life in L.A.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about recent travels, impostor syndrome, and discouragement (more on these things later!) but in the meantime I’m riding a good feeling about L.A.

I mean, I still hate it and it’s still terrible in countless ways. But the count-o-meter of things to love about being here has been steadily rising over the past couple years. A good deal of this feeling can be attributed to some very distinct life events - meeting and coming to know Justin, working at a large corporation and developing self-confidence in a broader context, TURNING 30…

More recently, I’ve been attending a few meet-ups and am delighted by the idea that finally - I’ve found some awesome outlets for civic engagement. I love the ideals espoused by Hack For LA and the sheer awesomeness of MAPTIME!! I LOVE MAPS and knowing a city and its neighborhoods via its surface streets. And in such a car-entrapped bubble as L.A., it’s a relief to know of these venues for discussion, creation, iteration, re-iteration…

It’s also been a great summer in terms of friends’ life event celebrations; hosting a newly-minted 21-year old cousin staying in Santa Monica; and spending deep, meaningful, AWESOME FUN TIMES with friends new, old, and older. This summer involved more visits to new places than I expected. And my plant babies are doing great! This sense of… creation… of creating code; creating new, organic plant life; creating new personhood and sense of self - just feels good.