I get a lot of inquiries and comments from friends and family across the U.S. and Turkey about events occurring in different parts of California, as well as philosophical and political stances regarding California with respect to its being in the forefront, literally and symbolically, of America's values and ways.
Although collectively, California embodies the diversity that America brings to the world scene and therefore qualifies for such an assignment, when it comes to specific situations pertaining to local issues or local incidents, one can also be as far removed from the situation as others from outside the state (examples of well wishers inquiring about an earthquake occurring many hundreds of miles from where I live or questions about my neighbors belonging to some space travel worshipping cult whose members commit group suicide with luggage in hand come to mind). Obviously, I keep reminding these fact-finding missionaries that California is a large state with various regions and traditions, as well as differing climate, geological conditions, demographics, culture and ideology.
This reverse identification can't be any truer for even a metropolitan area such as Los Angeles, never mind between Northern and Southern California. This is in total contrast to most major metropolitan cities where the suburbans and the urbans seem to embrace each other more so than here in Southern California.
The general belief held by Angelanos, as we call them in the OC (yes, the same OC as in the TV show), is that the OC (Orange County) is too far out there suburbia complete with desperate housewives, mostly conservative peoples, and more bland than the choices offered at Starbucks. Conversely, us OCers perceive L.A. as the eclectic convergence of the Hollywood scene, social misfits, with a little Beverly Hills and Bel Air snobfest sprinkled to bring it over the top, or as simply put 'la-la land' where the good, the bad, and the ugly (well, not the ugly - a testament to the great improvements in modern science of beautification) live 'angelically.'
In defense of my allegiance to OC, our county is made up of several cities like Anaheim (famous for Disneyland), Irvine (with great institution like the UCI with a very high percentage of smart alecs of Asian descent, and overly populated by expatriots from Iran who fled when the Shah fell - thankfully the Armenians are in L.A.), Laguna Beach (with its own TV show, complete with parents spending hundreds of thousands on their daughters' sweet sixteens and teenagers who surf, party and discuss the latest trends in cosmetic surgery while causing a traffic jam on the text messaging super freeway (highways as they are called in the East Coast), and my own town of Newport Beach, where sun and sand, as well as golf and tennis mixes well with local inhabitants and tourists who keep coming back every year to enjoy the boating, the beach and the palm trees, as well as the beautiful sunsets.
Nevertheless, we in the O.C. don't like to be associated too much with L.A. even though we border L.A. to the north (and San Diego to the South - we're about an hour and a half drive to each). And that is why, when last year the local professional baseball team, for purely marketing reasons, decided to rename itself the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the ensuing debate became the top story of the year here in Southern California and left a lot of people still confused to this day. What . . . There's a War in Iraq?
As for our weather, it is sunny year round (with a few days of rain), but never too hot and no humidity to speak of, and with cool ocean breezes in the summer. During the winter, although near the beaches we never experience snow, a quick hour's drive to the higher levels and nearby mountains where heavy snowfall is attracting the local snowboarders and skiers to literally experience the snow and surf the beach on the very same day . . . at least in Southern California.
Life is good.
