i’ve lived in LA for 5 years now (that year in SF counts…it’s still CA) and i’ve traveled to many of its different areas/hoods. i’ve driven up and down wilshire between vermont and the ocean. yet, i still couldn’t fully comprehend what it would be like to live in SM. ironically, now that i live here, the place seems totally new and foreign to me. SMB and 17th st, where my local ace hardware store is, doesn’t even look familiar to me, even though i must have passed by it in a car a gazillion times. my adjacent blocks near home seemed new, too. i later realized that because i now live here, i see things differently. fortunately, for me, this new perspective is quite welcome. it’s not always like that – sometimes, you wake up and realize you made a bad judgment call and you wonder how you will pull yourself out of this mess.

i quickly adopted cafe zella at wilshire + 16th as my local coffee place and comfort spot. it has great light from its floor to ceiling windows and great coffee. also, good banana bread and double chocolate chip cookies. i have found my local post office @ 12th and my local pharmacy at 18th. these areas have become home. there’s a branch of the SM public library @ 17th + montana – which i will soon patronize. i’ve been to both vons @ 14th and WF @ 23rd. my previous neighbor in WH said that i would quickly acclimate to SM as it has that same microcosm feel of WH. based on the aforementioned proximity of necessary destinations, what he said is true.

i like my new neighborhood: it’s cozy and residential. it’s not touristy. it’s on the edge of yuppie. it’s not too granola (not that granola is bad…but sometimes granola is smelly). when i look down california, i can see the ocean. i am lucky.