In It to Win Los Angeles

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Wilshire Boulevard and Westmoreland Avenue; L.A., CA

I pedal my way down Wilshire Boulevard on my bicycle and think of the day that the Olympics return to Los Angeles. In 2028, I will be 37 going on 38 years of age.

Then I find my bus stop, wait for the one that goes up Vermont, and once it arrives, board my bicycle onto the carrier and then myself on for the ride. On being seated I start to fidget with my phone, and there are so many things I’d like to go over.

For a moment I think of the gravity of the LCD screens today, that is, in how absurdly I depend on them from minute to minute, but once I find the Chess app a moment later, I connect to the one-minute lightning round and begin to hammer away at the screen under the sixty second time limit set for players. Just after the game ends, I go in for a second, but not without another pause first: I’ve got a book in my backpack, and it’s supposed to be a really good one, but why go through the motions when I’ve got all my entertainment in front of me on the screen?

Eventually twelve or so minutes through Vermont pass and I close in on my stop; I slide the phone into my pocket, make my way towards the entrance of the bus, and once the driver hits the breaks, I dash past the entry doors to unload my bike just before the next flock of passengers file their way in.

Just as the final passenger taps their card to filter inside, my bicycle is unloaded, and I lift up the carrier to return it to its original position. I then wave thanks to the driver, mount back onto the bike’s seat, and pedal on towards the final leg of the journey.

It’s just a few minutes from home then, but as a vibrant breadth of air envelops me through my ride I realize it’s another summer day in Los Angeles and that I just might want to stay outside a bit longer. First though, I’ve got to get back in for some of the day’s last tasks.

On arriving back to headquarters, there lies the other screen; the one of my laptop. I know that I’ve got to reply to an email, or two…but then there are so many other tabs I’ve also got open. I seal the laptop shut, scurry over to the kitchen, and figure I’ll take care of what’s left after a couple of quesadillas.

There is much to do this summer, but not without much concentration. And as the wonder of brilliant daylight threatens to outshine the urgency of the times, I’ve got to remind myself: persistence is still key, and so it’s with persistence that I pedal onto these next tasks.

But I know I’m not the only one taking it all on.

So then, let’s make it happen Los Angeles,

J.T.

It’s Been Ten Years of Writing in Los Angeles

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Marveling at the Times; Spring 2018

It was ten years ago that I found myself at home in the living room wondering desperately about what the future held for me. I was seventeen years old, just graduated from high school, and anxious to get through the summer ahead of me. I felt terribly alone, disassociated from the friends that I’d known, and unsure about how on earth I’d get through the high temperatures that dominated so many of the days from the early hours of the morning into the evening.

Then one day through the heat, I sat myself before the desktop we’d had in the living room at the time, opened a blank document, and began to write, etching the heat I felt on my back onto the screen for the record to see. I wrote like hell that summer, and the results were strange, not in an ominous way, but in an altogether new and mysterious way. What I saw reflected on the screen was somehow alive, even if ‘frozen’ in time. It was myself, like some other half from an alternate universe, staring right back at me through the page.

I remember that I was reading a lot of Philip K. Dick at the time, which made it so that my mind was especially warped, and which came off in my entries to the page–a lot of existential identity stuff. But I also remember that since I still had a bit of HTML programming fresh in my mind, after a few sessions of writing on the desktop I decided that I couldn’t keep my texts on just any ole blank document; I had to design a proper little website for them all.

So I put together the fonts and their sizes, downloaded some cool images for background off the web, activated the links, and launched it. I would name the private little website that I’d come away with through this process Revolt Radio (RR).

There were three main components of RR, that is, in terms of the writing that would make its way through it.

First, there was the Current page, which functioned like a stream for all of the miscellaneous thoughts or ‘summaries’ of the days I had, and which thereby filled up the fastest.

Second, there was the Poems page, where I hid all of my hymns, letters, and other ‘confessions’ I could never muster up the courage to publish for any eyes other than my own.

Finally, there was the Stories page, where I stored all of my ‘science-fiction’ writing, based loosely on none other than yours truly, but also on the accounts I’d heard from my peers back at Marshall.

Even at seventeen, a part of me wanted to write something of an autobiography, but because at the same time I also aspired to be a sci-fi writer like the great PKD himself, my Stories page featured tales both on a personal level as well as on more abstract terms, although the latter was just a ‘stranger’ version of the former.

In turn, Revolt Radio got me through that first summer out of high school, its pages receiving worlds that I couldn’t even begin to describe to anyone else. The pages didn’t judge me for what those worlds contained or what they lacked, nor did they disappoint me, or demand anything of me at all.

The pages were acceptance in its purest form, but filling them up was also a matter of survival; in writing my heart out I made it clear that I wouldn’t allow the world just to pass me by. Then, in seeing my words put together like those of the novels by famous authors which I’d hold in my hands, I had proof that my beliefs were also more than just feelings, but articles with their own lives which could stare right back at me unafraid.

I treasured the little alternate universe of Revolt Radio so much that for the next six years, I would continue writing through the site, making and remaking its pages until the time came for me to culminate onto other platforms.

Today, I’ve got another little set of pages, which are public, but even now I look back at that frightening little summer from ten years ago with tremendous gratitude for spawning RR, the site; in staring at me now as vividly as they did ten years ago, the pages make me all the more fearless for what’s in front of me in the days to come.

If we’re fortunate enough, to another ten years Los Angeles,

J.T.

Ahora Mas Cuentos Los Angeles

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On the way,

Today I have the privilege of getting back to The Plus Me Project for a visit to another L.A. school. There should be somewhere between 100 – 120 students that I’ll get to speak with at Alliance Neuwirth Academy this afternoon, and it will be my first time ‘back in action’ since my spectacular time abroad.

I will share pictures with the students from the trip, as well as a few insights on just what it means for me to travel to these other pueblos from which so many of our people hail, which I’m confident will make our time together all the more worthwhile.

From there, we’ve got much more work left to do. It is summertime in Los Angeles, and as educators all throughout The City know well, the summer can be a most critical point of the year for young people everywhere; school is out, mamá y papá ‘tan trabajando, and at that point: What exactly is there to do? Where do we go? And with who? Is it safe?

There is a world to build for L.A.’s youth to make these questions less difficult for them, but as with all worlds, we need time. Today is a matter of taking advantage then, of what little time we’ve been afforded. Indeed it always is, but a healthy reminder never hurts. In fact, I think it’s been quite helpful already.

Let’s get it done Los Angeles,

J.T.

At Another Intersection

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Los Angeles, California; Vermont and Santa Monica boulevard.

Just like that, another month goes by. August has been an amazing time for yours truly, and now, a new cycle begins for the year ahead! Based on all that the road has been up to this point, I have a great feeling about J.T. moving forward. I know that there will be great obstacles to come with moving forward, but I trust that as with everything else, I’ll find a way to enjoy the ride.

At the end of the day, and with magical precision, we are always moving forward, or into the next version of ourselves. Through the high and the low ends, we always arrive precisely at the places we need to be, always right on time, and just as the characters we’re meant to be.

With more soon,