Camarillo, CA

It occured to me that I write about sports a lot, and things happening in my life, but they're more like actions I'm doing in the moment, not my physical surroundings. One might get the impression that I take my surroundings for granted, don't really care one way or another about them.

Truth is, I like living in Camarillo, CA. (For some parts of the year- other times I live near USC, last year it was on USC campus, TBD for the next 2).
Whenever I tell people from SoCal that I live in Camarillo, the response that comes up 80% of the time, (all the time), is "That's where the Camarillo Outlets are!" As opposed to Illinois people who say, "Camarillo sounds like Amarillo, Texas."

Yup, Camarillo's claim to faim are the outrights, but it has so much more. What struck me the first time I came was going down "The Grade" on the 101.......I was arriving from LAX in my mom's car ready to just go to the new home and sleep, when suddenly the Ventura Freeway dropped down into a massive downhill and before me the Camarillo Valley presented itself in its most grandiose form. I felt like William and Clark finding new land in the west, or reaching my final destination in the game Oregon Trail: It was a beauty to behold. Lights were lit everywhere, you could see pretty much the whole city from where I was. I knew I was gonna do just fine in Camarillo from then on.

Thing about Camarillo is, it enjoys all the benefits of surburbia while not being too far from LA, and it's really close to nature's exhibits like the Port Hueneme Mountains and Oxnard beaches. I'm often confused about why people are against the suburbs ("suburbia sprawling" is in the song Kids of America by Cascada, and it becomes the natural explanation for anything weird going on, like, "people came at me with Malibu Barbie dolls looking like they wanted to kill me!" easily explained away by saying, "well, it's the suburbs." Other popular TV references: "Weeds" with Mary Louise Parker basically showing everyone in the suburbs being so bored as to need weed all the time, and "Disturbia" with Shia LaBoeuf- weird movie.

Anyway, I like the suburbs. Got everything you need without the constant worry of crime, and plenty of open land, tennis courts, and bike paths for me.

Highlighting Camarillo's weather: When it's 100 degrees in Thousand Oaks/ Agoura Hills (a few surburbs away), it's 80 degrees in Camarillo because we're protected by the valley I previously talked about. Nice temperate winds, soothing temperatures, just a hint of rainfall once in a while, all good.

Camarillo: Where Delmon Young went to high school. I need that guy to start hitting and become an all-star so I can boast about it. C'mon, man!

Camarillo: Where I can operate my blog in peace.

Peace out!
-Robert Yan