So, I never planned on keeping this blog during my stint in LA. But I have had a post running through my head all day (my irritation with this city is bubbling over), and since lists are like the only method I have to organize my thoughts, here we go.
Top 5 Things That Really Piss Me Off About LA
5. Being ogled: I understand that I live in a very poor part of town. I don't mind people coming up to me to ask for money, or sleeping on the sidewalk. If I have some change handy, I'll usually even help you out. But there is just no decent excuse for making kissing noises at a complete stranger as she walks past you on the street. And really, what on earth are you trying to accomplish? Are you really expecting me to turn around and say, Hey, Let's make out! No, you're not. And if I did you would probably be really uncomfortable. Please stop power tripping by taking away my right to walk down the road in peace.
4. Population density: This is partially a symptom of my neighborhood, since despite coming to LA, land of urban sprawl, I managed to move into the region with the highest population density of the whole city. There are just so damn many people. Really though, where I am living is definitely the lesser of two evils. At least I am close to public transportation. If I were outside of the city center a couple more miles, I would be way more pissed off by the sprawl. All of this is really irrelevant, since no matter where you go, it is always crawling with people. And outside downtown these people are often either over-privileged bleach blonde trust-fund babies trying to pretend they're starving artists, or desperate housewives with too much money to spend at Crate&Barrell. Barf.
3. My job: It's been disappointing in many ways. I write promos. I update contact information. I transcribe. I understand that I can't expect to be reporting every day and on the air for every cast. That's fine. What I really don't like about my job has to do with the fact that I sit by myself in a cubicle in the corner with no one around. Maybe this sounds trivial, but it means that I don't feel like I am a part of the work community. It's a huge drag. The people at Marketplace are all really interesting and amusing. But I'm not in a position where I can engage with them. I'm just passing through, for three months, so it's obviously not worth the effort to really befriend me. This brings me too...
2. Being alone: There is nothing worse than not having any friends in this city. I do a lot of things on my own. I'm used to it. I went up to gold country by myself, went hiking...I go to the beach on my own, I go to movies on my own, I eat on my own. It's totally fine. But it's also totally lonely, and would be a hundred times better if I had even a single person with whom to do these things occasionally.
1. Public transportation: I could write a Master's thesis on all the things that are wrong with the public transportation in this city. In a place this size, it is preposterous that the rail system is non-comprehensive. It's even more preposterous that the vast majority of people who live here don't mind, and don't bother to use the buses and rails that are there. I find navigating the inconvenient buses infinitely preferable to wading through the nightmarish freeways. Anyway. What I really want to rant about is the lack of etiquette public transportation users display when riding the buses/rails. Here's something that might top my list of lifetime pet peeves: people who get on the bus and sit down in the aisle seat when the window seat is open. What on earth do you think that other seat is for? Your personal space? Your peace of mind? NO. IT'S SO SOMEONE CAN SIT DOWN. Then, as people file onto the bus, they remain sitting in the inside seat, forcing the rest of us to stand or awkwardly to gesture toward the window seat. Even then, do they scoot over and sit in the window seat instead of the aisle? NO. They look up at you and maybe point their knees thirty degrees inward, forcing you to climb over them in order to get to the damn seat. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? JUST SIT IN THE WINDOW SEAT IN THE FIRST PLACE. I DON'T MIND GETTING UP WHEN YOU NEED TO GET OFF THE BUS. Also, why don't people understand the concept of the bus's back door? You get on the bus at the front. You get off at the back. IT'S NOT HARD.
So, that was refreshing. It was a long time coming. But now, to be fair, I am going to talk about the bad things' good counterparts.
Top 5 Things That I Actually Really Like About LA
5. Beaches: I mean, duh. Keystone Lake does not remotely compare to the Pacific Ocean. Especially with the toxic algae and such.
4. Food: a) Fresh produce everywhere. Delicious. I especially love the guy who runs the fruit truck on my street. He always makes me take free peaches and papayas and stuff, and once when I didn't have proper change, he took me on my word that I'd come back next time with the $1.50 I owed him. He's great. b) Delivery options. I can get all kinds of Indian and Thai food delivered at pretty much any time. And, I can get pretty much all kinds of food with tofu, which will be much harder to find in Tulsa. Vegetarianism has been much easier than I expected this summer.
3. My job: I wasn't being kind when I said the people at Marketplace are really cool. And everyone is really willing to show me around let me work on odd projects. So while a lot of the time is dull, sometimes I have really good days where I get to do really cool things. Plus I'll be able to freelance for them from Tulsa when I get home.
2. Mornings: SoCal weather is so queer. Almost every single morning, there's a uniform haze of clouds from the ocean. It's cool and feels like rain even though it's not raining. It burns off by about ten, so that when I get out of work it's hot and bright and the only haze is from the pollution. But at least in the morning, LA doesn't feel like such a crazy place.
1. This place I volunteer at: What I do here is simply read and record textbooks for blind and dyslexic people who want to go to school. Obviously, being in radio, this is right up my alley, and it's a lot of fun, but the best part of it is the people who work there. They aren't stressed and tense like the people at work. They are all super kind and funny—I only spend a few hours a week there, but I feel like much more a part of that community than I do at my actual job. I would have gone crazy weeks ago if I hadn't found that place.
So. That's all I got. Dear old LA. What a place. I can't wait to be home.
C
