My new hometown in the middle of Los Angeles looks like a scene from the apocalypse today. We’ve had our troubles with grocery store strikes; we’ve had the buses come to a halt for a mechanic’s strike.

It is extremely hot, unseasonably hot-reaching the 100s. And the Santa Ana winds, the ones Raymond Chandler blames for murders have begun to wake up.

The heat, the wind and I believe the discontent have resulted in many fires in our surprisingly brambly metropolis. One in particular is out of control.

45 miles away, where I work and breathe, white ash flecks were raining down. I walked through the grand opening of disney hall, with red carpet and velvet ropes mutely broadcasting BY INVITATION ONLY. And just in case you didn’t get it, there were cadres of police security to remind you that YOU were NOT invited.

The cloned waitstaff lined the street in a military at-ease position, their red-vested backs to us, the unininvited. The huge metallic hall, more modern than the day after tomorrow is blurred by the thick air.

The commuters walk in lines to their cars, and the cars file in lines to the freeways, which are far from free at this time of day.

Some self-employed commuters in unwashed clothing hold cardboard signs for the cars driving by: “Hungry. Homeless. Need Help. Need Food. God Bless.”

At my space in the wavy asphalt, my sedan gathered small drifts of white ash.

SOmetimes I don’t write because I don’t have anything to say.

More often, it’s because I don’t know how to say what I’ve been thinking about. Life throws a lot of experiences at me sometimes, and I have to ponder them a while before I can get a fix on them.

Impressions and thoughts and ideas.

I remember when I was living in Russia. That first year was so hard. I was tired a lot, and excited, and doing so many new things and getting used to so much. In a lot of ways, I am realizing how parallel my experiences here are to my first year in Russia. There is a lot to get used to.

This weekend, I went to the housewarming party of a new friend. There was a point in the evening that a passionate discussion about the tastes of different kinds of bottled water occurred. The relative tastiness of Arrowhead, Ralph’s brand, Aquafina, distilled vs. mineral-all were discussed.

I come from a place where many people do not have running water.

Yes, this is culture shock. I try not to be judgemental. These different types of water are all available. Why not have an opinion about them?

I remember in Russia, the only tooth cleanser was a powder. That was it. When my friend came to visit me in America, she about dropped through the floor, looking at all the different varieties of toothpaste.

I suppose that’s not so different from different varieties of water.

Back to basics has a different meaning in different places.

So I’ve been here more than a year now. I still feel like I have no idea what’s going on. But the truth is, I ‘ve seen through a glass darkly what it is I have no idea about. I know more about what I don’t know about.

As I was walking to work today (yes, you read that right. SATURDAY. This is why I haven’t had time to explore my new city..bloody attorneys), I saw a “Best of 03” publication in the LA Weekly newpaper dispenser. I snagged it.

Thing’s the size of a phone book! Holey Moley! I’m keeping it, it is giving me all kinds of ideas of things to check out.

And it’s inspiring me to make my own list of random stuff. Here goes:

BEST HYPED PLACES IN LA THAT EVERYBODY HAS BEEN TO BUT ME:

Pink’s Hot Dogs
Canter’s Deli
The Beach (aka Surfing)
Hollywood Bowl

BEST HYPED PLACES THAT EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT BUT DOESN’T ACTUALLY GO TO, THAT I HAVE BEEN TO:

Getty Museum
Free Shakespeare in the Park
Norton Simon Museum
Central Library
The Symphony (including the new Disney Hall)
Swing Dance lessons at the Derby
Museum of Contemporary Art (Twice!)
a bus
A night class at UCLA

BEST COOL THINGS THAT EVERYBODY DOES THAT I’VE DONE TOO:
Farmer’s Market
Concerts at the Greek Theater
had an extensive conversation with a dicey used merchandise store owner about said merchandise
the Soda Pop Fountain (mulholland fountain on Los Feliz Blvd by the 5)
Bought FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY cd’s and movies from used cd stores
Bought vintage and obscure designer clothes from vintage and obscure shops
joined a book club
Celebrity sightings
done open mike performances
Had highly abstract conversations with just-met strangers about pursuing creativity and staying centered
Seen a Laker’s Game (Go Fisher!)

BEST STUFF I STILL WANT TO DO

see original live theater ( oh wait, I did that…so do it MORE)
Drive to Mexico
go to hear authors and artists talk about their stuff
Drive to Vegas
Go to a dance club on Sunset Strip
Go the the H.O.B. Gospel Breakfast
Take a Yoga class

Just for starters.

I guess I ‘ve done a lot of activities that have a hushed-voice environment…the museums, the symphony…That’s due in part to the fact that my honey likes calm, contemplative places of beauty. He doesn’t feel like doing the loud and crazy stuff. I do that with other people.

There’s a ton of stuff I still want to do here. I suspect that there is no danger of running out of kick-ass fun stuff to do in Los Angeles. One of the biggest differences between LA and everywhere else I’ve lived is the willingness of the people in LA to do stuff.

The difficulty I’ve had in trying to start a group to do almost ANYTHING…Lord…Everyone seemed to just want to talk about doing cool stuff, but not actually start it.

HERE, I meet tons of ambitious motivated people who are willing to show up and do it. Maybe this place is the place where people come to make their dreams come true. They arrive with their sleeves already rolled up.

Maybe. I don’t know. What I do know is that I LOVE that about this city. You say, “Want to start a writing group?’
YES! and they do it.
“Want to work on a project with me?”
YES!

I love that kind of YES.

So I say YES to this city too. YES, let’s go do it!