Where to Start: The Mutterings of an Angeleno Out to Discover his Homeland; Morning Edition

I’ve found my trade and no matter what line of work I pick up over the next few years, I know what I’ll be doing on the side, while I prepare my platanos fritos for breakfast, as I wait for the train underground at Vermont and Santa Monica, and during the minutes before I go to sleep: I’ll be working on my stories. In fact, I’m already doing this, and I’ve been doing so since the moment I first picked up a pencil to write about the city of L.A., when it was a cruel place for a frustrated teenager such as the one I used to be not all too long ago.

Nearly ten years later, every other moment I don’t spend job hunting is a moment I spend researching the latest arrivals on the scene. Whether it’s a farmer’s market in East Hollywood, a free concert in Downtown L.A., arts and craft in Boyle Heights, food-trucks in Koreatown, weird and wacky meetups at Venice, or anything else in between or beyond, I’ll be there.

Why? Because the stories matter to me, and I know I’m not the only to whom they matter. After all, Los Angeles is a city of over 9 million people, every one of which tells tales of a time and place that’s just as real and rare as anyone else’s. This is a gift to me, and to anyone who shares the vision; we can never truly be bored here; we have a lifetime of stories to live and tell.

The only problem? Well, there are a few, like where to start: Should I go to the Hammer museum in Westwood for a free documentary screening, or should I go to Little Tokyo to refresh with some Mochi? Should I hit San Pedro to get some pictures of the awesome Friendship bell, or should I look for Oaxacan coffee beans on Pico boulevard?

On top of this, when I do finally decide on  the one thing and gather my materials to write about it, there’s the problem of my perfectionism, my time management, being more broke than an L.A. crevice, the fact that I’m living at home and my family drives me crazy as much they drive me to love, a whirl-winding love life, and more Millennial problems. To tell you the truth though, I trust that it’s all going to work out rather brilliantly! That is, that it’ll make for an absolutely fantastic story, much like the jazz that’s been fluttering through my ears of late.

Enough about me though. What’s your story?!