Five hundred feet outside the Lahaina burn zone, the tourists receive their leis. As the torches of the Old Lahaina Luau flicker, bartenders mix mai tais and hula dancers get ready. After dinner, dancer and emcee Niki Rickard gathers the performers in a circle and asks the audience for “a moment of silence … to […]
Some things are inevitable when surfing in Southern California: It can feel like an exclusive club, you may have to battle traffic to get to the good waves, and overhearing a very specific, and sometimes confusing, dialogue. When you paddle out, it’s as though you’ve entered a new world with its own language that might […]
If your perception of Seth Rogen begins and ends with his scruffy stoner/schlubby Everyman persona, you might be surprised to find out that the actor, producer, comedian and cannabis-brand entrepreneur is also an ashtray aesthete of the highest caliber and owner of a massive, museum-worthy collection of seriously stylish ashtrays from days gone by. Seth […]
Givenchy opens permanent store on Rodeo Drive (Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com / Courtesy of Givenchy) Givenchy’s first West Coast flagship lands in the iconic Beverly Hills shopping district. The 8,000-square-foot structure features furniture with archival tiger print fabric, and much of the glamor and warmth of the 70-year-old building has been preserved, including the original […]
My beach romances have been disasters. On the Silver Strand in Coronado, a date tried to teach me to surf. I nearly drowned. I called it quits after a hard face-plant off the surfboard and into the wet sand. A date once left me stranded on McAbee Beach in Monterey when I refused to sing […]
We’re used to time-bending drives in Southern California, watching our ETAs get longer instead of shorter as traffic jams grow. So I was resigned but not surprised when my 66-mile drive from Ventura to Elysian Park stretched from 86 minutes to 100 minutes Thursday afternoon. What I didn’t expect was hail. On the first day […]
When readers shared their favorite Southern California beaches with us, the majority of their recommendations were for beaches that made our recent top 50 list. Picking the best beaches out of the roughly 200 in Southern California was an ambitious task, and it’s gratifying to be in alignment with so many beach lovers. That said, […]
In a perfect world, everyone you love would be with someone who values them and treats them right. And — bonus points — that person would be someone you vibe with so you can all hang out together blissfully into old age. But that doesn’t always happen. One of the most frustrating friendship conundrums is […]
If a wildlife show wanted to film in the middle of Los Angeles, Casa Apocalyptica — a dizzying jungle of native plants, abundant wildlife, soothing water and salvaged debris — would be a great place to land. Here, slender salamanders slink through the leaf litter under robust stands of Santa Cruz Island buckwheat and California […]
I’m sitting across from an orthodontist, sipping a lukewarm coffee and gliding through typical first-date banter about L.A. traffic. But as this Hinge experiment with his simp-y Harry Styles hair and $200 sweatpants tries to lock eyes with me, I’m still staring just past his shoulder at a fake eucalyptus plant. I am silently praying […]
Truism No. 1: Los Angeles is a patchwork of vast hiking terrain, with about 1 million acres in the L.A. area. The Angeles National Forest alone offers 700,000 acres and 8,000-foot-plus peaks to explore. Truism No. 2: Even the most comprehensive hiking guide can’t possibly incorporate every craggy nook and spindly trail. Which is partly […]
You see them crowding checkout counters at grocery stores — a rainbow of bubble-gum pink, lime green and blueberry packets, slender and upright, like a multicolored chorus line of dancers tempting an impulse purchase. At the gym, they’re dissolved into enormous jugs of cherry-tinted water. They’re especially prevalent on TikTok. Just search #watertok for a […]
These days, habitat gardens are all the rage among eco-conscious Californians. They add native plants to their yards, patios or even balconies to provide food and shelter for wildlife. But here’s the bitter truth: It’s not a real habitat garden if it doesn’t have a water source, as in a place where bees and butterflies […]
At 77, I had given up. After two failed marriages and years of unsuccessful dating, I accepted what seemed to be my fate: single for almost 40 years and single for however many remained. You don’t get it all, I told myself. I was grateful for family, friends and work. Life settled into what felt […]
Outside it was sunny and in the high 80s, but inside, a large, spectral-like glacier was rushing toward me. As it broke apart in the water, it looked sickly, with glowing green streaks running through it. Then it was overhead, and I was spiraling, traversing oceanic crests only to arrive inside an underwater forest. I […]
Katya Mosely remembers the exact moment it all began, a few years ago. “It was my daughter’s piano teacher,” she says. “She had a 6-inch-long stick of charcoal floating in her glass water bottle. I saw it, and that’s what sent me down the rabbit hole.” Mosely, the owner of Spirit Gate Acupuncture & Wellness […]
Nearly a year ago, I scribbled “Replace Brita filter” on my to-do list. But the errand perpetually fell by the wayside. There were so many more pressing tasks to complete. “Oh, it’s fine,” I thought. “How bad can it be?” Let’s just say that a day into reporting this story, I ran out to the […]
I’ve just discovered a secret oasis in the sparkling water aisle at a local grocery store in Little Armenia. I’ve driven past this location many times but never paid it any notice. By my side is Martin Riese, a certified water sommelier. He’s pointing to bottles from international brands I’ve never heard of. Riese highlights […]
The bed in Nancy Gerrish’s bright Los Feliz home appears perfectly normal — carved wooden headboard, fuzzy brown blanket, cream-colored bed skirt. The sheets are a tasteful leopard print. A few brocade throw pillows lie atop the spread to complete the earth-tone look. But beneath that plush exterior, Gerrish’s bed hides a jiggling secret. Sit […]
Robotic dinosaurs. Mechanical miners. Unpredictable chaos. Our local water rides offer the promise of getting wet with a dash of surprise and excitement. Home to four world-class theme or amusement parks, the Southland isn’t lacking in inventive ways to get soaked. Some of these rides are exquisitely designed, emphasizing show scenes and story rather than […]
(Beth Hoeckel / For The Times) Who — or what — is like a Leo? The fifth sign, presiding over the astrological house ruling joy, passion and all things lovable, is never not a welcome presence to those with taste. As different as each Leo is (and as they insist they are, never appreciating comparisons […]
(Photography by Henry Hargreaves; prop styling by Victoria Granof) In L.A., water rules our minds, bodies and yards. That’s why we’re decoding H20 during our city’s most sizzling season. Learn how to filter your tap and optimize your hydration. Discover the best under-the-radar place to buy bottled water in the city. Cool off on a […]
All aboard! Starting this week, the Descanso Railroad train ride is open to riders once again. And model trains winding their way around a new railway garden promise to charm a generation of engine-obsessed little kids. Imagine a garden where cedar trunks and fallen branches from nearby oaks uphold an overhead miniature railway, with more […]
I was at a cocktail party a few months ago in Studio City when, suddenly, one conversation rose above the din of guest’s chatter, and quickly arrived at a consensus: Erewhon had gone too far. “Animal organs, ground up!” one guest squealed, crinkling his nose. “Oh my god, yes,” his friend agreed. “Erewhon’s smoothies are […]
Los Angeles-born actor and singer Miranda Cosgrove has been part of our pop culture landscape for more than two decades. She made her big-screen debut in 2003’s “School of Rock” (filmed when she was 9) followed by a run of sitcom roles (first from 2004 to 2007 on “Drake & Josh” and then 2007 to […]
The light was low at the Echo as Elliot Moss started playing his new single. The distortion kicked in, and my jaw dropped. It was a departure for someone I typically describe as an electronic music singer-songwriter. I was there on a date with my husband. We loved the new sound. I was holding my […]
There are two words that will strike fear in a grown-up fan of a Disney theme park: Disney adult. While some may wear the designation as a badge of honor, many associate it with a specific form of humiliation. For a Disney adult is typically seen as not an adult at all. Their obsession, detractors […]
SACRAMENTO — Last month, the California State Fair announced plans to allow cannabis to be sold and consumed on-site for the first time in its 170-year history. On Sunday, I hopped on a flight from L.A. to Sacramento, bypassed the stands of deep-fried foods and whooshing carnival rides and made a beeline for Expo 6 to […]
I know my way around a facial. I have well-formed opinions about collagen face masks and laser treatments. I planned a trip to Seoul, in part, so I could visit a famous spa known for its advanced skin care techniques and K-drama celebrity clientele. So when I saw a TikTok video that described a local […]
Water-hungry lawns are symbols of Los Angeles’ past. In this series, we spotlight yards with alternative, low-water landscaping built for the future. The temperature was in the 90s in West Hills, but that didn’t deter an astonishing number of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds and bees from feeding on the California-friendly plants — sages, salvias and flowering […]
Ann-Marie Hoang, L.A.-based wardrobe stylist from Highland Park. (Jennelle Fong / For The Times) Ann-Marie Hoang has made a career out of her love for chaos. As an L.A.-based wardrobe stylist from Highland Park, Hoang finds that her creative energy is best exercised on the set of a music video. Something about long days and […]
Of course, naming the best beaches of Southern California is subjective. But when a group of reporters set out to take on this massive task for The Times, they had some guiding principles. We sought beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara that were easy to access and offered something special like amazing views, great […]
Los Angeles renters with style, show us your place! The smaller, the better. In a city where home prices are at an all-time high and most are renters — whether an apartment, duplex, ADU, or single-family house — many are looking for inspiration on how to make rentals feel like home. Looking to purchase a […]
Gucci Flora Gorgeous Orchid Eau De Parfum With a shift of the season come new scents to revel in. Gucci’s Flora Gorgeous Orchid Eau De Parfum is the latest fragrance release from the Italian house, with a campaign featuring Miley Cyrus under the direction of creative director Sabato De Sarno. A sumptuous white floral with […]
Here in Los Angeles, summer vacation means many different things to many different people. For some it’s a five-week-long trip to Majorca, Spain; for others it’s a long weekend at a Malibu campsite. Some of us will save all year for a big luxurious blowout; others will strategize to minimize costs. According to a recent […]
When I video-call Lisa Ann Walter, she’s in the middle of making a banana cake to serve alongside the curry she’ll soon prepare for Sunday dinner, a standing tradition at her house. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, […]
On any given day in Southern California, you have vast opportunities to escape for an outdoor adventure, whether that means surfing a wave, hiking a mountain or traversing the desert. But with any adventure comes risk. As much as we plan, the unexpected can sometimes overwhelm us. Have you ever found yourself in a sticky […]
I’m walking home when a man, who’s graying and handsome, stops me. “Excuse me,” he says. “You’re gorgeous.” I’m not hallucinating. The fairy tale has come true; my prince has arrived. It’s the giddy 12-year-old in me who says thank you. It’s also the current me, with all the weight of my 49 years, who […]
It’s sweaty stinky time again at the Huntington Library, Art Gallery, and Botanic Gardens. One of its rare corpse flowers is about to bloom, in all its putrescence. In the next 10 to 12 days, expect visitors to be lined up to enter the Huntington’s sauna-like viewing area in San Marino to give this giant, […]
When Ali Weiss, 30, shares a selfie on Instagram, she often adds a disclaimer: This is a face that hasn’t had any work done. “The most punk thing you can do in 2024 is not f— with your face,” the New York City-based on-air host and podcaster writes via email. Surrounded by peers who got […]
Mya wears Vassia Kostara bra, and pieces from Tiffany & Co.’s Tiffany Céleste collection. The L.A. universe doesn’t start or end in Beverly Hills. Depending on who you talk to, it doesn’t even cross its path. But on a recent warm afternoon, a celestial kingdom existed inside a crisp room at the Beverly Estate, where […]
“Just before visiting Los Angeles in summer 2008, I read a story in the Los Angeles Times about the opening of the first public park in downtown L.A. in more than 100 years. I was intrigued by the description of the park created at a former oil field in a low-income area where residents are […]
Six decades after the age when most people do, I’ve become obsessed with Lego. My gateway drug was a set reminiscent of an ice cream truck. Like many parents, I was trying something new as a way to connect with one of my kids. Unlike many parents, in my case the kid in question was […]
In 1984, a determined back-to-earther named Jules Dervaes Jr. brought his wife and children from a 10-acre farm in rural Florida to study theology in Pasadena but ultimately decided on a different ministry: creating a self-sufficient urban farm on a rundown residential property less than a block from the 210 freeway. Jules Dervaes Jr. didn’t […]
Two years ago, I ditched any semblance of cheesy dating apps in favor of meeting the love of my life organically, like in the olden days. On a chilly, spring Friday night, I scanned my monochromatic closet in an attempt to select an upscale casual lewk that would pair with “comfortable walking shoes,” which my […]
Emma Roberts vividly remembers how she was welcomed to life in Los Angeles 30 years ago. “I was 3, because my first memory of L.A. was of that big [Northridge] earthquake in 1994,” the actor told The Times via Zoom recently from New York City. She was fresh off an appearance on “CBS Mornings” promoting […]
On a breezy Saturday evening in South L.A., the sounds of heavy kick drums and electric claps trail down the block from a tan, two-story house with a well-manicured lawn. Through the large front window, passersby can catch a glimpse of a DJ in a dimly lighted living room, meticulously turning knobs on a mixer […]
Art and Jessica Martinez never imagined they’d own a home in the Valley. Their Silver Lake condo suited their urban lifestyle: strolling around the reservoir, walking to the local grocery store and frequenting their favorite tiki bar, Tiki-Ti. However, the pandemic made them rethink everything. Trapped at home, they dreamed of a single-family house with […]
Jimmy Dunne hopped off his electric bike, hung his helmet on the handlebars and hurried over to the three bocce courts at Veterans Gardens just in time to offer his usual Tip of the Day. “Think strategically,” the commissioner of the Palisades Bocce Club told the 50 amateur players who had gathered at the park […]
When you figure in the high cost, endless lines, height restrictions and miles of walking, does it ever make sense to take a preschooler to Disneyland? Yes, as long as their adults adjust their expectations, plan carefully and slow waaay down. Because, let’s face it, most preschoolers are too young to understand what Disneyland is […]
This is the part where I admit two things — neither of which I’m proud of. First, it was only then, several months in, I realized I’d made a colossal blunder when trying to hang my precious high-tech feeder out of squirrels’ reach. I’d measured the recommended five feet off the ground sure enough, but […]
Sundays have always been a “sacred” day for Eva Longoria. Growing up in Texas, the Golden Globe-nominated actor would go to Sunday Mass with her family before heading to one of her favorite restaurants, Luby’s, where she’d order a fried fish platter with mashed potatoes, corn, buttery dinner rolls and as much soda as she […]
At the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Jessie George and other paleobotanists — the folks who study ancient plants the way paleontologists study prehistoric bones — are compiling a list of California native plants that survived the Ice Age and the region’s first huge climate change and are still alive today. The researchers believe […]
They say your 30s are better than your 20s for myriad reasons: better sense of identity, more financial stability, less defined by ego-filled standards. For me, I was completely satisfied in every department in my life except romance. I met Dave, an attractive 37-year-old man with salt-and-pepper hair and a contrasting red-colored beard, at the […]
When Cody Delistraty lost his mother in 2014, he was surprised by the various ways that he, his brother and his father dealt with their grief. The journalist and speechwriter had expected his family’s experiences to be aligned, that there would be a, “homogeneity to grieving.” The differences led Delistraty to wonder whether loss was […]
(Daniel Sulzberg / For The Times) Times theme park critic Todd Martens was handed a wild assignment: Rank every theme park ride in Southern California. The mission was dizzying, literally, as he spent months fastening his seatbelt and zipping through mountains, strapping on AR goggles and floating into fairy tales. He judged each attraction not […]
Planning a wedding is a highly personal experience, reflecting your tastes, values and vision as a couple. But one thing is universal: It’ll likely cost more than you think. In a survey by the Knot that polled nearly 10,000 U.S. couples who married in 2023, the average cost of a wedding was $35,000 — a […]
About a year and a half ago, it occurred to me that if I didn’t start working out again, I’d be sliding into a sloppy, flabby late middle age. I had always been a runner. For more than 30 years, my workout partner and I ran regularly along the oceanfront, from Venice to Santa Monica. […]
Licorice root, reishi mushrooms and vitamin B-6 are often among the ingredients listed in various adaptogenic drinks. (Rebecca Peloquin / For The Times) It’s not enough for a drink just to taste good anymore. Most specialty grocery or liquor stores now offer colorful cans and bottles that advertise so-called adaptogens, ingredients that beverage companies claim […]
On a sunny spring afternoon in the high desert, Adam Miller and Devon Oder prepared to welcome guests — friends, neighbors, artists and family members — to a reception for artist B. Wurtz at their one-bedroom cabin in Yucca Valley. Like many Los Angeles parents of young children who needed a break during the COVID-19 […]
Earlier this year, a spiritual coach and reiki healer who goes by the name Zen Oasis posted a video to TikTok explaining the idea of “the shadow self” to her 167,000 followers. Sitting lotus-style in a yellow halter top with a stick of sage smoldering in one hand, the Atlanta native described an exercise she […]
Being at the Hollywood Bowl to see a show is a magical experience. Getting there? Not so much, thanks to streets that get so clogged with traffic that it sometimes feels like every single one of the 17,000 people filling the storied venue to capacity are behind the wheel of their own car inching slowly […]
In late November, I prepared myself for one of the most common pastimes of any nature-loving Californian. I got up early and trekked a dozen steps over to my laptop, where I quickly logged onto Recreation.gov to secure a campsite near Yosemite National Park — for Memorial Day weekend. It’s the kind of vacation that […]
In a second-story room in Los Feliz’s Philosophical Research Society, about a dozen people sit in a circle. Many of them are here for the first time and not entirely sure what to expect. The sandwich board sign in the courtyard below offers only a cryptic hint: “Welcome! Death cafe meeting upstairs.” As the group […]
Is there a place in L.A. that simply makes you happy? A spot where you go to escape? Where the noise just stops and you feel nothing but delight? Perhaps it’s a favorite store where the bright and clean interior offers you a reprieve from your mental clutter. Or a treasured spot outdoors that has […]
Collage featuring Mono Silver Zeug Cutlery Set. (Beth Hoeckel / For The Times) June is a feeling that floats at the forefront of every Angeleno’s mind at some point or another in the months leading up to it. Whether it’s the flickering memory of dancing to cumbias antiguas at the backyard asada for your best […]
Paul Scheer’s memoir, “Joyful Recollections of Trauma,” is not just a collection of harrowing — and often humorous confessions — but also a reminder that to persevere, we must strive to maintain our passions. Scheer’s first loves come through in prose, and also on his pair of podcasts — “How Did This Get Made?” with […]
We drove up a steep hill in our packed doughnut food truck to see our new house in Glassell Park for the first time. But we weren’t prepared for the stress of that hillside drive. Who knew that such pockets of treacherous roads existed just east of the 2 Freeway? This was a different level […]
Alanna Santini’s friends call her the “human weather vane.” On cloudy days, the 42-year-old advertising executive from Silver Lake invariably comes down with a bad headache. It’s an experience she grew accustomed to in her home state of New York and something she was happy to escape when she moved west five years ago. But […]
Anh Phoong stands in front of one of her L.A. billboards. Phoong wears Oori Ott bodysuit and shorts, Firmé Atelier jacket. (Kanya Iwana/For The Times) Anh Phoong isn’t afraid of heights. She has a vivid memory of herself in college dancing on top of a nightclub speaker. It’s an image that her friends won’t let […]
If there are many paths up the mountain that is spiritual self-discovery, writer, strategist and Zen priest Cristina Moon is on one with an especially steep incline. “I think the majority of paths have a lot of switchbacks, but some people want straight up the mountain,” she said. “That works for them, it worked for […]
In Los Angeles, the sprawling 502-square-mile, second-most-populated city in the country, there’s one thing that makes the difference between surviving and truly thriving (once you’ve gotten the whole paycheck thing figured out, anyway): our stash of life hacks. These are all the myriad micro-enhancers to navigating daily life; the hassle-minimizing, efficiency-maximizing tips, tricks and strategies […]
For the first time in the 170-year history of the California State Fair, which is scheduled to open July 12 in Sacramento, visitors will be able to do something they haven’t been able to do there before — legally anyway. They will be able to purchase and consume cannabis on-site. The plans, announced Tuesday by […]
If you’re making travel plans for summer or fall, brace yourself for a jump in some advertised prices — which is, believe it or not, good news for consumers. It’s the result of a new California law aimed at bringing transparency to the resort fees, service fees, host fees and other “drip pricing” that often […]
What would Los Angeles be like without the nearly 30,000 jacaranda trees on city streets? It depends on who you ask. “The tree stands for California at its worst: all flash, no substance, a pain left for others to clean up, inspiration for a thousand delusions and a million excuses,” The Times’ Gustavo Arellano wrote […]
We all have a past — little ghosts of heartache and regret that can haunt us forever. But for some people, the ghosts can become demons. My father was one of those people. In his 94 years, he was married four times and had at least seven kids besides me. Three of them I grew […]
While a swanky airport lounge can’t alleviate Los Angeles International Airport’s infamous curbside gridlock, it can make it become a more distant memory. The latest predeparture sanctuary that will land at LAX? It’s from a company best known for its bank branches. Chase announced on Thursday it will open a 9,234-square-foot Sapphire Lounge at Tom […]
Mendocino County, Calif. — As you drive through some of California’s most storied agricultural land, a few hours north of the Bay Area, you’ll zoom past fields full of plants straining under the weight of their almost-ready-to-harvest bounty. After checking into your boutique hotel, you’ll get to sample some of the local flavor and watch the […]
It’s a Tuesday night in mid-May, and dozens of people are rolling into a parking lot just south of the Santa Monica Pier. Most are on skateboards of all shapes and sizes. A few are on roller skates, scooters and bicycles. One dude rides in on a mountain bike armed with a toy gun that […]
Françoise Hardy, the French chanson singer, songwriter, fashion “It Girl” and darling of the 1960s “yé-yé” French pop movement, has died. She was 80. Her death was announced Tuesday on Instagram by her son, Thomas Dutronc, who wrote, “Maman est partie” — “Mom is gone” in French — without specifying when or where she died. […]
Bay Lake, Fla. — As we dip into the bayou, the scene before us feels a tad mystical, all glowing fireflies with hues of blue and purple seeping through the trees. While there’s a comfortably paced current carrying our log-carved vessels through the fantasy wetlands, what’s ultimately propelling us forward is the sound of music. […]
Surviving in an obsolete industry as long as Aardvark Letterpress has requires fundamental elements of entrepreneurship. Skill, dedication, creativity and professionalism are essential. General manager and co-owner Cary Ocon returns to another theme that’s kept what’s now the city’s oldest letterpress print shop running since 1968. “Dumb luck,” he says. Brothers Brooks and Cary Ocon […]
On Saturday morning, more than 20 L.A. Times subscribers traveled from near and far to join me on our first-ever subscriber hike. We met at San Pascual Stables in South Pasadena, with the hazy June gloom offering perfect hiking weather. Though our trek was only 3.2 miles, we covered a lot of ground in our […]
When people tell her they dislike Los Angeles — too much traffic; everybody drives and nobody walks — Nancy Silverton doesn’t try to defend her hometown. “I understand all of those things,” says the James Beard Award-winning chef, whose Pizzeria Mozza is considered one of the best pizzerias in America. “On the other hand, I […]
We met online in 2004 before Hinge, Bumble or even the iPhone existed. My friends thought I was as likely to get killed as I was to find a match. But I wasn’t worried. I could tell from his profile that he was funny, absurd, modest, artistic and practical. We would get along beautifully. We […]
The hoot of a great horned owl. The munching of a mule deer enjoying grass. The crunching of your feet on the sandy soil. To any hiker, these sounds enhance the joy of being outdoors. But the endorphin rush of a great trail can be blunted by the high-pitched buzz of a mosquito hovering around […]
As a child, I hated nothing more than waiting in line at school. I remember not being able to go back to class from the school yard unless we were in a perfectly straight, unnaturally silent line. “Why?” I found the courage to ask my seventh grade math teacher once. She smirked with 30 years […]
Sometimes 101 is just too small a number. Many readers, having digested our new list of 101 best West Coast experiences, have stepped up to make the case for destinations we left out, from a country road in Malibu to a remote beach town on a Canadian island. We’ve gathered a sampling of them here. […]
It’s June and Pride Month is in full swing as LGBTQ+ communities around the world celebrate together as well as commemorate the Stonewall Uprising in New York City in 1969. Two prominent voices — the drag laureates of West Hollywood and San Francisco — are booked and busy. There are wigs to coif, dresses to […]
My glutes are sore. How about you? We’ve just finished updating a massive hiking guide featuring 70 of the greatest hikes in the L.A. area. We covered about 150 miles in all, crossing creeks, dodging rattlesnakes and poison ivy, climbing up and around switchbacks. The guide covers hikes that are both easy and challenging; it […]
L.A. Affairs is a first-person column in the L.A. Times chronicling romance and relationships. We are looking for previously unpublished work. Here’s how to submit your essay. We are looking for previously unpublished work. We prefer stories that are rooted in the present, not the distant past. Each story needs to have an arc. Mere […]
There are 38 walls in my house, including the ceilings. Of those, 14 are fully painted, 10 are in varying stages of completion, seven are covered in paint swatches and two are haphazardly skim-coated. The remaining five are as nature (the previous homeowners) made them, for now. I am now used to living in a […]
Water-hungry lawns are symbols of Los Angeles’ past. In this series, we spotlight yards with alternative, low-water landscaping built for the future. Looking out the front windows of their northeast L.A. home, Kyle Anido and Katie Cordeal say their front yard is barely recognizable from a year ago when it was a lawn. “It’s crazy […]
I have a new system for beating the casinos in Las Vegas: I don’t spend a penny on the slots, the tables or the sports books. Instead, I bet heavily on red and green. Red rocks and green waters, that is. Hiking and kayaking. I tested the system on a series of day trips last […]
Plan your ultimate trip to always-evolving Las Vegas. Try new immersive experiences and the best places to eat on and off the Strip — including desserts approved by Cake Boss Buddy Valastro. Check out the coolest indie shops and escape the neon lights with fun day trips. Bonus: For relaxing and recovering, find some of […]
Reeling from an unrequited relationship with a bartender-actor and tired of being a broke substitute teacher-actor, I decided to take a full-time teaching job in Pacoima. I was filled with trepidation and wondered if I was ready to give up my acting dreams to become a junior high English teacher. Like any endeavor that I […]
Hi! I’m Deborah Vankin and I’m a wellness writer for the L.A. Times. We just finished putting together a massive guide to fantastic hikes in Los Angeles. While testing out the trails this spring, I went on about 10 solo hikes in a row. Lately, I’m craving company. How about joining me? To celebrate the […]
Prada Galleria Who doesn’t love a fresh take on a classic? The Prada Galleria, a bag first created in 2007, is back with reimagined surface and structure — including a new calfskin exterior and nappa interior, gold-plated metal hardware and extremely Prada embellishments including micro-studs and 3-D floral blooms. The new Galleria in soft grain […]
At high noon on a Saturday, the last aluminum pour of the day is about to commence at the Yucca Valley Material Lab. Heidi Schwegler, founder of the Lab, has crawled up to the roof to get the best vantage point for a video. Schwegler has a hard stance on safety while still allowing for […]
Jacarandas have burst forth once more with their galvanizing purple-blue flowers, an invitation to feel joy or annoyance, depending on one’s perspective toward the tree’s spectacular yet messy blossoms. This year’s flowering has arrived three weeks earlier than last year’s, which many avid jacaranda buffs experienced as later than usual. Gretchen North, a biology professor […]
It’s 4:30 a.m. on a Tuesday and the lights are blazing at Food Forward’s Pit Stop warehouse. Big trucks are lining up waiting their turn while forklifts whiz around the loading dock, pulling pallets of donated asparagus, lettuce and strawberries off one truck or pushing boxes of purple potatoes, green beans and heirloom tomatoes onto […]
For Jay 305, smelling good is sanctity. A trail of musks, resinous woods and creamy florals follow him around like an orb of protection. But the real flex, the never-ending quest, is to smell unlike anyone else. At Scent Bar DTLA, the niche perfume boutique with locations at The Row, Hollywood and New York City, […]
If you’ve ever considered growing your own pot plant at home in Southern California but found the whole tents-and-timers-in-a-closet thing impossibly confusing or prohibitively intimidating (or both), the good news is that it doesn’t have to be either. That’s the takeaway from a series of workshops that have taken place at nurseries and gardening centers […]
DILLON BEACH, Calif. — A stay in Brian Maggi’s house, per the Airbnb listing, is what coastal California dreams are made of. “Bathed in natural sunlight,” it reads, you can “enjoy unobstructed panoramic views of the ocean and Point Reyes.” You can bring your dog. Walk to the sand. Savor “the perfect getaway” in the 1928 […]
Skateboarders, creative directors, chefs and hip designers are all captivating subjects for photographer Todd Selby, who has traveled the world for more than 20 years, capturing creatives at home for his blog, the Selby. “I have always been interested in outside-the-box people who live in vibrantly colorful homes,” Selby says. “When I was growing up […]
I was at dinner in Los Feliz recently trying to encourage a couple I’ve been friends with for more than 20 years to come see my boyfriend’s band play the following weekend. “It’s so fun,” I said. “It’s at a bar in the Valley, but Luis gives it the same energy as if he’s playing […]
SUTTER BUTTES, Calif. — About 60 miles north of Sacramento, the Sutter Buttes rise starkly from the floor of the Central Valley, the remnants of a volcano active more than 1.4 million years ago. Their cathedral-like spires twist upward, some reaching more than 2,000 feet into the sky — an imposing circular formation, 10 miles […]
Travel writer Christopher Reynolds floats in a pond at the magnesium-chloride-rich waters of the Guerrero Negro saltworks in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur. (Photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times; logo typography by Jacky Sheridan / For The Times)
Kathleen Ferguson grabbed a pair of pruning shears from a mailbox nailed to a garden bed and leaned down to cut bunches of Orlaya grandiflora on the flower-filled hillside. “This property has a pulse,” she said as she placed the white lace flowers into a bucket of water. “The wildlife is incredible here. I’ve caught […]
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — For many, the lure of Las Vegas is the near complete immersion in a man-made world. Visitors bury themselves deep inside temperature-controlled casinos, surrounded by artificial lights and sounds, with no windows or even clocks to remind them that the outside world still exists. It’s one of the indoors-iest places on the […]
In the mid-2010s, celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian, Rihanna and Floyd Mayweather Jr. socialized at Lure Nightclub in Hollywood, drawing TMZ photographers and star-obsessed onlookers to the venue’s curb. Inside Lure, the now-shuttered hot spot offered a menu brimming with expensive drinks like a $70,000 Champagne bottle. But on a spring night in 2014, a […]
(Beth Hoeckel, featuring “Silver Gemini keychain” by Rick Owens) This story is part of Image’s May issue, Homemaking, about home and the many ways we choose to make it. In this sunny, gloomy town, it’s not just that things are often not as they seem — they are more than. Excess competes with restraint for […]
Book Review Unnatural Habitat: The Native and Exotic Wildlife of Los Angeles By Craig StanfordHeyday: 264 pages, $24If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. Los Angeles tends to strike outsiders as a borderless mishmash of suburbs spread over an unfriendly landscape […]
Donato Martinez reads his poetry at the Libros Lincoln Heights bookshop. On a Saturday evening in late April, the door of the Libros Lincoln Heights is propped open. Inside, 18 local poets pack the narrow single-room bookstore, waiting for a chance to read a poem or two at this month’s open mic in front of […]
As we walked back to our cars after the party, my ex-boyfriend said, “I have something for you,” and dropped an object into the center of my palm. I unfurled my fingers and was delighted to find a large diamanté cocktail ring. “What’s this?” He grinned. “Isn’t this what you always wanted? For me to […]
I couldn’t help it. In the course of scouting out great adventures for West Coast 101 — our new guide to essential destinations in Baja, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia — I found myself compiling a personal top 10. I’ll get to that list shortly. But first, an honorable mention. Even if you’ve never […]
Michelle Woo is the West Coast experiences editor for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she worked as a senior editor at Medium, the parenting editor at Lifehacker and a staff writer at OC Weekly. She is the author of “Horizontal Parenting: How to Entertain Your Kid While Lying Down.”
If you thought the wildflower season was over in Southern California, think again. The easily accessible Highway 39, also known as San Gabriel Canyon Road, from Azusa north to Crystal Lake Recreation Area is one of the best hidden gems where you can still peep wildflowers — at least for a while longer. While we […]
We met Brian Hawkins, a Redondo Beach mechanical engineer-turned-videographer, in the near-empty lobby of the Yosemite Valley Lodge. It was just after 9 on a Tuesday night in late April. Our hunt was about to begin, but the weather augured poorly. “It’s cloudy, clearing later,” he said. “I would not expect to see anything yet.” […]
Do you want to live to 100? The path to becoming a healthy centenarian — as opposed to just a centenarian — is surprisingly different for those born as women and men, says social researcher and author Maddy Dychtwald. And it’s never too early to start on the journey, even when you’re young and spry. […]
Aleali May loves an Easter egg. And at Paris Fashion Week last year, it was unmissable: a giant, gleaming butterfly hanging above her solar plexus at the Louis Vuitton men’s show by Pharrell Williams. A butterfly is known for its transformative qualities, is symbolic for its hero’s journey — starting as one thing and going […]
Immersive entertainment firm Meow Wolf, whose multiple locations of floor-to-ceiling psychedelic-leaning art have attracted about 10 million visitors across its four venues since 2016, has revealed the location of its in-development Los Angeles-based exhibition. Meow Wolf Los Angeles will be located in a portion of what is currently the Cinemark complex at Howard Hughes L.A. […]
Since bursting onto the Hollywood scene with memorable performances in shows like “Nurse Jackie” and the critically acclaimed FX drama “Pose,” Michaela Jaé Rodriguez has shown her many dimensions. The Golden Globe winner stars in the Apple TV comedy “Loot,” alongside Maya Rudolph, and “American Horror Story: Delicate,” with Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian; both […]
Las Vegas — There are multiple dance duets in “Particle Ink: House of Shattered Prisms,” a mixed-media theatrical production that debuted last month on the Las Vegas Strip. They are highly acrobatic and borderline risqué — this is Vegas, after all — and they are also feats of wonder, for the dance partner is not another […]
Heartbroken after a breakup that was long overdue, crushed by a stalled entertainment industry and depressed by my temporary day job at a dementia center, I grasped at any semblance of stability. Desperation led me to apply for an office job at a law firm in Westwood despite having zero legal experience and a unique […]
Despite a 58-year age difference, Reita Green and Beverly Pate have been best friends and business partners for four years, ever since Beverly hired Reita to hang wallpaper in her Burbank apartment back in 2020. “We respect one another and we bring the best out of each other,” Green says of her friendship with Pate. […]
On a brisk mid-March night in the small Northern California town of Grass Valley, more than 100 people crowded around a Grateful Dead cover band in a drafty warehouse. They were an eccentric mix: aging hippies, hypebeast college kids and burners bundled in faux fur rainbow coats, swaying to guitar riffs. In the parking lot, […]
I only sleep in silk. It’s a bit of a dirty secret. This isn’t the type of thing you want to admit to a friend, much less a stranger. It’s undemocratic. Polyester isn’t good enough for you? Rayon, viscose, all the leaps and bounds made in synthetics — don’t you believe in science? Fine silk […]
The waterbed was invented by a San Francisco State University graduate student in 1969, and it quickly captured the American imagination. It soon became a symbol of the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle for which the 1970s was famous. It hit the peak of its popularity in 1987, when one in every five […]
A Meow Wolf exhibition is designed as a dream space, a walk-through floor-to-ceiling collection of psychedelic art with a sci-fi bent and an anything-goes, punk rock spirit. Apples that melodically squeal when squeezed? One can find those in “Omega Mart,” Meow Wolf’s Las Vegas exhibition. A video game that grapples with an uncompromising, impossible-to-please parent? […]
Advertisement Advertisement The author is a writer and cartoonist based in Los Angeles. She is the author of “Drawn Together: Illustrated True Love Stories” (Voracious, 2022). She’s on Instagram: @drawingolive L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. […]
On a rainy Sunday morning in Inglewood, while most of the sprawling Edward Vincent Jr. Park was empty, one area was alive with action: the Inglewood Pumptrack. On the wavy, asphalt track that almost looks like a modern sculpture emerging out of a grassy field, kids and adults on bicycles zoomed around, showcasing tricks and […]
It’s the first Sunday morning of spring in the Wilshire-Montana neighborhood of Santa Monica and local artist Kim Krans, 43, is making the 10-minute pilgrimage from her apartment to her new favorite place on Earth: the Gloveworx boxing gym at 14th Street and Wilshire Boulevard (which has since moved a half-mile west). “There’s a community […]
The laundromat is the perfect place to cry in public. I’m here now, crying as I type this. I don’t care who sees me. I’m tucked away into one of the two-person benches between the silver three-load washers, tears welling up in my eyes near their tipping point. I make eye contact with a man […]
Artist Sarah Kim belongs to a poker group of up-and-coming art-world denizens. Part poker group, part art collective, they’re an equal mix of men and women, newbies and grinders, at varying levels of their creative careers. Painter Sarah Kim realized soon after her move from New York to Los Angeles that learning Texas Hold ’Em […]
Balenciaga’s Le City bag is bringing back the early aughts Fashion is in love with the early 2000s right now, and Balenciaga, the Kering-owned brand, has brought back the signature Le City bag, which was introduced in 2001. The new bag, which comes in small and medium sizes with adjustable shoulder and crossbody straps, is […]
Last fall I met a guy. He had a thick mustache and was, by my estimate, at least 10 years my junior. We happened to sit next to each other at a dinner event at my social club. I’d recently watched “Wild Wild Country,” a documentary series on a religious cult, and it was all […]
Meagan Culberson, 32, was on a third date with a guy she met on Hinge when she decided it was time to ask him a make-or-break question: What are you looking for? They’d gone on fun dates and she was interested in getting to know him better, but only if they were on the same […]
As a newly single woman in my 50s in Los Angeles, I was terrified. I’d been married so long that the last time I’d heard the words “sexy” and “hot” was when I’d ordered sea bass in a spicy shiitake broth. I hadn’t been nipped, tucked, suctioned, filled or augmented. I figured I stood a […]
Icelandic Chinese vocalist and songwriter Laufey (pronounced lāy-vāy) has an appreciation for life’s many wonders. It’s apparent in her music, which fuses the sounds of jazz and classical giants past with romantic storytelling, punctuated by a deep vibrato and modern-day references. And it’s apparent in her enthusiasm for her current hometown of Los Angeles. Though […]
Picture this: It’s a Thursday night in Santa Monica, and you’re feeling good. You’re sitting across from a cute stranger, and the vibes are vibing. In a spacious warehouse-style space, which might sound a tad sketch but somehow isn’t at all, 20- and 30-somethings are seated around rows of tables with chess boards. House music […]
Avila isn’t the only one who built a community from LAF. Frankie Osorio, 24, Oscar Alba, 31, and Sabrina Sandoval, 29, joined LAF in search of new friends. Last spring, after meeting each other individually at various LAF events, the three connected on Discord. Osorio said they bonded over their shared music taste and cynical, […]
Take our survey and let us know when you think it’s OK to grab fruit from someone else’s tree. Your answers may be featured in an upcoming edition of our Plants newsletter.
On June 12, California will open its first new state park in nearly a decade, setting aside 1,600 acres near the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers in the San Joaquin Valley. The park will give visitors a glimpse of what the valley’s waterways were like before the arrival of agriculture, but it […]
“Visitation,” 2024, photo-collage and thread (dama / For The Times) This story is part of Image’s April issue, “Reverie” — an invitation to lean into the spaces of dreams and fantasy. Enjoy the journey. The first Visitation occurs in a dream on the wings of an aircraft transporting me and my mother to San Antonio, […]
Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger demolished a famed midcentury home designed by late architect Craig Ellwood to make room for a new, modern mansion. That’s not how Erin Ellwood, Craig Ellwood’s daughter, said she would have gone about it. “I think it would have been really cool to keep it and do something … add […]
On the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 25, I drive to West Hollywood to spend a night at a hotel. I want to imagine what it would be like to live in one. There is too much noise in my head, and I am trying to clear it. I keep picturing a clean, fresh hotel room, […]
On a rainy Saturday afternoon in late March, a block of East Hollywood is unusually quiet but for the corner of Fountain Avenue and North Edgemont Street. There, a line snakes halfway around the perimeter of a little vegan grocery store that’s sparking with activity. Inside, grime music blasts as a pop-up vendor doles out […]
Joy Lee has lived in the L.A. area for her entire life, but the 48-year-old says she hasn’t felt an earthquake in almost two decades. “Sometimes I will be on social media and suddenly my friends will start commenting on the earthquake, and I will realize I felt nothing,” she said. One time she thought […]
In 2021, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour created new interactive exhibits focused on the company’s recent history, unveiling areas dedicated to the DC Comics universe and the “Harry Potter” franchise. This week, the popular Studio Tour in Burbank is doubling down on its more distant past. Warner Bros. is now offering a Turner Classic Movies-branded […]
I begrudgingly met my husband. I had been in L.A. for a short time and was keeping busy with the California lifestyle I had always dreamed of. With my doctorate in audiology, I had my first real job in the profession I had studied for many years. I also had my own apartment, complete with […]
pet-tree-kor’s Green Helicteres Isora Jacket. (Photo Illustration by Beth Hoeckel) We find ourselves in that time of year dedicated to the most sensuous and worldly of the earth signs — that is, Taurus season. We are so grateful for our baby bulls, because they remind us that food, drink, sex and money exist to be […]
Every tattoo has a story. Some are good; others may leave a nagging sense of regret. Those tattoos that make you cringe are at the heart of a contest that the PetSmart superstore company launched this month. Dubbed the “Redo Tattoo” contest, PetSmart is offering five winners a chance to replace tattoos they regret with […]
What is a dream if not a vacation for the mind? To get lost in a reverie is a momentary respite from the prison of the possible — a chance to experience the impossible for a second. If you can’t change your surroundings, you can at least change your perception of them. Vacations are dreams […]
“Is that the trail?” I asked Steve, my longtime adventuring buddy. Not out of frustration or worry. I was more amazed at how this trail was marked, which is hardly at all. So you know, Steve has led me off trail only once in 10 years along dozens of hikes. He’s that good as a […]
With the city of Anaheim unanimously voting to pass DisneylandForward, the Disneyland Resort will be forever changed. Twice in the last 69 years, Disneyland has been significantly transformed. Four years after the park opened in 1959, Disneyland added its monorail, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and a submarine ride and expanded Autopia. It was a message that […]
What should you do if your pot-smoking neighbor is stinking up your yard? Why aren’t there any legally licensed consumption lounges in the city of Los Angeles but somehow four in West Hollywood? And what do I need to know about using cannabis to combat the side effects of chemotherapy? Those are a few of […]
A bag becomes a different thing entirely when worn by different personalities — similar to how no one perfume smells the same on two different people. To test out this idea, we invited four different artists to style the same bag into their personal look and lifestyle for one day, dreaming up places across L.A. […]
Carrizo Plain National Monument in eastern San Luis Obispo County is one of California’s most iconic wildflower viewing areas, but is this year’s display worth the 150-mile drive from L.A.? If you’re looking for blankets of bright color covering the hills, the answer is no. But if you want a beautiful outing with boundless sky, […]
A bag becomes a different thing entirely when worn by different personalities — similar to how no one perfume smells the same on two different people. To test out this idea, we invited four different artists to style the same bag into their personal look and lifestyle for one day, dreaming up places across L.A. […]
Our 17-year-old Honda CR-V (affectionately dubbed “Broomhilda”) met her tragic, premature demise last summer when a deer bolted out of neighboring woods, straight into her hood. My husband, who miraculously emerged unscathed, managed to drive it home and repair the dent. Unfortunately, unknown to us, radiator fluid slowly leaked into her engine until, months later, […]
Book Review Chipped: Writing From a Skateboarder’s Lens By José VadiSoft Skull Press: 256 pages, $26If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. José Vadi’s “Chipped: Writing From a Skateboarder’s Lens” is, literally, a collection of essays. But it’s also a map […]
Sunday is Tia Mowry’s favorite day of the week because it’s the day that she gets to do whatever she wants. “With my career, there’s always some sort of schedule,” the actor and entrepreneur said. But on Sundays, “it’s just really free-flowing. I mean, yes, there are some routines and traditions that we have on […]
My mother, a UCLA graduate, switched her allegiance on a dime the day I enrolled at USC. She and my father attended every Trojans home game from that day forward. Familial blood may be thicker than alumni water but not so, it seems, when it comes to spousal relations. And I know about it all […]
A bag becomes a different thing entirely when worn by different personalities — similar to how no one perfume smells the same on two different people. To test out this idea, we invited four different artists to style the same bag into their personal look and lifestyle for one day, dreaming up places across L.A. […]
A bag can be an appendage. A hiding spot for secrets. An extension of self. It is, in its purest form, a deeply personal totem. When I look at the Acne Studios rivet wine box bag from the brand’s spring/summer ’24 collection — more of a rectangular case than a bag, covered completely in studs […]
Word got out that there was a whistleblower wanting to meet. The company was suspicious, but this was the first overt notice that our place of work was corrupt. Should we investigate and see what ethics were being breached, or play dumb and stay loyal to the firm? We were divided. I wanted to link […]
Disneyland’s Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has proved to be one of the theme park’s most versatile attractions. Though perhaps no longer the groundbreaking technological marvel that it was when it debuted in 1987, the flight simulator ride has shifted with the franchise, withstanding cultural trends and aligning with whichever version of “Star Wars” is […]
Los Angeles residents hoping to see a superbloom this spring don’t need to go far — a field of flowers has sprung up between the runways at Los Angeles International Airport. A series of recent storms and heavy rains have caused a large swath of orange-colored flowers to bloom in the grassy unpaved sections of […]
Scan the rolling hills of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and you’ll notice something missing. Golden poppies. Even as Instagram-worthy wildflowers bloom across the state, the blazing orange flower has been conspicuously absent from some of its usual haunts — including the reserve in Lancaster and the city of Lake Elsinore. “This year doesn’t […]
When my partner Daniel and I reached our late 20s, our social lives became attending other people’s weddings. Another Friday night, another welcome party: his and hers signature cocktails, best friend’s toast about embarrassing high school shenanigans and Caprese skewers at the buffet. On Saturday evening came the parade of coordinated bridesmaids; the couple’s vows […]
In a cavernous convention hall in Northern California, at the end of a long, loooong day of important, yes, but eventually mind-numbing presentations about native plants, nearly 200 scientists, botanists and students had had enough. It was pushing 9 p.m. and everyone, exhausted from paying attention, was edging toward the doors and the beckoning bars. […]
Water-hungry lawns are symbols of Los Angeles’ past. In this series, we spotlight yards with alternative, low-water landscaping built for the future. At the top of a roller-coaster hill in Highland Park, Thomas Zamora and his husband, Raul Rojas, enjoy two spectacular views — of the Pasadena hills to the east and of the meandering […]
Two weeks after I lost my sister, she visited me in a dream. Was it her, or was the dream a construction of my psyche, made to process this sudden loss? Either way, it shook me to my core. Since childhood, I’ve transcribed thousands of pages of dreams into bedside notebooks in the dark, but […]
The L.A. Times Plants booth returns to The Times’ Festival of Books on April 20-21 with the Theodore Payne Foundation and the California Native Plant Society. Find us in the Pink Zone at Booth 404, where we’ll be giving away our curated wildflower seed collection and stickers, as well as selling enamel plant pins. Our […]
Attention, anyone who thinks native blooms are brilliant in the wild — or our yards — but don’t work in bouquets. Boy, are we wrong. This isn’t an invitation to trample wildflower fields to pick bouquets — our precious wildflowers need to stay unpicked so their seeds will produce blooms in the future — but […]
If you’re lucky, some concerts are free with RSVP. This one is free if you bring dirty laundry. Laundry Wand is a nondescript laundromat in Highland Park on a residential street a few blocks from the trendy bars and boutiques on Figueroa Street. Dozens of coin-operated washers and dryers line the aisles. Vending machines sell […]
Tyler, the Creator teams up with Louis Vuitton and Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton has teamed again with rapper, producer and Hawthorne native Tyler, the Creator — this time on a spring men’s capsule collection, the first capsule collaboration from men’s creative director Pharrell Williams. This whimsical range of goods includes a chess box, golf bag, […]
We plodded through an obsidian darkness, one deliberate step at a time, our headlamp beams illuminating the way. The steep trail seemed to stretch into eternity. My 8-year-old griped, “We’ve been hiking for years,” and I wondered why I’d ever concocted this ridiculous quest. It all started in June 2023. My kid was out of […]
My first spot in L.A. looked like a scene from “Melrose Place.” Two stories, old motel style, courtyard in the middle. A wedge of sun-kissed paradise. As I unloaded stuff from my newly acquired Toyota pickup (a parting gift from an ex-boyfriend), I wondered just how I’d fit in here, this place called Studio City, […]
You’d be hard pressed to find someone with local roots deeper than L.A.-born Cheech Marin, who parlayed a 1970s stoner comedy act (as half of the Cheech & Chong duo) into a six-decade (and counting) movie and TV career, becoming a high-profile collector of Chicano art along the way — all while living in the […]
The iconic L.A. nightclub the Conga Room closed its doors for a final time Wednesday night, but not before filling its walls with one last celebration of Latin music. Drink glasses clinked. Hands clapped. Dresses swayed to the exuberant beats. The night, hosted by founder Brad Gluckstein and co-investors Paul Rodriguez and Jimmy Smits, featured […]
It’s a rainy Wednesday evening at low-lit, moody Arts District hangout Tea at Shiloh, where a dozen students including myself perch on round white floor cushions, sipping carob cardamom tea and peering uncertainly at piles of denim on the low tables before us. Each of us has brought a ripped or damaged item of clothing […]
Early Sunday morning, hundreds of hikers and Dodgers fans gathered in a parking lot in Griffith Park. They were decked in blue, huddling in groups and dancing along to energetic music to shake off the predawn chill. As more people arrived, the sea of jerseys and baseball caps licked the edges of the lot. They […]
When the Los Angeles Times decided to launch its version of a news quiz earlier this year, I suddenly found myself tapped to serve as quizmaster — the person responsible for coming up with each week’s questions. While that may seem random, it’s not. Before landing at the paper, I spent some time as a […]
An immaculate metal box built in 1931 to symbolize the future bounced around the East Coast for decades before recently landing in Palm Springs for all to see. The first American home composed entirely of metal and glass was once an experimental housing prototype in New York. Now, the three-story, 1,100-square-foot Aluminaire House is the […]
In 1994, Eric Nakamura launched a zine he dubbed Giant Robot, a photocopied, hand-stapled fanboy’s ode to manga, anime, Japanese punk bands and skateboarding. Thirty years later, what started as the personal hobby of a self-proclaimed outcast has transformed into a bastion of pop culture centering Asian American and Asian artists. Eric Nakamura gives a […]
Eli Susman was a fairly experienced meditator when he attended a month-long retreat at Plum Village, a Buddhist monastery in Southern France in 2017. The UC Berkeley PhD candidate in clinical science had been on other retreats where participants spent most of their time meditating. So he was surprised when he saw that the daily […]
There is something about getting on a bus in L.A. that puts transport — in the mystical and joyous sense — into transportation. I take public transit a lot, but have ridden the bus this week even more than I usually do. I have traveled from my home base in Mar Vista to Encino, Montrose […]
It wasn’t like Marlon Brando to go spilling his private beans to the world about the life he had spent his years protecting. American actor Marlon Brando, circa 1965, about a year before he bought Tetiaroa. (Screen Archives / Getty Images) But about Tetiaroa — the Tahitian atoll of his childhood yearnings, and the refuge […]
The theme park industry is expansive. The catch-all term encompasses your favorite rides, yes, but also an assortment of industries, ranging from architecture to animation to cinema to engineering to writing to game design. And that’s just a surface-level scan. Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s secretive arm devoted to theme park experiences, likes to say […]
I met an executive chef in November 2022 at a posh Las Vegas restaurant where he worked. Sitting alone at the bar, I ordered the omakase, which meant he curated more than a dozen courses for me. (To this day, it’s the best meal I’ve ever had.) During Course No. 7 — and drink No. […]
In the last couple decades, a new way to measure an L.A. party has emerged: If there’s not a Glenjamn pic, did it even happen? Documentary-style flash photography, usually taken in dark spaces, illuminates figures we all recognize — from the dudes of Daft Punk, to Pharrell and Nigo or the star skater with his […]
Jesse Kingsley was in full geek-out mode. Despite being a puppet builder and enthusiast for more than two decades, he had never peered inside the head of a Chinese lion costume — those vibrant, furry two-person get-ups that are used to celebrate Lunar New Year, weddings and store openings — until this moment. Now, on […]
In her poem “Play, 1966,” from her forthcoming collection “With My Back to the World,” Chang observes the effects of depression like a painting on a wall.
I always start with a photograph on my phone. Sometimes I’m not looking for images — the images are just there, and I happen to capture things. Last year, I started making works portraying flowers in buckets, what flower sellers sell on the freeways or just on the street. I started thinking of them as […]
With all the recent rain, 2024 is shaping up to be a fabulous year for flowers, not just in the wild but also in private gardens around Southern California. Lucky for garden enviers, many of those gates will be opening wide this spring as part of the annual fundraising tradition known as garden tours. They […]
Seated on a chair, with the hum of twin furnaces and the Impressions playing in the background, glassblower Cedric Mitchell is lost in his craft as he and assistant Sara Roller turn and sculpt molten glass with steel shears. After a few blasts of a blow torch and several trips back and forth to the […]
Don’t hold off until summer: March and April are two of the best months for weekend road trips because the wildflowers begin to grow after the winter rain and wildlife can be more active with the abundant greenery and flowing water. I’m glad I didn’t wait. I’m a photographer and longtime nature enthusiast and one […]
People will soon be able to trek from the steps of the Nevada state Capitol in Carson City through the Sierra at Lake Tahoe and on to the Pacific Crest Trail, where they can complete the 1,600-mile journey to the Canadian border. Oh, and two participants will earn $5,000 each for doing so. There is […]