"My people" (Los Angeles, San Diego: rent, house, neighborhoods)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You seem to be a thoughtful and sincere person. You have voiced some interesting comments but have danced around the question I originally posed (some of the belittlers on here would say I have just made an appropriate pun). Somewhere along the line in reading your posts I have gotten the impression that you have lived in various places in California and know the state pretty well. So what say you: In your opinion is there a place/town/city/neighborhood/hamlet which fulfills my criteria?
And, what can you tell me about your experience living in Santa Cruz? That is a place I once stopped over in and whiled away some time a few years back; but, while impressed with the natural scenery and the compactness and layout of the town, it struck me as being stuck in a '60s time warp and bereft of a lot of real people and dynamic energy. I didn't buy their brand of hippie culture -- it seemed contrived and somewhat jejune. Santa Cruz seems to me to be as if the Haight were scaled down and relocated to fill a larger swath of land. A haven for burnouts and surfers if you're not a student or faculty member at UCSC. A place where art and literature have been arrested, where Jerry is Jesus and He lives! While I enjoy a lot of the '60s cultural offerings and the Dead/jam band and Beat aesthestic, I've moved on, and need more variety. Monolithicity is a type of static pattern that really repels me. There is a lot I enjoy the past but don't care to live in it. If I'm going to live in a non-reality, I much prefer dreamscapes than the land of memories. Unlike Proust, I am not searching for -- but rather making up for -- Lost Time.
Jejune ... i had to google that one.
Yeah, i can understand why you'd say that about Santa Cruz.
That's not my experience and the pseudo hippie culture that you perceived in Santa Cruz is not my world and it's irrelevant to me.
And i don't mind living in an area that's a "haven for burnouts and surfers" (why do i care? and everyone needs a place where they feel a sense of belonging) and, even though it may be true, it's not what the county is primarily about (although the surf culture is strong and true and i love it) ... it's just a visible, easy-to-target (and judge ... as many do) facet of a relatively eclectic place where there tends to be a live and let live attitude and an acceptance of the variety of human expression and behavior.
I actually find the area chaotic / dynamic and it supports my creativity but it has more to do with the energy of the earth and ocean and less to do with what other people are doing however there is that tolerance in Santa Cruz county that is very supportive.
I like to be in a place where no-one looks twice at any kind of expression.
Also, when i recommend Santa Cruz on this forum i always say, "consider the entire county".
If you relegate yourself to Santa Cruz proper, you're missing a lot.
What i was saying in my first post, relating to your impression of S.C., is that those who are truly sincere about living authentically and outside the mainstream culture (if that's even what you're looking for) aren't generally visible because that past is indeed gone and, even in S.C. county, the dominant culture is ... well, dominant (just quite a bit less here than in most other places in the u.s.).
I purposely didn't recommend S.C. county to you because it's my sense that you wouldn't easily find people here who would resonate with you intellectually and it seems like communities in and around the S.F. bay area might suit you better but i don't know.
You may have to shed some of that judgment and elitism in order to flow nicely in California.
I know San Francisco kinda well but communities in Marin county and points north ... not so well.
And i obviously don't know you but i have the impression (from the little i've read) that you may be more suited for the east coast? ... maybe one of the more progressive towns in North Carolina (Chapel Hill or Asheville perhaps) or certain areas of western MA (or even Cambridge if you want some city).
Despite a little diss of the east coast in a recent post of mine, there are some fine aspects and qualities there that aren't generally found in the west that might be more supportive for you.
Last edited by coyoteskye; 02-08-2010 at 06:15 PM..
I am flummoxed with all the "intellectual" labels being pinned on me. Some replies are coming across as snide and derogatory; maybe I don't need to be considering these, as they might not be well-thought out or well-intended. Other replies have been kind, genuine attempts by earnest respondents who are earnestly attempting to diagnose me for the purposes of issuing a good recommendation. The problem is, I do not view myself as an "intellectual"; moreover, I have never been classified or labeled as such by anyone who has personally known me. And yet intellectualism seems to be at the crux of all the posts.
Indeed, it seems that all of your recommendations hinge upon this apparent quality.
Either I am "pseudo-intellectual" (not the genuine article) and thus would be repugnant most anywhere, and need to get a personality overhaul before I attempt to live amongst people, or I am hyper-intellectual and therefore need to reside on the East Coast (why the East Coast -- what would that have to do with intellectualism??) or some major alpha city, which in the West would mean San Francisco or Los Angeles (specifically West Hollywood), or apparently, in a politically liberal bastion in the state of North Carolina.
The most bewildering suggestion so far -- though I do thank you and appreciate you, coyoteskye, for your most kind responses, and you have doled out some useful info which I am taking to heart -- is the one recommending Asheville, N.C. as a place where an intellectual might fit in. What??! I have family in Asheville; I have visited many, many times; I know the area well. It is a lot of things -- some very good, some spectacular, even -- but it is certainly not an intellectual place. If anything, Asheville is trans-intellectual -- a haven for the intuitive and right-brain dominant (best case); or, it is abjectly anti-intellectual, at least in the academic sense (worst case).
So again, I am perplexed.
I would be greatly relieved if someone could enlighten me on the above points. Also, would somebody care to explain precisely -- and sincerely -- what it is that makes me come across an "intellectual" through these rather straight-forward posts? This thread is beginning to give me a complex!
I am flummoxed with all the "intellectual" labels being pinned on me -- some in what is obviously a snide and derogatory fashion, others in a genuine attempt to diagnose me for the purposes of issuing a recommendation. But I do not view myself as an "intellectual"; moreover, I have never been classified or labeled as such by anyone who has personally known me.
"Intellectual" isn't the word that popped in my head.
"Intellectual" isn't the word that popped in my head.
So tell me, Prince of Pith, what does pop into your head?
Why post if you're not going to address the question at hand?
Oh I get it, your 21st Century Manual on Laconic Post-literate Semiotics and English Minimalism tells you that you must be flippant, abrupt, aloof, oblique, and -- oops, I'm running out of words, in jeopardy of violating your short attention span, and offending your KISS vocab sensibility.
I am flummoxed with all the "intellectual" labels being pinned on me. Some are coming across as snide, derogatory jabs; maybe I don't need to be considering these replies, as they might not be well-thought out or well-intended. Other replies have been kind, genuine attempts by earnest respondents who are attempting to diagnose me for the purposes of issuing a good recommendation. The problem is, I do not view myself as an "intellectual"; moreover, I have never been classified or labeled as such by anyone who has personally known me. And yet intellectualism seems to be at the crux of all the posts.
Indeed, it seems that all recommendations hinge upon this apparent quality.
Either I am "pseudo-intellectual" (not the genuine article) and thus would be repugnant most anywhere, and need to get a personality overhaul before I attempt to live amongst people, or I am hyper-intellectual and therefore need to reside on the East Coast (why the East Coast -- what would that have to do with intellectualism??) or some major alpha city, which in the West would mean San Francisco or Los Angeles – specifically West Hollywood -- or, apparently, in a politically liberal bastion in the state of North Carolina.
The most bewildering suggestion so far -- though I do thank you and appreciate you, coyoteskye, for your most kind and earnest responses, and you have doled out some useful info which I am taking to heart -- is the one recommending Asheville, N.C. as a place where an intellectual might fit in well. What??! I have family in Asheville; I have visited many, many times; I know the area well. It is a lot of things -- some very good, some spectacular, even -- but it is certainly not an intellectual place. If anything, Asheville is trans-intellectual -- a haven for the intuitive and right-brain dominant (best case); or, it is abjectly anti-intellectual, at least in the academic sense (worst case).
So again, I am perplexed.
I would be greatly relieved if someone could enlighten me on the above points. And perhaps, too, could somebody would care to explain precisely -- and sincerely -- what it is that makes me come across an "intellectual" through these rather straight-forward posts? This thread is beginning to give me a complex!
Oh, forget the Asheville recommendation ... my bad.
Where's Duke?
Those N.C. ideas do not come from personal experience but i'm vaguely aware that there are a couple of communities in North Carolina that are somewhat progressive and because i had the impression that you wanted a milder climate and because i know you're form the south, i thought it may be a possibility.
Ummmm, you don't view yourself as an intellectual?
Fascinating.
And you ask what the east coast has to do with intellectualism?
Now, i'm flummoxed!
(there's a stronger emphasis on the intellect than in many places in the u.s. ... a bit more heady)
In my first post i suggested that you use your instinct and intuition as a way of finding where you belong on this earth.
It was a way of saying that to attempt to find "your people" by way of the internet (it's sooooo abstract) may be folly and that it might be wiser to get out of your head, into your body and senses and "feel your way" to where you need and want to be.
Collecting data on a forum like this =
Trying to find where you belong (which to me is a matter of the Heart - not solely or even primarily a left brain endeavor ... for me anyway) on city-data-forum = < that means "dubious".
Last edited by coyoteskye; 02-08-2010 at 07:03 PM..
Oh I get it, your 21st Century Manual on Laconic Post-literate Semoiotics and English Minimalism tells you that you must be flippant, abrupt, aloof, oblique, and -- oops, I'm running out of words, violating your short attention span, and offending your KISS vocab sensibility.
I was just agreeing with you about others' mistaken perceptions. Also, it's spelled "semiotics".
Sorry I lashed out. Upon re-reading your comment, it occurs to me that I knee-jerk reacted. I shouldn't have assumed the worst.
Thanks for prompting me to correct that typo. I highly recommend reading anything on the topic of semiotics by the great Southern writer, Walker Percy.
I would be greatly relieved if someone could enlighten me on the above points. And perhaps, too, could somebody would care to explain precisely -- and sincerely -- what it is that makes me come across an "intellectual" through these rather straight-forward posts? This thread is beginning to give me a complex!
I would not call him an intellectual, rather a thesaurus abuser, and in California thesaurus abuse, like most forms of abuse is agin' the law.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
< that means "dubious".
