i can't tell you how much this pumps me up

The young man in the video went to La Mirada High School. He was the Number 2 draft pick for the NBA in 2011 and plays for the Timberwolves. I mean how much more local can he be? He is from the city where I live. The city I've been thinking about the past few months...

We've been debating moving closer to work which is Los Angeles proper/Santa Monica/Burbank. I go back and forth and have been going back and forth for the past oh, 7 years. Marrying Matt cemented my roots in La Mirada since his mom was raised here and it's where his grandparents live. Oh and his uncle is currently the mayor. Which I personally find cool as crap but no one else seems to give a crap.

Should we move to Los Angeles proper? Ugh, Los Angeles: it sucks. Sure Santa Monica feels like home and Hollywood is like a backyard but it's ugly, it smells, it's traffic-y, parking blows, and just has too many people. I always skew quickly towards heck no techno when debating moving to Los Angeles from La Mirada just for those reasons alone, but there's one big one.

I grew up in da ghetto and all my life I just wanted to live in the suburbs. I wanted to live in a town where I felt safe and where the streets were clean and there were trees. Pretty simple stuff really to most of you but a big deal for me. We spent the past month or so on Old Navy working in South Gate which is an armpit of a city and just so very ugly. And poor. And I'm not poor anymore and I don't want to live in areas that make me feel like I'm poor and can't have a better life. Walking home from school I would think man I wanna get out of here, I want parks and dogs and people and kids all of them walking around feeling safe and happy 'cause they're home. I'm not ashamed of where I came from, not even for a second, when I can talk about how and where I grew up I will. Also, I get keeping it real points for keeping my 562 number.

But when it comes down to it, the debate between moving to LA and staying in LM, it's all about the future. And I think about what kind of future I'd like if I ever had kids and I'd want them to grow up in this town. In a nice neighborhood with plenty of food on the table.