What's It All About?

Illustration: Interrogative Point (1824) by Mr. Stops

When I started this blog in 2008, I was living in the San Fernando Valley. I thought I would find all the Valley's historical landmarks and cultural sites, and perhaps collect enough material to write a book. Hah!

I learned that the sites that had once been officially declared historical landmarks were no longer in existence, not open to the public, or not perticularly interesting in the first place. Although not completely devoid of culture (despite what the critics say), the Valley had no museums and no tourist attractions. There is a university (Cal State Northridge) and some other educational institutions.

The old ranches and movie sets were long gone. The area had become known as a major center of the pornography industry, with studios in big, unmarked structures in a quiet industrial zone. That wasn't the story I was looking for.

I wrote small pieces about my personal encounters in the area: the problem of billboards parked on the street, my annoying neighbors, the weather. At some point, I gave up on the Valley as a topic and began writing about social issues. I left the Valley in 2017, and now I just write about whatever is on my mind. The blog now has an account on BlueSky, @touringthevalley.bsky.social, with links back to these posts, as well as memes and items of interest from the news.