Los Angeles, is a Spanish word. Read it. Los. Angeles. ‘Los,’ is the Spanish plural of ‘The,’ but without knowing Spanish, this might escape the reader. It’s one of those things. People can live in L.A. all their lives and not consider this fact. San Pedro (St. Peter), Pasadena (Green Valley), Santa Monica (St. Monica), Los Feliz (The Féliz family), Palo Verde (Green Tree), San Fernando (Saint Ferdinand), and so on. Then there’s San Fransisco, etc. Most of the street names, similarly, are also Spanish.

In fact, many people do not know, that California used to belong to Mexico, which of course was/is a Spanish-speaking country. The U.S. purchased California in 1848. It is thought to be named after a mythical island ruled by Queen Califia, a powerful female ruler, from the Spanish romance novel Las Sergas de Esplandián. The word is believed to be derived from the Arabic word ‘Khalifa,’ meaning “successor,” or “leader,” which is known in English as “Caliph,” which is a Muslim ruler or head of state. If any reader finds this fact troubling, then they really won’t want to know where numbers come from. :-) Except for zero, that’s Indian.

I have visited Spain. Or rather, I have visited Barcelona. That’s not actually the same, though your friends might not really care when you’re showing them your holiday snaps. “That’s so mind-numbingly interesting,” they’ll think. Barcelona is the capital city of the sovereign and autonomous nation of Catalonia, which is second largest municipality of Spain. “Please, shut up.” your friends will say. I saw the works of Picasso, and Gaudi Cathedral, the beach, and many restaurants. It’s lovely.

What I did notice, and what I really didn't expect to see anyway, was many brown people. This is strictly an observation. I am myself brown, and I was with a large party of predominantly white people myself. I’m from a very multi-cultural place, but I like cultures the way they are, I have no desire to change them. When in Rome, do as the Romans, I say. I personally have no desire to see just one color of human all over the world; no desire to see myself in every other person I see.

The reason, and the only reason, I mention this, is to point out that brown people do not come from Spain. The very few brown people that are in Spain are visiting, just as I was. Don't get me wrong, they do have a healthy tan, but it's not the same thing. Mexicans and native Americans are a distinct golden brown, in a very un-Spanish way. Mexicans speak Spanish, but their blood, their color; that comes from somewhere else. That comes from California, right out of the ground, or not far from it.

Los Angeles is a multi-cultural success story. Frank Lloyd Wright was right - everything loose really does end up in Los Angeles. It is home to persons of every country and background. To list any of them is to omit some of them, and there are none. Angelinos can dine on cuisine from any country in the world, they need only to go to a particular part of the city to get it; it’s as if the United Nations was a city. I am 5/8 English, 1/4 German, 1/8 Indian, and 100% brown. It is perhaps the only city in the world that I belong, without looking like a tourist, or an interloper.

Language, Spanish or English, carries meaning. It can be used as a tool to achieve objectives, and it can be used to prevent others from achieving theirs. It can be used as a weapon for attack, or for defense; overtly, or with stealth; words can create a prison or they may set us free. Language is a world layered on top of our own; metaphysical, but with strict rules and behaviors, just like physics in the physical world. Language and its meaning can be corrupted, or restored, with the appropriate language.

Mexico is a country south of the border of the U.S. - Everyone knows that. Mexico is another country - everyone in California knows that too. Mexicans in California are the only persons in California that actually originated from California, and they are considered foreign, by this definition. I have spoken with many Mexicans on this subject - the irony that Mexicans are made to think they are foreigners; strangers in their own land.

Venice Beach, the perceptive reader will notice, is not A Spanish word. Neither is Long Beach, or Hollywood. Long Beach is so-called because... go ahead, guess... that’s right - it’s very long :-) Hollywood was named by Daeida Wilcox, who had overheard the word on a train and thought that it would be the perfect name for their family’s envisioned utopia. Venice was named by the city’s creator, Abbot Kinney, who developed the entire area, building a network of canals, just like Venice, Italy.

The word Venice, is short for, ‘Very Nice [place to be]’ - no I’m just kidding :-) The Italians call their Venice, Venezia, named after the Veneti, a Gailic tribe from the southern part of the Brittany Peninsula that lived during the Iron Age and the Roman period; a seafaring people that traded with Great Britain. At least, this is what Siri tells me, and I have no reason to doubt her. The canals that Abbot Kinney built are still in Venice Beach, and are lined with exclusive and premium residences.

Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice Beach is now perhaps the closest thing to idyllic as can be, in the western word. It is Disneyland without Mickey Mouse. Though, even he has made a personal appearance at one of the many pop-up events and stores on Abbot Kinney. High profile companies like Samsung, Nike, and even musicians, like Harry Styles, use Abbot Kinney (not pictured here) to gain access to the influencers and early adopters. GQ called Abbot Kinney, “The coolest block in America.”

At beach-end of Abbot Kinney, is the former Eames Office, studio and workplace of husband and wife, Charles and Ray Eames, America’s most beloved industrial designers, who according to Wikipedia, “made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture, furniture design, industrial design, manufacturing, and the photographic arts.” Continuum leased the building - they made the Swiffer, a $500M industry. Facebook, Microsoft, and Snapchat also leased the building.

A few blocks further down Abbot Kinney, at the beach, there is another building designed by the world’s preeminent architect, Frank Gehry, along with Chuck Arnoldi. Our company, TWP Lab Inc. leases one of the four units in the building, apparently, in the same unit that Frank Gehry used to occupy, according to junk mail we still receive for him. A tour guide told my colleague that Frank Gehry used to make lamps here, which we do also. A few blocks away on the beach, is a Foster & Partners office.

The sun may rise in the east but it sets in the west. I just watched it sink into the Pacific Ocean. The sky is a tobacco orange. The cold breeze is making my arm hairs stand on end, but for some reason I’m not reaching for a sweater or a jacket. I am not quite at that point of discomfort that would cause me to get up from this comfy seat. After all, I’ve almost finished writing this essay. I love this place, and I love its soul. It’s the best part of the best city in the best state in the best country in the world.

iPod/iPhone photography and essay