Dear Citizens of the City of Devils
Dear Citizens of the City of Devils,
As this is our last round up of the year, I wanted my blog post to compile a lot of different topics we have been talking about this year into one project. Right now I am hoping to make my own zine of poems and art pieces for my round up expansion. Here are my questions and thoughts to which you can respond to:
So this year we have covered and discussed a very wide range of topics relating to L.A. and how those topics relate back to our lives and how those allow us to understand our home as a whole. We learned about Los Angeles's twisted and confusing history, mediums (books, tv, visual art, music etc...) that analyze LA, transportation, immigration, disease and illness, gangs, gentrification etc....What I want to know from you all is what aspect of Los Angeles has been the most formative to your life here. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends here and how does the city allow you to do that? It could be just driving, or going to a movie, or even just going to your favorite sandwich shop lol. What has challenged you. What has this class made you realize? What is the most beautiful thing about the city to you and how does it make you feel? Whether you are staying close for college or going far away, how do you think your relationship with the city will change when you leave? How does that make you feel?
I know this is very very broad, but I really want your voices to come through in my zine and I want to give everyone a chance to say what they want to say for the last post and summarize/reflect on our experience in this class.
With love,
Coco
As this is our last round up of the year, I wanted my blog post to compile a lot of different topics we have been talking about this year into one project. Right now I am hoping to make my own zine of poems and art pieces for my round up expansion. Here are my questions and thoughts to which you can respond to:
So this year we have covered and discussed a very wide range of topics relating to L.A. and how those topics relate back to our lives and how those allow us to understand our home as a whole. We learned about Los Angeles's twisted and confusing history, mediums (books, tv, visual art, music etc...) that analyze LA, transportation, immigration, disease and illness, gangs, gentrification etc....What I want to know from you all is what aspect of Los Angeles has been the most formative to your life here. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends here and how does the city allow you to do that? It could be just driving, or going to a movie, or even just going to your favorite sandwich shop lol. What has challenged you. What has this class made you realize? What is the most beautiful thing about the city to you and how does it make you feel? Whether you are staying close for college or going far away, how do you think your relationship with the city will change when you leave? How does that make you feel?
I know this is very very broad, but I really want your voices to come through in my zine and I want to give everyone a chance to say what they want to say for the last post and summarize/reflect on our experience in this class.
With love,
Coco
I would say that the topic most formative to my life from this class has been learning about some of the darker parts of Los Angeles’ history, as it has really made me reflect on how much the city has changed and how it was the actions of many different people that made it into the diverse and (generally) accepting place it is today. My favorite part of the city is that there is such a wide array of things you can do on any given day and that all of those things aren’t congregated in one particular geographic area, which allows me to go to places I have maybe never seen or rarely see and do something interesting. Like I sort of touched on before, I think the best thing about the city is its diversity - whether that be about people or not. I think we’re all lucky to have grown up in a place with such a trait because it’s made us more aware of the different types of people/things in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of how my relationship with the city changes when I leave, I hope it doesn’t a lot. I think that it will actually make me appreciate all the city has to offer even more, and I plan on (at least for now) moving back and living here when I graduate from college.
Like Lux said, my favorite thing about Los Angeles is its diversity, both in terms of culture and geography. We are so fortunate to live in a city that publicly celebrates various cultures through food, performances, and much more. For example, being able to go to Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Koreatown, Olvera Street, or Little Italy is so cool to me. They are also all within a 30 minute drive, which is something that goes hand-in-hand with Los Angeles’s geography. We literally have access to everything: the mountains, the beaches, the city, the valleys, and many other places. Adding on, the fact of the matter is that this landscape is completely unique to Los Angeles, which kinda sucks for those of us who aren’t staying here for college. Also, the weather. I have nothing else to say about that.
ReplyDeleteAs for what this class has made me realize, during our walk to the beach, it made me appreciate all the little niche cities within Los Angeles. There is so much to see here and it’s sad to think I’ll never actually get to see it all. I wish I had taken more advantage of this city a couple years ago, but I’m glad that this class has allowed me to do just that.
Personally, I don’t think that my relationship with the city will change at all. In fact, I think that it will only make my appreciation for the city grow. Just thinking about leaving is already making me sad, and I feel like I’ll probably want to come back to LA. Idk it’s just such a cool place :’).
I agree with Lux about how eye-opening and informative learning about the history of LA was. I also agree with Sophie about how rewarding it was to explore the diverse cultures within Los Angeles. However, what stood out to me more specifically was exploring the various lives different people experience in the city. For example, Luis, in Always Running, has very different experiences in Los Angeles than Max Ritvo’s. Obviously there are so many factors that would lead these two individuals to follow different paths, but it’s incredible to think that there are so many different stories of LA. It’s always interesting to compare and contrast the similarities between the stories we here.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I think my favorite thing to do in the city is eat. There are so many excellent restaurants that showcase the flavors of different cultures as well as a lot of fusion cuisines.
I am leaving California for college, and while I am sad, I feel intense pride towards Los Angeles. This class has exposed me to some amazing things about the history and people of this city, and while there are dark moments, the strength of the people in this city is so inspiring and motivational. Whether it be the birth of the #metoo movement, the empowering murals in East Los Angeles, or the stories of my family, the courage and tenacity of Angelenos makes me very proud to be from LA.
i really appreciate LA's creativity and the Angelenos that contribute to that. Whether you're at an opening at Blum and Poe, a jazz concert at LACMA, a music festival at Dodger Stadium, or a film screening in Hollywood, the artistic scene in Los Angeles is always thriving. I also grew up in LA with artists and creators in my life. The art and its artists in Los Angeles has honestly shaped me into the person I am today. I also love discovering new spots in LA. Restaurant, clothing stores, parks, galleries, there is always something new and fun to discover in LA and I appreciate LA's spontaneous energy that I think contributes to me being curious about exploring. that made no sense.. anyway, I'm gonna miss a lot about LA when I leave for college. There is so much about LA that other cities got nothing on. I LOVE YOULAAAA BABBYYY
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing to do during the weekend is to hang out with friends! LA helps facilitate my passion by having a variety of different options within an hour from my house. I can enjoy a relaxing afternoon on the beach, a scenic view from the mountains, or hanging out amongst the greenery in the arroyo. This class has opened my eyes to new places in Los Angeles to spend my time. I love Jersey Mike’s because it lasts me throughout my track meets.
ReplyDeletei think this class has really helped me understand this city so much more. Living in Pasadena my entire life has really sheltered me and sort of stopped me from actually knowing LA (when this class first started out I honestly felt foreign to this city- like I literally felt like one of the tourists that we have made fun of in this class just because I really did not know anything about LA and it was honestly kind of embarrassing). I no longer feel like a stranger in my own city and that is really comforting.
ReplyDeleteI’ve also definitely grown to love this city a lot more. There are so many things to do in LA that I was just so not exposed to before this class- maybe it’s because I am older and I can do more things, but I honestly think this class has allowed me to venture outside my comfort zone and attend events and shows in different parts of town and explore different restaurants and cuisines. Living in this city has just become more fun for me. I went to an improv show the other day and that was awesome- and then a few weeks before that I went to a really small, low-key concert in LA and I have been to countless galleries and art shows and I just think it’s just really crazy what all this city has to offer.
Above all though, the weather is probably my favorite part about LA- I love painting in my backyard or eating lunch on my lawn on the weekends when it’s 70 degrees and sunny. I won’t be leaving California next year and I am so grateful that I get to take advantage of this weather and this beautiful city a little longer.
I love LA and this class!!! I've grown up my entire life in Los Angeles and it's a huge part of who I am. I don't even really know how to fully express it - Los Angeles has helped me grow as a person so much and has defined so much of who I am and what I'm interested in and my creativity and literally everything about me haha. It's honestly hard for me to pinpoint just one aspect of LA that has been formative to my growing up and living here. I think the combination of me physically living in LA but going to school in Pasadena and having family who are super involved in LA life has made this city so magical for me to grow up in.
ReplyDeletePeople mentioned the diversity in LA which is HUGE for me, and the communities I am able to be apart of in LA because of that diversity are super special to me. The freedom to move in LA and be in this open landscape that is also extremely urban and metropolitan is something I absolutely love about LA. Like Cole mentioned, the creativity here and like Charlotte and Sophie mentioned the weather and natural landscape are incredible!!!
I think I get a lot of my independence from Los Angeles if that makes sense. The city sort of challenges me to be bolder and more myself. I am so proud to be from LA and to have grown up where I did.
It's the landscape that gets me... the reason why I'm seriously devastated to leave LA. This weekend my Dad and I were driving on the 2 en route to the New Beverly, his college hangout, and there was the most insane California sunset. It weirdly felt like some personal goodbye from the city to me. I remember flying back into Burbank in September from Boston and just thinking that nothing could be more stunning. Even the drive up Lake to my house in Altadena is indescribable...with the purple mountains and that soft, dimmed, LA light on the white storefronts. It's unreal, and I could go on and on. I know we talk about the facade of LA being the health mecca and all-healing paradise because of it's landscape, but I kind of believe it. Driving across the city - driving to my house heals me. Seeing a movie with my Dad, where he used to spend all his time [alone], heals me too.
ReplyDeleteThis isn’t necessarily specific to weekends, but I really love driving around the city (more specifically, being a passenger so that I can take my eyes off the road for extended periods of time). i think it’s a solid way to take in LA because the traffic etc. means that you’re almost never going too fast to take in at least some of your surroundings, while still moving along at a pace where there are constantly new things to look at.
ReplyDeleteRegarding this class specifically, one thing it’s made me more aware of are the issues within the city. I think that I’ve spent a lot of my life so far ignoring those things because it’s still “better here” than in so many other places, but this class has reminded me that that’s not necessarily good enough.
Lastly, in terms of potential changes to my relationship with Los Angeles, I’ve already had the experience of living away from home with other people whose homes were in different places, and I noticed that for me, that intensifies the pride that I feel in coming from Los Angeles. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is so important to me about the city, but I think I just really love the fact that LA has exposed me to so many different cultures and that it’s a place where so many different people can coexist and feel like they belong. I love the fact that our weather is better than most other places and that that allows for sports and outside activities to flourish here (because the east coast could NEVER).
I think it's really just the sheer bio, spacial, cultural, and culinary diversity that makes Los Angeles so unique. In under ninety minutes, I can be surfing, skiing, or hiking in an entirely different environment. I can have actually good tasting Mexican food, Indian food, and so much more. L.A. is a multicultural hub that enables us to try and experience some of the most profound and best foods, activities, movies, weather, and more in the world.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at the booster imagery that was used to attract newcomers to The Golden State, I began to see the many truths behind the rhetoric, and many of the themes/activities depicted resonated with me. There's just so much possibility (at least in my perspective) in Los Angeles, and I'm so happy I got to grow up in this amazing area. I'm going to miss those driving down PCH, surfing at Manhattan beach, and eating In-N-Out. It's been truly such an amazing experience being a part of the City Of Angles class, and I hope we all can recognize the value we all got out of the course.
It's variety of beautiful cultures and landscapes is what I really love about LA. It's kind of weird to think about how much of an impact LA has had on my life. I guess I never really thought the impact or influence it had on me as a person since it has just been my life for the past 17 years. Regarding activities and things I like to do on the weekends. I think I would just say that I love the ocean a lot and it is nice having access to the ocean so close to me. The beach has always been a special place for me just because my dad and I have gone to Dockweiler Beach since I was little; when I was little he would read and I would draw (now we both read or write considering the fact I have realized I can not draw) and then we would go to The Shack Burger. My dad and I also are very into trying new foods and LA has a plethora of different types of foods and restaurants which is a really fun thing to do (go around trying new foods).
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