Happy December, Happy Holidays, and Happy War on Christmas! I'm sure, by now, you've heard of the supposed War on Christmas. It's one of the biggest bugbears of so-called Conservatives. I say, "so-called" because the first people to declare War on Christmas were the Puritans who banned Christmas in the Massachusetts Colony in 1659 and … Continue reading Happy Holidays — The War on Christmas Edition
Author: Eric Brightwell
Eric Brightwell is an essayist, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener. He lives in Los Angeles because he loves it -- not because he was born there. He doesn't really care about street art, sleb culture, sunshine, and prefers mass and active transit to cars.
California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dayton Heights
I was recently contacted by Dave Stoelk from Spectrum News. He originally wanted to do a segment on the Silver Lake Croquet League for his segment, "That's So L.A." After talking for a few minutes, though, he thought it might be fun to instead do a segment about my maps that I make, as Pendersleigh … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dayton Heights
No Enclave — Tongva Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION The Tongva are a people indigenous to the American Southwest. When the European conquest of that region began, they were the dominant people in what came to be known as the Los Angeles Basin. At that time, their realm spanned more than 3,000 square kilometers of land and sea. For over 1,000 years, had … Continue reading No Enclave — Tongva Los Angeles
No Enclave — Oaxacan Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION There are no reliable figures of how many Oaxacans live in Los Angeles but, suffice to say, it is almost certainly a larger community than in any other US city and one of, and perhaps the, largest outside of Mexico. There have been efforts for at least ten years to get the city to … Continue reading No Enclave — Oaxacan Los Angeles
Fastfood Undead — Chains That Are No Longer Chains
A week and a half ago, it was announced on Dos Burritos' Facebook page that the Mendez Family had made the difficult decision to close the last location of their restaurant, which was once part of a small, local chain. Dos Burritos was founded in 1977 and, at its peak, there were locations in Downtown … Continue reading Fastfood Undead — Chains That Are No Longer Chains
Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Cider Scene on Johnny Appleseed Day
Today is the birthday of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. It is celebrated, in some places, as Johnny Appleseed Day. Other locales celebrated it on 11 March. I'm not sure how the March date was chosen. It's exactly one week before Johnny Appleseed died -- which seems like an odd thing the celebrate … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Cider Scene on Johnny Appleseed Day
No Enclave — Peruvian Los Angeles
Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua and Aymara: Piruw) is a country in South America. It is considered a "megadiverse' country, the habitats of which include the arid planes of the Pacific coast, the alpine peaks of the Andes, and the tropical Amazon basin. It is also home to a highly diverse human population of about 34 … Continue reading No Enclave — Peruvian Los Angeles
Southland Parks — Los Angeles’s State Society Picnics
From the 1900s through the 1970s, large numbers of migrants to Los Angeles gathered in themed picnics organized around their states of origin known as State Society Picnics or just State Picnics (although that sounds confusingly to me like an outdoor state banquet). They were known as "State Society Picnics." The phenomenon was huge. One … Continue reading Southland Parks — Los Angeles’s State Society Picnics
Happy 909, or, Pomona Valley Day!
INTRODUCTION Snapshot of the Communities of the Pomona Valley Readers are apparently loving these area code/valley posts. Last year's 818/San Fernando Valley Day post was my most-read piece in 2021. That unexpected response inspired me to write this year's 626/San Gabriel Valley Day post, which -- two month's after its publication -- has already climbed … Continue reading Happy 909, or, Pomona Valley Day!
California Fool’s Golds — The Best of Los Angeles
Last year, I think, I made a map of some of my favorite places -- and places I've still yet to visit but am eager to -- in Metro Los Angeles. I don't remember what the occasion was -- or even whether or not there was one. I think that I just wanted to visualize … Continue reading California Fool’s Golds — The Best of Los Angeles
Eric Brightwell 