Today is possibly the most beautiful day we’ve had in Los Angeles in months. When I stepped off the train in Pasadena, the air was crisp but bright with that clear sunlight that only California can offer, and there was snow on the mountains. I say this not to rub salt in the wounds of those of you reading this in far-flung locales like New York City or Lodz, but because it needs to be said. Today is a beautiful day.
And now for some dispatches from my windowless office.
- The New York Times has made official what I’ve suspected all along — Julie Klam is the best status updater on Facebook. (via Julie’s Blog)
- The Millions has a great post up today about what literature to read when travelling to a specific city. They have a great list of books for cities like Chicago and London, but nothing really for LA. How about this list for your next LA trip: Ask the Dust, by John Fante, Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion, Ecology of Fear, by Mike Davis, LA Confidential, by James Elroy, and for variety, Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann (He probably wrote much of it while living in Pacific Palisades during World War II).
- Cory Doctorow has posted an excellent question at Boing Boing: How are you coping with your collapse-anxiety? He’s invited people to comment on just that. Two words, Cory: Makers. Mark. Seriously, though, this last part seems particularly relevant to me: “My favorite cafe (the one near the kid’s day-care shut suddenly one day with a “Closed for Refurnshment” (sic) sign in the window, and now the window is plastered with signs for the second-rate cafe across the street, which gets points for cheekiness, if not coffee; if you’re reading this, Coffee At Goswell Road baristas, I miss you!)? The burrito stand in Exmouth Market? Will the publisher of that half-finished series of books I love last long enough to finish it?”
- Carolyn Kellog on the phenomenon of Secret Tweet: “Is SecretTweet the logical, next-generation of PostSecret mated with the short-form six-word memoirs? It’s feeding a desire to eavesdrop on the secrets of others — there are already close to 12,000 followers on Twitter.“ I was following this for awhile, but it just got way too heavy. Is anybody else into it?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great list of Los Angeles books! However, rather than L.A. Confidential, I’d choose The Big Nowhere. Play It As It Lays already has the Hollywood-angle. Instead of again pushing the Tinsel Town fantasy that is so prominent in Confidential, go deeper with the Sleepy Lagoon murder and the Zoot Suit riots. There’s still plenty of movie industry elements involving labor strikes and Howard Hughes and commie pinkos but it’s more tangential. The city, from Central Avenue to the Hills to East Los Angeles, is more the focus in this one.
Lee,
Great point. I actually prefer The Big Nowhere (I think it’s my favorite Ellroy), but for some reason I thought LA Confidential was more, I don’t know, iconic? I like your choice better, though.