Author Archives: JimArnoldLA

Essential Reading for the Sleepwalkers Among Us

Here’s a recommendation for the erstwhile progressive, a trio of books to get you thinking about the current state of affairs in the world and in particular, the United States. This list will scare you if you’re brave enough to read the books and internalize their messages, taking the unflinching look — which is pretty hard to do, I admit, since we’d like to think that the United States is different, it’s the best country, all of that. That’s how I was raised and what I was taught in school – you probably as well.

Those days are over, if they ever really existed. Here are the books, in no special order, along with my notes/impressions.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century – Thomas Piketty

OK, this is a difficult book if you’re not interested in financial arcana. Much of it is very prosaic, and it doesn’t help that it’s written by someone whose first language is not English, but French. That said, there are a few chapters that are riveting.

I felt a lot of the book was restating the same thing over and over. However, I learned a great deal about the history of capitalism as practiced in the West, and found it fascinating to learn about such obscure things as the Cost Of Living in the 19th Century and the history of inflation, etc. He makes a very persuasive case that the return on capital will always outstrip other forms of income and that will always lead to greater inequality, unless governments manage wealth by taxation policy (that’s his main argument).

I look at it this way – there’s an easy way and then there’s a hard way to fight inequality. The easy way is through modified tax laws, which in the US should take us back to the rates existing in the 1950s and 60s, our most prosperous era. The hard way is to go back to 1789, (see Revolution, French) which I don’t think would be a plus for anyone – for the 1%, surely not, but also not for the 99%.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism – Naomi Klein

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The Shock Doctrine should be required reading for anyone participating in a representative democracy, that’s for sure. Highest Recommendation. It’s a lengthy book, and well worth the trouble.

and perhaps the most shocking of all —

No Place To Hide — Edward Snowden, the NSA and the U.S. Surveillance State — Glenn Greenwald

This is Greenwald’s account of the release of the Snowden NSA files to him and filmmaker Laura Poitras over a series of secret communiques and trips to various corners of the world. (The documentary film of this event/process is called CitizenFour and I highly recommend watching that as well – covers the same territory but obviously the book goes into more depth.)

Basically, your government is spying on you. All of your texts, emails, facebook postings, phone calls and any other kind of electronic communication you make is being logged and compiled. This, at present, is the basic idea of the Snowden revelations — that Americans are being spied upon in the name of “national security.” And not just people the government has probably cause to suspect of something, but all of us.

Critics of Snowden et al. will say that it’s only the metadata being tracked – things like phone numbers but not phone conversations, email headers but not the content of an email message. So the takeaway is that we have nothing to fear from that, that it’s not really spying. Tell me, what kind of picture of you would a good analyst have from knowing what phone numbers call you and that you call, and the content of your email headers? I think it would be a pretty good picture. If you have a mobile with GPS (and don’t we all) then they also track wherever you’ve “checked in” etc. So if they’re interested in finding out more, all they have to do is set a few parameters, and it’s like “24” or Jason Bourne right here and right now.

I was shocked that this is the world we live in now, not some sickening vision of an Orwellian future. It’s the United States of America, 2015. Welcome home. Read and know.

Walking in LA

Walking in DTLA, Main Street

I loved this story in The New York Times detailing what it’s like to be a walker in our town. Some of the itineraries are pretty sweet as well. (The writer, Stephanie Rosenbloom, included places even I’ve never been to in my 30+ years of wandering around Los Angeles.)

Also it kind of gave me a shot of validation — being car-free and a very often cyclist and/or pedestrian is still much outside the norm — I get the strange looks, the raised eyebrows or the subtle shake of the head, still.

But I persist. I often think, well, you can’t ride your bike forever, you can’t walk around forever — but then I think that it’s likely if I could not longer walk places I might very well no longer be able to drive to them, either. So for now, it’s that one-day-a-time kind of thing. Today’s a good day to bike. Tomorrow sounds like a great day to walk in the sun.

Anyway, Angelenos and non-Angelenos check it out, find some good walking spots. All our lives will be quieter for it.

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Missing Hearts in San Francisco

“Heaven is a city much like San Francisco.” — Tony Kushner, Angels in America

Just there for a few days, and I remembered, in the rain, all the things I did love about living in The City. If it’s been taken over by the techies, totally, this wasn’t apparent to me; I largely saw what’s always been there for me: characters (that you don’t see anywhere else), water, cool breezes, astonishing buildings, non-pretentiousness. See, even a Cat in the City misses me:

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I also took a walk over to the de Young Museum, not far from where Spitty’s owner (my cousin Mary) lives. The Keith Haring exhibit (The Political Line) is on view till February.

It’s very powerful, even though I think I agree with my cousin that a little Haring does go a long way. What was particularly interesting/disorienting was overhearing the docent put Haring and AIDS and the political climate of the 1980s surrounding it in an historical perspective, like it was an event in time like the French Revolution or the days of King Tut. That was a great reminder to me that those of us who were there and survived that time have to continue to bear witness to it, even if we’d rather sometimes just move on. It’s like opening up a recently scabbed wound. Here are some pictures — some of his art had to do with anti-consumerism, which I didn’t really know about beforehand but was delighted to see. Here’s a great resource on Keith Haring over at Artsy.

Silence = Death

Deadly Rides: Bicycle Hit & Runs, Rider Deaths Rise in L.A.

How the blogger lights up his ride

Sobering read in the L.A. Times. As more and more bicyclists take to the roads in Southern California, accidents will only increase. Hit and run drivers are cowards, for sure, and also criminals. Though the story points out, they are often hard to track because not much evidence exists of their crime.

While I loathe these drivers and the death and destruction they cause, I do have to say that there are things cyclists can do to minimize the possibility of an accident, whether hit and run or not.

These include:

Obeying road rules – including stop signs and lights. While inconvenient, the worst thing you can do to a motorist (IMHO) is surprise him or her. Your behavior must be predictable, like that of the other car drivers. That’s the only thing that makes our roads not a total free-for-all.
Not obeying the law when to do so would put your life in danger – let’s be honest, there’s too many cars in L.A. and not all roads are safe for cyclists. There are streets I will not ride down as they are basically unsafe at any speed for a cyclist – for instance, Sunset Boulevard during rush hours where the parking lane is used for traffic and other streets like this. In those cases, if I must go down that street, I ride on the sidewalk, slowly, being very wary of pedestrians and driveways.
Lights and reflectors – you see in the photo how I operate at night. That might be a little extreme, but I know I’m seen by drivers. I always get a wide berth at night, and I’m sure that’s because of the lights. Otherwise, drivers really don’t see you.
Don’t be in such a hurry, and never take chances, ’cause between a bike and car, the winner is always going to be the car. No, I’m no longer a daredevil — at all, and maybe that’s something that comes with age. If so, I’m grateful. I’m not going to get into a confrontation with a car, because I know the outcome won’t be good for me, even if I’m in the right. This may go against instinct, but it’s useful as a survival tactic.

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I hope that as more cyclists take to the roads and people drive less, we’ll really find ways to safely coexist — like separated lanes for bikes and cars, what a concept! That I’d love to see. In the meantime, let’s be safer cyclists and prosecute those criminal drivers on our streets.

Draft of “Kept” Almost Finished

Hard to believe it, but a good first draft of my next novel “Kept” is just a few choice scenes away. I do find that since I started outlining chapters awhile back that they’re a) easier to write and b) require less editing (hopefully it’s because I got the idea down right the first time).

So when will this steaming slice of crime and sex in the hot desert nights of Palm Springs be published? Well, I’m hoping for a summer 2015 book.

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If everything goes well and according to plan, you’ll be able to bring “Kept” along to the beach or the coffeehouse or library or wherever it is you read.

Obamacare – Update on my health “CARE” for 2015

Greed

Please read: Michael Moore’s opinion piece in the NYT.

In this piece he argues that, Ok, Obamacare is really awful, but probably not for the reasons you would think. It’s awful because it kept the horrid American Health Insurance system intact instead of destroying it. Obamacare is a godsend to many, but it’s also a giant government payola giveaway to Big Health and Big Pharma. He’s right, it is.

So it’s a start in the reform we so desperately need in this country, and what we need is a Single Payer System, Medicare for all. And this will eventually come, I do believe that. I’m not sure how long it will take, I might likely be dead by then. But I urge you to read his piece if you haven’t yet.

Obamacare has helped me, personally, as a part-time freelance worker. I get a subsidy, though when I actually go to receive health care, I have huge deductibles. So, honestly, I try to do everything in my power to stay healthy, and for me that really means eating right and exercising plenty and getting good sleep every night and trusting in my genes.

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One of the most infuriating things about the plan I do have (a Bronze HSA plan) is that I pay percentages of co-insurance rather than specific dollar amounts of co-pay. So it’s all smoke and mirrors, since there are no price lists, there is no comparing one health care “store” with another since I’m at an HMO where everything is basically under one roof.

So — it’s not ideal, but it’s better than it was, and with Obamacare, I have to have prescription coverage, which I didn’t have before – because that’s required as part of the law.

But what I really wanted to point out in this “update” is, that contrary to everything you read in our right-wing media that hates Obama and anything having to do with him or the ACA — my premiums actually DECLINED for 2015. That’s right – the same plan is about 7% cheaper in 2015 than it was in 2014. So I guess market forces have lowered costs somewhat – there’s 30 plans I could choose from on the Covered California exchange, so maybe that made it to the Kaiser boardroom where they set their rates.

Whatever the process, I do benefit – and if I don’t get sick and don’t go to the doctor, I really, really benefit. But I ask you, truly, is this the way we want to run health CARE in this country? Hoping you don’t get sick and avoiding care to the very last moment? Because that’s still the way it is, even with the insurance – the enormous co-pays and deductibles almost guarantee it.

Single Payer Now. I count the days, or I would, except it’s too far off in the future — for the day I turn 65 and Medicare kicks in. (OK, it’s 5 years away, 2020)

Uber, revisited. . .

imgres Well, I saw this story in The New York Times and I could not stop myself from commenting once I stopped vomiting!

Am I the only who finds it really tedious that reporters such as this one think that Angelenos’ dream is to ape New York City in all respects?

Now I understand the the Times is a New York paper and would have that bias, i.e., reporting on things New Yorkers would be interested in. But. Seriously.

Until Uber turned out to be a douchebag company that exploits its workers and scoffs and sensible safety regulations for its drivers and their cars — I thought it was a game changer myself. And the idea still is, whether it’s Uber or Lyft or some other company that finally makes this sharing a winner for both the buyer and seller. Even the guy profiled in the linked story says Uber has become a “soulless psycho monster.”

Maybe it would have made more sense to title the piece “How Car Sharing is Changing Los Angeles Nightlife,” but that would’ve been less sexy.

But New Yorkers, please, look at a fucking map. Look at distances. And learn some history. Los Angeles has a huge public transportation infrastructure: a subway, light rail and enormous bus system. The current construction of multiple light rail lines at once is the largest public works project currently underway in the United States. At least one place in the country is thinking about infrastructure. Though from this article, you wouldn’t know that the guy who takes Uber from Hollywood to DTLA could also easily have taken the subway for a fraction of the cost. He could have taken a bus. Or a cab. So it’s not like these options did not exist before.

I do applaud those who get out of their cars and actually commit to a car free life in Los Angeles; it takes some doing.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles take the Metro every day in all its permutations for every possible need; they don’t own cars. What is truly astounding is that this article seems to have discovered something when it hasn’t. It truly must be a “white girl (or guy) problem” to figure out how to drink in both Koreatown and West Hollywood on the same night without getting a DUI or calling a pesky taxi company.

Newsflash to the Times: I’ve been going out to multiple locations at night for over 30 years in Los Angeles. Often with car, often without. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not a new thing. It wasn’t new when I was in my 20s, and it’s certainly not new now.

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Also – this story fails for its conflating the opening of the Ace hotel as a reason DTLA is becoming a “destination.” Just swallow the obvious Ace PR hype without question here, dear writer! DTLA has had a cultural renaissance for at least over 10 years, going on 15. The opening of the subway lines in the 90s had a lot to do with it. DTLA does continue to get more hip with each passing year; it does get more interesting as well. However, the Ace has nothing to do with it.

“Untethered from their vehicles, Angelenos are suddenly free to drink, party and walk places.” — umm, like that wasn’t done before?

Before “Uber was a thing” — there was a “thing” called taxicabs. I know, it’s hard to believe.

And for the Uber driver who says LA is almost like NY – seriously? LA, thank the goddess, is not full of Duane Reades and Citibanks on every block. There’s no snow. There are palm trees. A gazillion other differences, the key point being L.A. does not aspire to be New York.

It’s like what we used to say about the New Yorkers when they complained they couldn’t get a decent bagel or slice of pizza at 3 a.m. — if it’s that important to ya, move right on back. We don’t really care.

Those are the easy cliches – but what I would say to the newcomer who’s trying to get the best of his New York life and seamlessly transfer it to L.A. – hopefully, you’ll find that a Southern California lifestyle isn’t really about getting to and from restaurants and bars/clubs. It’s about the outdoors – from the beaches to the mountains and everything in between. That’s a big part of what being an Angeleno is. I hope he figures that part out.

OK, rant over.

On Writing: The Lowly Adverb Gets No Love

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Where stand you on this divisive issue? Why are all the writing pundits so against adverbs:

“Close the door quickly,” he sneered venomously.

It’s lazy writing for sure. But why all the hate? Aren’t adverbs descriptive, don’t they give you a more “colorful” picture of how something was done, e.g. “he wrote the report accurately.”

One of the basic rules of creative writing is to “show, don’t tell.” I’m not supposed to just tell you Bob wrote his report accurately. It’s more elegant to let you know a bit about Bob, about how he’s an internet research maven, about how he cross-checks a source, about how he does his best work in the early morning when he’s fresh. Only then, when he’s sure he’s got the best information possible, only then does he write his report. And it’s accurate.

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So we get more of an in-depth picture of Bob. Perhaps we even like him more, we like his industriousness, we might even agree to have coffee with him at 5:30 a.m., to see if some of that perseverance rubs off. Or maybe not, that’s a bit early.

In business writing there’s not usually a great deal of modifiers being thrown about, as we’re talking about facts and don’t want to be accused of editorializing something that shouldn’t be. However, we do find adverbs in the more creative prose we find in B2B writing, for instance, blog entries and case studies.

Another reason to consider not using adverbs is because their use calls into question whether or not the writer trusts his audience. Adding a modifier can be construed as saying, “get it?” the verbal equivalent of hitting someone over the head with a bat.

More: they’re extraneous. Literally, truly, they are. Actually. They can be eliminated and not missed. One fix option is to use a stronger verb: “Bob spilled blood over that report.”

Of course, adverbs are words, they’re in the dictionary, they do have their place. So I guess we need not be too strident, just vigilant, and not use these modifiers—needlessly!

Inspiration, and more inspiration.

Where do Artists Go in 2014 to Create?

Cary Grant’s artist garret in “An Affair to Remember” Right. . .

I’m reading a great biography, that of the late artist David Wojnarowicz (“Fire in the Belly,” by Cynthia Carr) which is largely set in the milieu where he lived and worked, New York’s East Village.

David was part of that late 70s-80s punk/art/film/lit explosion that was centered there, when you could actually be a visual artist in Manhattan and support yourself working for the wages of a part-time busboy in a nightclub.

Those days are certainly gone — the old story is that the artists come in and make a run-down neighborhood more attractive to middle class people, gentrification ensues and then the artists get priced out of the neighborhood. That certainly happened in the East Village and other Bohemian enclaves in other cities.

In fact, none of the U.S. cities we normally think of on the “creative” spectrum — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, etc — rank as affordable for such creative types anymore. Central cities have run out of colonization space. So – I pose the question, if one is a striving artistic type and can’t afford one of these cities, where do they go to create?

Here is a recent letter from Salon (regarding an article on on Manhattan density, but it’s about art space):

I lived in New York 20 years, as an artist; even saw what most people would consider huge success as an artist for most of it. But finally, it became so expensive that I couldn’t even afford a small room. While payments and opportunities were getting less and less. My stomach was literally eating itself in worry, so I left.

Then I moved to Paris, way too expensive (and less fun). So, I moved to Berlin…that was definitely cheaper, at first. And then more and more, and too difficult to get a real visa to stay. So then Amsterdam, all over UK, Scotland, Ireland…all became way too expensive for me to survive.

So finally, I moved to Bangkok; easy to stay legally, and very affordable. But now, it’s going up up up in price all the time, and a huge crackdown on visas; I’m paying more here now, than when I first moved to Manhattan. And the politics and corruption and political coups have taken their tole on me. (sic)

I just don’t know where artists are going to go soon, other than the grave.

So if even Bangkok is too pricey, where to? Well, never fear, I’ve scanned the Internet for you and this is what I’ve come up with:

You’ve probably figured it out, it’s going to be a smaller city. Just makes sense, after all, they are cheaper to live in. But what about the community that supports the artist — and by that, I don’t mean just money — what about inspiration, idea exchange, opportunities for exhibition/readings/performance? I suppose they’re all here, just not in the quantity or (perhaps) quality you find in a bigger place.

I’ll pick 10 in no particular order:

Portland, OR — or maybe Portland, ME — creative types and as of yet, not as heavy on the rent expense as the bigger cities. I wouldn’t want to live in a cliche — Portlandia, anyone? Though hey dude, I guess I do already. (Los Angeles)
New Orleans — I have relatives there, and have spent some decent amounts of time there, so I know it’s both cheap and creative. However, if you move, I’d put the emphasis on temporary – there will be another Katrina, for sure, and the entire city will probably be underwater in 100 years. Of course, we’ll all be dead then. But still.
Nashville — cheap rents still to be had according to craigslist. Music ain’t bad, either.
Detroit — yeah we have all seen the videos of the abandoned neighborhoods — and guess what, when a place has a lot of vacancy, it’s not expensive to live there. I could think of a lot of plusses – great “bones,” a lot of cultural inspiration, Canada is across the river. You might be a pioneer or a gentrifier, depending on how you think of it. I’m sure the long time residents would have their own ideas! But of all these places, I can imagine it might be the best in terms of space for visual art makers.
Las Vegas — ok you weren’t expecting this one. But, let’s look at some things – housing crash, anyone? Hit really hard here. Hasn’t recovered, which is good for you, dear renter. I know someone who just got a decent one bedroom there for $600. That’s less than half of what they’re going for in L.A. right now. Also, it’s got mostly great weather, proximity to Southern California, and there’s a shitload of money there. Long term, may have the opposite problem that New Orleans has (no water at all) but for the next few years, this might be a place to consider.

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Santa Fe — ok this was on a list, though I’ve often read that it’s too expensive to live in, it’s still cheaper than the reference cities of L.A., New York, San Francisco, Boston, etc. Galleries galore, amazing history, culture and there’s that light – Georgia O’Keeffe had a point.
Milwaukee — OK, this wasn’t on any list except my own! It’s a secret — always in the shadow of huge Chicago or hipper Madison, Milwaukee is often an architectural gem with very affordable, well constructed old buildings. It’a friendly place, has its problems (segregation, six months of winter) but it’s always had a vibrant arts community and a lot going on. I grew up there, and can tell you it’s a lot more cosmopolitan now than it was when I left in 1981. It’s a 90 minute ride on the train to Chicago’s Loop. Shares the same western shore of beautiful Lake Michigan with Chicago, too. (But don’t tell anybody. It’s my secret.)
Los Angeles — Ok, surprise, I put this on the list. Even though it’s always on the list of most unaffordable cities. I live here, and I know it can still be lived in on a budget, as I do that every day. One of the articles I referenced for this post lists small studio apartments at $1,500 a month – I’m sure you could find that, in West Hollywood or Santa Monica, but I rent a one bedroom for $550 less, in the close-in valley neighborhood of Valley Village. So it really is possible to live here cheaply, I’ve made a science of it, sort of. Of course, by actually living in L.A., you have access to people with money and creative clout and amazing things happening every day and every night — a huge boon to any kind of creative endeavor.
Tucson, Arizona — This made my list because it’s a place I’ve seriously considered moving — during an intensive around the country road trip I made back in 1996, I flagged three cities (Tucson, Austin and Fort Lauderdale) as smaller cities I thought I might be able to live in. Ft. Lauderdale is off the list, Austin is no longer small but Tucson remains — most “city comparison” sites I’ve gone to say it’s about 25-30% cheaper than Los Angeles. It’s a college town with a vibrant literary and large enough gay community. So I suspect, that because rents are so low, it would also have that loft or studio space visual artists need. And, if I get homesick, it’s less than a day’s drive (ok it’s a long day) from L.A., or an overnight train ride, or a 1.5 hour flight.

Other choices? I limited this list to U.S. locations, but I’m sure there’s many great (probably superior) options elsewhere.