Author Archives: JimArnoldLA

Character Biography: Nancy Argento from “Kept”

Last night I went to see “Kill the Messenger,” a film about an investigative journalist starring Jeremy Renner as a writer vs. the CIA. I enjoyed it, particularly the details about writers and their lives. My current novel project “Kept” also has a (mostly) plucky reporter character, but let’s admit right here that she’s not going to be giving Woodward and Bernstein agita about their day jobs. So, returning to character bios from “Kept” (here is another and another). I give you:

Nancy Argento

Sex: yes, Female, and born that way.

Age: 31, 5-5, thin, blond (born in that direction but enhanced). Blue eyes.

Nancy tans easily.

Overall appearance – she’s good looking but not striking. A nice blond girl from the Midwest.

Someone like this, perhaps.

Physical defects: none apparent on inspection.

Heredity: well, she’s got allergies – which makes spring and fall in the desert challenging for her.

She drives a silver Ford Focus, and it’s a new model! Congrats on the wheels, you reporter you!

Social class: Middle class, college educated, bachelor’s degree.

Occupation: Newspaper reporter. Hungry for recognition and to land the scoop! She’s quite competitive.

Nancy’s home life: she is single, straight, dates guys in PS. She likes golf pros, it seems. Jocks. She’s found one named Ernst, who is German and often traveling. Originally, she’s from Cleveland. Nancy’s parents very straight-laced, Midwestern background, traditional values type people, the backbone of the old Democratic party in big cities. Nancy tries to pass herself off as a California girl with mixed results.

Religion: she’s Catholic, she goes to church on Sundays or Saturday afternoons at Our Lady of Solitude in Palm Springs.

Despite being a newcomer to town, Nancy is respected in the community.

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Politics: of course she doesn’t say, since she’s a reporter. Our hunch is that she’d lean more liberal in her personal views.

Amusements: She’s kind of bored in Palm Springs. Sometimes she golfs with her boyfriend; occasionally she might go to one of the outlying casinos or make the drive to L.A. or San Diego. She’s a voracious reader and spends a lot of time both physically at the library, and on the internet. She’s also a self-published mystery novelist, and had just done a reading when this story unfolds.

Professional ambition: she wants to get scoops so she can move on to a bigger market, the L.A. Times perhaps, she’d like to win awards. At the paper, she’s still referred to as the “new girl.”

Frustration: She hates it when people lie to her, and she doesn’t always know, but she’s getting better. But she still has some naivete, a real liability for a reporter.

Temperament: Nancy’s easygoing, again perhaps too much, it’s like she turned the “guarded” button to off.

She’s kind of an ambivert – she can force being extroverted when her job demands it but — she’s a writer.

Abilities: she’s fluent in Spanish; pretty much a requirement for her job.

Other qualities: She is poised, she has good judgment mostly, also has a vivid imagination about the motives of people and is always open to changing her mind on something, when presented with new evidence. She is very suggestible that way.

IQ: High

CicLAvia, October 5, 2014

Sunday (October 5) was another installment of CicLavia, the event in Los Angeles where they close off some streets for part of the day for the exclusive use of bicycles, skates, pedestrians, strollers, etc.

The route for October 5 stretched from Echo Park in the West to the East Los Angeles Civic Center in the east. Interesting, hot and surprisingly hilly in the eastern part of the ride. Still, I had a nice ride through many parts of L.A. that I don’t get to much — specifically downtown and the Boyle Heights area near Mariachi Plaza. Here’s a few photos for you, and also a video of two clips: A little “dance” station on Second Street, and inside the Second Street Tunnel (under Bunker Hill).

heading down to CicLAvia on the Red Line

Fashion

Dodger Fan

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Mariachi Station

House of Pies’ East Side Cousin

liked the typography!

Every Single One.

In 2nd Street Tunnel under Bunker Hill

COPS: Everything that’s wrong about America in one short “reality” show

OK so you probably read about a cameraman getting shot and killed on the production of this show, recently. Which is a really very sad and unfortunate thing, both for this man, his family and for the show and its fans.

yeah you wish

Though it’s pretty surprising this is the first time it happened. Probably, if you found this story somehow through the Internet, then you’re like me, because, yes – I admit that I sometimes watch COPS. Sometimes, even, I binge watch COPS (episodes are only 22 minutes long; also, they’re often set in Palm Springs, where I used to live, which gives me a kick).

But it’s like that empty high, that kind you get from the pink and white iced cupcake you know you shouldn’t be eating but do anyway and you’re gagging about 20 minutes later. Because COPS brings out the worst in us.

It’s about making us laugh at the misfortunes of poor people, mostly. Yuck yuck yuck, here’s another poor white trash slob getting pulled out from under his trailer. Surprise – he’s not wearing a shirt, he’s drunk, and he has no teeth. Well – I may have it bad, but not that bad! Not yet anyway.

Also I think the show really points out the absurd futility of the war on drugs, and the asinine laws we have on the books which routinely revel in absolutely destroying young men’s lives. More often than not, they’re young men of color. Although I’m sure the producers of COPS go to great pains to at least give the illusion that they’re unbiased in reporting on crime and race.

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But it’s so often set in some small town in a backward state where these minor drug crimes are felonies and it’s the way to keep these people off the streets, right – we don’t have that slavery anymore so that sure as hell won’t work – so send them all to prison. That’s the plan, right?

I get mad. Not only am I watching these COPS, who are probably decent guys and gals just hoping to make a living so they can buy a house and have kids and get a decent pension if they don’t get shot first, participate in this ruin but I also see it’s my tax dollars going to waste.

And sometimes their moralizing makes absolutely no sense. I remember one episode set in Vegas (another one of their favorite locations) and they were busting a young lady for streetwalking on the Strip. In the interview with the female task force officer, the girl talked about the money she’d make turning tricks (hundreds of dollars per night, or more) and the Person in Charge went on to detail how bad a life this would be, etc etc. But this young lady knows, like you and I both do, that a pretty 19 year old girl with perhaps a H.S. diploma, if that, in today’s world, might be able to get a fast food minimum wage job in a hellhole place like that, paying $8.25 per hour and requiring her to wear a silly costume and be a latter day wage slave – with no real hope of ever getting anywhere economically.

Not that prostitution is a sure road to a fantastic middle class life (though it could be a start) at least it pays a decent wage and there’s some semblance of control (at least this particular girl seemed quite smart to me). So what’s the real crime here? A no-victim offense like prostitution, or the systematic elimination of any real route to middle class?

All this is to say I resent the moralizing this show wants to convey and their definition of “crime.”

I’m really not sure who the real criminals are anymore.

How to Move Beyond Inertia (in several simple steps!)

Wrote these tips in a slightly different form a few weeks ago for my B2B Writing Newsletter. But I think they’re good tips, for everyone and for almost any endeavor where, if you’re like me, you need a kick in the pants!

Summer, my dear reader, is now over. And it’s back to work! But what happens when we’re not quite ready, when we just aren’t in the mood? I’ve scoured the web for you and found these suggestions when that energy thing is just not happening:

Just start moving, no matter how little. Open up that file on the computer or on that table. Login to the company site, open up the last document you worked on before the long weekend. Make one small move, then another one.
Break the task into little, or even tiny, pieces. Use a timer method, like the mechanical kitchen clocks or the online Freedom app (which I use – it’s great). When I’m wearing my fiction writer hat, I’ve been known to break writing up into increments as short as 15 minutes. (It adds up, it really does.)
Reward yourself for every little triumph. Use what rewards work for you.
Take a little break: Try meditation/a nap/a walk in the park (especially in the mid to late afternoon, instead of that trip to the carb machine—cause you know that won’t be pretty in about 20 minutes).
Keep your perspective. I always think about lying on my deathbed (well, I come from some seriously melancholy Celtic stock) and what would I wished I’d done more of in my life—and I bet working’s not going to be on that list.
Overwhelmed with tasks? Plan them out, put them all on paper, on a map in front of you, then revisit suggestion number 2 above.
Is the task even necessary? Maybe there’s things that don’t need, don’t absolutely have to be done! Like ever! Wouldn’t it be great to just cross them off your list?
Refuse to do what you just can’t bring yourself to do. Why? Because you won’t do it well, even if it’s is something that truly needs to be done. There’s a reason Scarlett O’Hara always said, “Tomorrow is another day.”
If nothing else, clean off your desk. You’ll likely find that task so heinous and so boring that you’ll naturally segue into the real work that needs doing.

Good luck! Send your procrastination beaters my way, too!

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“Death on a Bike” — Sobering Read

I found this opinion piece in the NY Times quite the sobering read.

I congratulate myself on having many lights and a rear-view mirror on my bike, in using streets with bike lanes, in never trusting what a car might do, and in avoiding any kind of altercation with a car or its driver (as the op-ed says, when in a bike vs. car drama you always lose if you’re the cyclist) and still I almost got totaled by a runner the other morning coming out of a grocery store parking lot laden with food for the week in saddlebags. Whose fault? Probably a little of both. Collision avoided, this time.

. . . this

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I agree there are more bicyclists that ever before on American roads and that will only grow as people drive less and less in the future. One of the safest towns I ever biked in was actually Palm Springs, which is built basically like a So Cal suburb, wide streets and high speed limits — with one major difference — they built a lot of separated bike paths there on some key routes (ok, so you might have to share it with someone in a wheelchair or a walker – and happy to do so). When totally separated from vehicle traffic it’s much safer and more enjoyable to ride – and safer and more enjoyable for the car drivers, too.

Wish we could do more of that here – separate lanes with a barrier between.

Gimme My Three . . . feet, that is.

So today’s the day, motorists in California need to give bicyclists a three foot buffer when passing.

Commuters arriving North Hollywood subway station.

It’s the law. Though I suspect, like many traffic laws including the no cell phone use law, it will be widely ignored and most people will be ignorant of it until it’s pointed to them in one way or another.

As a cyclist, I like the sentiment behind the law, i.e., our society thinks that cycling is valuable and good, and cyclists’ lives are worth something. Most (but not all) motorists don’t see/don’t care/shrug when presented with a bicycle on “their” streets, so we have a long way to go.

What would be even better than this? Dedicated bike lanes, bike paths that are actually separated from the roadway — I actually support removing traffic lanes and turning them into bicycle lanes — which, of course, most drivers, at least in a place with congested streets like L.A. would simply balk at.

They (the drivers) feel that the roads are theirs, and why should they share with either pedestrians or cyclists? Here’s a reality check, my dear drivers: there’s nothing in any law or in any tradition older than 100 years or so saying that the road is just for you and your internal combustion engines. So learn to share – whether it’s with a horse or a bicycle or a kid on a skateboard – we all need access to roads.

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Living in Palm Springs: The Cons

Told you it was coming, where there’s Pros, there are also Cons. So here’s the list, again unique to my own circumstances. I made these lists when planning to move to or stay in Palm Springs – both of which I’ve done now more than once!

So, the cons:

- Not good for entertainment industry contacts, and no networking possibilities, or fewer of them.
- Can be somewhat isolating – or is that just me? I found it very claustrophobic, especially in the summer, when I felt like I was living in a cave I dare not leave – or be fried.
- Does not have an urban “edge” – there’s an absence of any kind of urbane cultured group. You have to make road trips to L.A. for that.

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PS can be surprisingly redneck — depending on what neighborhood you’re in.
Public transport is limited, especially for commuting to L.A. and back. There is a bus system, but it mainly runs during the day and not often. There are cabs (now, I think, there’s even Uber there). Also, there’s a link to Metrolink in Riverside for train trips to the city, but that’s so time consuming and complicated it makes more sense to rent a car for the trip.
Suburban, or small town layout and plan. Car dependent culture. Has very few walkable neighborhoods. You could live car-lite there, but it would be a real challenge to be car-free. Yet guys at the bike shop would tell me about people who were.
Palm Springs can be boring – there’s limited options. That also brings up fewer distractions.
My perception (that for gay men) it is all about being retired, being in a couple or a retired couple – leaving fewer possibilities for someone not in that demographic. However, I see that changing — there’s a lot of gay men in their 50s and older who are single and involved with work or with the community.
Finally, there’s the summer – Palm Springs is in the desert, and it really does have several months (at least four – June, July, August, September) where it’s uncomfortable EVERY DAY to be outside because it’s too hot. But you can get used to it.
Added 10/30/15: Bugs. I was just reminded of this over the weekend, when I was out in PS. The desert is full of large cockroaches, which they call “Date Palm Beetles” but there’s no such things. They are disgusting American cockroaches, and they’re more prevalent during the really hot weather. Sorry, I’m not a roach fan.
Added 2/1/2016: It’s an “end up” kind of place. You know, where people finally, finally “end up.” Are you ready to end up somewhere? You may be, many people are ready to make that final move. But maybe you’re not quite ready for that. Something to consider.
Added 4/30/2019: The San Andreas Fault runs through the Coachella Valley, basically parallel to the 10 Freeway. Look it up! Most “Big One” scenarios have the giant earthquake actually happening in the Salton Sea area and spreading throughout Southern California. So the potential for giant earthquakes there is pretty high. It seemed to me that the vast majority of construction in the desert was single story homes, which tend to fare pretty well, especially when constructed fairly recently to take advantage of earthquake-cognizant building codes. But I would check before renting or buying anything out there.

Do you have cons? What do you dislike about Palm Springs?

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Living in Palm Springs: The Pros

The last few days have seen the monsoon return to Southern California desert areas, and I’ve seen a lot of pictures and video of rain (and flash flooding, too) on social media.

Reminded me that many in my cohort (Middle-aged Gay Men) as well as many other folks of all stripes think of moving to the Palm Springs area all the time. I put together pros and cons lists – as I do for so many things, and did this several years ago for that particular place. I hope someone finds it useful! Today the pros — the cons are coming in a day or so.

Pros of living in Palm Springs (from my very particular perspective as someone comparing it to Los Angeles):

- Uncrowded gyms for elaborate workouts – and it’s less crowded and much friendlier (the gym, that is)
- Great bike trails that are perfect for a workout all by themselves (such as the PS city loop)

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Biking is safer. Much much safer. That’s because there’s less traffic and there are many off-road bike paths. (That is, when it’s not too hot to bike)
There are fantastic hiking trails in local mountains, accessibly from the valley floor or by taking the tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto.
There is a unique hush in the warmer, hotter weather. I love the silence!
So easy to sleep there (see hush, above).
No car traffic, comparatively, to Los Angeles – especially in the off-season, the summer.
No lines in stores. Shopping, chores are easy! This goes for movies, too.
It’s easier to meet friendly people – are they just more relaxed? It does seem friendlier than the big bad city.
It’s easier to meet guys of my age (over 50).
Palm Springs is so small, you can walk to downtown.
It’s easy to get around.
The desert has arthouse cinema: the Camelot and the Palm D’Or.
Prices of some things (restaurants, movies, etc) are cheaper. (Also, there’s all the senior specials, lower car insurance, lower rent)
The spring weather and fall weather are absolutely heavenly.
Slow pace and uncomplicated lifestyle make it easy
Most days begin with sunshine
Infrastructure is adapted to the extreme heat
You see people on the street or in shops or restaurants, and you know them: that nice small town feel.
Good amount of cultural offerings for a small town on the periphery of a huge city, including a great museum and concert series
Outstanding 12-Step Recovery Community
Parking is never a problem
Breathtaking views of mountains from practically anywhere
Lots of entrepreneurs
If you live in Palm Springs or Cathedral City, the airport is only a few minutes away. E-Z.
And last but not least: Casinos, baby.

What are your favorite pros about living in Palm Springs?

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L.A.’s Subway System: A Look at What’s to Come – and in the Gay Press, no less!

FrontiersLA.com | L.A.’s Subway System: A Look at What’s to Come.

I was really happy to to see the linked article, from L.A.’s gay paper, Frontiers, about public transportation in Los Angeles and advocating for it (as well as informing its audience of the possibilities).

Writer Patrick Rosenquist begins by focusing on the recent Spike Jonze movie “Her.” (Which, BTW, won the Oscar (Jonze) for best original screenplay this year.)

In the movie, L.A. has a subway that goes everywhere, like in a dream. This will never happen, of course, but it’s about to get a whole lot better. Next year (or early 2016 – there are always delays with light rail here, it seems) the Expo Line extension to Santa Monica will open, and I (and you, of course) will be able to take light rail to that beach for the first time since the 1950s.

The actual subway that’s being built, the Purple Line extension going to the VA in Westwood, under Wilshire Boulevard, is set to open in 2035. I will be 80 that year. If I’m still around, I’ll be waiting on the platform.

Kudos to Frontiers for running this piece, and I loved that the writer is a car-free guy. Articles such as this one will only help get rid of the stigma that still exists in some quarters to taking public transport — though admittedly the trains have a higher profile than the buses.

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Speaking of which, I took the bus out to the beach last Wednesday for a day on the sand and in the surf. Or, more accurately, 3 different buses — from the Valley where I live, it’s an enormous distance and there’s no one bus/train/lightrail that will ever take you there. Mostly, it was painless, though time consuming — and I did have to wait at one stop for about 20 minutes in the blazing sun – no shelter, no trees — and this was in tony Brentwood. Shame! It will be so much easier once the Expo Line is done.

Kudos also to Angelenos for passing Measure R – the sales tax which local funding, meaning we don’t have to rely on the deep bench of backward senators in deep red rural flyover states to fund our public transportation from D.C.

Yet there still is that problem with bus stigma. “People in L.A. see public transportation as something meant for someone else— ‘it’s not for me.’ Getting people to use buses is more of a marketing question,” says Duran. – (John Duran, WeHo City Councilperson) What he really means is that “white” people don’t see it as an option. But I see the evidence of that changing, every time I get on a bus. And like the writer of the Frontiers piece, I have to hand it to the Millennials – it sure as hell ain’t the Boomers on those buses (for the most part, present company excluded).

As to the “Her” filmmakers wishing Malibu would get a subway stop: well, you can always dream. I’d settle for Palm Springs on Metrolink or a daily Amtrak – and this is not that hard, people. Really. Tracks and station already there!