Perspective and The Car Parked Outside Part 3

This week I was fortunate enough to have an online chat with a fellow blogger, Nataly De La Pena and reader of Life on Regis Way.

We began our conversation discussing Nataly’s recent posting about the Catholic Church.

Nataly
One of my main arguments was that in order to really get to know a "different" place you must be open minded, it doesn’t just help to go to the place.
12:20am

Me
I completely agree. That's actually kind of great insight for me when I was critiquing manhattan beach
12:22am

Nataly
i guess it sort of got inspired from the journals that we read about the two girls in east l.a.
12:22am

Me
because they just went there but didn't exactly immerse themselves in the culture per se?
12:25am

Nataly
yes. Well what I was getting into was the fact that you can go to a place, a "different spot", and observe and criticize, but like you say that is not enough to really "live" the culture of that place.
12:26am

Me
So true. I found it really difficult to critique a place that I didn't personally live in or know first hand all that much about.





Nataly really got me thinking about the authority we have as writers. Who am I to say that the people in Manhattan Beach are mostly pretentious snobs? I don’t know everyone who lives there do I?

So, do I have the authority to write about Regis Way? Even though I live here, sometimes I question whether I am properly representing the space I’m talking about.


On another note, Nataly reminded me that there has been a story I have been forgetting to tell you all!




Nataly
Hey what ever happened to that car that was parked outside your house? I remember commenting that it was like a character in your blog because there were continuous blog postings about it.
12:35am

Me
I've been meaning to blog about it! It’s actually a really complicated story. So first, I finally met him! I was parking behind him when the exchange occurred. It was kind of awkward because we both pulled up at the same time and I went to say hello and he kind of stumbled out of his car and dropped this brown paper bag he was carrying. And out fell... a bottle of Jack. I was kind of blown away because he looked like this sweet older man. And then its like he just came back from the Gas station at 10am, probably already drunk. I think he may have a drinking problem.

Nataly
NO WAY, really? That's a crazy story. I think you should blog about it, like i told you the car is like a character in your blog. In fact, its one of the first things i remember about your blog
12:44am

Me
And it gets even better!! So Then he walked across the street and a few houses over and it looks like he lives in the garage… I do not know if he’s related to the people who live in the main house or what but it all seems kind of weird.
And then, a few days later there were two fire trucks and an ambulance outside that house
12:44am

Nataly
what????
12:44am

Me
and I haven’t seen him since and now his car is parked in their driveway
12:45am

Nataly
That's crazy, its like a soap opera, haha.
12:45am

Me
i know. i never thought so many interesting things could happen on one street. But when you really open your eyes and start looking, you'd be surprised what you start to notice
12:46am



…And it’s true. Once you begin to observe a place, even if its familiar to you with a new ‘lens’ or a new outlook, you will often see a lot more than you used to.

So, I may or may not be representing Regis Way the way my neighbor or an outsider would, but I guess the conclusion I’ve come to is that I shouldn’t! What makes blogs unique is that everyone has a different perspective.

And this is Life on Regis Way as I see it.