HadashiWorld

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January 4, 2007

happy defiant New Year

we are marking the beginning of 2007 by defiantly leaving up the Christmas tree a little longer. our big excuse is that since T.T.'s parents are coming to town -- escaping the sludgy German winter by fleeing to the faux California winter -- they need to see the festivity of our home with all those lights. okay, we also don't want them to notice our (chosen) lack of furniture right away. and, well, we like the fact that at night the glow makes our living room look like a bioluminescent haven.

in any case, i think that defiance might be a good word with which to kick off '07. i am feeling rather defiant about the whole new year's resolution nonsense again -- if one more person asks me what my resolutions are, i will most likely reply "to be more sincere in my responses to people, and not have a trace of facetiousness clinging to any syllable whatsoever." then i will most likely feel guilty for my cheekiness. so please just don't ask.

i am also feeling pretty defiant about the fact that local businesses are inexplicably being booted from their MTA-owned land way before their leases are up, and the city of my residence is more or less picking their municipal noses instead of actually doing anything they promised. i'm especially irritated by the case of a family-run plant nursery called The Jungle, which is truly a one-of-a-kind local business. the Saez family turned a run-down, ugly corner of the street into my neighbourhood into a beautiful green triangle. they sell an amazing variety of plants at really reasonable prices, and are knowledgeable, friendly business owners. their clientele is everyone from the average home-dweller (me) to professional landscape designers all over L.A (not me, but when i'm working on an HGTV show, i get to meet them).
i'm personally more peeved than usual by this situation since one of the family members is a student in the ESL class i volunteer teach. despite every effort of the Saez family to comply, the city is forcing them to relocate without giving any of the assistance that was once promised. at city council meetings, people have testified on their behalf as to the good the business does for the community, but to no avail. every time i pass The Jungle on the way home now, and see their "Sale - Must Relocate" signs, it makes me feel increasingly defiant.
why should you care, though? you don't live here, and you don't know the Saez family. but i bet you do have a favourite local business, whether that be a coffee shop or perhaps an art supply store. maybe you have a familiar hardware store that's not A Big Chain Home Improvement Warehouse, or a sandwich shop where the guy behind the counter knows that you want the roast-beef-swiss-cheese-horseradish-sauce-no-tomato-on-Italian-roll before you ask. if this is so, would you consider spending about 2 defiant minutes standing up for small local business? there's now an online petition that's just gotten started. it simply asks city council to actually try to keep The Jungle local as it promised. there's a space for comments if you want to make them, but all you have to do is add your name. if you want to know more about the situation, you can read more here, here, and here. thanks in advance -- no matter what, it would be nice for the family to see a growing list of supportive folk.

in any case, HadashiWorld does indeed hope your new year is off to a rip-roaring start. and if you're already starting to slip on those silly resolutions you made in a heady, champagne-induced moment, may i humbly suggest some well-meaning defiance as you refuse to feel guilty and instead decide to just do something you can actually accomplish? i'm all for self-improvement, but i'm also all for eating just one more egg custard tart that i brought home today from dim sum...

Posted by hadashi at January 4, 2007 9:52 PM

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