I love visiting the west coast -- the light, the vibe, the Asian influences, the feeling that there is a WHOLE GODDAMN OCEAN over to the left -- but I could never move there. I am always struck by the feeling that it would've been cooler 40, 50, 60 years earlier, before all the development. This can't be nostalgia, unless I'm yearning for the west coast shown in movies and the Rockford Files. I think it's concern for the ecosystem. Then again, I think there are too many goddamn people EVERYWHERE.
Jim, it’s impossible to live in California without a sense that we are squandering a truly unique place for short term economic gain. That we’ve pushed everything too far, and that large changes will have to be made. Still, there’s a forward-looking aspect to California that gives me hope.
I remember being driven around NE LA while doing a book thing in the '90s. My driver, who was about 45, waved at all the sprawl and said, "This was all orange groves when I was a kid." And the sprawl looked pretty old and established.
I most adore the variety of humans, and I think there may be no finer place to be with so many people just trying to make a way for themselves in this time that feels right to them, without apology. So dynamic.
Well said, Neal -- Capitol Hill was then a place where people really let their freak flag fly, and I adored it. It was also very very literate, the most book-crazy town I've ever lived in. I tried to wedge some of my favorite Seattle bookstores into that essay--I still recall at least four--but it was overstuffed as it was.
Kurt Andersen hosted one of his Studio360 shows at the new main library, a Rem Kollhaus work of consequence. At the QA portion of the interview, as pierced, tattooed young people kept asking the most thoughtful and original questions, Kurt looked around and shook his head, "You have the smartest people in this town!"
But I was trying to evoke what I love about Los Angeles.
I love visiting the west coast -- the light, the vibe, the Asian influences, the feeling that there is a WHOLE GODDAMN OCEAN over to the left -- but I could never move there. I am always struck by the feeling that it would've been cooler 40, 50, 60 years earlier, before all the development. This can't be nostalgia, unless I'm yearning for the west coast shown in movies and the Rockford Files. I think it's concern for the ecosystem. Then again, I think there are too many goddamn people EVERYWHERE.
Jim, it’s impossible to live in California without a sense that we are squandering a truly unique place for short term economic gain. That we’ve pushed everything too far, and that large changes will have to be made. Still, there’s a forward-looking aspect to California that gives me hope.
I remember being driven around NE LA while doing a book thing in the '90s. My driver, who was about 45, waved at all the sprawl and said, "This was all orange groves when I was a kid." And the sprawl looked pretty old and established.
I most adore the variety of humans, and I think there may be no finer place to be with so many people just trying to make a way for themselves in this time that feels right to them, without apology. So dynamic.
Well said, Neal -- Capitol Hill was then a place where people really let their freak flag fly, and I adored it. It was also very very literate, the most book-crazy town I've ever lived in. I tried to wedge some of my favorite Seattle bookstores into that essay--I still recall at least four--but it was overstuffed as it was.
Kurt Andersen hosted one of his Studio360 shows at the new main library, a Rem Kollhaus work of consequence. At the QA portion of the interview, as pierced, tattooed young people kept asking the most thoughtful and original questions, Kurt looked around and shook his head, "You have the smartest people in this town!"
But I was trying to evoke what I love about Los Angeles.
Agreed.
I also moved to Seattle in ‘94. Stayed 25 years. Lotsa changes since.
What made you leave?
My wife -- a general neurologist -- decided she could use some sunny weather. We're in LA, east of y'all near Beachwood Canyon.