Wide Open Spaces

As the proud owner of a tall and skinny (house), I feel compelled to write after reading two letters condemning these homes. Both letters, dated March 4 and 18, claim the homes have robbed our beach communities of wide open spaces. But as I see it, all that has been taken from us is a bunch of dilapidated boxes with poorly maintained yards. As I look from my front balcony, I see a row of well kept homes and neatly trimmed gardens. My back balcony overlooks one of these "prized" 50-foot lots with a house badly in need of paint, a roof that needs patching and the yard--well, the weeds are as high as the fence, and everything, including a kitchen sink is thrown and stored there.

The idea of escaping to the wide open spaces, far from city lights and bustle, appeals to most frazzled urbanites. But once past the city limits, some people become anxious, even panicky. Try as they might, they just can't relax on that deserted beach or in that uncrowded campground. These people suffer from agoraphobia--the fear of open spaces.

One reader referred to the "California, Here I Go" article as an example of "irresponsible journalism" while questioning reasons for its publication. I feel that the author is doing a great service for Southern California by letting people know that there are options to having to tolerate unacceptable living conditions. Besides, where is it etched in stone that Southern California is the only place to live? I love Las Vegas, and there is a life separate from the gaming industry.

Bristling with youthful experimentation, "The Shepard Project: The Early Works of Sam Shepard" at City Garage gives a fascinating glimpse into Shepard's artistic progression. For anyone not a die-hard Shepard fan, however, the works are limited in scope and execution, punk playlets by an unformed writer who had not yet found his voice, performed by actors not always sure of theirs.

I am approaching slim and healthy with great speed, it appears, but some cracks are beginning to show in my smile. My right shoulder (specifically, the rotator cuff) isn't taking well to weight lifting. That's the first problem. I haven't been able to really work out for a week. Then an acquaintance, I think without meaning to, belittled both my progress and my efforts. And the real world came to visit my island and hasn't left yet.

The sign on the hay wagon at the main entrance into town reads "Welcome to Calabasas, Last of the Old West." A little exaggerated perhaps, but Calabasas residents revel in their town's Western heritage--both real and celluloid. A once-rowdy stage stop along El Camino Real and a favorite Hollywood staging area, the town has been home to well-known horse lovers, such as the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore).

The San Fernando Valley is 260 square miles of suburbia. Actually, make that suburbia on nutritional supplements. And antidepressants. With perhaps a little cosmetic surgery south of Ventura Boulevard, where the big money is. Or maybe - now that it's grown to more than 1.7 million people in nearly three dozen cities and neighborhoods rich and poor - the Valley isn't even a suburb anymore. It begins just 10 miles northwest of Los Angeles City Hall, sprawling west to the Simi Hills, north to the Santa Susana Mountains, and east to the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains.

Looking to dodge the crowds at national parks this summer? Here are the least-visited ones: Annual Visitors, 1999 1. Lake Clark.................6,190 150 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska Scenic wilderness with abundant fish and wildlife 2. Kobuk Valley...............6,309 Northwest Alaska Kobuk River, mountains, unusual landscapes, archeological sites 3. Gates of the Arctic........8,166 North central Alaska Vast wilderness 4. North Cascades............

Though Wall Street investors are showing some enthusiasm about the direction of the economy, shell-shocked business owners in Southern California are still more inclined to shrink than grow their companies. Problems at white-collar firms are bleeding the region's enormous office rental industry. Almost 51 million square feet of office space in Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Inland Empire is now empty -- more than 17% of the total. The exodus from office buildings that started in late 2007 accelerated during the third quarter as the anemic business climate took its toll on the real estate rental industry, according to the Cushman & Wakefield real estate brokerage.