Abelardo de la Peña Jr. - Writer / Photographer

Friday, August 9, 2013

My daughter don't drive, but I do

This morning as I was driving back from leaving my 21-year-old daughter off at a light rail station -- she usually walks to a station a couple blocks away, but since she was spending the weekend with friends and had bags, I gave her a ride to the less congested Chinatown station -- I heard a report on NPR on the changing car culture in the U.S. This first of the series talked about the differences between Boomer teens and Millenial teens when it comes autos. In sum: Millennials drive less, get their licenses later and wait longer to buy their first car.

That sounds just like my daughter and her friends. Of her three tightest girlfriends, only one drives (or even has a license), the rest use public transportation (which has greatly improved in L.A.), walk, or get rides from the friend with the car, their parents, or other friends. Or just stay home. Plans are often dashed if rides fall through. That's a big difference from my generation. I started driving at 14 at got my first car at 17, and my first batch of Gen X kids, who couldn't wait to get behind the wheel.

The story goes on to report that cars serve a different purpose for Millennials: a means to get to destinations and events that can be shared (Instagrammed, Facebooked), which is more important then what having a car meant for me. For me, driving was the freedom to go to new places with friends, share the experience among ourselves, then move on to the next experience.

Those journeys were usually not planned; we jumped in the car and went where the road lead us. Most often the drive itself was the destination. Even now, my wife and I will get in the car and just drive to familiar or new places and listen to the radio, stop to check out the scenery, pop into an interesting looking place, hang a while, get back in the car and wind our way home.

Of course, the price of gas is kind of changing that.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

13 in 2013 Writers - Beginning - Going Home

Somehow I was included on this facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/writerschallenge/https://www.facebook.com/groups/writerschallenge/

The premise is simple:

"People who undertake the challenge will commit to writing a minimum of 13 minutes every day during cycles--no excuses."

Here goes:

I left my hometown, Wilmington, California, three times: The first when I joined the Army at age 17. The second: in 1977, I was 24 years old, married with three children, moved to Tacoma, Washington to start a new life. Stayed there for two years, followed by a move to Dallas, Texas, where we lived for a year. The last time I left, and remain away, was in 1992, before my youngest daughter Alicia was born, leaving the house I bought from my father, the house I grew up in from age 12 to 17, to a townhouse about two miles away in Harbor City, California.

After a couple years there, I talked my family into moving to El Sereno, California, located just northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The family had expanded and contracted and expanded again by then. It was a rental ... a two story house purchased by the California Department of Transportation for the purpose of demolishing it to make way for the extension of the 710 freeway. The Long Beach freeway, which for some reason ended on the southern edge of El Sereno leaving about a 5 mile gap between it and the 210, which started its north bound trek on the western edge of Pasadena.

We live there for a few years, until circumstances compelled us to move to South Pasadena, about seven miles from downtown L.A. and 25 miles or so from Wilmington. We were there for about 15 years, until this last move, to a loft in downtown Los Angeles, where we've lived for about two years and a half.

And now, we are seriously considering a move back home.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Help LatinoLA.com Become LatinoCities! I Need Your Support!

LatinoLA is the online home to Southern California's Latino voices, lives and souls. I started it as an email newsletter in 1998, but since then, my partners and I have pioneered user-generated content, where anyone with something to say can share their story and/or promote their event. We are now ready to take the next step, by building LatinoCities, a network of Latino “hubs” -- cities, regions and communities large and small throughout the U.S. --, each one reflecting the sabor of its local cultura. We can’t create LatinoCities without resources, which is why I'm this blogs readers to support us by donating to our crowd funding campaign. Our goal is to raise $15,000 by January 7, 2013. We gladly accept any and all donations, but to make it more compelling to you, we're offering personal, one-of-a-kind and culturally unique premiums for various levels of giving. Please click on this LatinoCities Campaign link to learn more! Any amount will be appreciated. Please leave a comment or suggestion on the campaign website. I appreciate your support!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Another blog I've negleted

And here are the others: http://el-editor.latinola.com/ http://downtownlalo.wordpress.com/ (neglected so badly I can't even get into the dashboard). http://downtownlalo.com/ (the new one to replace the one I can't get into) http://latinograndfather.wordpress.com/

Saturday, June 2, 2012

And now...I change the title of the blog

Even after years of working in digital media, soy medio tonto. The other half is pretty savvy, though. Back to work... From in-basket pile: Put band-aids and free soda coupon back in my wallet. Ride Aide $2 discount coupon. Sort out stuff: Receipts: Felix Muñoz at Olvera Street: $34.75 for authentic Guatemalan back pack/purse combo Homegirl Cafe: Chilaquiles, a black bean tostada, coffee and a great muffin $26.64 Border Grill: Tostada de ceviche, a mojito, a bloddy Mary and two tacos de papas. $45.95. Casa Golondrina (no website, surprising: Enchiladas de mole, plato de carnitas, guisado de pollo, two taco combo, two house margaritas, las tortillas. Two horchatas got sent back because they were "sour". $77.88 Business Cards: Mariachi Alma Latina: music for all accasions: Alfonso Alfaro 323-547-5497 Familia just dropped in!

Valentina, mi and Mila!

I am changing the name of this blog. It is now called El Blog de Abelardo de la Peña Jr.

It will still be in English, with a few words in Spanish for sazón. Starting - or rather, restarting - simply. So far: Emptied wallet, placed objects strategically on my desk. Wrote tasks on white board. Placed all paper items in the in-box Placed Lotto tix on our altar. Nodded to our ancestors. They know. Set up empty glass jar as change receptacle. Piled small stack of mints and gum in a easy-to-reach position. Beer 2/3rds done, perhaps to be refilled. 3D glasses picked up off floor. Now, going to take un autoretrato holding my wallet: