Nature-Deficit-Disorder – by Gary S. Smolker

Live A Little

I’ve concluded that life is for living.

I have concluded that the best type of life for me is one in which I stop being afraid of wasting my time by going out or by going to new places or by meeting new people and instead that I should travel to new places, meet new people, have new experiences and learn new things while doing so.

Medicine Is A Way of Life.

In my opinion life is beautiful and how I live my life is either good medicine for me or poisonous.

The key to being “healthy” for me is knowing how to live.

I’ve found I can –

• Be Happy, Healthy and Full of Wonderment.
• Relieve stress, regenerate my spirit, laugh and be joyful.
• Go out in “nature” and see directly in front of my eyes that all living things (plants, animals, fish and fowl] that live naturally in harmony with their nature flourish.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I recently went on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee with my three adult daughters.

One of the great things I discovered while being high up the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is that there is no cell phone reception there.

Consequently it was a place where I could relax and (re)connect with nature.

While I was in the Smoky Mountains I was able to decompress, relieve stress and regenerate my spirit as a result of  being in nature with no distractions – as a result of being in a place where there was no cell phone service.

I personally experienced the value of (a) breathing fresh air, (b) seeing clear clean running water in streams creeks and rivers, (c) seeing picturesque waterfalls, (d) hiking in pristine woods and (e) solitude.

As a result of “being “n nature” without the distractions imposed on me by cell phones, Internet connection, talking texting or emailing I was able to see clearly the way things work “in nature” and as a result of that after I returned from my “retreat” in nature with my daughters I have been able think clearly without distraction about several things of concern to me.

Additionally, my trip to the Smokies was an amazing bonding experience with my daughters, nature and myself.

During the entire time I was in the Smoky Mountains I was happy, healthy, full of wonderment and stress-free.

The kinds of experiences I had on my trip to the Smoky Mountains have provided memories which I will enjoy for years to come and a reference point and base line to use when thinking about things in my daily life that are important to me.

The experiences I had and the observations I made on that trip have increased ability to think many fold about how I spend my time and other resources and about medical, financial, family and emotional issues of great concern to me.

The Area In and Around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The whole area in and around the Smoky Mountains is quite stunning – light traffic on the freeways, lush green all around the hills and in the mountains.

“Nature” is preserved in a pristine state in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

People Who Know How to Live

The people I met in the areas in and around the Smoky Mountains during my vacation/retreat in the Smoky Mountains with my three daughters know how to live.

They live rustic sensible refined remarkable and somewhat “funky” lives.

Every one I met was good -natured, calm, friendly, hospitable and grounded, and seemed to be alert and happy.

The people I saw and met in cafes, restaurants, and grocery stores during my sojourn in and around the Smoky Mountains were striking different from the people I typically see in similar places in and around Los Angeles.

The people I met in the South (in and around the Smoky Mountains) were all very calm, relaxed and laid back.

I didn’t meet or see anyone during my sojourn in and around the Smoky Mountains who was up tight, anxious, or stressed out.

Below is a photograph I took of a man a man I met in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

I’ve never seen anyone wearing a T-shirt in Los Angeles like the T-shirt the man in the photograph above is wearing.

By the way, the chocolate Bear Claw served in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is something to write home about.  I ate one.  See photos below of the Bear Claw I ate in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe.”

I survived eating the Bear Claw pictured above.

I purchased a T-shirt to celebrate my accomplishment.

See photograph of the T-shirt I bought.

The people I met, and the culture and way of life I observed, in and around the Smoky Mountains was tremendously different from the culture I experience every day in Los Angeles.

I think people in the South (at least the people I met and interacted with) are more “natural” and more in tune with their core human nature that people in and around Los Angels that I see when I go out to eat or to a grocery store or to any other public place in Los Angeles.

Below is a photograph of a man I met in a grocery store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and a close up photograph of the T-shirt that man was wearing when I saw and met him.

I’ve never seen anyone in Los Angeles wearing a T-shirt like that.

 

Popularity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular park in the National Park System.

Ten million people per year visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Everyone Needs A Perfect Place to Think

Everyone needs a perfect place to think without distraction, a retreat.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is such a place.

All four of us (Leah, Judi, Terra and me) found the Smoky Mountains to be a perfect place to think.

My Search for A Clear Mind

The search for a clear mind is one of my fundamental goals.

The search for a “clear mind” is the fundamental goal of “all” creative and highly productive people.

During my trip to the Smoky Mountains, the solitude I experienced and my interaction with (a) my daughters, (b) nature and (c) the people I met gave me a clear mind.

My Trip to the Smoky Mountains

I left my in Encino, California on May 14, 2016 and visited the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee for ten days, from May 14 to May 24, 2016, with my three daughters Leah, Judi and Terra.

As a result of taking my trip to the Smoky Mountains, I feel totally connected to life – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

It is clear to me that the state of my energy, my health and of my over-all-well-being are dependent on being connected to nature.

The Best Way to Live

Life is about choice.

I advocate relieving stress, being healthy and living a creative down to earth purposeful gratifying meaningful healthy life.

I’ve found that the best way for me to live is by being connected simultaneously with my natural core and nature.

I’ve discovered it is okay for me to enjoy a glass of wine, to have a beer, to have a shot of whiskey; it is not crazy or a waste of my time to go for hikes in woods, to do yoga, to read a book, to think and reflect in solitude, or to go to car shows, or to take photographs with my iPhone of whatever strikes my fancy, and that it is beneficial for me yo travel to new places to meet new people and to see new things.

In my opinion going to new places, meeting new people, connecting to nature, and having new experiences should be part of everyone’s life goals.

As a result of my recent vacation in the Smoky Mountains I have concluded that –

1. I will achieve clearer thinking and better health by connecting myself to nature.
2. My live is energized by experiencing a sense of oneness in the energy flow I make when I am in the moment.
3. My life is about making choices.
4. The best “medicine” for me is living the way of right relationship – I found that living a healthy  LIFE is about doing that.

Failure and Making Mistakes Are A Natural Feature of Life and of Making Progress and of Making Something New

Creativity is a resource we continually draw upon to make something from nothing, to make the non-existent come into being.

Part of being healthy is to not be afraid of trying something new, or trying to do something new.

Inevitably active alive and creative people experience failure and make mistakes.

Healthy people realize mistakes are not a necessary evil.

Mistakes are an inevitable consequence of doing something new, and as such, they such be seen as being valuable; without them, we’d have no originality.

Mistakes and failures are learning experiences.

Think of failure like learning to ride a bike; it isn’t conceivable that anyone could learn to ride a bike without making mistakes – without toppling over a few times.

Personality Plus

The first place I landed on my way to the Smoky Mountains was in Asheville, North Carolina.

Asheville is known as “Beer City, USA” because it has so many microbreweries.

We went to Asheville first because my daughter Leah is a beer connoisseur.

I saw “good humor” and “personality plus”, and experienced “positive energy” and “social commentary” everywhere I went during my three day stay in Asheville, North Carolina.

The people I met in Asheville had good nature, and were happy, hospitable, calm, and grounded.

It was pleasant to interact with each person I interacted with in Asheville.

Each of them exhibited a good sense of humor.

Below is a picture of a sign I saw posted in the window of the “12 Bones Smokehouse” in Asheville, North Carolina.

That sign made me laugh when I saw it.

By the way, the “12 Bones Smokehouse” is President Obama’s favorite rib joint.

While in Asheville I saw another which made me laugh.

See picture of that sign below.

It is a sign on the wall of a place where you can self-wash your dog.

The Most Famous Place in Asheville, North Carolina: Biltmore House & Gardens

I love chocolate.

During my trip to the Smoky Mountains, I visited the most famous place in Asheville, North Carolina: the Biltmore House.

The Biltmore House was built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt.

It is a 250 room house.

It is situated on a 8,000 acre estate.

It has gardens and trails, a conservatory, a bass pond, a boathouse, lawns and woods.

In “the house” itself, there are restaurants, a courtyard market, a bake shop, a ice cream parlor, and specialized stores for shoppers and highly specialized shopping experiences.

For shopping there is a store called “Christmas Past”, a store called “Bookbinder’s”, a store called “Carriage House”, a store called “Confectionery”, a store called “Toymaker’s”, and a store called “A Gardener’s Place.”

My favorite part of the house is the candy store (the confectionery).

I am a fan of tasty chocolate and good advertising.

My First Most Favorite Experience at Biltmore House

My favorite experience, while I was touring the Biltmore House, was seeing what was printed on boxes of chocolate for sale in the “Confectionery.”

See photos below.

I also love cupcakes.

I was thrilled when I saw the package below in the confectionery, advertising cupcakes, yum.

My Second Most Favorite Experience at the Biltmore House

My second best experience at Biltmore House was looking at the exotic flowers growing in the Conservatory at the Biltmore House.

Below are photographs of exotic flowers I saw growing in the Conservatory at the Biltmore House.

My Third Most Favorite Experience at the Biltmore House

My third best experience at the Biltmore House was looking at a group of flowers growing in a pond above the gardens.  Those flowers are shown in the photograph below.

Character and Assertive Individuality Have Been Alive and Well in the Great Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee for Many Years

For various reasons the Great Smoky Mountains have always been a very special place.

The people who lived in the Smoky Mountains in the recent past were famous for hiding their stills from tax collectors and for selling their homemade distilled spirits when it was against US Federal Law to do so.

Being surrounded by natural beauty and making homemade distilled spirits and having a great down to earth sense of humor has been a way of living in and around the Great Smoky Mountains for generations.

When it was illegal to manufacture or sell liquor, certain people [who lived in and around the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee were called Moonshiners and also called bootleggers] manufactured and sold homemade distilled spirits nicknamed “moonshine”; they manufactured and sold “homemade” wine and whisky (“moonshine”) in violation of federal law.

Doing that earned them a “romanticized” place in the history of the United States.

Today, it is not against federal law to manufacture or sell distilled spirits.

However, in an attempt to take advantage of romantic and nostalgic feelings about “moonshine” and “moonshiners” , major distillers pretend to sell “moonshine” — and promote the sales of their products (wine and whiskey) with sales messages associating their products to individualistic rebel character traits romantically associated with moonshine and bootleggers.

These messages are printed on ancillary merchandise – soft good items – such as T-shirts, pillows, and dish towels sold in “Moon Shine” stores and boutiques in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

For examples, at their stores in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge the “Old Smoky Tennessee Moonshine” company provides free moonshine tastings, live music, distillery tours and sells “moonshine” (jars of whiskey) as well as T-shirts, Sweat Shirts, and sundry other items.

Master Enjoyment of A Glass of Wine Because You Have Worked Hard and Traveled Far

Wine is a symbol.

The wine industry in Tennessee has made a successful effort to have me associate drinking wine with Individuality, Character, Relaxing, Relieving Stress and Being A Fun and Wise Person.

In their boutique wine and whiskey tasting stores near the Smoky Mountains their customer (me) can’t help but associate Being Fun with Drinking Wine, Wine Drinking.

Below are pictures of miscellaneous soft good items imprinted with messages celebrating and encouraging the consumption of wine.

I recently took the pictures below in a so called wine tasting store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Notice that each of the items shown in the photographs below cleverly delivers the message that a person who drinks wine is a fun person.

Each message has a “fun”, “be fun”, “have fun” emotional arc I relate to.

I had “fun” reading each message.

I smiled when I read each message.

I took each of the above photographs on May 23, 2016 at the “Bootleggers Home Made Wine” store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Gatlinburg is a small town located at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee.

The Majesty of Nature

Seeing nature in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a spiritual as well as a physical and mental experience.

I can’t imagine any person with sight not being able to visually spiritually and mentally experience the majesty of nature on display in the Smoky Mountains and our deep rooted connection with nature.

Below is a series of photographs I took of the Smoky Mountains behind a layer of clouds I observed from my Majestic View cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, at 6:30 a.m.

Note: the clouds in front of the Smoky Mountains look like smoke coming up from and rising up from the Smoky Mountains.

 

 

Next are photographs I took of the same view from the cabin with the Majestic View four hours later at 10:40 a.m. – after the morning mist and clouds in front of the Smoky Mountains began dissipating, then dissipated and then disappeared.

Below are photos taken later in the day.

Below are photographs I took at sunset while standing on the deck outside the kitchen at my cabin.

More Than 40 Note Worthy Waterfalls

There are over 2,000 miles of sparkling rivers, prongs and branches and over 40 noteworthy falls in the Smoky Mountains.

During our time together in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, my three daughters Leah (age 28), Judi (age 31) and Terra (age 45) and I hiked together to several of those noteworthy waterfalls.

Below is a series of photographs I took at one of those waterfalls.

The first photograph is of one of those waterfalls.

 

The second photograph is of my one of my daughters standing next to that waterfall.

 

 

The third, fourth and fifth photographs below are photographs of my daughter standing behind that waterfall.

 

 

 

Below is a photographs I took of my two youngest daughters standing in front of another waterfall.

Below is a photograph of my youngest daughter with me in front of that waterfall.

Below is a photograph of me standing in front of that waterfall.

Below is a close up photograph of of the top of that waterfall.

Below is a photograph of another water fall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we hiked to.

Sparkling Rivers Prongs and Branches

Professionally taken photographs:

My photographs:

Hiking To Abrams Falls

Below is a picture of my youngest daughter Leah (age 28) Leah took of herself while Leah and I were hiking together through the woods in the Smoky Mountains to Abrams Falls.

It took us five hours of hiking through woods in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to get to the Abrams Falls.

At Abrams Falls water water with the volume of a river plunges 25 feet into a large pool.

The force of the fall throws spray over 50 feet into rhododendron and hemlock on the bank opposite the trail we hiked on to get to the falls.

The deep pool under the falls has a very strong undercurrent.

A sign near the falls warns people not to swim in the pool under the falls – swimmers have drowned.  See sign below.

People are also warned to be aware of bears near the falls.  See sign below.

Below is a photograph I took of myself in front of Abrams Falls.

 

Below is a series of photographs of Abrams Falls.

Messages Printed on T-Shirts Present Moonshine as The Nectar of Pure Unadulterated Living

In Gatinburg, several breweries give free tastings in addition to selling “moonshine (whiskey)”; they also sell  T-shirts on which are printed provocative messages.

The photographs below were taken by me in the “Old Smoky Tennessee Moonshine’s” store on the Parkway, in Gatinburg, Tennessee on Monday night, May 23, 2016, after Leah and I finished our hike to Abrams Falls.

Knoxville Vibe

All of us (Leah, Judi, Terra and Me) got back to our homes by flying out of Knoxville Airport.

Leah and I spent the morning looking around the Art District and the Old City District of Knoxville.

Both are very cool places.

Below are photographs I took which express the “come on in” attitude I experienced in and around the Art District in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I Saw Art and Beauty Everywhere During My Trip to the Smoky Mountains

At the Curious Dog in Old City Knoxville, Tennessee

See photograph below I took of a  booth in the “Curious Dog” in the Old Town section of Knoxville, Tennessee on May 24, 2016.

Photos below are close ups of sections of the mural in the photograph above.

Photograph of a guy sitting in that booth.

Photograph I took the sign on the exterior street side of the entry door to the “Curious Dog.”

Paintings on the Two Walls in A Dead End Alley in the Old Town Section of Knoxville, Tennessee

While walking around the Old Town section of Knoxville on May 24, 20167, with my daughter Leah, we found ourselves walking down a blind alley, an alley the “dead-ended”, an alley which had no exit.

Below are photographs of paintings I saw painted on the two walls in that alley.

Chair In A Shop in the Chicago O’Hare Airport Terminal

Below is a photograph I took of a chair I saw in a shop in O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Terminal 1, Gate B-6, on May 24, 2016 as I was on my way to catch a connecting flight to Los Angeles International Airport, LAX.

I had started my journey home to Los Angeles from the Smoky Mountains on a flight departing from Knoxville Airport.

My trip home involved taking a plane from Knoxville Airport to O’Hare Airport in Chicago and then catching another plane at O’Hare Airport that flew me back to Los Angeles.

It took over 10 hours to get back home from the time I left the Knoxville Airport to the time my plane landed in Los Angeles at LAX, the airport in Los Angeles.

Art and Beauty Everywhere

On Saturday, June 4, 2016 I went to return a computer to the Apple Store at the Grove — a upscale shopping cent in Los Angeles.

While I was at the Grove I discovered there was an event, an auto show, at the Grove.

By the way, the Grove is located near the intersection of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California.

Of note to me, as a father of three adult women and a lover of women, I saw more women then men looking at the cars on display on the street at the auto show.

So much for the cliche that boys like cars and girls like dolls.

Below are pictures I took of three of the multitude of  “classic cars” I saw on the street, on display, as part of the car show at the Grove.

Really interesting: on the top two cars pictured above, the rear view mirror is strapped to the spare tire.

 

 

Save Yourself from Nature-Deficit-Disorder, Get Out: Visit The Great Smoky Mountains; Travel to, Visit and Explore New Places

The Smoky Mountains are one of the most bio-diverse places on earth.

According to the National Park Service over 18,000 different types of animals and plants live in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus) are one of 19 species of fireflies at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  They are the only species in the Americas whose individuals can synchronize their flashing light patterns.

No one is sure why the fireflies flash synchronously.

The fireflies do not always flash in unison.

They glow in the dark.

They may flash in waves across hillsides, and at other times will flash randomly.

Synchrony occurs in short bursts that end with abrupt periods of darkness.

The Smoky Mountains is also the home of the “American Black Bear.”

More than 1,500 black bears live protected “in the wild” in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

More statistics:

• More than 1,500 different specifies of wild flowers are found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, more than in any other North American National Park.
• More than 100 different species of trees grow there.
• More than 240 different species of birds have been spotted there.

The Southern Appalachians are one of the temperate zone’s hot spots for plants.  North of the tropics, only China has more species.

The climate of the park encompasses a range of conditions from warm to cold temperature, and rainfall is abundant everywhere.

Elevations in the park range from 850 feet to 6,643 feet.  As one moves from lower to high elevations the climate becomes cooler and wetter and cloud cover is more frequent.

Rainfall ranges from about 55 inches at low elevations to 90 inches on high peaks.

Differences in elevation and the ruggedness of the mountains – topographical features affect soil moisture – result in a vast variety of environments that produce a wide variety of vegetation.

Slope aspect, slope position and slope shape all combine to determine the amount of sunlight reaching a site, its warmth, and its ability to retain soil moisture.

Even if you stay in a narrow elevation range, the habitat changes dramatically.  And because habitat changes, the species of wildflowers and plants you see growing also varies.

As a result of its biodiversity and its closeness to population centers, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular park in the National Park System; 10 million people visit the park each year.

The National Park Services maintains 380 miles of scenic roadways, 800 plus miles of trails and bridges, 9 front country campgrounds, and more than 100 back country campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains National Park.

ASIDE:

• The National Cancer Institute and other groups have repeatedly visited the Smokies to take, under permit, small plant samples, looking for new medicines.
• Fully, 25 percent of our prescription drugs contain at least one ingredient taken directly from a higher plant.
• The Cherokee had documented uses for 60 percent of the flora in the Smokies.
• Over 600 species from these mountains were or are still used as medicines by the Cherokee.
• Generations of trial and error of uses of plants in these mountains represent a refined knowledge of plant biochemistry and the potential for use.
• A recent study showed that study of traditional cultural use of plants in an area is a faster route to discovering new medicines than blind screening of all plants in an area.

The prime directive of all national parks is to preserve not only native species, but also the natural processes that maintain them.

This year (2016) the American National Park Service turned 100 years old.

THE ART OF LIVING

I see art everywhere and beauty everywhere.

I can’t wait to tell you about “the Swag” in Waynesville North Carolina; “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; and, “Curious Dog” and a blind alley in Old Town Knoxville, Tennessee, which I will do in a future blog post article on the “Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog.”

The Swag

Below is a photograph of what I found on my bed when I went to my room at the Swag.

There was also a backpack on my bed.  See photo below.

There was a note explaining the materials inside the backpack.  See photo below.

On one of the night stands besides the bed was a book of poetry.  See photo below.

I adopted “Mr. Rocky”, the Black Bear I found on my bed in my room at “the Swag.”

I can’t wait to tell you more about “the Swag.”

Conclusion

We determine the trajectory of our lives.

We should learn how to see.

We should live with our eyes wide open.

We should travel to places we have never been to before and meet people we have never met before.

Having/enjoying good health is a way of life.

 

 

Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

Imagination, Intellectual, and Style Capital of the World – by Gary S. Smolker

Introduction

Los Angeles is a land of promise, imagination, and dreams.

Los Angeles is a city in which creativity and cultural and ethnic diversity thrive.

In Los Angeles a conglomeration of people with different cultural backgrounds and life experiences live, play, entertain, serve, appreciate and work well with each other.

In Los Angeles an incalculable diversity/variety of businesses thrive.

The Los Angeles that I know is a bubbling over seething hub of cultural and human capital fully engaged in the peaceful exchange of ideas, beliefs, perspectives, thoughts, opinions, customs, practices and the production of artistic creations.

The Los Angeles that I Know

• Los Angeles is the hub of commercial trade routes that span and connect the entire world.
• See photos below of food trucks on Ventura Blvd. serving foods from all over the world; specialized restaurants and cafes; bulls fights; Sumo wrestling matches, etc.
• Los Angeles is the most open society in the world. See photographs below of paintings painted on commercial buildings in Venice; paintings painted on commercial buildings in West Hollywood.
• Also see photographs below of T-shirts women are wearing in Los Angeles and the messages printed on those T-shirts.
• Los Angeles is the world capital of creativity and entrepreneurship.  See photographs below of the interior of retail establishments; see photographs below of signs in cafes and restaurants.
• Also see photographs of signs on sidewalks in front of stores in Los Angeles.
• All over Los Angeles are examples of untrammeled creative entrepreneurship in a action.
• In Los Angeles people from all walks and from all countries in the world live together in peace.
• The people I associate with in Los Angeles feel like Los Angeles is an extension of their hands, their feet, their souls, and their minds.

Human Spirit

The current Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court has publicly announced that she taught her daughters to not waste opportunities.

In “What I told My Daughter – Lessons from Leaders on Raising the Next Generation of Empowered Women” (by Nina Tassler), Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Tani G.  Cantil-Sakauye is quoted as having taught her daughters to follow rules strategically when they were younger.

Of all the basketball rules, I taught my daughters the most important one is this: You get four fouls; on the fifth foul you are taken out of the game.

If you are getting kicked around and the referees are asleep at the whistle, then use your four fouls.  I’ll keep track of them, I told them.  Use the rules to your advantage; don’t waste opportunities.  They didn’t.

Difference and Grit Are Constantly on Display in Los Angeles

The current Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court is the first ethnic “minority” and second woman to hold that position in California.

After law school and the bar exam in 1984, her only plan was to get a job.

With no leads, no connections, this Filipina youngest child with two dominant brothers and no holds barred applied for a job everywhere.

During her trial court tenure, she became a wife and a mother.  For a few years she put the legal community on hold and went deep undercover into nursery school, Brownie troops, basketball and gymnastics and let everybody know she was putting family first and they should too.

After reflecting on her career path, she has offered her now college age daughters this career advice: Ignore the rules of the common career trajectory.  Work hard.  Maintain a good attitude.  Serve the public – and never forget to follow your inner Heelys.

There are lots of people showing their grit in Los Angeles.

Below is a photograph of me standing next to a Sumo Wrestler at an international championship sumo wrestling match held in Long Beach.

Below is a photograph of the program for that match.

Japanese food was sold at the refreshment stands and by vendors walking around the bleachers at the Sumo Wrestling match.

Below is a photograph I took at a bull fight held in Artesia.

Portuguese food was sold at the refreshment stands and restaurants at the bullfight.

Long Beach and Artesia are two of the 88 separate cities in Los Angeles County.

Beautiful Man Made Creative Things Are Right in Front of My Face in Los Angeles

On Easter Sunday (March 27, 2016) my sister Toby Salter sent me a photograph (via email) of the view of the sun setting at nightfall on Easter Sunday (March 27, 2016) from the balcony of her room in Hawaii.

See photo below.

I in turn sent her an email in which I said:

Toby,

That is an absolutely gorgeous view.

Nature creates things (including sunsets) of absolutely gorgeous beauty, and so does man.

There is beauty everywhere if you know where to look for it and how to look for it.

For example, at the Terroni Italian Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles,  Leah (my youngest daughter) had a ricotta & mascarpone cake with almond crust espresso chocolate sauce drizzle and an espresso after lunch yesterday.

Gary

I might have added:

• In Los Angeles I see examples of unbounded creativity everywhere.
• In Los Angeles I have seen paintings on the walls of commercial buildings that take my breath away.
• In Los Angeles many creative people have left their footprint.
• I know from personal experience that Los Angeles is a place where creativity, imagination, individuality and freedom of expression flourish and are appreciated.

The photo below is a photo of my youngest daughter Leah looking at the cake Leah and I enjoyed for dessert and cups of espresso coffee we drank at the Terroni Italian Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. in West Los Angeles on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

Currently Leah is attending law school in Los Angeles, a student in law school.  As an extra-curricular activity, Leah writes a travel blog.

Recently a reputable Himalayan tourism company read Leah’s blog, was impressed, and informed Leah the company is setting up a meeting to consider giving her an offer.

The photo below is a close up picture of that cake.

Below is a photograph I took of a painting on the wall of a commercial building fronting on North Highland Blvd. in West Hollywood, while I was with Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

Below is a photograph of another painting on the wall of another commercial building fronting on North Highland Avenue which I took on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood while I was with Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

Free Expression and Creativity Are Alive and Well In Los Angeles

Below is a photograph I took on February 4, 2016 of a painting on both sides of a doorway into a restaurant on Rose Avenue in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, California.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016 of a sign on the sidewalk in front of a store on Rose Avenue.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016 of painting on the wall in a men’s room above a line of urinals in a restaurant on Rose Avenue.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016, of an exterior staircase from street level to the second floor of a commercial building on Rose Avenue.

 

 

Below is a picture I took on February 16, 2016 of that building.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on February 16, 2016 of a painting on the wall of a commercial building abutting a parking lot on Rose Blvd.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on March 2, 2016 of a sign in the Lady Chocolatt cafe on Wilshire Blvd., in West Los Angeles.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on December 5, 2016 of a painting on the wall of the Unurband coffee house on Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.

 

 

Below is a photograph I took on February 16, 2016 of a commercial sign painted on the wall of a coffee shop on Main Street in Santa Monica.

 

 

There Is An Untrammeled Spirit of Entrepreneurial Adventure in Los Angeles

The end product of the endeavors of people from all over the world who are doing business in Los Angeles is a smorgasbord of experiential delight.

Below are photographs of our office manager Tamara Jones and assistant office manager Leslie Gonzales living life sweetly on Thursday, March 10, 2016 while they holding packages of assorted mini-cupcakes I bought for them that morning from a food truck in front of our office on Ventura Blvd., in Encino.

I bought the mini-cupcakes shown in the hands of Tami and Leslie at the Dreamy Creations Cupcake Truck shown in the photographs above,  at a food truck, which was located literally on Ventura Blvd., directly across the street from the office building in which I work.

The packages of mini-cupcakes shown in the photograph above contain a strawberry mini-cupcake, a banana caramel chip mini-cupcake, a cinnamon square mini-cupcake, a campfire (marshmallows) mini-cupcake, and either a birthday (rainbow sprinkles) mini-cupcake or a black and white mini-cupcake.

Below is a photograph of the Dreamy Creations Cupcake truck from which I purchased those packages of assorted mini-cupcakes pictured in the photographs above.

You may learn more about Dreamy Creations Cupcakes at http://www.dreamycreations.com. Phone 1-818-882-0120.  Dreamy Creations’ bakery is located at 19451 Business Center Drive, Unit 114, Northridge, CA 91324 USA.

Below are a series of pictures I took on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, of one of Lady M Confection’s menus at the Lady M Confections Boutique store located at 8718 West 3rd Street, in the West Hollywood, California.

I am told that the Lady M. Confections is owned and run by a Japanese man.

While in the Lady M Confection’s boutique cafe I was given two menus listing cakes served.

On the shorter menu were listed 10 different signature cakes, two different seasonal cakes, and two different individual deserts that were/are for sale in that store.

Below are two photographs taken by me which show  ten “Signature Cakes” on one of Lady M Confections’ West Hollywood’s boutique cake store’s menu.

On the larger Lady M Confections menu was/iss listed seven different “Mille Crepes”, six different “Chocolate Cakes”, eleven different “Assorted Cakes”, four different “Cheesecakes”, three different “Tartes”, and six different kinds of “Individual Deserts.”

While in Lady M Confections boutique cake store, I had a slice of Lady M Confections’ “Couronne Du Chocolat” Signature Cake and a cup coffee.

It was delicious.  It consisted of alternating layers of moist chocolate sponge cake and dark chocolate mousse.

In addition to its West Hollywood boutique cake store, Lady M Confections has three boutique cake stores in Manhattan, one in Boston, one in Hong Kong and one in Singapore.

For further information about Lady M Confections go to http://www.ladym.com.

Below are photographs of a few of the many food trucks I have seen across the street, on Ventura Blvd., when I have walked out of my office building at lunch-time on week days (Monday through Friday).

Below is a photograph of the rear of a food truck serving Middle Eastern Food which I took when I walked out the door of my office on Friday, March 4, 2016.

Below is a photograph of the menu posted on the side of the food truck facing the sidewalk.

Below is a photograph of a food truck serving “Polish food” I took when I walked out of my office a few days before I took the photograph above.

Below are two photographs of the menu attached to the “Tomski Sausage” food truck.

Below are photographs of a food truck serving/selling Japanese comfort food on Ventura Blvd., across the street from my office.

Below is a photograph of another food truck on Ventura Blvd. across the street from my office which was selling Texas Smoke House dishes which I saw when I walked out the front door of my office.

 

Below is a photograph of a food truck selling lobster rolls.

Below is a photograph of a menu on that food truck listing products being sold from that truck.

Directly across the street from my office, on Ventura Blvd., late on Friday morning, March 4, 2016,  as I was walked out of my office building to take a “coffee break”, I saw a food truck [owned and operated by two young and beautiful women] selling Gourmet Brazilian Bonbons – handmade Brazilian truffles.

Below is a photograph of their food truck, taken by me from across the street.

Below is a photograph of the two owner operators of the food truck, Catalina Guasco and Stella Stoianov.

They call their business Brigadeiro Truffles.  They sell individual bonbons and packages of bonbons.

Below is a photograph I took of a package of their bonbons.

Their motto is: “We make life sweet.”

Below is a photograph I took of the menu Catalina and Stella had on their food truck.

You can find out more about Brigadeiro Hand Made Brazilian Truffles at http://www.brigadeiroandco.com, phone 1-818-415-2494.

Creativity Permeates the Air in Los Angeles

Creativity permeates the air I breath in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, March 26, 2016, I went with my 28 year old daughter Leah to the  JAMES PERSE store located at 1128 North Highland Avenue, in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

James Perse is a clothing designer.  His store on North Highland Avenue takes up an entire converted warehouse.

Advice: Spend An Hour Walking on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood

While driving down Highland Avenue I saw various paintings painted on the commercial buildings next to and within a block or two of the JAMES PERSE store.

Below is a series of photographs I took of a single painting on a single wall of one of those buildings.

More Advice: Wander into the “Free City” Store Across the Street from the James Perse Store on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood

On Saturday, March 26, I left my daughter in the JAMES PERSE store, and crossed the street.

Below are two photographs of an exterior wall facing the parking lot of a building across the street that caught my attention.

I took the photographs below photographs while in the parking lot of that store.

I entered that store through a door next to the parking lot.

Below is a photograph of the entry which I walked through to enter that store from it’s parking lot.

When I got inside that store I felt like I had felt when I saw Tomorrow Land at Disney Land when I was a child.

Below are photographs of some of the thinks I saw inside that store.

Below is a photo of a giant canvas on the floor of that store.

The “hoodie” shown on canvas below is in stock and being sold in that store.

Below is a photo of a giant canvas hanging from the ceiling rafters in that store.

The hoodie depicted on that canvas is for sale – is also being sold – in that store.

The canvas in the photograph (below) is hanging from a wall in that store.

The “Artist Wanted” T-shirt depicted on that canvas is for sale in that store.

By the way, the price of the “Artist Wanted” T-shirt (shown in the picture below) is $150.00.

That store appears to be a converted warehouse.

The interior walls of that store are covered with banners, framed artwork, movie posters, album covers, and merchandise for sale in that store.

My eyes couldn’t stop traveling from signage and objects d-Arte on display to the colorful display of the merchandise being sold.

Below are photographs of some of the things I saw in that store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Is What You Will See Around the James Perse Store

Below are a few of the photographs I took on Saturday, March 26 of painting on the walls of building on North Highland Avenue I saw within a block or two of the JAMES PERSE store.

See photos below.

 

 

Artistically Enriched Environments

In Los Angeles a wide variety of artists are at work each day using their skills and know how to creatively enrich public and private places.

I am a beneficiary of that.

For example, below is a photograph of a set of window coverings an artist (Jan de Swart) gave me as a surprise thank you gift one day.

Jan made those widow coverings on his own initiative.  They are of his own design. He made them himself with his own hands.

The brightly colored banners (shown in the photograph below) are sections of sailboat sails Jan cut and sewed together.

Without telling me he was going to do so, on his own individual initiative, Jan came over to my condo at the beach in Playa del Rey one day with a crew of workers, after calling to make sure I was home, and installed those banner window coverings over the twenty foot high windows in my living room, and also installed the brightly colored plastic panel in one section of one of the windows in my living, and also installed a 17 foot high sculpture shown in the pictures below. — The brightly colored block covering the window is a large piece of plastic upon which Jan had glued individual shaped and colored pieces of plastic he had manufactured.  Jan did all of this on his own initiative.

 

 

Below is a picture of my eldest daughter Terra and me siting on a couch in my living room in front of those banners.  The bottom of the 17 foot high sculpture Jan created is also shown in that photograph.  Jan designed, created, built and installed those banners and sculpture on his own without any input from me.  He  gave me the sculpture and and installed it in my living room as a surprise gift — it was/is a gift that was/is not tied to any date or event or occurrence.

 

 

Below is a close up photograph of a section of that sculpture.

 

 

Jan also gave me, among many other things, a free standing object d’ Arte which is shown in the photograph below.

 

By the way, Terra is now married, has children, and has a job.

• Terra has a husband and two children: a fourteen year old girl and a twelve year old boy.
• Recently, Terra gave a presentation in Atlanta attended by 4,000 sales people from all over the world who work for the software company as Terra.

My Advice: Don’t Let the World Pass You By

If you allow the convenience of doing the same thing over and over again trap you – if you stop doing anything new [whether because you are pressed for time and/or because you are lazy] – the world will pass you by.

Life is meant to be lived.

Don’t go to the same places time after time, all the time.

Going to the same places all the time is stultifying.

Go to new places.

Go to mentally stimulating events.

There is an amazing variety of things a person can see and and an amazing variety of things a person can do in Los Angeles at all times.

The number and variety of things a person can do in Los Angeles is astounding.

For example on my calendar on April 5, 2016 I saw the following:

• I have been invited by the international Mintz Levin law firm to attend (via the Internet) a program on bio-similars presented live in Mintz Levin’s Washington, D.C. office on September 7, 2016.
• I have been invited by the Los Angeles Times and the American Bar Association to attend book signings on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
• I have been invited by the Pacific Council on International Policy to attend an event on foreign policy on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
• I have been invited by Cornell in Silicon Valley and the Cornell Club of Los Angeles to attend a program on “Virtual Reality” on Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
• I have been invited by the California Institute of Technology to attend a Jazz Concert on Saturday, April 16, 2016.

More Advice: Be of Exuberant Spirit

To live is to dare.

All living things either grow and keep growing or stop growing and rot.

SUMMARY

People from all over the world bring their knowledge, their ideas, their experiences, their customs, their habits, their traditions, their cultures, their heritage, their tastes, their foods, their native clothing, etc. from their country of birth with them when they arrive in Los Angeles.

As a result of that, it is easy for me to be exposed to new things on a daily basis in Los Angeles.

As I was exposed to the “knowledge”, different ideas, different tastes, different foods, different clothing, different beliefs, different heritages, different opinions and different points of  view of people I met from other parts of the world while I have been living in Los Angeles I noticed several things happened (a) my humanity became more fully activated, (b) my creativity was stimulated, (c) my ability and inspiration to innovate increased, (d) my imagination was stimulated, (d) I had more energy (e) my life became richer, and (f) I became more worldly, cosmopolitan, refined and cultured.

Bikinis That Are Well-Behaved Seldom Make History

Below is a picture of a swimsuit carry bag I saw in the store window of a swimwear store fronting on Beverly Blvd. (in Los Angeles) I walked by on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

My Lunch with My Daughter Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016

After Leah finished “window” shopping at the JAMES PERSE store we left.

As we were driving back to my house we looked for a place where we could stop to have lunch.

By pure unplanned chance, after we left the JAMES PERSE store and while we were on our way back to my home Leah and I stopped to have lunch at the Terroni Italian Restaurant located at 7605 Beverly Blvd.

Neither Leah nor I had ever eaten at the Terroni Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles before.

Below are pictures I took of the food we ate and of Leah enjoying her lunch.

Leah and I got together on Saturday to discuss “A Man for All Seasons”, a book Leah had been assigned to read in her jurisprudence class

Below is a picture of Leah looking at a speech made by Sir Thomas More in “A Man for All Seasons” and of the bottle of the Kromback Weizen beer Leah had ordered to drink to drink with the pasta entree she had ordered.

Kromback Weizen is a light German beer.

Leah is a woman of considerable refinement and cultivation.

Leah explained to me that in Berlin, Germans drink beer (not wine) with pasta.

That was why Leah had ordered a bottle of Kromback Weizen to drink while eating pasta.

Leah had Linguin Vongole as an entree for lunch.

Below is a picture of the Linguin Vongole Leah had for lunch.

I had a sip of the beer Leah ordered and then ordered a bottle of that beer for myself.

That is why there are two bottle of beer in the picture above.

Below is a photo of the pasta entree I ate for lunch — Canna a Mare.

Below is a close up photograph of that pasta dish.

Additionally, Leah and I shared a Piatto A Stutare.

Below are two photographs of that dish.

For desert we shared a ricotta & mascarpone cake with almond crust espresso chocolate sauce drizzle and each had an espresso.

See photo below of the Torta di Ricotta cake Leah and I shared for desert..

See two photos below of our Torta di Ricotta cake and our two cups of espresso.

Leah wanted more caffeine.

After lunch, we walked next door to a coffee house owned and operated by Koreans a few feet away (Andante Coffee Roasters) where we each had a Latino Latte.

 Los Angeles Is the Ideal Place for Industrious Creative People to Thrive

The ideal environment to nourish creative people is one that encourages and permits a free uncensored exchange of ideas.

Creative people cannot stand to be patronized.

Creative people do not permit themselves and do not allow themselves to be considered conventional in any way.

Check out the photographs below, taken by me on March 12, 2016, while I was on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, California.

The picture below is painted on the side wall of a store on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

The photograph below is of the entry to a store on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

The photographs below are of paintings I saw painted on the walls of buildings on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

The photographs below were taken of me while I stood in front of various buildings on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

The Kind of Society Where Talent and Extreme Individualism Can Flourish

Los Angeles is a society and an environment where talent and extreme individualism flourish.

My idea of a well rounded healthy life style includes (a) eating dreamy creation cupcakes (see photographs shown above), (b) eating gourmet chocolates (such as those shown in photographs shown below), (c) drinking authentic Turkish coffee (see picture of me drinking authentic Turkish coffee in a Bosnian cafe in Los Angeles, shown below), (d) eating gourmet cakes, and (e) being exposed to the life styles and pleasures people other parts of the world enjoy.  I believe that is part of what life is all about.

Enjoying the Art of Life

There is something extremely satisfying to me about seeing women enjoying the art of life in another part of the world as depicted in the picture below.

The women in the picture below are relaxing, they are mellow, they appear to be relaxed and worry free.

 

Cultivating the Creative Mind – Clothing

The clothing we wear and everything we do sends a message, is a statement, which identifies who we are, what we believe, what is on our mind, what we are thinking, what is important to us that we want to communicate to other people, what is happening that is of importance to us, etc.

Below is a photograph I took in a coffee shop across the street from where I work.

Below is a photograph I took in a elevator in the high-rise building in which I work.

Below a photograph of a woman wearing a T-shirt I took on March 8, in front of a coffee shop across the street from where I have my office in Encino, Los Angeles County, California.

The photographs below are of the front and back of a T-shirt a French runway model (Femme Fatale) who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 23 years recently sent me.

 

High Style and Chocolate Connoisseurs in Los Angeles

Below is a photograph of of a hipster with his mother which I took on March 7, 2016, in a coffee shop across the street from where I work.

Below is a closeup photograph of that hipster.

Our office manager Tamara Jones is an extremely stylish woman.

Below is a photograph I took of Tami’s fingernails on the same day I took the picture of her holding the two packages of mini-cupcakes I gave her.

I am a man who wears many hats.

Below are two photographs of me taken on March 2, 2016,  at Lady Chocolatt in West Los Angeles.

Lady Chocolatt is a great place for Belgium hot chocolate, freshly imported handcrafted Belgium chocolates, chocolate bars and bars of marzipan.

Below is a photograph of Lady Chocolatt’s hot chocolate menu.

 

Below is a photograph of a bar of imported Belgium chocolate purchased at Lady Chocolatt on March 2, 2016.

Below is a picture of a bar of Marzipan bought at the same time in that store.

Lady Chocolatt

At Lady Chocolatt chocolate is an art form.

You can vicariously enjoy that experience I had at Lady Chocolatt on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 by looking at pictures I took while there.  You can see those pictures at https://garysmolker.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/chocolates-in-an-art-form-by-gary-s-smolker/

Below is a picture of one of the fun informative signs posted at Lady Chocolatt.  I took that photograph, while I was in the Lady Chocolatt cafe on March 2, 2016.

Below is a picture of some of the candy that was on display on March 2, 2026, while I was enjoying myself reading poetry, tasting chocolates and sipping a latte at Lady Chocolatt.

Lady Chocolatt is located in West Los Angeles, at 12008 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California.

Californians Have A Spirit of Freewheeling Enterprise

The atmosphere here, in Los Angeles/California, is an atmosphere that seeks out originals, that prizes originals, that prizes originality, that appreciates and encourages creativity.

Unurban Coffeehouse

Below is a photograph of picture painted on the wall of one of my favorite coffeehouse in Santa Monica, California.

The lady who owns and manages the Unurband Coffeehouse in Santa Monica, is very clever.

See the photograph below of the sign she has posted above her one day old pastries.

Harry Truman, 33rd U.S. president once said:

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities, and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

All of the people who work at the businesses I’ve described above (i.e., the people who own and the people who work in the gourmet Brazilian hand made truffles/bon bons food truck,the lobsta food truck, the imported handcrafted Belgium chocolate shop, the Unurban coffeehouse) have contagious enthusiasm about what they are doing, about their products.

Each of those people made seemed so excited about their business, where they work and what they are doing that they might jump out of their skin right in front of me.

They are each a living example of the opportunities that make the American free-enterprise system work.

In Los Angeles Poor Taste Is Considered to be Worse than Poor Diplomacy

Stylish women of wealth in Los Angeles, and there are many of them, own and wear many pairs of sun glasses because they don’t want to squint.

Squinting causes wrinkles.

It is not unusual for a stylish woman of wealth in Los Angeles to own 20 or more pairs of sun glasses.

Stylish women of wealth in Los Angeles wear sunglasses when they are outside, in the sun.

They wear sunglasses when they are inside in a restaurant.

Below are photographs I took of three woman (who were complete strangers to me) sitting “inside” [in an enclosed patio] at a table at the Aroma Bakery Cafe in Tarzana/Encino, California, one morning – where I ate breakfast after my work-out at the Providence Hospital Tarzana Cardiac Rehab Facility.

The below photographs were taken at the Aroma Bakery Cafe at 18047 Ventura Blvd., Encino, California.

I saw approximately 20 women in the Aroma Bakery Cafe while I was eating my breakfast.

Nineteen of those women were wearing sun glasses.

Speculation: The one lady who was not wearing sun glasses probably forgot her sun glasses at home.

The Mantra of Stylish Women in Los Angeles is:

• Poor taste is worse than poor diplomacy.
• Why live life half-way?
• Exude sensuality and intelligence.
• Be liberal and avant-garde.
• Take affirmative action to avoid having wrinkles.

 

When I asked one of women, whose photograph is shown above, if she owned more than one pair of sun glasses, she told me she had brought two sets of sun glasses in her purse with her.

She also told me she needs to have many sets of sun glasses.  She needs a different one or two sets of sun glasses to complement each of the outfits she wears; just as she chooses shoes that go along with the clothes that she will be wearing each day, she also selects which of her sunglasses she will wear to go along with the clothes she will be wearing.

Health Living Takeaway:

• Women in Los Angeles wear sun glasses because they don’t want to squint.
• Squinting causes wrinkles.

There is An Incandescent Celebratory Spirit in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, I find myself surrounded by people who are personable, extremely friendly, extremely outgoing, people who have a forward thinking fun and hospitable attitude, who have contagious enthusiasm, who want me to have joy in my life and to be efficient and productive.

For example, on Friday, February 26, 2016, while at an appointment with my skin doctor Millard H. Zisser, M.D., Dr. Zisser gave me a recipe for hot chocolate.

Dr. Zisser has an extraordinary sensitivity to everything going on around him, is really into what he is doing, and has an intellect that is extraordinary in its own way.

The recipe Dr. Zisser gave me was written by famed Pastry Chef Jacques Torres.

Spiritual Elixir

I frequently eat lunch at a Thai restaurant on Ventura Blvd. located a few blocks away from my office.

On, Thursday, February 18, 2016, a beautiful young Thai waitress — who I don’t know except as a waitress — told the man seated at the table next to the table in the Thai restaurant in which she works that I am her future ex-husband.

Forward thinking, forward acting, witty and creative working women like her abound – here, in Los Angeles.

On Monday (February 22, 2016) I went back to that restaurant,

I asked her if I could take her photograph.

She said okay.

I asked her to stand still while I photographed her.

She did.

I then asked her to smile.

She told me she didn’t want to smile.

I asked her why she didn’t want to smile.

She replied: Smiling causes smile lines.  It cost $300 for a Botox treatment to remove those lines. Smile lines are “wrinkles”; I don’t want wrinkles.

As a personal favor to me, she stood still to be photographed and smiled.  See photos below.

 

 

Today, Los Angeles is the world center of popular culture, the world center of “cool” and “being cool.”

Los Angeles exports popular culture to the rest of the world.

“Cool”

“Cool” is an art not a science.

There is no rule on what is “cool.”

“Cool” is intuitive.  It is a feeling you have.

Being “cool” is being a rebel.

• But, you don’t have to be  an outcast to be a rebel.
• You just have to break a small rule to be cool, but only a small rule, i.e., you can’t be a rapist.
• You have to have a sense of sheer glory-bound joyousness to be “cool.”
• You have to manifest a sense of self-belief in order to be “cool.”

There is a feeling of care-free celebration in Los Angeles.

• The people in the new civilization that has taken root in Los Angeles have a confident imperturbability.
• The principal organizing principle in Los Angeles is that “it has to be fun”; everything has to be fun.

Having a society that permits people to be “cool” (a) stimulates diverse thinking, (b) brings about change, (c) brings about evolution, (d) changes the dynamics of existence, (e) changes the dynamics of relationships, (f) brings about a questioning of what you want to be.

“Cool people” emote the jauntiness of a ship’s captain and all the optimism of a man embarking on a voyage he had planned for all of his life.

“Cool people” are invested with the spirit of carefree celebration.

“Cool people” deliver a bright new message, often their message is a bright new message of existential unconcern.

Being “cool” is a lighthearted declaration of independence.

Being “cool” its playing a little on the uncautious side.

If You Want to Tap Into Your Inner Cool Go to Los Angeles

“Cool” matters.

“Cool” is important.

The concept of “cool” — what drives cool — drives the global economy.

T-Shirts

T-shirts are an expensive visual luxury item in Los Angeles.

Stylish women, in Los Angeles, spend hours searching for the perfect T-shirt, whose finely woven and slightly transparent thread make it feel like cashmere.

Grown women and girls of all ages wear stylish T-shirts in Los Angeles.

Below are photos of two young ladies I took on Saturday morning February 20, 2016, while I was on a coffee-break at my local Starbucks Coffee Shop.

The photos below were taken by me with my iPhone at the Starbucks Coffee shop located at 14431 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, California (a lower middle-class neighborhood a few blocks west of Van Nuys Blvd. on Burbank Blvd.).

The above pictures – taken inside a neighborhood Starbucks Coffee Show – are are example of the style consciousness and “coolness” of the people you will see everywhere in Los Angeles.

Everyone is style conscious and fashion conscious in Los Angeles.

See photographs below of T-shirts, each of which have a great deal of imaginative flair, which were displayed on a counter in a store on Main Street in Santa Monica, I visited on February 17, 2016.

The name of the store in Santa Monica  is “Hip-Tique”

Hip-Tique is located at 2727 Main Street, Santa Monica, California.

In Los Angeles, as well as in all other “hip” places all over the world, T-shirts are considered chic attire, especially when they have a witty message.

Fashion and style consciousness (as it applies to what people wear) is in the air everyone breathes in Los Angeles.

What people wear is a form of status and social awareness in Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, the style of your goods transparently signals your social position.

However, Los Angeles has a rich, generous and diverse culture and therefore in Los Angeles, there is no simple link between one’s level of conspicuous consumption and one’s social status.

For example, on Sunday morning (February 20, 2016) a female friend took me to a Bosnian Cafe in Los Angeles to enjoy “authentic” Turkish Coffee with her.

That was a “priceless experience.”

Sunday Morning, February 20, 2016 at A Bosnian Cafe in Los Angeles

I spent Sunday morning (February 21, 2016) with my lady friend of mine [who by the way was born in Persia/Iran and speaks many languages and has friends all over the world and from all over the world] at Aroma Cafe, a Bosnian Cafe, in West Los Angeles, located at 2530 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. 90064.

The photograph below was taken when I just began drinking Turkish Coffee.

The photograph below was taken after the Baklava I ate arrived while I was drinking Turkish Coffee.

The Turkish Coffee was served in a copper container on a copper plate.

Below is a photograph of the container my Turkish Coffee came in, the coffee cup I poured my Turkish Coffee into and the spoon I was given to stir my coffee.

The coffee cup came with two cubes of  sugar in it.

The custom is to put one cube of sugar in your mouth before you pour the coffee then sip your coffee after you have put one sugar cube in your mouth.

The coffee dissolves the sugar cube in the coffee cup and the sugar cube in your mouth dissolves while you sip your coffee.

Below is a close up of the container full of Turkish Coffee in which my Turkish Coffee was served.

Below is a close-up of the ornate coffee stirring spoon.

Traditionally Turkish coffee is served with a piece of sweet.

The pink square in the photo below is the “sweet” that was served with my Turkish coffee.

The Baklava was incredibly sweet and moist.

The copper plate on which the coffee container was presented was very ornate.

Many grocery items sold in Bosnia are now also sold in this cafe.

Below are photos of some of those items.

 

 

 

Strong Turkish Coffee at a Book Swap in Los Angeles

If you like strong authentic Turkish Coffee I strongly recommend you try a small cup of authentic Turkish Coffee at that cafe. the Aroma Cafe in West Los Angeles, located at 2530 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

If you were in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 12, 2016 you could have gone there for an evening of conversation, fun and a book swap.

Churros Calientes

Churros Calientes is located at 11521 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90025.

Below is a picture of a cup of hot chocolate I had at Churros Caliente.

The hot chocolate was so thick it was served with a spoon.

After drinking the hot chocolate pictured above, I drank an iced mocha drink (photograph below) to clear my throat.

Below is a photograph of the Churros Calientes menu posted on a wall in the Churros Calientes Cafe and a photograph on the wall of hot chocolate being poured into a cup.

So far, my favorite hot chocolate is the hot chocolate served at Churros Calientes in West Los Angeles.

A Taste of Traditional Food

Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan city with people from all over the world who grew up with every “traditional” food imaginable.

The photos below were taken at a local family restaurant in Los Angeles (the Guelaguetza, located at 3014 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90006, phone 1-213-427-0608) on Sunday, March 6, 2016 by a friend of mine while eating dinner there with her family.

Soul

For creative people, being cool is more important than the accumulation of material wealth.

What you do, how you do what you do and what you possess signal your discretion, your refinement, whether you are “cool” and your capacity to navigate life.

The people I am surrounded by value embodied wealth (such as strength and vitality, i.e. good health), relational wealth (i.e., social ties), intelligence, cooperativeness, leadership, creativity, emotional stability, positive attitude, good “values” (including the ability to delay gratification) multifaceted tastes, connoisseurship and having “soul.”  They believe time you have devoted to your soul is the best use you have made of your time.

A lot of people loose the goodness of their soul on the way to success or in the struggle to stay alive.  That is what Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is talking about in the “What I Told My Daughter.”

According to an email I recently received from a “cool” person,

On his death bed, Alexander the Great summoned his army generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:

1. The best doctors should carry his coffin …
2. The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery …
3. His hands should be let loose, so they hand outside the coffin for all to see.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2016 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved