Right by the beach, and the bus depot

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES - 6 MARCH 2016

The house my wife found in Venice was close to the beach. It was also alarmingly close to Division Six: a 3.5-acre bus depot ringed by tall fencing and barbed wire. On the sidewalk out front, happy people walked by, carrying surfboards or shopping bags. Just as continuously, in and out of the depot, the variously numbered orange city buses lumbered and wheezed.

I wanted the house, yet I did not want the house. And then it didn't matter, because it was ours.

Click to read more ...

Stealing a few shady hours in an offramp's not-park

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES - 27 DECEMBER 2015

The other morning, I needed to get some reading done for work. I could've driven to my office. Or sat on a bench at the beach. Or taken the Big Blue Bus to Powell Library at UCLA, where I teach. What I did instead was set up a folding chair next to the freeway.

Click to read more ...