Last September marked the 10-year anniversary of me moving to L.A. for good from Illinois in 2008, so I've lived almost my entire adult life in this city. And as the Japanese proverb I've listed here says, (Sumeba miyako, or literally "if you live there, it becomes the capital), I've come to love L.A. And not just for the weather, which of course is the first thing I bring up when people ask me how I love L.A.
MJ and I have a friend Nathan who hosts a show called Lost L.A., where he explores the hidden secrets of the history of L.A. Fascinating show, and a fascinating dude: he sure knows his stuff about how L.A. was built, grew up as a city, and interesting historical places in L.A. He's also a librarian, something I found interesting because it was one of jobs I was considering when I was in high school......but ultimately decided against it due to well, duh, the internet. But apparently libraries still exist even nowadays with smartphones and the internet, and some would say thriving or at least co-existing with the internet in what some would say is the physical location of a global knowledge hub. Did you know that the Los Angeles city library system has a $183 million annual budget. That's spread out over 72 different branches throughout the sprawl that is Los Angeles, but still, not a sum to sneeze that, and if you've ever gone to L.A. library, they have quite a few
I do appreciate the history of L.A. from the story of Chavez Ravine and Dodger Stadium to Koreatown to the NEW Chinatown and the OLD Chinatown ( I always get them confused, but MJ and I just went to eat at the OLD Chinatown right next to downtown L.A., featuring a restaurant that was used in the filming of Rush Hour, the Jackie Chan movie). The L.A. public library central branch has its own interesting history, mostly stemming from the fire of 1986 that nearly wiped out the Central Branch, leading to a mystery of who set off the fire and the restoration project that turned it into what it is today, all chronicled in a book called "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean that's a fascinating read, and which I ironically checked out to read from the library today. It's not just a history of the Central Library of L.A., it's a history of L.A. itself. If you're anything like me and go to other branches of libraries like the Little Tokyo Branch and even the Chinatown Branch, you'll love this book. I actually quite like the Central Library branch ever since I walked into it on a whim during law school one day; it beckoned me and has beckoned me to come back ever since anytime I am lucky enough to work near the building. It's like MJ when she goes to a souvenir shop: something always catches my eye, and I always have to come out of the library with something.
Generally, I love non-fiction history and interesting accounts through history (go back to my fascination of Forrest Gump), and reading the book made me appreciate being part of the history of L.A., specifically downtown L.A. Despite only living here for 10 years, I can sense the change in the city, whether it's the change from when parking was just $8 to like $15 nowadays, or when the apartment I currently live in was just a parking lot, to when downtown L.A. became a ghost town on weekends when people left to go home after work to now being a true urban city with a Whole Foods and Target! To having worked in the U.S. Bank Tower building when it was the tallest building this side of the Mississippi, to having stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel which became the new tallest building this side of the Mississippi. I've kind of grown up with this city, and if I plan on moving away for awhile, I'll be happy to change it up for a bit and get some new stimulus, but I'll appreciate the history I'm leaving behind.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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