Mary Novaria

"I wish I could quit you!" You know when you reach that point in a relationship where it’s just not fun anymore? Where your nausea and racing pulse aren’t because you’re love sick, but heartsick? That’s where I am, dear politics, my old friend. I can stomach the abuse no longer. I will fondly remember the old days when the worst thing anyone did was steal a yard sign, and negative ads were risky and frowned upon. No more. The campaigns themselves are bad enough, but the splinter groups which claim lies as truth, and fiction as fact, are like out of control adolescents—impulsive, dodgy, polarizing and non-apologetic. The difference? There’s no growing out of it. Nasty videos and spiteful blogs ignite on the web faster than a California brushfire. When friends can’t discuss candidates or issues without anger, judgment and hurt feelings, something is definitely wrong. Some say, “It’s just politics; don’t take it personally.” But you know what? I’m a person and that...

Years ago, just before our son began Kindergarten, we moved from the city to the suburbs—reluctantly, because we didn’t want to be one of “those” people. We also didn’t want our kid to be part of an experiment in a failing urban school district. Some friends in another city had done the same thing several years ahead of us and we asked them, “How long did it take you to get used to the suburbs?” The response: “About five minutes.” And so it was. Now, 18 years, later, we moved across the country to the Los Angeles metro or, specifically, Santa Monica. It didn’t take five minutes to get used to this. And after ten days in this community, it took  about five seconds to come up with ten things I love about it already. Ocean (Obviously). I can see the Pacific from the corner and walk there in 10 minutes. Air conditioning. Courtesy of Mother Nature and the above-mentioned Ocean. We may never shut our windows again. Mountains. Just a glance to the right while looking at ...