OPE! Mixtape #38: I live in Los Angeles, the County
OPE! Mixtape #38: I live in Los Angeles, the County
Reflections on my first year living in LA, which may or may not be a city
Welcome to OPE!, the ranch dressing of music blogs, by journalist and critic Brady Gerber. OPE! is a daily blog, but this weekly newsletter includes my column, more song reviews, and my favorite links of the week. All typos are intentional.
Well, hello there. How are you?
I’ve now officially lived in LA for over a year. Pretty crazy.
Time flew by. It’s been a lovely year. LA now feels like home. You know when you feel more at home in a new place when the honeymoon phase is over and you’re starting to note all the boring little details that now take up space in your head.
I’m remembering street names.
I’m remembering the difference between the 405 and the 10 and when to take which. I’m still trying to figure out the 101.
I have my go-to burrito spot, which also does a decent fried chicken veggie bowl when I need something a little lighter.
I have my daily walking route that gets all my daily steps in.
I know when and how to avoid the worst rush hour traffic. (The trick is to plan all your appointments between 11am through 2pm if you can.)
At first, I tried exploring different movie theaters across the city … and LA has some of the best movie theaters I’ve ever been to … but now I’ve been to the same movie theater for the past six or so movies.
I can now confirm to my friends visiting LA that yes, there is indeed a Silver Lake. And yes, it’s technically a reservoir.
I don’t mind wasting a weekend hanging around my neighborhood.
I feel like I live here.
I watched John Mulaney’s Everybody’s in LA Netflix show and nodded in agreement to everything he was saying, and I appreciated his fellow “I’m a Midwest former New Yorker who burned out and is trying to learn how to relax and hey, LA is nice even though I do not fit into this bizarre and compelling mess of a city” energy. (His joke about LA’s map is great, and his bits about Los Feliz and Beverly Hills made me actually laugh out loud.)
Most importantly, I feel like I have a healthy balance of good, bad, and typical days.
I have good days in which I feel so lucky to live and work in this part of the country with so much natural beauty … I have a consistent tan for the first time in my life … and can step back and acknowledge his luckiness and be thankful for it in real-time.
I have bad days in which I feel like an idiot for choosing to live in such an expensive city (and state) without a high-earning career and generational wealth that can compete with the 1%. Extra salt in the wound for the moments I remember that I don’t literally have to live here. I’m putting myself through these expensive bad days!
Most importantly, most of my days are just … days.
These are the days in which I’m just getting through my daily tasks and trying to find pockets of time to be with friends, family, and loved ones. These are the days that may seem boring or even numbing yet are the days we look back on as the best representation of any moment in time. When I close my eyes and think of where I used to live, I think about how I would spend my most boring days and how that city’s particular flavor of boredom made me feel. My boredom in NYC compelled me to walk around the city and discover something new, knowing that I would at least discover something if I just looked around at the next block. My boredom in Chicago kept me inside my apartment since Chicago weather was pleasant for two or three months and the rest of my time was spent in quiet suffering until the next summer. So far, my boredom in LA is being outside and enjoying this unnatural weather while listening to music or a podcast to help me pick up some new knowledge (yes, LA has finally converted me into a podcast guy) while being in awe of the hills and valleys around me, especially at sunrise and sunset.
Cue the famous Annie Dillard quote: How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
I’m happy to report that my days in LA are spent in stressful contentment with the right amount of anxiety and hope for the future that drives me to better myself and stay engaged with the world around me. And, for the rest of my life, I will never think, “I should have given LA a shot when I had the time and means.”
I’m also writing this newsletter I’m in a good mood. Talk to me tomorrow and maybe I won’t shut up about how LA is the world’s most beautiful collection of hot garbage and that you should never move here if you don’t work in the arts or entertainment or don’t feel established in your career, since LA people and even the city itself seem to only cater to those who are already doing OK. Don’t even get me started on how at least in New York, everyone is a workaholic (like me) and the robust subway system can feel like some kind of equalizer … you might live in the West Village, but you’re on this C train going to work just like me … which is different from LA’s massive leisure class of generational wealth who never have to work and don’t want to work and just, like, don’t. Shout-out to the person I met at a party in the Hollywood Hills who told me that he doesn’t believe in “work,” which at least is something I would never hear at the few fancy parties I went to in Brooklyn and would never hear in the Midwest.
It’s a lot.
So far it’s working.
I never grew up with childhood fantasies of living in LA like I did of living in NYC, which I think is working to my advantage. I can just take this city for what it is and not try to romanticize a city that doesn’t need any more attention in the popular American imagination. A lot of it stinks, figuratively and literally, and that stinkiness doesn’t build character or is a reflection of a metropolitan community trying its best to march through the human condition. It just stinks.
So when I say that there are still some nights when I’m driving around the city at sunset and I see this vast city full of fascinating people hiding within a sea of purple mountains … when I feel peace at the confluence of a desert sitting on an ocean … I mean it with no malice or irony that living in LA feels like living in the most beautiful place on earth. I’m eternally grateful. I have reasons to be here. And I’ll be ready for when it’s time to one day move out.
With all that said. Have I … learned anything especially helpful in this one year in LA?
I think so.
Here are a few quick takeaways from living in LA that stand out to me. These are in no particular order.
Los Angeles is a county, not a city
LA is a bunch of cool suburbs bunched up together. If you live in Santa Monica and think about visiting Highland Park, you might as well be thinking about driving to Phoenix, Arizona.
The food really is that good
I can’t think of a single “favorite” restaurant I’ve been to because every meal I’ve had in LA has been good. I’d rather have A- meals all the time than be close to A+ restaurants that I can’t afford. I’ve even found some pizza spots that could compete with NYC. Bagels, not so much.
California really is that expensive
It sucks.
Most strangers in LA are actually really nice …
… because most of them are trying to figure out if you’re related to anyone who is famous, or if you’re an assistant to someone famous. As soon as they find out you’re not famous, the rest of your day or evening with them will be pleasant and you’ll never hear from them again. If you’re famous but not famous enough, you might be the occasional like on your Instagram story.
… but I’ve also made a few actual new friends in LA
Like in any city, you find your people and it makes the city smaller and more manageable.
The Jerome C. Daniel Overlook that’s located up in the Hollywood Hills off Mulholland Dr is my favorite view of the city, day or night
Shout out to Sam for taking me to this spot on one of my first visits to LA. I still drive up to this spot often to meditate or reflect.
I know where to find the perfect free parking spot for every single Hollywood Bowl show
But I can’t reveal my secret.
I now “get” Jackson Browne and Todd Rundgren
It probably helps that I’m now in my 30s and can better appreciate the lyrics to Late for the Sky. As for Rundgren, “I Saw The Light” might be the perfect LA song.
The word I hear the most is “elevated”
Elevated tacos, elevated homeless camps, elevated jazz clubs, elevated potatoes, elevated tennis, elevated justifications for everyone’s Peter Pan Syndrome, elevated oil changes, elevated movie theater popcorn (shout-out to Quentin Tarantino’s movie theater that sells amazing fresh popcorn for only $5), elevated drugs, elevated tar pits, elevated depression, elevated farmers markets, elevated stress, elevated vibes, elevated sunsets.
If you want to look somewhat stylish on a budget, buy beige
It’s the color of LA power and confidence, which was an adjustment from my New York days of wearing all black.
Go to Joshua Tree at sunrise or sunset
Just do it.
These lessons don’t cover everything, of course. We’ll see what new lessons I learn by the end of year two.
But enough about all that. let’s get to the dang thing. Here are this week’s links and songs.
MY FAVORITE LINKS OF THE WEEK
Since I was out for most of last week, I only have time to ask … do penguins have knees?
THIS WEEK’S MIXTAPE
Because I was out of town most of last week, I have a light review mixtape this week.
1/4
I can see from my apartment Donald Glover’s Mt. Everest-sized chip on his shoulder as he attempts to be edgy while still trying to distance himself from GameCube Rapist Comedian while still trying to have it both ways. What a tightrope! What a freaky and boundary-pushing music video! How ironic to embrace The Idol now that we’ve all forgotten about The Idol and Glover can now claim it as cool. What an artistic endeavor. What a genius. I think. Maybe. It’s sort of vague. It’s also sort of vague what compels Glover to do anything other than stay semi-famous. It’s interesting homework trying to find the “real” Donald Glover through his Childish Gambino albums. It’s also the only thing you can do because his music has always been weirdly consistent in its mediocrity. It’s almost impressive at this point. “Lithonia” also feels seven years too late in an attempt to add electric guitars (gasp????) to a rock song (gasp?????????) by someone who makes non-rock music (gasp?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????????). Truly a rapper for the Internet age. I can’t believe this is the guy who ruined the word “woke” for everyone.
.5/4
All my former favorite bands are so desperate to get on The Bear. It’s embarrassing. If you’ve paid attention to Japandroids for the past decade (raise your hand if you can name the pretty-OK album that they released before Celebration Rock) a song like “Chicago” fits right at home. It’s a home that once felt exciting and, dare I say, felt like a glimpse into a future of indie guitar rock in which the bands remembered how to be loud and melodic. Listening to Japandroids now has all the thrills of visiting your grandma. I’m glad she’s still with us, and I’m not surprised she hasn’t changed her habits or gotten into shoegaze. I have no idea if these dudes have heard of The Bear (I’m projecting, obviously) and no band has to change what made them great in the first place. I remember a time in my life when a song like “Chicago” would have been exactly what I needed to hear. Now I can take a new Japandroids song for what it is: Older dudes who are too old to wear leather jackets awkwardly yelling at each other to capture “that old feeling.” Wisdom is wasted on the jaded, of course. If you’re young and in love with “Chicago,” tell me to fuck off and get back to the pit. I’ll be in the back of the crowd, cheering you on, feeling thankful that I’m no longer 22.
And that’s it!
Until next Monday, as always.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
Like this newsletter? To steal from Austin Kelon, OPE! is free but not cheap.
Here’s how you can help (if you’re a billionaire, a millionaire, or if you have five dollars in your pocket)
Tip through OPE!’s coffee fund.
Become a paid newsletter subscriber. (Is there anything more exciting than consistent pay that I can use for coffee?)
Here’s how you can help (for free)
Consider me for writing work for yourself, a friend, or a colleague. My website has more information about contacting me and my favorite writing samples.
Become a free newsletter subscriber.
Share OPE! on one of your social media platforms.
Share OPE! directly with one of your friends, family members, or colleagues.
Heart, comment on, or repost this specific newsletter post; see the buttons at the top of this page.
Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn. (For LinkedIn, please include a connect note saying you found me through this newsletter.) OPE! is also on Facebook, Bluesky, and Letterboxd.
Website | OPE! (the blog) | Donate to my coffee fund | Find your local reps
Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. Stock photos by Substack unless credited. Animations made using FlipaClip and EZGIF. My views don’t reflect my clients or the publications and brands I work with. All typos are intentional.