Inspired By Miss Johnnie - Free Events for Staycation

Miss Johnnie was one of those kick in the pants people. I'm still kicking myself for not recording her and our conversations. By the time I met her she was about 80 something living in a residence that had a stripper pole and stage. Miss Johnnie had traveled the world and done things I could only read about.

She needed help to work on her computer. It was a finicky Windows 95 bucket of bolts laptop that refused to yield to the herald of change. The purpose of this post is that Miss Johnnie wanted her friends to really know the joys of Los Angeles. She wanted them to get out of the house and live not rot away watching informercials.

To see the life that surrounds us. To that end and that old pokey laptop created and mailed out a newsletter with the list of all the free events happening that month. Cultural, political, entertainment - didn't matter to her so long as they were free.

This is video I shot at Grand Avenue a few years back. Never heard of the band before and the vibe of the folks was way cool.



Life.

With people dying all over the joint I thought about her. Maybe we need to have more connection to each other than just electronic. Maybe we need to be among a group sharing an experience. For our mental health we need to do more than the chores, the day job and fretting about doom and damnation.

A'int no use hollering about your misspent tax dollars. Citibank has given a portion of your tax dollars in raises to all of its employees. I'm not kidding. What, you thought they would not tap into that money?

See this is why we need to get out.

Here is a quick lists of ways to keep tabs on the L.A. freebie cultural and social life:

• Grand Performances kicks in starting in July. You can now follow them on Twitter or their blog. Old school can go to the website to see the list of events.
• Many blogs cover free events and doings such as LAist. I'll compile a master list when I get a chance.
  
• Also keep your eyes open for events happening in the Leimert Park area.
  
• For Pasadena area doings I check out the Pasadena Weekly.
  
• I do like to keep my eyes on Yelp for L.A. events as well as Yahoo's Upcoming.

I got more but you get the idea. No matter where you live there is a freebie event waiting for you near by. And if there isn't, then you could do a video visit of some of the places you could have gone, you know, if the money wasn't given to Citibank but you directly.