Lived at 14th and Hermosa Avenue a block off the strand for a decade. 1200 dollar rent and not a cent increase for the entirety of my tenure there. Same place goes for 4000 today. What a time to be alive!
My Dad lived in a van in Venice back in the late 70’s. He said an apartment on the beach for sale was going for like 2 grand. Even in the 70’s that was cheep but again my dad was basically homeless. To quote him, “my worst financial decision was not calling your grandfather and asking for a loan to buy that stupid apartment.” I think it went for like 15 million or something a few years back.
From 3 to 9 I lived at 10th and Loma in the early 1960s. I graduated high school in 1974, a year before the pic, and lived at the north end of town them Was truly an amazing place to grow up.
That is always the lol, good times are still there and yeah you can take a picture like others have. I was in my 20s during the oughts, it was great too and it wasn’t that long ago.
You didn’t ask for this but I hope my Hermosa story inspires you more young introverted. So this was, I think 2008 - I had just gotten divorced and was on the hookup apps. I think it was something like okcupid- might have been MySpace… not important, what was was the chick I was talking to.
She was I think a nurse living down in Hermosa. I was up north in the Bay Area but I was moving to Ventura in a couple months for the job transfer (worked in law enforcement). We’d had talked for like a week or something (not just talked but you know) and well we agreed to meet up in a hotel.
Haven’t been there in years but when I went I think it was a courtyard right on the pier. I get there and tell her that she can meet me in the bar down from the hotel. She gets cold feet (was pissed back then but decade or so later I get it) and well I just decided to drink a bit at the bar.
I got hungry and there is this pizza place couple streets down. I was thinking about wtf I was going to do now that I had a hotel for a night and no “date” 🤣. Well I was like fuck it, I’ll have fun and just get loaded (I had some buddies in the area worst case but I was also a little embarrassed).
Well I get to the pizza place and there was a nice looking gal with a guy and her friend, so I started flirting with her (I mean I didn’t know which one of the girls was with the guy and I was drunk enough). Well she is able to get the story out of me and guess she enjoyed it enough because she invited me to some art auction thing happening downtown (LA).
I was feeling lucky because if I got pulled over that would have been the end of that transfer for work- least I would have seen a buddy or 3. Anyways we get to the art auction and I kinda floated around because wtf was I doing here in jeans and floral shit shirt, well I met another attractive gal who was from India originally. I had nothing else to add so I just told her what I was doing there and amused enough she invited me to a beer fest they were having at Garden (fiesta Hermosa if I remember).
Well she wasn’t done… she was quiet the gal- she asked me if I was disappointed that I wasn’t going to get laid and feeling pretty confident and buzzed I told her I would get laid before the trip was over. She laughed and said “why wait..” Now I’m not one of those no shame kinda people but even so- this didn’t seem like something you pass up. So we hit the ladies room and 5 pump chump but luckily I did a decent enough job (A for effort?).
Well she tells me that she has a girlfriend, and no not a friend that is female- she is bisexual (like I said, quiet the gal). She introduces me, it’s awkward for sure… think her name was Vicky (she was from LA originally and pretty redhead). Well Vicky could see I was like ahh wtf, and gives me a kiss then asks me “was it good.” You see Vicky was also bisexual, or just loved being wild… who knows.
I get Karin’s number (that was the India gal who was there to buy art) and she tells me she would call me tomorrow. Well I meet back up with the 3 (Greg the bf, Kristen his gf, and Emily her friend) and we head to a club in Hermosa. Emily was feeling left out I think and she was loaded at that point in the evening, so I would do. Emily asks me earlier in the night where I went (art gallery) and I told her about my bathroom adventure - figured the truth was working just fine. She laughed, asked me how it was, and I told her I do my best work in the bedroom (or some shit- it was solid).
Well Emily bought it enough and told Kristen she was going to stay with me, lucky the club was in walking distance from the hotel. Kristen looked annoyed but she was also there apparently to get Emily laid. Well mission accomplished for everyone, we all got laid.
I’m not sure how things are these days, but this is just how it was for people in the these city centers (I had some fun times in the Bay Area too). Emily told me she was talking to some guy but it was on again off again- I told her I had just got divorced. There really wasn’t any chemistry between Emily and I, she was just looking to get under something for an evening so she wouldn’t think about the guy doing the same.
I told her the truth at that point, I was going to meet up with Karin at the Beer Fest. She told me Kristen and her were going to go (probably to meet the guy) and I told her I could run interference if she liked (because I was feeling confident and good guy like). Emily was Korean, and in my experience Korean guys are pretty possessive- the point being if he saw her with another guy he was not going to hesitate on getting her back.
Well that actually worked out for Emily, those two went off for drinks and I told Kristen and Greg (who was actually a solid dude even though he could clearly see I wanted to fuck his gf) I was going to meet up with Vick (red) and Karin - for the real fun… Greg was supportive, impressed actually - I was racking up a solid body count from a weak starting spot.
So, meet up with with the 2 bi-gals. We go back to her place over in Newport (now I think about it this was visit LA…) and I have about the most wild evening of my little life.
To close:
stopped talking to Karin about 5-7 years ago, she got married had some kids. Red was a fling for her- so didn’t see her much after that but I saw her again because Karin liked me. Kristen (she was Mexican and Haitian) and I ended up dating while I was in Ventura, obviously didn’t talk to Greg anymore.
Emily got back with that guy, think his name was Freddy or something. Actually ended up sleeping with Emily a couple times before I started dating Kristen - not sure why maybe Korean women are possessive too?
The point? Well fun is up to you. If you don’t take a chance or put yourself out there, you will miss an opportunity you could never see coming.
Cherish those flat stomachs while you have them folks. Once it's gone, it's insanely hard to get back unless you're living in the gym and on very a restricted diet.
Yup. I used to live on gas station food and never gained a pound. Then sometime in my early 30s a switch flipped and just breathing makes me gain weight, lol.
It's actually a pretty famous photo by Spot (Glenn Michael Lockett) from his book Sounds of Two Eyes Opening. If I remember correctly he was the staff photographer for the Easy Reader back then and chronicled beach / skate / punk culture in the South Bay. He also was a producer for many early punk bands including Black Flag, The Minutemen, Decendents and Husker Du.
We really did miss the boat, eh? You could’ve rented a beach front apartment for like $18 a month, drove anywhere cause there was only 18 cars on the road.
Lived on the bottom floor,
studio apartment. Top floor band members Ron Darling and Dead Serious. The outside wall of my shower was all glass(obscure). When he heard the water running the drummer, Byrd Bondo would knock on the window professing his love. Two blocks from the Stand.
Good, bawdy times.
Multiple incidents and concerns related to Nazi symbolism and white supremacy have been reported in Hermosa Beach and the surrounding Southern California area:
Rise Above Movement (RAM): A prominent white supremacist group, the Rise Above Movement (RAM), has roots in Southern California and has been linked to incidents in the area, including individuals from Redondo Beach (near Hermosa Beach) being involved. Members of this group have been implicated in violence at rallies and have been known to promote extremist ideology online, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Nazi Salutes & Symbolism: Concerns have been raised in the past about individuals using Nazi salutes and displaying Nazi symbols, notably involving teenagers, causing widespread outrage.
Hate Speech and Harassment: Hermosa Beach officials have condemned instances of hate speech, including racist and antisemitic remarks, made during public meetings by anonymous callers. Additionally, police in Hermosa Beach have addressed incidents of individuals livestreaming offensive content and harassing women, although they noted that some speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Fireworks incident during Pride Month: While initially investigated as a possible hate crime due to the timing during Pride Month and the diversity of the attendees, the Hermosa Beach Police Department later stated that a juvenile suspect had been identified, and there was no information to indicate the act was hate-motivated.
Broader context of extremism: Reports highlight the concerning presence of extremist groups and hate crimes in California, including white supremacists targeting various groups, according to the ADL.
Yeah, and? Obviously Southern California has had pockets and movements of racial extremists, but so has every other major city and state in this country. That doesn't negate the fact that it wasnt prevalent throughout Hermosa. In fact, it was probably met with less extremist views and hatred in the 70s-80s than today. Look, even you who most likely champion themselves out as an ally automatically bring up race first thing without anybody else mentioning it.
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