Los Angeles is where you confront the objective fact that you mean nothing; the desert, the ocean, the tectonic plates, the clear skies, the sun itself, the Hollywood Walk of Fame – even the parking lots: everything there somehow precedes you, even new construction sites, and it's bigger than you and more abstract than you and indifferent to you. You don't matter. You're free.LA residents given to talking about life in the city talk about freedom a lot. Without a cohesive citywide identity or community structure, without a city center in any sense of the word, you don't situate your life in relation to some imagined ur-community or parental figures. You're just there. But I'd add one thing: it's true that the city as a whole cares about nothing. But there are a thousand communities, more, within the city.
Tech
Audio, Development, Shopping, Web analytics, PIM, Web, Energy, Wearables, AI, barcamp, Visual, Social, a11y, Net, Open, Product Management, OS, Mobile, Medical, Collaboration, MacOS, Javascript, Business, s60, Hardware, Security, WRX, Android, Data, Automobile, Crowdsourcing, Storage, RSS
Other
Geography, Feminism, Agriculture, Podcasts, Boston, Travel, Toys, CrowdFlower, Sports, Quizzes, Life hacks, Berlin, Video, Law, NYC, Activism, California, Friday, Surfing, Housing, Food & Drink, History, Minnesota, Personal care, Statistics, San Francisco, Clothes, Politik, L.A., Games, Transportation, Bicycling
Music
History, Lyrics, Mixes, Videos, Hip-hop, Reviews, Making, Mp3s, House, Business, Events, Musicians, Labels, Streams, Shopping, Booking, Mailing lists, Good tracks, L.A., Boston
People
Buddhism, Subcultures, Family, Enemies, Life hacks, MOTAS, Vocations, Meditation, Working with, Heroes, Me, Weblogs, Exercise, Gossip, Stories, ADD, Friends, Languages, Health
Commerce
International Development, Web, Investing, Macroeconomics, Non-profit, Shopping, Marketing and CRM, Microfinance, Management consulting, Personal services, Insurance, Personal finance, IP Law, Real Estate, Taxes
Arts
Burning Man, Outlets, Desktop wallpaper bait, Poetry, Humor, Visual, Rhetoric, Sculpture, iPad bait, Events, Spoken Word, Movies, Literature, Animation, Comix
Design
Furniture, Architecture, Web, Data visualization, Type, IA, Cool, Tools, User experience, Algorithmic, Presentations, Process
Science
Environment, Psychology, Zoology, Physics, Statistics and Data, Networks, Cognition
Travel
Kenya, Kingdom of Siam, Vagabond '08, Uganda