Emerge

In the process of moving anywhere new it is expected to go through some kind of a difficult period of adjustment. Lonliness, homesickness, depression, anxiety - these are all conditions that I have experienced in the past few weeks. I knew this would happen at some point, but I was not prepared for the reality or the severity of the feelings, the complete loss of the objective whisper that tells you it's only temporary. Last week I emerged from the moderately debilitating sadness after I pinpointed two elements of my life here that I'm not happy about. One is housing and the second is transportation. Both of these are perennial issues for everyone in Los Angeles, and I'm sure they'll occur again for me. My response to these frustrations is two-pronged: acceptance and action. It reminds me of the phrase used in Christianity, have the peace to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I'll most likely be moving to Santa Cruz at the end of March to spend a term at UCSC with some excellent food and technology scholars, so that will be a perfect excuse to end my contract in the graduate student housing complex. As for transportation, acceptance, plurality, and flexibility are the keywords. Don't expect anything, and realize that the "city" of L.A. is not so much a city as a collection of far-away places. Getting there, wherever there is, is the number one question you must ask yourself when you want to do something. As a geographer I like this "where" question because it encourages constant exploration and newness. In addition to acceptance, I've enrolled for the next available motorcycle training class - it will take place in January. A motorcycle will be a practical and useful tool, and just the thought of increased and independent mobility puts my mind at ease. Last weekend I rented a car for a couple days...here are some of the results.



This is the Griffith Observatory as seen from a cloudy day hiking trail in Griffith park north of downtown. It is L.A.'s equivalent to Central park in New York, or Golden Gate park in San Francisco, except like everything else in L.A. it's about 5x bigger. The hiking trails go through the mountains and it offers great views of the hybrid expanse.


At the Huntington botanical gardens. At this compound in Pasedena there is also a fine art museum, a library, and an historical archive. Awesome place!


I went to the Huntington to attend the L.A. archives bazaar, an event that brought together aroudn 25 museums, libraries, and archives from around the city with reference librarians on hand to answer questions. It was a great place to figure out where I need to go to find materials for my dissertation. This Black Panther poster is from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics not too far from my place in L.A.


A perfect pear tree in the Japanese house at the Huntington.