VALLEY DRAW. THE ONION. A ROLE MODEL VISUALLY AND SPIRITUALLY

The Onion is a building located in North Hills, CA that literally was carved to resemble it's namesake. It was designed by Frank Ehrenthal ( a disciple of Richard Neutra [Awe-some] ) and is home to the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalists. The reason I'm in North Hills, is because... simply, the boy and I are drawn to the seedy side of the valley--and we're not talking about orange seed-ys.  We like to take a drive to the Valley, and see what unusual business we can get ourselves mixed up in. In other words, looking to get mixed up with the "wrong" crowd, the "wrong" side of the tracks, or any other "wrong idiom" you can fill in the blank with. The Valley for us screams Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, and Magnolia--and we thrive on it. To me, it writhes with failure, exploitation, and desertion--and yet, seems to carry with it, a security blanket of a sweet and lonely nostalgia. This to me is the Valley, and this is also why I always come back for more.

We'll either have an agenda of places we want to drive-by like--location's from PTA's (Paul Thomas Anderson) films, or the Onion, the amazing thrift stores, and especially Brent's ( a deli that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside, and also makes me feel like I'm 80, which I definitely relish in, since I already wear trousers above my belly-button. Woo.)

OR we'll just wing-it--and drive to our heart's content. Yet, knowing the Valley--and knowing us--we're usually never satiated and always end up driving back for more.