Month: December 2020

First, let me clear something up: For the most part I wasn’t an awful person in high school; I was mostly just an awful student.

Second: These are stories as I remember them, not deep dive researched facts. I reserve the right to get things wrong, to leave things out, and to contradict myself. I contain multitudes.

I wasn’t supposed to go to El Camino Real High School; I lived in Canoga Park, and my house was in the borders for Canoga High. But I wanted to go to ECR because they had a better drama department, and I wanted to be an actor (with about the same level of realistic planning as a five year old has when they want to be an astronaut who fights fires, and is also a video game champion).

The problem: LAUSD requires you to have a reason to transfer, and in the days before charter schools “I MUST SHARE MY GIFT OF ACTING WITH THE WORLD” wasn’t a good enough reason. So my folks and I found another way: a gifted transfer. I used a dubious gifted test from elementary school as an excuse to get back into the gifted program, and that was only offered locally at ECR. After a year of skating through the gifted program I returned to regular classes, where I thrived (or just continued skating at the new, easier level).

The “become an actor” plan didn’t pan out, but I did meet Katherine at ECR, and that was better. If you’d like to know how that story goes, you can read my ancient short stories I wrote for an English class when I finally decided to properly go to college instead of skipping classes and hiding in bookstores. That’s right, even my wild college escapades were boring.

First, The Thanks and The Asking

People. PEOPLE. Thanks to the donations you’ve given, at this point I’ve had three dollars donated for every mile I traveled! THAT IS OUTSTANDING. Thank you! It would be AMAZING if that trend continued. Share and make it happen, because YOU ARE AWESOME.

Next, The Hopefully Interesting Ramble

It’s probably hard to tell, but I sometimes do a bit of research before I go out on a ride so I can have some ideas for things to talk about; that’s how I knew about the Tataviam Tribe and Charles Maclay. It started with a 1923 map of the San Fernando Valley from the Library of Congress.

Lots of changes in the last 100 years. One of them is that green box around streets in the Northeast corner of The Valley.

The largest thin in the bost is the name Maclay. It’s the street name, but it’s larger than the other streets in the area, so I searched for it and found this article:

San Fernando’s Maclay Avenue isn’t just a name to the city founder’s family. But for a Native American tribe, it must go

…and that led to this video:

The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians: Renaming Maclay Avenue

That’s a little heavier than I usually like to go in these videos, but I’m always interested in finding out the history of The Valley. So in it went.

The Oviatt Library was different. I already knew about the filming at CSUN, and I knew where I could find those clips, so I didn’t look it up ahead of time. When I got home I realized I’d been going to that library for over 30 years and I had no idea who it was named after, and thought I might find a History Fun Fact or two that I could throw into the edit.

…and that led to this article:

Oviatt name removed from CSUN library, lawn effective immediately

Then: Mom!

Mom didn’t just teach 36.6 miles away for twenty years. For most of that time, she taught first grade. I’ve taught first grade; it’s hard. Kids aren’t used to longer school days, and the sheer number of different subject (and amount of information students are supposed to learn in each of them) is overwhelming. Add to that teaching kids for whom English is often a second language and the pressure skyrockets. I don’t think I could have done it. Go mom! You rock.

The Thanks and The Asking (slight return)

This is probably my last TogetheRide post of 2020. It has been thrilling and inspiring to see people give so much during this wacky, difficult year. Let’s all have a 2021 with more of the inspiration and less of the difficulty. A year that lets us actually see each other’s faces! And enter the “Tell Me Where To Go” contest!

Happy New Year!

This post’s rides:

Wicker, Wicker, Wicker…

You might have watched that and thought “How the heck did he find four wicker pop culture references?” Well, I’ve got news for you: I barely scratched the surface of the world of wicker. Vox did a whole video on the pop history of a wicker chair.

You can also read about the 13 most iconic wicker chairs of all time.

Donuts!

Donut King II is not the most famous giant donut on a building in Los Angeles (that would be Randy’s by LAX) but it’s a very similar giant donut on a building. A very different option for giant donut is the donut hole, where you actually drive through the donut. Read some donut words here!

Too much monkey business

If you’ve never seen “Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp,” you are about to experience…something. The pitch meeting must have been amazing. “Okay, here’s the idea: You know how people loved that talking horse show? That was just one animal! What if we did a show where everyone is a talking monkey? And the main character has a Humphrey Bogart voice? And there’s a monkey band- not The Monkees, but actual monkeys? This thing is gonna be HUGE!“

This week’s rides:

Enter the contest to pick my destination!