My California Rocks, Dude!

Is your California impossible and depressing?  My California is an exciting adventure!  You say your California is hopeless and miserable?  My California is exploding with new possibilities!

If California is a 'state of mind', then what state is your mind in, bro?

Take a trip to my Golden State, because my California totally rocks!  Life in my state is full of great things, fantastic places, and the best people in the entire world.

Are there too many people in your California?  Too many foreigners, perhaps?  Well, in my California, most of the state is unpopulated and wide open.  We've got the most beautiful Californians from every race and nationality.

The best individuals on earth live in my California, each with their unique talents and ideas.

Is your California infested with sleazy politicians and greedy bureaucrats?  My Golden State is blessed with honest, intelligent and brave citizens who see through the crap, get involved, and make great, positive changes.

The real California belongs to the people, not to media whores who sell demoralizing mantras of negativity.

Come on, now.  Your California can't be completely devoid of love, beauty, laughter, tranquil moments and innocent fun.  It would be Hell.

My California is full of mountains that want no money, blue skies and sunshine which cost nothing, and millions of friends who want to share the best things in life.

Budgets?  Deficits?  Taxes?  Recessions?  Bailouts?  Bankruptcies?  Isn't it all about green pieces of paper which aren't backed by anything but promises?  Is any of that permanent?  Is it your whole life?  Is it your state of mind?

Is this what your California is all about?

My California is loaded with beautiful scenery, perfect weather, plants, trees, wildlife and a gigantic ocean --- all waiting to be played with and enjoyed.

Jump into the water.  Climb a tree.  Take some panoramic photos.  Hike through a forest.  Roll in the snow.  Run along a beach.  Be an adventurer.  That's what's in my California every single day!

My Golden State is full of opulent luxury, no matter what city or town it's in.  I can go to the best restaurant, outdoor cafe or fancy hotel bistro --- surrounded by the best and the beautiful --- and order a simple COFFEE in an atmosphere of wealth, success and satisfaction.

In my California, I can meet new fascinating friends, without limit, and experience customs, cultures and wisdom from the entire world --- right here where I am already!  All I have to do is say "Hello" and smile.  Everyone in my California has so much life experience to share --- me too!

If your California is all about the TV news, a job you hate, a lie you're living or a life you loathe, LET GO.  Get out of that 'state' you're in.

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California Home Prices, Sales Up!

California homes are selling much faster, and selling for higher prices, than doomsayers had ever imagined. 

The bottom is behind us and Golden State real estate is shooting skyward.  The California Association of Realtors finally gets to report some positive California news.

"California’s median price rose for the eighth consecutive month in October and sales continued to show strength, signs that California has hit and passed the bottom of this real estate cycle," said the California Association of Realtors V.P. and Chief Economist Leslie-Appleton-Young.

California homes are now selling more quickly than before.  The median number of days it took to sell a single-family house was 34.1 days in October 2009, compared with the longer 45.5 days for the same period last year.

The California Association of Realtors Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in October 2009 was only 4 months, compared with 6.1 months for the same period last year.

This indicates a possibility of only 17 weeks to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. We'll need to build more new houses soon!

The days of nose-diving home prices are over.  Home appreciation is back in style!  Statewide, the California cities with the biggest median home price increases in October 2009 versus the same period a year ago were:

• Palo Alto - 49.1 %
• Atascadero - 33.3 %
• Cupertino - 24.2 %
• San Rafael - 24 %
• Emeryville - 22.2 %
• Livermore - 20.5 %
• Culver City - 19.4 %
• Pleasant Hill - 17 %
• La Habra - 16.2 %
• Novato - 15.4 %

"Home sales historically trail off during the fall and winter months as we move to the off-peak season for the housing market," said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard.

"However, with affordable home prices, mortgage rates hovering around 5 percent, and the extension and expansion of the federal tax credit, we expect first-time and move-up home buyers to drive home sales through the end of this year and into early 2010."

Californians are making something great happen once more.

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25,700 California Jobs Added

Our state of California saw jobs grow between September and October.

It was the first monthly job growth since April 2008 --- after 18 long months --- according to the California Employment Development Department. 

The 25,700 jobs increase in our Golden State was the third highest in the USA.  How totally awesome!

For Californians who are still looking for a job, do NOT give up!  Keep on being creative in your search while using every resource, including the CalJOBS and  EDD Job Seekers websites.

You will succeed!

For those Californians who are thinking about starting a small business, DO IT!  This is the time to boldly move forward. 

Small business resources are available, such as the Small Business Administration's California offices, the California Small Business Association, the Small Business California organization, and the State of California Business Portal.

We can help this fantastic new momentum to escalate by spreading the good news to all Californians that we're turning the corner, and that we're much further up the hill than the pundits said we would be by now.

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Classic Los Angeles Quotations

California's largest city is more than just freeways, palm trees and plastic surgeons.  Los Angeles is an Alpha City, a global mecca, and a symbol of opportunity for billions of ambitious dreamers.  Everyone has a perspective on L.A., so there are many profound quotations about the City Of Angels.

Here are some of the best quotes about La La Land --- the good, the bad, and the funky:

"People cut themselves off from their ties of the old life when they come to Los Angeles.  They are looking for a place where they can be free, where they can do things they couldn't do anywhere else." - Tom Bradley

"Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water." - from the movie Chinatown

"The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit." - Rush Limbaugh

"Los Angeles is not a town full of airheads.  There's a great deal of wonderful energy there." - Alan Rickman

"You can have a laugh in Los Angeles, or you can weep in Los Angeles, depending on your attitude towards it." - Miranda Richardson

"I love Los Angeles.  It reinvents itself every two days." - Billy Connolly

"I'm a Valley Girl.  You can't get me out of the Valley, I'm still here." - Cindy Margolis

"Los Angeles is a constellation of plastic." - Norman Mailer

"L.A. I liked because the degenerates there all stay in their separate suburban houses." - Paul Morrisey

"Pick your enemies carefully or you'll never make it in Los Angeles." - Rona Barrett

"Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees." - David Letterman

"Los Angeles is just New York lying down." - Quentin Crisp

"We live in Los Angeles, where you are expected to move every two to four years, so people can see how well your career is going." - Rita Rudner

"Los Angeles is seventy-two suburbs in search of a city." - Dorothy Parker

"The final story, the final chapter of western man, I believe, lies in Los Angeles." - Phil Ochs

"In Los Angeles, everyone is a star." - Denzel Washington

"Los Angeles makes the rest of California seem authentic." - Jonathan Culler

"In Los Angeles, it's like they jog for two hours a day and then they think they're morally right.  That's when you want to choke people, you know?" - Liam Neeson

"Los Angeles is a much better theater town than it ever gets credit for --- there's a lot of good theater out there." - Michael Ritchie

"When you're in Los Angeles, nobody bats an eye, they're so used to seeing actors, they just act really cool." - Luke Wilson

"Los Angeles is a microcosm of the United States.  If L.A. falls, the country falls." - Ice T

"When I came to Los Angeles, it was the first time that I ever felt like I belonged somewhere... I didn't get looked at as *God, you freak*." - Jennifer Love Hewitt

"So, I live in Los Angeles, and it's kind of a goofy place.  They have an airport named after John Wayne.  That ought to explain it.  It has a charming kind of superstitious innocence." - George Carlin

"In Los Angeles, by the time you're thirty-five, you're older than most of the buildings." - Delia Ephron

"When it's 100 degrees in New York, it's 72 in Los Angeles.  When it's 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles it's still 72.  However, there are 6-million interesting people in New York, and 72 in Los Angeles." - Neil Simon

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California: The Bicycle State

Californians are riding bicycles more today than ever before.

Bicycling is inexpensive, it's fun, and it's healthy for bicyclists as well as for California's environment.  For many folks in the Golden State, riding a bike is a daily way of life. 

Biking is a growing trend in California, which is quickly becoming The Bicycle State.

Unfortunately, with millions of Californians commuting many miles per day for work, the old adage about cars is still true --- "Detroit makes 'em, but California drives 'em".  While we continue to sit in automobile traffic, our motor vehicles pollute the air we breath. 

You don't have to be a total green freak to appreciate a little oxygen.

Then there's the money thing.  Auto insurance, maintenance, repairs, gasoline, traffic tickets, car payments, tires, registration, license renewals and endless car washes are not exactly cheap. 

So much drama for such an expensive ride that constantly depreciates in value as it dies and betrays you.

The automobile industry, the oil industry and the insurance industry have enjoyed quite a bonanza.  Doesn't it seem that the things which are UNNATURAL always cost the most? 

Bicycling is not a power-consolidating "economy".  It's a simple joy.

Every kid knows the thrill of riding a bike.  The freedom, the open air and the exercise all feel good, naturally.  Adults who rediscover bicycling always experience the same sensations all over again.  Biking totally rocks!

California is becoming more aware of the need for transportation planning that accommodates bicyclists.  In 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Complete Streets Act into law.  It requires cities and counties to include complete streets policies as part of their planning so that roads are designed to accommodate all users, including bicyclists.

Important, and very valuable, to bicycle riders in the Golden State is the California Bicycle Coalition.  This great nonprofit education and lobbying organization works to improve bicycling conditions throughout the State of California.

Bicycling is therapeutic, cost-effective, family-friendly transportation that's pure fun for every age.  Jump on a bicycle and see a different side of California that you can actually FEEL.

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101 Freeway Epiphany

California is famous for its freeway system and, when traffic is light, it's a quick and convenient way to travel.  If you've ever been stuck in rush hour traffic on the 101 Freeway, you know how slow and torturous the experience can be.

Today I sat with a raging humanity in the world's longest parking lot, which stretches from Los Angeles to Canada --- US 101.  It was an asphalt hell.  There we all were, probably millions of motorists, sitting still with our vehicles spewing exhaust.  It felt like I was at an anti-environmental Woodstock, unwillingly.

After screaming who-knows-what into the windshield, I unclenched my white knuckles from the steering wheel and relaxed a little.  My mind started wandering.  Would the Highway Patrol discover my body, bored beyond recognition?  If I had a heart attack here, would the paramedics be able to get through all of these cars?  ENOUGH!

I took in a 'cleansing breath' and 'centered my mind'.  (I know that's stereotypical Californianess, but what ELSE was there to do at the moment?)  Traffic was still not moving, so I started looking around at my new freeway neighbors.  Nobody was looking back at me.  Who were all these people?

I saw a Korean teenager, a middle-aged black lady, a hispanic family, a couple from India, a young Persian guy and a bleached-out blonde who was fluffing her hair and putting on hot-pink lipstick.  I chuckled at the Barbie chick with her fake tan, and mumbled "Gee, can you look any more California, honey?"

Wait a minute.  Where did THAT come from?  What EXACTLY should a Californian look like?  A blonde beach babe?  California is the only place in the world that has no real majority race.  Every ethnicity, culture and 'look' is here.  It's all totally California.

I took a good look around at all of those other motorists and their license plates.  All California plates.  All Californians.  It was truly an epiphany.  We were all on the same 101 Freeway, and we were all headed in the same direction.  We were all in this together.  We all have made a conscious choice to live together in this Golden State.

Just when I thought, "Gee, I like living here", the other folks started looking back at me.  I flashed a peace sign their way.  They all either smiled, waved, or flashed a peace sign back at me.  Right on!  Californians rock!

We're all gonna make it just fine together.

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California International Relations

What use would California, a state, have for International Relations?

With a gross domestic product approaching $2-trillion, a population of 40-million, and with our head of state holding global summits and talks around the world, California is well into the international relations and foreign affairs arena.

It is widely known that the California economy is among the world's top-ten, and that the Golden State has international contracts and diplomatic relationships apart from the USA. Our cultural, agricultural and technological exports are worldwide, but how far do California's international concerns really go?

The California National Guard Office of International Affairs manages the State Partnership Program with Ukraine. California deploys Guard teams to Ukraine to help that nation's armed forces in re-structuring, modernizing its military, and strengthening democracy and free market economies. Apparently, there are future missions with other nations planned as well.

The California Senate Office of International Relations provides data and assistance for furthering economic and cultural ties between California and the nations of the world.  Through its California International Relations Foundation, its California Japan Scholars Program, and its California Brazil Partnership, the Senate is aggressively promoting the international exchange of ideas.

California's universities are also furthering the global dialogue. 

International institutes and departments at Stanford University, the University of California and the University of Southern California are shaping the Pacific Century by addressing International Affairs, Global Conflict and Cooperation issues head-on.

Citizens of the Golden State are joining groups like the World Affairs Council, where heads of state and international policy makers regularly address local chapters of the Council.

The Citizen Diplomacy Council of San Diego arranges face-to-face professional and cultural exchanges between visiting international leaders and San Diego citizens and experts.

The Santa Barbara Committee on Foreign Relations members include business professionals, educators and government officials in the Santa Barbara area. The SBCFR holds dinner meetings featuring speakers on foreign policy and international issues.

Californians are more concerned than ever with International Relations, Foreign Affairs and Global Diplomacy.  California has grown to be a member of the world's international community.  What happens to the world affects us, and our developments have an impact on the world as well.

As goes California, so goes the nation --- and the world.

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California Inspires Artist at LAX

California has inspired many artists to create.  The natural beauty, unique designs, cool architecture, and the creative vibe of our Golden State can deeply affect visiting artists. 

I met such an artist at LAX today, before dawn, whose world was rocked by her California experience.

Lauren is a talented artist who lives in Michigan.  She specializes in elaborate bead work, complicated embroidery and unusual crafts.  She holds a degree in Art, and talks about her projects with enthusiasm and passion. 

She is a natural artist who's been living an unnatural life lately.

Lauren was here in Los Angeles on a business trip, not an artistic endeavor.

She manages data for a market research firm --- pretty dry for such a creative and expressive mind like Lauren's.  Her creative lifestyle, and her Art degree, were 'in the closet'.  She likes her employer, the great pay and the travel, but her artist's soul needed an epiphany.

California was just what Lauren needed. 

She was impressed with the people, the casually hip vibration, and the countless creative projects happening in the L.A. area.  The scenic splendor of Southern California reawakened the artist's imagination --- new ideas started flooding her mind. 

It was a turning point in Lauren's life.

She was regenerated. Who knew LAX could be so inspiring?

I encouraged this very cool chick from the Midwest to stay stimulated and motivated --- and to never forget the gift that California had given to her.

Lauren had found her own Californiality.

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Ronald Reagan's California

The first time I ever saw Ronald Reagan was when he was running for Governor of California in 1966. 

As a kid who had just moved to Los Angeles, I thought Reagan looked like a dashing king of a magical land.  He was so California --- rugged, handsome, dignified, optimistic, confident, classy and so totally inspiring!

I remember people saying that Ronald Reagan was a movie star, a TV star and a magazine cover celebrity.  I didn't really care about all of that.  As a new Californian, I was impressed by Reagan's passionate convictions and positive ideals.

Ronald Reagan meant what he said.

Folks would criticize Reagan for his years as a Democrat before he became a Republican.  So what?  It was an asset in my eyes.  He knew both perspectives.  He didn't back down from a fight either.

When California was exploding with 1960s counter-culture rebellion and violence, Governor Reagan stopped the insanity.

After California Governor Ronald Reagan spent two terms successfully navigating the Golden State through a mine field of sociopolitical upheavals, he left a huge economic surplus on the table as a parting gift to California voters. 

What a class act.  Many Californians were sad when Ronnie and Nancy left Sacramento.

I stood in line at Reagan's memorial in Simi Valley with thousands of people. 

Most folks I met in that endless line were Democrats who had voted for him.  Emotions were high, but nothing compared to the palpable awe and respect that surrounded Reagan's casket.

Ronald Reagan impressed me with personal and professional qualities that, decades later, still inspire me onward and upward. 

I was so lucky to grow up in a California that was free, wild and uninhibited --- where dreams were encouraged, honored and developed into realities that changed the world.

Ronald Reagan is gone, but his kind of spirit is making a comeback.  Bold, idealistic, inventive and defiantly Positive California.

R O N A L D   R E A G A N

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California Checks Into Rehab

Rehab is not a bad thing at all. It is the start of a long, confrontational and constructive conversation about issues. Californians are now admitting shortcomings, addressing insecurities, and expressing hopes and fears. A healing is beginning in California --- even before Oprah moves here.

Addictions to both hostile materialism and cultural narcissism had led California down the path of rebellious ignorance, and away from family connectedness and accountability. Our society had become high on conveniences and drunk on indebtedness. We are sobering up from quite a bender.

We have survived ourselves but there are bills to pay, amends to make, and new goals to set --- and meet. There are old 'acquaintances' to separate from as well. California is now looking more closely at our social and political 'pushers' who helped us to get off-track --- while they personally profited.

As our Governor Ronald Reagan used to say, "All great changes begin at the dinner table." Well, Californians are starting to gather around that table again, and changes are being discussed in homes, neighborhoods, houses of worship, schools, corporate offices, city halls and county courthouses across California.

Yes, California is in rehab. The program will last a year, through Election Day 2010. Until then, we've got new decisions to make, new dreams to dream, and new ways to make it all happen. The future is wide open and calling for innovative approaches, creative policies, and bold actions. We are up to the challenge.

Let's put aside labels like 'democrat', 'rebublican', 'liberal' and 'conservative'. We can all be INDEPENDENT TOGETHER. That's so California!

WE CAN DO THIS!

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Doing Business: California Economy

California is an economic nation which continues to maintain its top-10 position among the world's largest economies.  High per capita personal and median family income levels persist while thousands of firms flourish.  Billionaires are running for office and Oprah may soon be running her empire from California.  Cool! 

Apocalyptic doom and gloom?  That's SO last year.  Trying to keep up with California's rapid change and innovation is becoming a challenge these days!  Sure, doing business in such a highly advanced state like ours can be highly complex, but the strong can really make it here --- and make it BIG.

Other states continue to entice our local companies over their way, and who can blame them?  California's minds, skills, ideas, visions and innovations are hot commodities.  In fact, I've heard four commercial radio spots making the Houston, Texas area sound like heaven --- just this morning in L.A.!

We've got more new international contracts every month, along with global trading partners up the ying-yang.  We're well-positioned on the edge of the Pacific Basin and Latin America and rich in agriculture, oil and minerals.  Entertainment and international tourism are up, and we've still got gold to mine!

What?  High (temporary) taxes and funky (temporary) politicians got you pissed off?  You wanna run away to Mudville, USA?  Okay.  Enjoy your (temporary) relocation with its (temporary) tax breaks and (temporary) cooperation. I can assure you, from personal experience, you'll regret leaving California.

Why don't you stay here instead and grab a hammer and some nails.  We could use some strong hands to help us build some new rooms onto our Casa California.  It will be an awe-inspiring experience to share in new victories, new successes, and new California dreams made real.  Stick around.

It just wouldn't be the same without you!

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Hollywood Nuns Gone Wild!

I met a group of Catholic nuns from Ireland who were doing the California tourist thing.

At first glance, they looked like something out of the movie Sister Act --- but without Whoopi Goldberg.  These were real sisters of the faith, covered head-to-toe in black.

Were the nuns here for a fun-filled California vacation?

I decided to hang out with these holy women for a bit, just out of curiosity.  They were in their 40s, 50s and 60s.  Their nun-look was pretty much stereotypical, and I noticed folks staring as they walked by.  What were they here for?

One of the sisters told me that they had come all the way to California, from Ireland, to attend the funeral of a priest up in the Bay Area.  After the service, they decided to rent a car for the trip back to the airport.  A wrong turn was made, and they ended up on the Pacific Coast Highway, headed south.

The nuns were so stunned by the beauty of the California Coast, that they impulsively decided to just keep driving.  They ended up in Malibu two days later, wearing shorts and T-shirts!  They started calling themselves "The Beach Girls", and a suntan was forming on their pale Irish skin.

The oldest sister told me that they all felt "just like Thelma and Louise".  When she noticed my surprised expression, the elderly nun said, "Oh, don't worry, lad, we'll surely ask for forgiveness!".  They had, evidently, fallen for California.

The giddy group of nuns had enjoyed speeding wildly on the streets of Los Angeles all the way to Tinseltown.  They put their nun clothes back on and walked Hollywood Boulevard.  People stared, whispered and pointed as the black-clad women stepped over the stars on the Walk of Fame.

A middle-aged sister said, "We were a little taken aback when strangers started asking us if we were really celibate, and if we had ever had relations with men or women.  It surprised us, but we chatted with the people about politics, the economy and movie stars too.  Californians are very candid people!"

The Irish nuns told me that the hills, mountains, beaches, fashions and food of the Golden State were all "simply marvelous and breathtaking", and that a part of them would always remain in California.  They understood why so many people like living here.  The sisters called California "America's America".

As they talked about returning home to Ireland, the nuns looked forward to showing the others at the convent all of their photos, souvenirs and celebrity autographs.

The "Hollywood Nuns" had only one regret, though.  They had missed catching a glimpse of one celebrity in particular...

W H O O P I !

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California Bashers Causing Backlash

Thank you, harsh critics of California.  You are helping to finally unite 40-million Californians into a singular, unified force that's about to change the definition of "society".

Our social tsunami is building below the surface.  Those who are in tune with the new positive California vibration are staying here while inventing, organizing, restructuring, innovating, encouraging, inspiring and giving all they have.

Those who are uninspired, unmotivated, unhappy, unfaithful and unwilling are leaving California for cheaper lives.  Good luck to them.  All sympathies to their new host states.

Huge numbers of criminals, illegals and social scammers are leaving our Golden State as well.  Again, we wish them well with condolences to the states who are absorbing them.

Those who have made a decision to stay and help build a new California are strong, independent, creative, industrious, caring, generous, forward-thinking voters and contributors.

We welcome the new entrepreneurs, intellectuals, professionals and effective leaders who have been moving to California this year - silently and without media fanfare.  We welcome them with open arms.

What we will end up with is not some declining, defeated 'has-been' society, like many media outlets have told their readers.  Instead, we will have a more concentrated, success-oriented population that earns more, gives more, takes less and demands accountability.

To outside scoffers, I issue an invitation:  Come and visit California.  Walk with us.  Feel our concerns.  Hear our ideas.  Share our hope.  Pray with us.  Know our strength.  Encourage our success.  Wish us love, not destruction.

We Californians have been fighting for our society's survival for five years now.  Just when we've made TREMENDOUS progress, the vultures decide to circle over us?  Well, they're a little late - and a little naive to the nature of Californians.

Vast numbers of us have risked it all just to make it to California.  We are prepared to risk it all again at any moment.  That's how we are.  Flexible.  Adaptable.  Optimistic.

The recent California-bashing is mean-spirited, and full of classic psychological projection, but no worries.  The resistance is building our muscle.  We are leaner and getting stronger.  We are preparing for a new type of competition and a much greater challenge ---

--- to surpass ourselves.

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