“Don’t playa hate. Just stay awake.” That was the first thing I saw when stepping off Chicago’s pink like at Damen Avenue. Spray-painted in blue on the side of someone’s house next to what appeared to be someone’s graffiti artist name, I instantly pulled my […]
The best way to see a city is on foot. To learn your way around an area, you must become familiar with the streets and the directions. From a very early age, my mother taught me about my “internal compass.” Google Maps, of course, is […]
My Lyft driver was surprised by my lack of baggage en route to Los Angeles International Airport. I had my thirty-five liter, lightweight, Coreal hiking backpack, and my purse. That’s it. That’s all I needed the entire nine-day trip to a South American country. The […]
Los Angeles Magazine’s July issue encouraged me to venture to downtown’s Chinatown district where a beautiful thirty-two-acre state park celebrated its grand opening this past April. There are no swing sets or jungle gyms – just vast open spaces with drought-friendly plant life and dirt […]
I had a breast cancer scare in early 2015. My right breast was aching one morning at work while sitting at my desk. Naturally, I touched the place of pain, near my armpit but still atop the breast, in an effort to soothe the discomfort. […]
I thought today would be an opportune time for me to briefly discuss my relationship with wine. It began in the womb really as wine sort of runs in my blood what with my Italian, French, and Spanish heritage (yes, I’m quite the mutt). But […]
Father’s Day is not an easy day for me or one that I have ever necessarily looked forward to. Not only did I lose my father to lung cancer six years ago, but he and I also were never especially close. I always loved him, though […]
It’s easy becoming downtrodden with all the news in the world. It’s understandable to become immobilized with fear. Fear of violence, fear of being detained in a foreign land, and all-around fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time are all valid […]
Salvation Mountain is the entrance to the last free city in America, Slab City. And it’s epic. It’s colorful, fun, random, and religious. It’s everything I like to think of myself aside from the religious part. If Webster’s Dictionary were a picture book, Salvation Mountain […]
We’re like well-oiled machines. Once neglected, we’re rendered useless. We are reduced to rust, squeaking until someone mutters, “Better get some WD-40.” We need to feel wanted and useful. We need to feel like we have a purpose. Sometimes that purpose accommodates others and sometimes […]
