los angeles, I'm yours
I remember reading a magazine article about the Decemberists a few years ago. They remarked that their song, "los angeles, i'm yours" is a very critical view of Los Angeles but how its residents do not seem to pick up on this. They do not seem insulted, but sing loudly along whenever the band plays LA shows.
I don't think that people from Los Angeles realize how much the rest of America hates it. I don't think I ever realized until I left. Actually, I would hardly have considered myself to be of Los Angeles until I had to stand up for it. It was not until I left my home that I had to understand it and make it my own.
I wouldn't mind so much if people just said, "oh, i've been there once and it wasn't so great," but instead most people seem passionate about the subject.
This is my ode to Los Angeles. This is my attempt to tell people one more time how wonderful it really is.
The two things that make Los Angeles wonderful for me are its diversity and its food. I know that those hardly count as two separate things, but I don't just mean ethnic diversity. The people who make Los Angeles their home are diverse in many ways. Places like west hollywood are very different from east los angeles and from neighborhoods like silver lake. Los Angeles has a thai town, little tokyo, china town, little armenia, filipino town, korea town, little ethiopia, and probably a few others that I am forgetting. Even better, there are organizations like this that give tours of these places to help Los Angeles residents discover how great their city is. Although I have yet to find a gordita much like the ones in Walla Walla, Los Angeles has almost every type of food imaginable. From what I've been hearing on Good Food, Los Angeles' many markets also sell almost every vegetable and fruit that exists within the United States. Los Angeles has not only wonderful fine dining, but some of the best cheap meals like the many hot dog and hamburger stands, taquerias, and, my favorite, noodle soup from almost every country in east Asia for about $5. Those are just to name a few. Even though I cannot say this is truth, I also like to believe that people in Los Angeles are pretty adventurous. Because of the diversity of LA, it is hard not to have been around all sorts of people and to have learned from their stories and experiences. My additional reason for LA being great is all of the things to do. By default of it being a big city, there are some great bands that come through and some great venues to house them. There are all sorts of museums and art galleries, both big and small. There are things like felt club and things like fallen fruit. There are all sorts of amazing people and projects all around, all the time.
I don't think that finding the beauty of Los Angeles is easy. It took me 18 years to even realize that I lived right next to it. There are so many places that I am still eager to visit and explore.
I also point out that I am not trying to say that Los Angeles is better than your city. I have to agree that if I was comparing, Los Angeles would not be the best because, again, it takes a long time to appreciate. Even so I felt good reading this entry on Eating LA. The last line of the third comment down especially echoes my feelings. My personal complaint is about the transportation in LA. The difficulty in traveling from east la to west la, even with a car, probably makes it harder for visitors to explore and understand, promoting people's hatred. I also think that Los Angeles could do a lot to make its neighborhoods more friendly for bicyclers. All I wish for is that everyone who visits LA would try a little harder to enjoy it.
When I moved away from Los Angeles for the second time in my life, I wasn't prepared to defend it all over again. This is my last attempt to vocalize my feelings because actually speaking to people has produced little result in my experience. These experiences have left me feeling disappointing, sad, and, at this point, even angry. I have tried hard to pretend not to care, but I am not very good at it.
From now on, I am going to start proudly wearing my shirt that says "I like NY, but not as much as Los Angeles," every chance that I get.
- posted by Lyndsay @ 6:45 PM