Spent most of the week in West LA at my college best friend’s house and ended at my parent’s place in the San Fernando Valley. Few observations:
Good People coffee shop in Sawtelle is the best coffee shop in LA. We should model all our shops after Good People. Baristas are welcoming, speakers only play bangers, plenty of space to sit and work outside, and good coffee.
When I don’t have a permanent place to stay I lose my confidence. Something about bouncing from place to place and not having a set abode throws me off my game. It’s hard for me to stay rooted when I don’t have a place to set my roots.
I miss the LA valley heat. I feel a weird feeling of safety and nostalgia when dry, 90-degree heat blasts my skin. I did some research to see if there was something scientific about it. I found a study, that says the weather you grow up in shapes your personality (not exactly the same thing, but still, wild). One interesting finding from the study: People in colder climates seek social warmth and have a wider variety of social ties than people in warmer areas. Fascinating…
TikTok:
This creator (Shane) stitched a TikTok from Myron Gaines, one of those wanna-be Andrew Tate TikTok podcast bros who said, “The reason there are so many obese women is because we don’t tell women they are fat anymore.”
Now, Myron isn’t just a TikToker. He’s also an author. That’s right, Myron has a book called, “Why Do Women Deserve Less.” Watch out, Hemmingway and Dickens.
So, Shane used ChatGPT to create a pro-feminist women’s studies book called, “Why Do Women Deserve Less.” His goal was to knock Myron’s book off the top of the Amazon page. So far, Shane’s rendition of “Why Do Women Deserve Less” has 3,688 reviews and a 5-star rating whereas Myron’s book has 1935 reviews and a 4.9 star rating.
Essay: Why Are We Afraid of Experiencing Art?
From Robin Waldun’s Substack, A Mug of Insights.
Two of my favorite quotes.
On the difference between literature and philosophy: “Literature (I paraphrase), under their lens, is a work that stands on its own, whereas philosophy relies on a history of debates, concepts and paradigms.”
How some of us turn reading from a pleasurable experience into an analysis: “This is a symptom, according to Sontag, of a culture that placed more value on interpreting art rather than experiencing it.”
Media: Taxi Driver
I felt uncomfortable the whole time. It was a battle to not fast forward through certain parts. The film explores hedonism, infidelity, PTSD, capitalism and oppression of the working class, politics, toxic masculinity, and our relationship with sex.
Some scenes felt like I had already experienced them. It’s probably becasue I had experienced elements of the scene in my life or another film copied elements of Taxi Driver. The main character’s narration over shots of everyday life, an “old timer” giving terrible advice to a young person, a sexually frustrated young man, and creepy office crushes. It all feels a little too real.
Quote
Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn't calculate his happiness.
-The Unamed Narrator, Notes from the Underground, Dostoevsky
The first part of this book is a lengthy ramble from one of the best authors of all time. About a man from the Underground. Or better put, a loser. A man who blames his life on others, because it can’t possibly be his fault. This man (a man we all know, a man who in many ways is nestled within us) never enjoys his happiness, but relishes in his troubles, loves his troubles, and steeps his identity in them.
Experience:
I want this section to be a human moment from my week.
I was in a fast-casual Schwarma restaurant in Brooklyn a month ago. One of those local middle eastern Chipotle copycats.
I stood in front of the glass looking over my options. Tabuli… yum. Large tomatoes vs. sliced tomatoes. I think I’ll go large. Bobaganoush vs. hummus. Hummus it is. Lamb vs. chicken… Nevermind, I’ll do both.
I hear out of the corner of my little ear: “With Californians, you don't know if they're answering your most current question or your question two questions ago.”
He continued blabbing about Californians and even had the chutzpah to start mimicking our accent. The chutzpah, I tell you. Once the mimicking started, you know I had to speak up.
I said, “Cmon, man, we’re not all like that.”
He looked up at me with a surprised look. His daughter whipped around in her chair to analyze my 5’9 frame. The father said, “Oh you’re from there?”
“Born and raised for the first 24 years of my life.”
“Where abouts?”
“Los Angeles” (I always say Los Angeles, because I don’t want to sound pretentious or like one of those people who thinks the initials of their city makes them more important)
The random man instantly backpedaled. “Oh well, maybe it’s a Northern Californian thing. Do you hear Northern Californians do this?”
I had no idea what he was talking about. Northern California, Southern California, Central California. They’re all the same people to me. Made of blood, water, and tears. People are aloof in CA, NY, and anywhere they exist. But maybe, he had a point, I just never really noticed it.
“Maybe,” I said, realizing this wasn’t going to be a conversation on equal footing. “We probably do it, too. You can’t really trust anyone from California.”
After I disarmed him and lowered the temperature of the conversation we had a nice little talk. I found out he was a transplant from Michigan (like my mother to LA) who had been in Park Slope for 35+ years. Like my mother in LA, he had raised a family in Brooklyn and never looked back at Michigan.
He mentioned another thing about Californians, which I brushed it off. He also asked me what I thought about New Yorkers. Before I could answer he interjected and said, “We’re loud, aren’t we?”
I wasn’t going to say that. But now, maybe stereotyping people ain’t too off. Maybe once you get it in someone’s head they are a certain way, they begin to fulfill that prophecy. Maybe once you get them thinking they are what you say they are, they are.
Who knows. I don’t really buy into the stereotypes, but it’s never worth it to tell someone what to believe.
-P.S: Part 2 of Cultural Moneyballism will come out this week.