Los Angeles is where you confront the objective fact that you mean nothing; the desert, the ocean, the tectonic plates, the clear skies, the sun itself, the Hollywood Walk of Fame – even the parking lots: everything there somehow precedes you, even new construction sites, and it's bigger than you and more abstract than you and indifferent to you. You don't matter. You're free.LA residents given to talking about life in the city talk about freedom a lot. Without a cohesive citywide identity or community structure, without a city center in any sense of the word, you don't situate your life in relation to some imagined ur-community or parental figures. You're just there. But I'd add one thing: it's true that the city as a whole cares about nothing. But there are a thousand communities, more, within the city.
Tech
Security, Wearables, a11y, OS, Business, RSS, s60, Social, Data, Hardware, Visual, Web analytics, Development, Storage, Energy, Mobile, Audio, WRX, Net, Automobile, Web, MacOS, PIM, barcamp, Shopping, Open, Crowdsourcing, Android, Medical, Product Management, AI, Collaboration, Javascript
Other
Surfing, Sports, Housing, Games, Podcasts, Berlin, Food & Drink, Geography, Statistics, History, CrowdFlower, Agriculture, Video, Friday, Toys, Personal care, Activism, Minnesota, Life hacks, L.A., Boston, Feminism, Travel, Clothes, NYC, Quizzes, Politik, Bicycling, California, Law, San Francisco, Transportation
Music
History, Streams, Events, Musicians, L.A., Lyrics, Videos, Making, Hip-hop, Good tracks, Mp3s, Labels, Shopping, House, Booking, Mixes, Reviews, Business, Boston, Mailing lists
People
Family, Working with, Stories, Health, Heroes, Meditation, Weblogs, Gossip, Vocations, Languages, ADD, MOTAS, Enemies, Friends, Buddhism, Subcultures, Exercise, Me, Life hacks
Arts
iPad bait, Literature, Poetry, Desktop wallpaper bait, Comix, Spoken Word, Movies, Burning Man, Events, Outlets, Animation, Humor, Visual, Rhetoric, Sculpture
Commerce
Macroeconomics, International Development, Taxes, Non-profit, Management consulting, Marketing and CRM, Shopping, Personal finance, Insurance, Investing, Real Estate, IP Law, Personal services, Web, Microfinance
Design
Web, Tools, Presentations, Process, IA, Cool, User experience, Architecture, Furniture, Data visualization, Type, Algorithmic
Science
Statistics and Data, Cognition, Zoology, Psychology, Environment, Physics, Networks
Travel
Kingdom of Siam, Uganda, Vagabond '08, Kenya