dreams.

a moment of clarity.

words.

"I feel as if we, in the cultural classes, have been perfectly happy to get caught up in the mythology that L.A. is somehow a Xanadu of art-making. Certainly, there are worse places to be an artist. (Brooklyn comes to mind.) But let's get real about the situation here in Los Angeles.

 ...Certainly, if you live here and are paying attention, you know that Los Angeles has a housing crisis, epic numbers of homeless people that we are choosing to deal with in increasingly punitive ways and public transportation system that is very much a work-in-progress. And, of course, there's the fact that arts in the public-school system remain underfunded and inequitably distributed.

 ...It's great that culture types are reveling in this moment in which our city's output is drawing interest at an international level. But let's be honest about the limits of this so-called boom — and who it might be benefiting.

Let's love L.A. by being critical of it. And maybe — just maybe — try to fix it too."

LOS ANGELES TIMES: The myth of L.A. as a 'creatives' paradise -- and why loving the city means seeing its flaws