Reflections on Rain

I have been in LA for the last four days teaching the first module of a course on Non-profit management. This is the first time I have done this course. It is a bit large as a group (23) but a very bright group of students. USC does OK with their adjuncts - although the Sacramento campus actually does a bit better. The group was especially animated in a couple of the projects.

The weather has been cold and unstable. On Friday and Saturday nights I drove over to have dinner with my daughter and her boyfriend. There were some torrential downpours which screwed up traffic. But a couple of things struck me. First. the general area where my daughter lives is rife with great restaurants. On Friday night we tried a place we have been before but it was booked up so went to a local Italian restaurant. The food was pretty good (I had the veal picatta - which was OK - but also some speciality ravoli - which I liked a lot) but the service and attention to customers was exceptional. On Saturday we decided to go to an Indian restaurant - in this case the food was better (the Italian place was not a bell ringer but the service made it worth going back to again) and the service was also attentive.

Second, LA is different, in spite of the rain. About a year ago my daughter told me she was enjoying living in LA. She had said right after college she wanted to get out of the area. What was interesting to me is the general level of lack of concern about status in LA. San Franciscans are constantly telling you how great their city is. Angelinos don't bother. But if you look - LA has a lot more to offer - restaurants (like the two discovered on this trip) and cultural venues and all sorts of other things that make a place livable.

One regret. Time was when you remembered a restaurant by its matchbook. With our current attitudes toward smoking that is no longer true. One wishes that there was something to replace that - I could find the places again (they are on Barrington in the west side) but I would have loved to tell you their names - both were exceptional and well worth another trip.