Where I Go

That’s Right, I Don’t Drive in Los Angeles

The Bus Has a Code of Behavior, a Pace, and an Intimacy All Its Own

There are over 6 million drivers in the county of Los Angeles, but I’m not one of them. Since 1998, when my family moved here from the Philippines, we have relied on Metro, L.A.’s major public transportation system, to get around. For 13 years, my aunt left our East Hollywood apartment at 5:30 a.m. and arrived home at 6 p.m. every day, taking two buses to and from her workplace in El Monte, 18 miles away. Growing up, I walked with my mother to and from Lockwood Elementary School less …

by Nicolei Gupit |

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More In: Where I Go

It’s Monday Night in Hollywood. That Means Salsa.

Whirling and Wondering at El Floridita, Where the Food Is Cuban, the Dancing Is Pan-American, and the Setting Is This Strange Place Called Los Angeles

by Tania Flores |

“¿De dónde eres?” asks the young man who offered me his hand and guided me onto the dance floor moments ago. He’s an intuitive leader, and, wedged as we are …

Good Migrations

When the Geese Fly South, the Sacramento National Wildlife Sanctuary Is the Place to Be

by Steven T. Callan |

“I’ll probably be gone all night,” announced Wally, opening the closet door and reaching for his uniform coat. “Hiller’s been getting reports of late-night duck shooting east of the refuge.”

It …

Why I Traveled 3,000 Miles to Get to Temple

In the Midst of Divorce, I Escaped New York for a More Serious Religious Experience—and Found It In L.A.

by Wendy Paris |

It’s Friday night and I’m sitting by myself near the back of the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, listening to Rabbi Mordecai Finley talk …

Playing My Country Song in a Cineplex

How Life, Career, and Injury Led Me to Songwriting, and Gigs in Unusual Inland Empire Spaces

by Jim Van NewKirk |

Have you been to the movies in Corona? If so, you may have heard me—performing not on the screen, but in the lobby of the Dos Lagos Stadium 15.

The crowds …

Why Dead Malls Comfort Me

Thoughts On Vanished Grandeur—and Coffee In Styrofoam Cups

by Christopher Leonard |

I feel at home in dead malls. When I walk inside and absorb the silence, when I see the empty storefronts and walk past second-rate retailers that barely cling to …


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