesday, and my blog post is late. I’m sorry about that. I have been pretty busy with different writing things, including my first published restaurant review: The Saffron and Rose Ice Cream shop in Westwood. Here is the link. I have stayed away from dining articles because I never considered myself a foodie, but I made an exception for ice cream. I also took part in LAist’s Park a Day series. My park, Pershing Square, carried with it a very personal meaning. I worked…
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