Just a quick post from the field. An audio clip and a bit more information

Thanks to the David at The Courtland Hotel on Wall Street across from the police station for the use of a computer. The Courtland is one of the SRO hotels in a row on the street.

Feel free to click on the link below.  It is an audio file.

http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/audio/WS400017.WMA

This is part of my "sounds of the city" compilation.

Below are a few shots from last month along Wall Street across from the Police Station. 








5 Ways To Help from Los Angeles Mission on Vimeo.

From time to time I will post information and links to some of the other great organizations in Los Angeles who are helping the homeless and hungry residents of Los Angeles. 

I focus a lot on Union Rescue Misson in many of my posts but there are many great organizations in Los Angeles that deserve mention as well. All these folks work together in a common goal.

Some of you reading my blog have donated or contributed directly to me so I can bring food items and snacks to the streets in the evenings to the folks that sleep on the street.  I am not a licensed charity and there are people that look for a tax deduction for their contribution.  If you wish to contribute to a  licensed organization I will list some of them on this blog from time to time.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul Council of Los Angeles

Phone:
213-229-9963 (Service/Intake and Administration) (Voice)
213-620-9141 (FAX) (Fax)

Website: http://www.svdpla.org/

Overview:  The agency provides homeless support services for people who are primarily in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. There are no geographic restrictions.

Administrative Description:  This is a program of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a private, non-profit organization. It is funded by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, independent fund raising and the United Way. Services are provided by professional and paraprofessional staff and volunteers.

Site Hours:  Monday through Sunday, 24 hours per day.

Access:  This site is equipped with elevators and ramps; and is fully accessible to people who use wheelchairs.

SRO Housing Corporation

Phone:

213-229-9697 (Information Only)
213-229-9677 (FAX) (Fax)
213-229-9678 (Service/Intake)
213-229-9365 (Rental Office) (Service/Intake)
213-620-7146 (Information Desk) (Service/Intake)
213-633-4716 (Shelter Plus Care Program) (Service/Intake)
213-229-9680 (Service/Intake)
213-229-9640 (SRO) (Service/Intake) (Voice)
213-633-5464 (Transitional Program Information) (Service/Intake)

Website:  http://www.srohousing.org/

Overview:  The agency provides low-cost housing for homeless and low-income adults in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. Some residences are targeted to people living with HIV/AIDS, severe mental illnesses, substance addictions and other disorders; specialized programs for seniors and veterans are also available. Services are provided in the downtown Skid Row area of Los Angeles. There are no geographic restrictions.

Administrative Description:  This is a private, non-profit organization which is supported by HUD, the Los Angeles City Department of Aging, the Los Angeles City Community Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and other public funds. Services are provided by social service professional and paraprofessional staff.

Access:  The site has elevators for people who use wheelchairs.

An email from a friend

My blog entry for today is something a little different. It is a copy and paste of a letter from a friend.

Simon Higgs is a bit of an icon in the music business. He also is a stong supporter of the homeless. Some information on Simon: He is the owner of Higgs Communications. They specialize in digital music distribution as well as providing technical expertise on web and network issues.

Simon Higgs also provides consulting and artist relations expertise to musical instrument manufacturers (guitars and amplifiers). Past clients include Gibson Guitars, Zemaitis Guitars (Greco / Kanda Shokai), Lipe Guitars, Togaman Guitars, Sonic Images Records, & NSoul Records.

Higgs Communications also publishes "The Guide To Selling Your Music In The iTunes Music Store", by Simon Higgs, which is aimed at independent artists and labels and has sold in over 30 countries. More info on Higgs Communications can be found at http://www.higgs.com/

On to the letter.  My style in answering email is to reply in the body of the letter itself in bold type or type font of a different color.

To: myles@guitaramplifierblueprinting.com
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 8:16 PM

Hi Myles,

Sorry to have not touched base with you since before the holidays. I got slammed from a bunch of different things.

We've been working with some folks living in the National Guard Armory shelters. One girl we helped get in there ended up in jail (she couldn't make bail at the hearing for the situation that made her homeless in the first place) so I've been learning the ins and outs of the LA County Sheriff's dept inmate handling.

Which leads me to something else. Some of the people we've previously met downtown were only there because they came out of jail with no ID. Some of these people were working before they went to jail but without ID they couldn't apply for an apartment (requires a credit check), or access their bank accounts until their ID was replaced. They became instantly homeless and lost in the swirl.

I was wondering if you could do an informal survey to see who has CA ID and how long it takes a homeless person to replace it. I'm thinking this one issue may have some impact if the law could be changed to ensure every inmate gets their ID on release (they all have ID inside to keep track of them).

I will start asking folks if they have ID.

Also, how much is it to sponsor an evening of snacks & goodies?

I don't know how much at this point. It is very inexpensive. I have had money come in faster than it can be spent at times. There are some folks downtown that give me terrific prices on things like bananas, sometimes ten pounds for a dollar. Many folks give me some food items for nothing. I go to Smart and Final for breakfast bars such as quaker oatmeal bars which are not too pricy in bulk. The factor that is the holdback is my capacity to carry things while still having hands free at night. I have some friends at an SRO hotel that let me store things there so on most evenings I can come back a few times to replenish. On my blog I have a list of the contributors and their contributions are still holding up quite well.

Last question. Are you going to be at NAMM? Zemaitis aren't exhibiting so I'm not working for them this year (but I get to see the show - what a concept!).

I don't know about NAMM. I opted to not go a few years ago and found I did not miss it at all.  It is always the same stuff and if something is really cool that is shown at NAMM and is something of the "real deal" it will be cool for weeks or months after NAMM.   I will see it then, without being in the middle of the insanity and chaos of NAMM.  Friends I could talk to at NAMM I generally am able to talk to outside of NAMM and NAMM is not a great place to converse anyway.  Folks that exhibit who are friends need to spend time building their business and not chatting with me at the show when we can do that in a better setting and they have generally spent a lot of money to exhibit, the travel, hotel and other expenses.   It is better them to use their time at NAMM to best advantage for their business in these hard times.

-- Best Regards,

Simon Higgs

Regards,


Myles

Taking a bit of a break from the homeless and unemployment issues for a moment. A few places in Los Angeles which are traditions where one can eat

Los Angeles has many places to eat where the food is great but the history may be just as big of a draw or factor.







One day I took my two boys out.  The day started with one goal ... French Dip sandwiches at Phillipes. Two lamb sandwiches, double dipped, one roast beef. Graham and I split so we each had one half of each. Potato salad, cole slaw, a jar of mustard to bring home, cheesecake, the house lemonade, a nine cent cup of house coffee, crumb cake. It was a great lunch at a very historical place.





Both of these french dip sandwich places go back to 1908. I do not know which was first. Phillipe's is a landmark in Los Angeles.  Phillipe may be the first according to the story of how the first french dip sandwich was an accident that happened there and became a requested item.

Economy 101: Dropouts hold down unemployment rate

Here are a few basic overall figures:  40% of unemployed have been out of work for two years or more.  There are currently over 15 million people unemployed.  Unemployment is still growing regardless of what government reports may attempt to indicate on rare occasion.  Many economic experts talk of a double dip recession.  Big business is winning:  Cutting expenses by going global while cutting payroll, full time employment, and reducing rate of pay and benefits. Wall Street shows the profit growth of business in general.  Individuals who are employed are NOT the winners: lower pay and reduced benefits.

An AP news story on Friday gives some current details:

Economy 101: Dropouts hold down unemployment rate

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber, Ap Economics Writer – Fri Jan 8, 4:20 pm ET

Nearly 2 million Americans have dropped out of the work force since last May — and if they hadn't, the unemployment rate would have risen a lot more dramatically over the last several months.

Either way, joblessness is quite high. The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month, the same as in November and just below the 10.1 percent rate reached in October. The October figure, which was revised down from 10.2 percent, was the highest in 26 years.

Employers cut 85,000 jobs last month, but hiring and firing isn't the only thing that affects the unemployment rate. Also important is the overall size of the labor force, which is the number of people working and actively looking for work.

The unemployed who aren't searching for jobs — either because they're discouraged or because they're returning to school or caring for a family member, among other reasons — aren't included in the labor force and aren't counted in the unemployment rate.

Since May, the labor force has dropped to 153.1 million from nearly 155 million, a 1.2 percent decline. More than 660,000 people exited in December, the most in any single month in 14 years.

Had all those people remained in the work force and hunted for jobs, the December unemployment rate would have been 11 percent instead.

What worries economists is that many of those people are likely to resume job hunting if the economy continues to pick up. That could boost the jobless rate to 10.5 percent or higher, even if the economy improves and employers start hiring again.

Here, by the numbers, are some more details you can find deep in the employment report.

FROM RED TO BLACK AND BACK AGAIN

85,000: The net total of jobs lost in December
4,000: The net total of jobs gained in November, the first gain in 23 months
127,000: The net total of jobs lost in October
691,000: Average number of jobs lost each month in the first quarter of 2009
69,000: Average number lost each month in the fourth quarter
7.2 million: Total decline in U.S. payrolls since recession began in December 2007
___

MISERY LOVES COMPANY

15.3 million: People unemployed in December 2009, down from a record 15.6 million in June
12.1 million: People unemployed in December 1982, the record before the latest recession
10 percent: Unemployment rate in December 2009
10.1 percent: Unemployment rate in October, revised down from 10.2
4.9 percent: Unemployment rate in December 2007, when the recession began
10.8 percent: Unemployment rate in December 1982, the highest since World War II
___

TOUGH TIMES FOR THE YOUNGEST

27.1 percent: Unemployment rate for teenagers in December
15.6 percent: Unemployment rate for those 20 to 24 years old
___

LONG-TERM JOBLESSNESS

39.8 percent: Proportion of unemployed who've been out of work six months or longer, a record
29.1 weeks: Average length of unemployment in December, also a record
6.1 million: Number of people unemployed for six months or longer, also a record
1.3 million: Number unemployed for that long in December 2007, when the recession began
___

WHERE THE JOBS ARE

46,500: The number of temporary jobs added in December
9,900: Jobs added in financial services and insurance
10,800: Jobs added in education
21,500: Jobs added in hospitals, nursing and other health care sectors
4,000: Jobs added in architectural and engineering services
3,400: Jobs added in computer services
___

UNDEREMPLOYED

9.2 million: Number of part-time workers who would have preferred full-time work last month
2.5 million: People without jobs who want to work but have stopped looking
17.3 percent: "Underemployment" rate in December if you include the above two categories
17.4 percent: Underemployment rate in October, the highest in records dating to 1994
___

Sounds of the city

Below are two links which I call "sounds of the city".  These were recorded Friday night in Los Angeles at one redline metro stop and on the redline metro itself.

http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/audio/WS400005.WMA

http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/audio/WS400006.WMA

On the streets of Los Angeles

This is a brief bit of writing on some of my activities yesterday and last evening.

In the late morning I picked up one of my boys who was on vacation from school. I thought that showing him a little more of how some others live each day might be an interesting learning experience. School of a different kind.

We took the metro downtown and stopped for a quick lunch before walking along San Pedro Street toward skid row.



Above - the view walking along San Pedro Street two blocks from the heart of skid row. It was a warm day.

Most of the country is in the middle of feeling bitter cold. The cold here is in the faces and expressions of so many of the people that live here. Cold will wait for a few hours until the sun falls. Freezing temperatures and snow are difficult for people in other parts of the country. If you have a car you turn on the heater as one will do in their house. If you head outside one generally has proper clothing. Many others have the option of staying inside as well.

For the homeless of Los Angeles in the winter it can get cold as well. 40 or 30 degree temperatures at night are common. Most have heard the phrase "wind chill factor". I think there may be less common factors. The "lying on concrete" factor. The no heat factor. No running water factor. No roof or walls factor.

I took my son on something of a tour of skid row. We walked down San Pedro Street. I took him inside the Union Rescue Mission.



Since I mention the URM often I thought I'd put their logo here and their web URL which is http://www.urm.org/ where you can learn more about them.  There are a number of missions doing great work.  URM happens to be the mission that I personally prefer as I like the way they tackle such a huge task that is so overwhelming in a way that is so efficient for such a large organization.  If AT&T has what some feel is the worst customer service and are at one side of the scale then at the other side of the scale is Union Rescue Mission.

I took my son inside and he was able to meet one of the staff members who knew me. She was happy to meet my son and had some nice words for him.

After our stop at URM I took my son to walk the backside of Union Rescue Mission, San Julian Street. The police over at Central Division one block away say that San Julian is the most dangerous street in the city or perhaps in any US city. Before some of you ask what kind of crazy man would take his son for a walk on this street? I have friends on the street, it was a nice day without cold or rain to put people on edge from a bad mood. It was just after lunch where the meal service for the people close by had been able to eat. The mood and vibe was not tense. I still have a decent sense of my environment and judged that it was safe.

We walked by the row of SRO Hotels, saw the police station on Wall Street and then walked up 5th Street to Pershing Square to board the redline back to North Hollywood. My son said the day was interesting and had been an education. He seemed to be happy with our day together.

In the early evening I took my son home and then returned to my place to get ready for my night rounds back downtown. I grabbed my bag from Moore N Moore, a place where I participate in a sport known as sporting clays. The bag has a shoulder strap and carries half a dozen boxes of shotgun shells ... or ... in this case it holds a lot of breakfast bars or snack bars, raisins or whatever I wish to take to pass out as snacks for the evening.



Above - getting ready for the evening.

Back to the metro and back to Pershing Square to walk down Fifth Street to pass out snacks, participate in a bit of conversation and learn a little more about a side of life that I thought I knew something about already.  What I am learning covers so many subjects I could not begin to articulate.  I am beginning to understand why people such as Andy Bales and the staff of Union Rescue Mission are such fighters in their task, or in their mission with more than one meaning to the word "mission".  URM is a mission, is the physical place that is Union Rescue Mission and a place of comfort and hope for so many people.

Since I had spent the last two nights staying downtown after long days and nights I thought I would give myself a break and come back to Hoho on one of the last rides on the metro for the evening (actually early morning).  The thought continually crosses my mind that I have options of where I spend my night while so many others do not.

I wish all a good day and good evening.

Poor choice of name for a store so close to the heart of skid row?

I think a retail store this close to skid row with this sort of name may be contraindicated? People smoke within a few feet of this store, literally.

IMG_0496, originally uploaded by myles111us.

A long day. Then again, most days seem to be long ones.

Two shifts again downtown today and that was after a few hours at the shop with the 65 Amps folks.  A long day and long night. 

Yesterday I headed downtown in the late morning.  I took the red line to Union Station.  I wanted to try exploring a different route to the mission area and I thought that walking from Little Tokyo could be a good route. 

At Union Station I transferred to the gold line and got off at the first stop on the south leg, Little Tokyo.  I grabbed a spicy tuna roll and started to walk.  As I was walking I received a text that Andy Bales of Union Rescue Mission was cooking chili for 1000 people.  I texted back and asked if he needed any help as I was in the area.  I did not really expect a quick text back as Andy Bales is one of those sorts of folks that packs 18 hours of activity into an 8 hour day, that is ... if he even knows what an 8 hour day is in the first place. 

Andy Bales is the CEO of Union Rescue Mission as some of you may know from other blog posts.  Today Andy was cooking chili for 1000, performing his daily tasks of running the largest mission in Los Angeles, continued his ongoing battle of raising money for the mission to help more people on the street without a place to go than the entire population of Santa Barbara, oversee the cutover to a new website which is in the process of being updated at http://www.urm.org/ and Lord know what else.



Above - Some homeless folks do not sleep on the street as in, on the ground. They sleep in their cars or in places such as this old van. This van was parked directly in front of Union Rescue Mission yesterday 1/4/10.



Above - the rear intake area of Union Rescue Mission.

By the time I arrived at URM they were loading one of their vans out in front of the place with large silver containers of hot food.  My guess was the chili was all done.  I went inside and found out from the gal at the front desk that Andy had completed his chili.  I talked to another staff member on the phone and told her that I was on my way back out "into the field" for the rest of the afternoon.  I went to the Central Market to pick up some things so pass out in the evening.  When bananas are 2-3 pounds for $1.00 for the general public I now get 5-10 pounds for the same price.  I also am able to get the last Chinese food of the day for nothing and pretty good discounts on other things.  I already brought down a good supply of breakfast bars and oatmeal bars from Smart & Final in the past and have an friend at an SRO Hotel on Wall Street that lets me store stuff at his place.  I was set for the evening.



Above - some of the SRO Hotels less than one block from Union Rescue Mission, The Midnight Mission and the Los Angeles Mission.

Financially things look pretty good.  There are a number of folks that are helping and I have mentioned some of them on the right side of this blog.  I will just take another moment to say thank you again.

I walked back up Fifth Street to the redline stop at Pershing Square, headed back to NoHo to pull things together for the evening, check email and reply where a more detailed reply may have been nice for folks in response to some of the SMS messages I received during the afternoon.  My replies had been short but I did upload cell photos and cell video during the afternoon.  I also took better photos and video with the #2 camera when I had the chance.  I will upload those when there is a little more time.

In the evening I headed back downtown for my night shift.  The weather had turned cooler, jacket weather for sure, even though the day had been warm.  I walked by my favorite alley as I always do.  There are folks that expect me to be there now and I try to give them something they can count on by showing up.  I have had some interesting talks in that alley and have even slept in the alley on an occasion or two.  I stopped by "my alley" for a few minutes on my way to the SRO to pick up snacks for the night folks.  I met an interesting fellow who calls himself Gilez.  I have no idea of the spelling, vocally it sounds like gill (as in a fish gill) and then ez ... or Gillez?  He talked to me for over an hour.  He insisted that he was 1/4 Aztec Indian.  I tried to wrap my head around the generational (is there even such a word) math but it did not work out unless his great grandparents and possibly grandparents lived to be about 250 years old.  Well, in any case, he was darn sure he was an Aztec Indian.

I walked my rounds and was able to feed some snacks or provide snack for later in the evening to the felt pad and blanket division who live on the street.  I spent an hour talking to Isabelle.  Isabelle is somewhere between twenty something and thirty something.  She is Hispanic.  She is not a legal resident.  She has been in the area for a little over a year.  She walks the streets in the evening and stays in an SRO hotel with a friend.  I asked if the hotel was used in her effort to make money.  She said she generally does not bring clients to the hotel for many reasons.  More affluent clients will generally opt for a hotel room elsewhere.  Some of her clients are the same people one sees cruising the streets at night looking to purchase drugs.  I have some photos elsewhere that I have posted of a nice high end car or two that may look out of place to some who do not understand the situation or place. 



Isabelle.  I don't think I need to paint a picture.  She is still intact mentally for the most part and is pretty in the right light.  I think with a bit of clothes, hair and makeup work she could be quite pretty.  Her attire is what one would find as quite sterotypical for her profession.  Commercial pilots wear a uniform, mechanics at a car dealership have a uniform as do people in the medical profession and the list continues.

Perhaps the model agency side of my brain kicks in at times when it really makes no sense to go down that thought path.  I have talked to Isabelle for the last two nights and I think I am coming close to being able to have her talk to the folks at URM.  I do not know how things like their Hope Garden facility works when it comes to selecting people.  I actually need to learn a lot more about Union Rescue Mission in general.  I know little about the infrastructure.  I need to know more. 

I do not understand why some people are afraid of the missions.  Some prefer the street.  They tell me it is a matter of freedom.  I see people come and go at the missions.  Seems to me they are free.  The number of people that the mission help on a daily basis is staggering.  They are overloaded, an understatement of the obvious.  The mental image I have in my own mind is that of an overloaded lifeboat on a dark and angry sea.  Too many people with too much sadness and dispair in their eyes and in their faces.









When I try to take some people to the missions some refuse.  They say there are too many rules.  I hear people talk of violence at the missions.  Maybe I am totally off base but I have been inside the URM and folks are all pretty darn upbeat and they are smiling a lot more than I smile these days.

The URM staff are kind and open in their conversational ways to everybody.   It feels very safe inside.  Maybe I am just blind but I generally think of myself as somebody who is pretty darn aware of the environment.  In any case I will try to convince Isabelle to try to think about URM as an option.

I am not sure what I will be doing later today but I will be going back downtown.  I may drop by URM to see if I can learn any more about the way they do things.  They have orientation on Tuesdays and I tried to sign up for the one tomorrow but it was already full.  I don't know if their signup is currently working with their new website.  Some of the content seems to have been moved and there are still a few bugs.  Reminds me of my past where we used to spend many hours regression testing software and still were tripped up by many problems.  You train for the problems you expect.  You cannot train for the things you know nothing about.  I suppose I could offer to help them on their website but there are thousands of web savy folks within a few mile radius of anywhere in any city or town.  Computer and comm stuff ... did that for three decades or so already.  I worked well in the field in 1968 in the military and am finding comfort in the urban field in the fifty square block area of Los Angeles that is referred to as skid row.

I think last night I made things a little less painful for at least a dozen people.  Not a huge amount compared to what the missions do.  Not long term as the missions do.  But these are folks that have nothing and nobody in many cases at 2am when it is cold, sometimes wet and they wake up when they are not tossing and turning all night and are hungry.

There are countless reasons people are here.  My current path in life was chosen by another just as the path of many of these people I try to help may have had their path directed.   Sometimes it is the luck of the draw.  It can be where you grew up, your parents or lack of parents, economics or people who toss you away when they want a change in their own lives for their own reasons.  People who don't want to put out any effort in an attempt to consider changes let alone attempt to make changes.  People that see the dark rather than the light.  Single mothers who think of their children as a burden and abandon them so they can have what they feel is freedom.  People who turn to drugs or alcohol to forget the past, be able to face today and ignore the future ... if there even is a future in their mind.  The list goes on and on. 

I have been trained by the United States military complex for good or bad.  I am educated.  I have an artistic mind and I feel I have an open mind.  I can sail a boat across an ocean, fly an airplane or helicopter, play a guitar and fix a car.  I was also trained in computer science, communications and am a pretty decent medical corpsman.  I was a reserve sheriff for two years.  More weighty than any of that:  I had been trained for over two decades by somebody who saw the dark rather than the light.  I used to tell them that they always let the bad outweigh the good and they would argue the point.  In the end I was proven right and therefore it seems to me that I am well versed on how some people can just give up on others.  It is easy for me to understand how some of these people in the streets have given up on their past family or given up on hope, given up on God.

I will do what I can to help as long as I have the strength to help, even though there are people in my life that work against my spirit.  On the other side of the coin so to speak, there are people that support me and give me the hope.  They supply strength so I can walk into the middle of the problem for another day and hope that I can do my best.

Please try to overlook all my spelling, grammar and other errors in the above writing.  It was a long day and long night yesterday.  I got back to NoHo a few hours ago and just pounded this out.  I did not proof read this or attempt to correct errors.  Perhaps in the future I will attempt that but for now I will just post this.

Thank you to all of you who stood by me yesterday and last night via cellphone, texts, facebook dialogue via SMS messages and mobile support.  It can be a bit of comfort knowing that so many people are watching as I walk down a new alley in the late hours of the evening or very early morning. 
.

No photos, no videos, nothing fancy or educational. Just a few of my thoughts.

This post might be full of spelling errors, errors in grammar and have all sorts of issue.  If you can overlook those things that would be great.  If you cannot overlook them that is unfortunate I suppose but I am not going to do much about it.  Try to ignore the lack of flow and mistakes.  I am tired and it has been a rough holiday season so say the least.  I may go back when I am less tired and edit this a bit.  I wanted to get some of these thoughts down while they were still running through my head.

This post is little more than some of the thoughts that have crossed my mind.  Some of them I posted on facebook while I was in "the field" and some I just let sit in the back of my mind.  Perhaps some of them will come up as I write this.

The questions come magnitudes faster than answers.  I generally go downtown two times in a given day, in the late morning and afternoon and then in the late evening.

Spending time in the heart of skid row is more like a military mission than a fact finding mission or a mission to help those in need.  There are no choppers to come and get you when things fall apart.  I say "when" because it is not a matter of IF, it is a matter of when.  Your potential enemy can be more elusive and unknown than any military enemy even those that blend in with the general population.  Many of these folks have mental issue and can explode or change face in a split second. 

Did I say mental issues?  Live on the streets a few weeks and most anybody will develop mental issues.  I have already found myself with some changes in my views on some subjects.  At times I have to put additional effort into holding back anger toward nicely dressed people in suits that go about their daily lifes blind to the plight of so many others.  I am not a religious man but I will say that those folks should heed the phrase that says something about not being in that position only by the grace of God.  I have met too many families that had a house and home weeks ago and are now on the streets.

Human beings are social creatures.  Sure, there are survival types that live alone in the forest but they are an exception and not the rule.  I used to think of myself as a loner, somebody who did not need anybody and could eaily drift in and out of social situations if and when I wanted to do so.  Wrong.  I have no stable home even though I have an apartment.  It is not a home as happiness and contentment are only real when your time is shared with others.  These folks on the street are in some ways my family or support group.   The vets which are the largest segment of the population are brothers in arms.  Most of them have been rejected by people that were once important to them and I also fit into that same file folder which holds the list of events in the cosmos or whatever somewhere.

I have people I know and they have people they know.  I try to help and support them perhaps because I am like them in many ways and each day my mindset come closer to an alignment with their way of thinking.  It is a way of helping your family or at least your support group. 

I have friends and something of a support group from a few good friends who I have either known for years or have not known all that long but know in my heart.  One of them is an ex-vet himself that understands the homeless situation very well.  One is a great lady who lives almost 3,000 miles away but always seems to be there for me.  One is really five if you count a husband, wife, daughter and two doggies.  I performed the marriage of the husband and wife a decade ago.  There are some folks over at an amplifier company in North Hollywood that are a bit of an extended family.  The owner of the company is one of the most intelligent people I know and a straight ahead, honest and kind person.  He gave me a space to park my motorhome for a year while I was trying to figure out what path to take in my life and gave me a lot of support.  Other people from my past are around for a visit or when I want to drop by and say hello but life has changed and these folks have their own lives.

So, at this point in my life I am doing my best to help others who seem to need some help.  A big part of that help seems to be what I said earlier ... we are social beings ... we need somebody to talk to and share things and thoughts with on a regular basis.  I listen to them.  They ask for my thoughts and then they listen to me.  Maybe I am part of their life in some cases now and they are now a part of my life.  I love my boys but they are at the age where they have their own activities and interests and really have better things to do than hang around with the old man.  Ahhh ... the lyric from Cats in the Cradle comes to mind from Harry Chapin comes to mind.  The story that is all so common.

I feel that I am helping others.  I feel I am growing as an individual in spite of my age being at a point where many people stop trying to grow or understand things outside of the comfort zone or areas of expertise.  I am meeting new people that I can see face to face every day and are people that are happy to see me even if I have nothing to offer other than conversation and an ear.  Perhaps that will have to be enough. 

Some questions that I have had that have come up in my mind are things such as ....

Where do all the cell phones that homeless people have get their battery charged?  The aspect of where to pay the bill is not a question with prepaid cell phones.

With all the women and men working the streets for a buck (sometimes literally), I ask myself if sex without love is best left to animals .... unless it is an emergency?   I wore a nice shirt that was a holiday gift from what was my family on Saturday night.  Perhaps I looked too affluent.  I was approached three times for companionship.  One of the girls was even quite pretty. 

Drugs?  I was approached on the same evening multiple times.  Lots of drug sales by locals, residents of the area and gang members.  If you want it you will find it here.  Mercedes, Lexus, BMW or whatever pull up to 5th and Los Angeles to make their connections.  Central Division Police station is a few hundred yards away at the most.

I want to produce a photo calendar. Title? If you have a wall to hang this on count your blessings.

I like to take chances venturing down alleys in the late evening or early morning hours before the sun rises.  Like roulette where the odds are against you but the win payoff can be big.  You might find somebody who hides in the alleys as they are terrified of people and with time you may be able to talk to and with them and learn some interesting things.  I already have one favorite alley.

One of my good friends asked if I knew of anybody doing what I am doing.  My reply to him was that I have not met anybody else doing what I am doing. Most people that want to help the homeless in some way stay in the missions where it is safe.  They serve meals or help in other ways.  When the sun goes down they get out of the area.  In the late evening and early morning there is not a lot to eat on the concrete and giving folks a banana or granola bar or rasins goes a long way to making the next hours until the sun rises a little easier.  There are not a lot of folks in the field doing this and if there are others let me know about them so we can seek out each other and help each other.

Heavy gang activity as this is where they sell drugs. If you see a nice car late at night it is generally somebody who has money who are looking for drugs or cheap hookers.  On my blog there is one video that is good at explaining where I posted the five videos in the series.  My video clips? I tend to do things in a less slick way from a different vantage point than these high production videos done during the day when the sun is shining and you have a staff of people and police escort.

I really do not know where to end this post.  I could keep writing for hours.  I will stop now and perhaps extend this at another time or just write a new post with additional thoughts.  I will end with the thought of the moment .... I am starting to feel more in place with the folks downtown than feeling in place and at ease when I am alone in the place I change my clothes, take a shower or do my laundry.

Feel free to follow me on facebook or twitter and a bit on my methods of production

This blog does not really allow for uploading of photos or videos from mobile devices.  Many times I will report from the field and do this on twitter and facebook.  Facebook also allows for remote uploads of the very small and poor quality videos my cellphone can produce (no fault of facebook, it is my phone).  I tend to upload photos and videos often when I am on foot.

I had some text posts here on 1/2/10 but removed them as they are also on facebook and twitter.  They were interactive in nature and facebook and twitter allow me to dialogue remotely where it is more of a one way street on this blog.

There are many great videos from others that I have posted on this blog.  They are professionally done with high production values.  I want to take a different approach.  Rather than film or shoot from the safety of daytime, shoot with a staff of folks which is safer or pre-arrange particular scripts I prefer to shoot on foot, in the field, many times at night or in the early morning hours much of the time.  I use equipment that is easily replaceable and does not attract a lot of attention.   My video segments are generally only a minute or less.  Sometimes that is all the time one has that may be safe.  In many of the video clips there may be little or no dialogue.  A picture is worth 1000 words and ... dialogue or verbal commentary can call attention to me when I am trying to avoid attention.  I took a few video clips last night that I will post here after they are uploaded.

If you wish to find me on facebook I am at www.facebook.com/mylesr and on twitter I am at www.twitter.com/myles111us