The Lights of LA County They Look like Diamonds in the Sky

Soon after I moved to Berkeley, I found out about the “divide” between Northern California (Nor Cal) and Southern California (So Cal) that people from their respective parts of the state liked to talk about. Not being from California, I didn’t have an opinion at first but not too long later, completely enamoured with the Bay Area, I found myself firmly in the Nor Cal camp. I’d been to Los Angeles a few times, and while it seemed like a cool, (mostly) sunny place, it didn’t leave any lasting impression.

Then, however, I realized that a lot of the musicians I liked loved LA, and wrote these really great songs about it. (Listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under the Bridge - best line ever: "I walk through her hills cause she knows who I am"; and Joni Mitchell’s song Court and Spark where she sings at the end: "But I couldn’t let go of LA, city of the fallen angel"; and Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’, everytime I hear the line about vampires moving west along Ventura Blvd I smile.) On M.’s recommendation I read Anthony Kiedis’ (lead singer of Red Hot Chili Peppers) autobiography and his descriptions of LA, particularly living in the Hollywood Hills made me want to get to know LA much better.

Fortunately, my brother A. moved to LA in the fall of 2006. I first visited him, and (his then girlfriend, now wife,) L. there in the first four days of 2007, and happily S. drove there to see me too. From the fall of 2006 to July 2011, A. and L. lived in Laurel Canyon, this hilly canyon which separates LA from the San Fernando Valley on the other side of the hills. S. described their house like a tree house the first time she saw it, and she was totally right. It was a truly lovely little house. It had so many windows, (the room I always slept in had windows on three walls, and the kitchen sink had a window over it) and two great balconies - one big one with a hammock and a big dining table, and another small, sunny one with two chairs, perfect to sit on and read. The view from their house to the sides and the back was of a few other homes. But the view facing straight was of the side of a bright green and lush hill. Something I never realized until I started going to LA is how green of a city it is, especially in the spring and summer. Laurel Canyon is also a nice neighbourhood to go for steep walks up to Mulholland Drive at the top of the hill which separates LA from Studio City, on the other side. It's a cool view during the daytime, and at night, when you can see so many lights (which really do look like diamonds in the sky, as per Lyle Lovett's song).

Neither S. nor I knew L. very well that first time we visited, and so when A. asked us what we were going to do our first day there we were at a bit of a loss. He then suggested we take Sunset Blvd (which we could pick up at the bottom of Laurel Canyon) all the way through LA until it hit Pacific Coast Highway, and then head north up the coast to Malibu. We followed his suggestion to a T. and soon found ourselves walking on a beach in Malibu, our feet in the Pacific in early January, where the places we both normally lived were covered with snow. After that visit, I started planning my next trip there.

I think it was in May 2008, when S. and I drove my car from Austin to LA, that my conversion to the So Cal camp took place. We did the exact same drive down Sunset Blvd to the PCH and Malibu, walked on the same beach and watched little kids at surfing camp (or maybe gym class since it was still May? either way... so cool!), and while doing these activities it dawned on me how fabulous LA is. It has great weather, amazing and accessible beaches (the last time I was there I went to Santa Monica Beach and it was so nice! S. we have to go there next time!), lovely blue skies, mountains in the distance, hills, great shopping and restaurants, palm tree lined streets (perhaps my favourite part of LA, so pretty!) and a relaxed, laid back vibe. There are a few downsides, as there are everywhere, and for me LA's is always having to drive. It's so big and the distances between a lot of the places I like to go are pretty big, so a car is pretty much a necessity. But all in all, LA is a great place to visit. It reminds me of New York, Toronto, and Buenos Aires in that it seems like so many cities within a city. Every time I go to NY I seem to go to parts of Manhattan or Brooklyn I'd never been to before, which makes visiting there really exciting. The same thing happened when I visited J. in Buenos Aires last February, as she lived in a different part of the city than I'd spent much time (read hardly any) in the previous times I'd been there. Every time I visit LA, I discover new parts too.

When I heard A. and L. had bought a house and were moving to this other neighbourhood called Silver Lake, I was happy for them but also, totally selfishly, a bit sad that they were leaving their Laurel Canyon house behind. I didn’t think I could love another part of LA as much as Laurel Canyon, or a LA house as much as I loved the Laurel Canyon house. (I was also sad they were no longer going to be living just on the other side of the hill from Studio City. If you've never been, and are ever in LA, go! Ventura Blvd is the main street and is very pretty and palm tree lined, and there are lots of great shops and restaurants.) However, it turns out that Silver Lake is pretty rad (see picture below). It is a very hilly neighbourhood, which I always love, and the Silver Lake reservoir is quite big and attractive, and the water sparkles in the sunshine. A. and L.'s new house is so nice - lots of big windows again! The house also has an amazing, huge, wrap around deck from which you can see, albeit far away, the Hollywood sign. The deck is perfect for reading or tanning as it gets a lot of direct sunlight, and for longer than the little balcony in the Laurel Canyon house that I used to like to sit on got. I am looking forward to spending lots more time on that deck the next time I visit.

The last time I saw L. (a different one) in person, I told her how I am now firmly a So Cal fan and, having mostly grown up in the Bay Area, she was shocked. I still (and always will) love the Bay, but LA has a lot of the things I love about the Bay (hills, big full moons) and things the Bay doesn't have, like consistently warm weather and better beaches/access to the ocean. I want L. and I to go to LA together so I can convince her why it's so great. So to conclude my little LA love letter, I will say that I think I will always love that Laurel Canyon house because it really did show me how great LA could be.

Back when S. and I visited in May 2008, A. gave me a key to the Laurel Canyon house which I put on my keychain. And even though they don't live there anymore, I still have it on my key chain. I know I should take it off, but I think I'm going to leave it there a little longer.