Issue link: https://nest.uberflip.com/i/1264850
I n these changing times it has not been easy to curate content that seems apt, or especially noteworthy or important. So many daily changes and weighty ideas to consider and evaluate. Is a "lifestyle" publication even appropriate? I have struggled with this over the past few months and decided that yes, it is important. While I may not be able to present any earth shattering revelations on the world at large, I feel that I am able to convey my insights into our unique community as I have seen it over the past three months. The best of people emerging as we ad- just to these new normals. While it is often embarrassing to my daughter when I bring out my phone to video happenings, I think it is important to document how our neighborhoods have come together to not only help each other during the virus pandemic but also raise our voices about the social injustices we have all been witness to—especially in the era of cell phone videos. After high school I took a little time off to work at a few deadend jobs before deciding my next adventure. At the end of April 1992, I made a big move from Ogden, Utah to Los Angeles. Back in the day prior to GPS, we relied on the 'Thomas Guide' to, well, "guide" us which was no help at all really. As my mother drove away on Tuesday I was left with a few immedi- ate tasks—find a job and find my way around L.A. before school started in the fall. Before she left, she purchased a Thomas Guide for me. It was ex- pensive at the time, more than $30 I think, but with this gold standard of navigation, I felt ready to take on the 'City of Angels'. The next day I took a sojourn into the city, first stop was Kinkos to make copies of my resume, and in my little white Ford Escort I set out to explore the city and attempt to wow a few restaurant managers with my thin resume, but abundant en- thusiasm for serving over-priced food. Soon, I was surrounded by fire—buildings, trash cans, cars—people run- ning through the streets yelling and looting. I had ventured far away from Brentwood and found myself right in the middle of the Rodney King riots as they began in South LA. With no cell phone (obvi in 1992) and no GPS, I was a young, naive girl caught in the middle of chaos, caught in the mid- dle of history, in the middle of something that I had no idea about. Where was I? How did I get here? The Thomas Guide was of no use. That day has stayed with me, the fear that I felt being all alone in that situation has informed me and made me aware that there was (still is) much anger