Say what you will about Los Angeles but it's unlikely that anyone has ever described it in earnest as a "city that never sleeps." It is not, in other words, Barcelona, New York City, New Orleans, or Las Vegas. There are 24-hour businesses in Los Angeles, of course, mostly restaurants. When I was younger, I … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Early Houses
Tag: Los Angeles
Los Angeles’s Corner Drugstores & Independent Pharmacies
The corner drug store isn't what it used to be, although I'm not sure when it stopped. Probably quite a few years before I was born... although there are still a few hanging 'round. I'm talking about the drugstores that Norman Rockwell celebrated in his characteristic manner and Edward Hopper naturally managed to make seem … Continue reading Los Angeles’s Corner Drugstores & Independent Pharmacies
Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Oldest Bars
INTRODUCTION In 2018, I made a map of Los Angeles's oldest restaurants and wrote a bit about them. It proved relatively easy because there was lots already written on the subject. When I started writing about Los Angeles's oldest bars, it proved much more difficult. Not only could I find no serious effort to draw … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Oldest Bars
No Enclave — Exploring Honduran Los Angeles
Hondurans are the eighth largest group of Latin Americans living in the US in the US and, after Salvadorans and Guatemalans, the third largest population of Central Americans in the US. However, whereas Los Angeles is home to the largest populations of Salvadorans and Guatemalans outside of El Salvador and Guatemala, the same cannot be … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Honduran Los Angeles
Nobody Drives In LA — Celebrating Ten Years Since Kicking My Car Habit
Today marks the tenth anniversary of my not owning a car. On 18 July 2011, my 1990 Suburu Loyale nicknamed the C.A.R.D.I.S. (Car And Relative Dimensions In Space) blew a head gasket or two somewhere around Niland. It sputtered its last just past North Palm Springs, near the windmills. I had it towed to Desert … Continue reading Nobody Drives In LA — Celebrating Ten Years Since Kicking My Car Habit
Eric Brightwell for Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Region 6 Representative
ABOUT ME My name is Eric Brightwell. I was born in Iowa City but mostly grew up in the country, outside of Columbia, Missouri. I first visited Los Angeles in 1998, during a road trip across Western US. At the time "knowing" Los Angeles only through distorted media representations and tired stereotypes, I had almost … Continue reading Eric Brightwell for Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Region 6 Representative
No Enclave — Irish Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION I have Ireland on the brain today. Oh right, it's Saint Patrick's Day. I wondered whether or not I, like so many observant Christians, should temporarily set aside my abstinence from alcohol but then I'm not even Christian so I wouldn't feel so much like I was pulling one over on the Creator as … Continue reading No Enclave — Irish Los Angeles
Los Angeles’s Neighborhood Councils
In 1999, the City of Los Angeles established DONE (which stands for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment -- municipal types love an acronym). DONE, in turn, established the neighborhood council system "to promote more citizen participation in government and thus, ideally, make government more responsive to local needs." This year I'm running in the Silver … Continue reading Los Angeles’s Neighborhood Councils
California Fool’s Gold — The Los Angeles Community Directory
As most of my readers know, I've been trying for years to wrap my head around Los Angeles by exploring and mapping the metropolis. My first maps were hand-drawn on paper, starting with a map of Elysian Park's trails that I drew around 2001. I also have made quite a few Google Maps. The Google … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — The Los Angeles Community Directory
𝕷𝖔𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈, 𝖆 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯í𝖆 𝖉𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖔𝖘 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖆
It's almost Halloween. Surely one of the greatest holidays, Halloween is up there, in my estimation, with Burns Supper, Nowruz, Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving II. I keep reading and hearing, though, that Halloween is cancelled this year, thanks to the mismanagement at nearly every level of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surely you can't cancel a holiday, though, … Continue reading 𝕷𝖔𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈, 𝖆 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯í𝖆 𝖉𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖔𝖘 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖆
Eric Brightwell 