The Los Angeles Central Library

So...

As promised, here's the scoop on the Los Angeles Central Library (pictured below).

After braving the LA freeway system I finally arrived at my destination. Nestled between the moderate skyscrappers of downtown Los Angeles rests an other-wordly abode, looking more at place in the Nile of yesteryear than the urban sprawl that currently surrounds it. Much, much bigger than it appears on the outside, the downtown library is a marvel of architectural wonder, and highly recommended for anyone to visit regardless of your interest in literature, film, music, or comic books -- all of which the Downtown Library has in abundance. But if you do happen to like any of those things, then, seriously, this library is like Borders on steroids. No, wait, that sounds wrong... unclassy. A better description would be that it's everything Borders aspiries to be! In addition to all the books you could ever want, there is a very traquil garden -- an oasis from the clutter outside the metaphorical gates -- and an art gallery sponsored by the Getty itself. And if you get hungry browsing any one of the labyrinthine eight floors of books, there's a cafe on site, as well as a Panda Express (I know, weird!), a TCBY yogurt (perhaps even weirder), and a rather fitting (but expensive) sit down restaurant outside overlooking the gardens. The library even has it's own gift shop.

And did I mention the books? Everything from Ayn Rand to Zane Grey. Don't like to read? Check out the extensive audiobooks department, which is located on the first floor next to a small warehouse of DVDs and TV shows on DVD. Always wondered where I could find season two of Charles in Charge for rent! And when I say rent, I mean free rental, because, well, this is a library, after all.

On top of everything else, the staff is uber-friendly. In fact, I got into a long convo with a dude named Jeff, who recommended a few great movies to me based on my interests that day. We also ended up chatting about the Bataan death march, of all things, and how it overshadowed the far worse Massacre at Manilla, but how both of those were actually overshadowed by the Holocaust. Perhaps because of this, Jeff helped me get access to the top floor of the library, which is normally off limits without an appointment; it's where they house the rare books collection -- I guess they usually need 24 hours notice to do a background check or something before giving you access? LOL. Anyway, I had heard that the library had a copy of "The Long Walk" by Richard Bachman. In case you don't know, Bachman is the pseudonym of one Stephen King, who was forced to use it back in the day due to publishing fears about an author releasing more than one book in the same year. Since King was such a fast writer (must have been all the cocaine he admits to using then) he was prone to turn out two or even three novels a year... thus, Richard Bachman was born.

Surprisingly, "The Long Walk" is a super hard book to find. It's a cool story about a future society that decides to sponsor a marathon across the ultra-militaristic United States. Think "Survivor" meats "The Amazing Race"; Capitalism literally run amok, as the winner is basically given the keys to the kingdom, while the losers... well, I don't know because I've never been able to get my hands on it until now. Unfortunetly, you can't check it out since it's the only copy in any LA library, but it was cool just to browse through the text. Man, I sound like such a nerd, but just check out the cover!


Here's a few other pictures I snapped of things you wouldn't expect to find in this library. The quality is less than stellar, but, hey, they were taken on a cell phone with a cracked screen so I'm lucky they came out as well as they did, really.





If you take a close look at the rightside picture you can see various texts and hieroglyphics on the steps leading up to the library from the street. The whole place was actually like this, with Egyptian statues, paintings and symbols sprinkled throughout. At times, I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones adventure... or, more appropriately perhaps, an Allan Quartermann novel.

But why should I ruin all the fun? Check it out for yourself if you're in LA. Trust me, there's much, much more to explore. Just keep in mind, it's LA, so parking is expensive. They have to pay for the books somehow, right?

Next time, take the Metro (a word on the LA freeway system).

So...

Today was my last day of getting to leave work early while still getting paid full time (don't worry, it's all legal) and I decided to take advantage of that fact by doing something extra special with my time off, something I've been wanting to do for a few months now but have been letting the almost certain hastle and frustration of doing such thing stand in my way.

Let me just warn you and say that, this thing I did, if you're like most people, probably won't sound too exciting - in fact, it might sound downright nerdy (or nerdish?), but I'm hoping at some point to change your mind through the wonder of word and picture.

That's right, I took pictures, and assuming I can figure out this blog thing enough to post them, you too may enjoy this super-special locale I went to almost as much as I did.

Normally, this is where I would tell you where it was I went to, but before I actually tell you the name of this place I ventured to, let's have a little fun. A guessing game if you will.

How to play? I give you a few clues, you see if you can figure it out. Simple, right? Okay, let's begin.

First clue: it's one the five largest of it's kind in America...
Second clue: it's located in the heart of downtown LA...
Third clue: has a crew of over 100, yet is still grossly understaffed...
Fourth clue: lies in the shadow of a California landmark (think Independence Day)...
Fifth clue: looks more like an Egyptian Temple than it's real purpose...
And finally: it makes Borders Booksellers look like the Taco Bell express to it's El Torito!

Still haven't figured it out yet...

It's the Los Angeles Central library!

Now if you don't think that's awesome that's simply because you've never been. Seriously, this place rocks. They have a DVD section that would make my local Blockbuster jealous; eight flights of books, including a rare book section that requires an appointment to view (my reason for actually going there) and a whole wing of graphic novels; as well as such non-traditional library features as an art gallery, a cafe, and one of the nicest gardens in all of So Cal.

Well worth the visit, which I plan to detail much more in my next post (pictures included, hopefully). My reason for going there, as mentioned above, was simple: I was on a quest to locate a rare and treasured book, which this particular library claimed to have a copy of. Of course, every journey has a beginning... and mine started on the 5 freeway just north of Griffith Park.

Now if you think that 1 o'clock in the afternoon is a pretty safe time to hit the highways, you obviously have never lived in LA. Ahhh, LA... the place where for no reason at all a freeway can get gridlocked on a Sunday night at 2 AM.

Such was the case as I was approaching the 110 freeway heading southbound on the 5 (I'm lucky, this trip only required one freeway change), when the 5 became jam-packed and I decided to get off on Stadium Way (my first mistake), and loop around to get past the traffic holdup.

But, sure enough, there was an accident right at the on-ramp I needed. A single car, brand new, had decided to take a left turn into the wall under the freeway overpass, causing the police to shut down the entrance I needed. In addition, there were 2 ambulances and, I kid you not, 4 firetrucks blocking off most of the lanes. Really, Los Angeles, 4 firetrucks? Is even 1 truck neccessary for this situation? Aren't you having some kind of huge budget crisis from over-spending. But I digress...

The real problem is that the police didn't even bother to put up a detour sign, they just forced drivers out into the surrounding neighborhoods to fend for themselves. Which is exactly where I headed, logically thinking that if I made a right turn and then another right at the next major street ahead it would have some kind of entrance onto the freeway. That would make sense right? Instead, I veered past a Church's Chicken and found myself on an access road running parallel to the freeway that, of course, had no access to the freeway itself!

Cut to: 20 minutes later and I'm in the middle of Eagle Rock (a few towns over) with no sign of the freeway. Sigh... Now, I'm not an idiot, but you almost have to be to drive in LA since it seems to require sheer blind luck to find the road you want. Finally, when I basically gave up and said, "F this I'll just enjoy the drive and see where it leads" I found an on-ramp! Located nestled between two heavily graffitied, but otherwise perfectly normal looking suburban houses!! Why do you taunt me so much LA freeway system? Did I ever throw a cigarette out the car window onto your cold, concrete surface? * No!

Five years in LA and I can tell you this is typical for traveling here, hence my hesitation in going to the Downtown Library in the first place. Luckily, the destination was worth the journey ($9 dollar parking included).

But more to come on that later. Right now, I need to lay down. Just thinking about the LA freeway system has made me exhausted again.


* I actually don't smoke, but you get my point.