A reservoir is constructed in Silver Lake. After decades of service, the city determines that the water in it isnโt fit to drink and that reservoir is obsolete. It is decommissioned. The city decides to turn it into a park. Not everyone is happy with this plan. Sound familiar? Perhaps, then, you already know the … Continue reading Ask Silver Lake — What Becomes of a Decommissioned Reservoir?
Tag: Los Angeles
Seth & Eric’s Airconditionless Adventure — 9-21 August 1998
INTRODUCTION 13 August 2023 was the 25th anniversary of my first visit to Los Angeles. All those years ago, I wrote entries in a journal. At first, the accounts of the days' adventures had a diaristic air. After a few days on the road, however, I started just jotting down one and two-word notes with … Continue reading Seth & Eric’s Airconditionless Adventure — 9-21 August 1998
SLHC Interview with Eric Brightwell, Silver Lake entrepreneur and cartographer.
I was interviewed, as suggested by the title (not mine) by the Silver Lake History Collective. Have a watch, if you've got fifty minutes to spare (or 25, if you increase the playback speed). https://www.youtube.com/embed/Id4QGJx8gHw Support Eric Brightwell on Patreon Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, essayist, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking … Continue reading SLHC Interview with Eric Brightwell, Silver Lake entrepreneur and cartographer.
On The Los Angeles Times’s “The Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf: 110 essential Los Angeles books”
In advance of the 2023 L.A. Times Festival of Books, 95 writers compiled a list of essential "Los Angeles Books." I reckon it's a good, if not very surprising list -- not that the number of surprises has anything to do with a list's quality. A few author, including Aldous Huxley, Joan Didion, and Raymond … Continue reading On The Los Angeles Times’s “The Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf: 110 essential Los Angeles books”
Mist & Iron — The Mountains and Hills of Metro Los Angeles
Los Angeles and Southern California's mountains have been in the spotlight as of late. The mountains are always there, of course, but a seemingly endless barrage of drizzle, rain, freezing rain, hail, graupel, sleet, and snow have painted our semi-arid landscape with brilliant strokes of green and swathes of blinding white. The unexpected precipitation has … Continue reading Mist & Iron — The Mountains and Hills of Metro Los Angeles
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
California Fool’s Gold — 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 Gold — The Best of Los Angeles
No Enclave — Kazakh Los Angeles
This week's post is about Kazakh Los Angeles. Since it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the primary focus is on ethnically Kazakh Angelenos. However, as Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic society, a few "white" Angelenos with roots in Kazakstan are included too. INTRODUCTION I first became aware of Kazakhstan (าะฐะทะฐาััะฐะฝ) as a child when I … Continue reading No Enclave — Kazakh Los Angeles
Nobody Drives in LA — The Great Metrolink Four Counties Ride
Last Friday was Earth Day. In honor of the day, Metro, Metrolink, (and doubtless many other local mass transit agencies) offered unlimited fare-free rides. I've read a couple of articles in the past in which the authors stated that they were riding every Metro line (although in both cases they meant Metro train lines, not … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — The Great Metrolink Four Counties Ride
Cannabis Los Angeles
I have always been an explorer and when I was about eight years old, I became aware of and interested in drugs. In second grade, my main subject of interest was dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were a gateway to Pleistocene megafauna. After Pleistocene megafauna, I began innocently experimenting with legal substances. I started drinking coffee (with lots … Continue reading Cannabis Los Angeles

