And if you believe that, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you!

This is for the Lakers. While I'm not such a big sports fan myself, my son is a sports-fanatic. Though he was born just a few miles north of the northern boundary of New York City (the Bronx), he's grown up way out west here in our globally iconic two-letter city. His dad, however, having been raised and educated in and around the five boroughs, considered LA as either a punch-line or, okay, a city, but certainly not a real one like New York was. What little anyone knew about LA never included a sense of "actuality" or "is-ness" if you will. What exactly is out there? Now I know. And after fifteen years I still can't pinpoint the "is-ness" of this place. LA remains elusive and opaque; I'm not able to touch it at all. Lately I find myself daydreaming of returning to New York, even though when I visit now I engage it like a tourist, staring at the tall buildings and getting in people's ways. With the economic situation here in California, though, the whole state has become a punch-line. I miss being part of something vital and grounded. Go Lakers, bring it home for me and the kid, but mainly him.