Support www.ericbrightwell.com

I've been exploring and writing about Los Angeles neighborhoods since 2007 and Orange County neighborhoods since 2010. I'd very much like to open up my explorations to other parts of the country and ideally, other countries. I'd also like to use my knowledge, talent, and time to write on a  guide to understanding and exploring Los Angeles and Southern California. 

My guide to Southern California will pay no mind to film actors, outlet malls, memorial sidewalks, famous real estate signs, &c. There are more than enough guides for those and not enough celebrating the region's unique, unparalled mix of biodiveristy, culture, food, architecture, geography, history, art. I'm more interested in ruins, public housing, underground infrastructure, and famous trees than mega-mansions, gated communities, theme parks, and "reality television" personalities. 

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I've been written about by several major publications, led a neighborhood walk for a museum, spoken at a university, been a guest on a nationally-syndicated radio program, and had the maps I draw and paint exhibited in a few art galleries. All of that recognition has been great and even a little scary but aside from a few pieces sold and a couple of people buying me coffee, it's not provided much that I can actually live on. 

So I make ends meet by regularly providing content for companies which provide neither insurance nor anything close to living wages. Supporting an independent company or non-profit is great but if you like what what a content provider is doing, why not directly support the content provider? Doing so would free me from the pressure of ever having to write poorly-thought advertorials, insulting clickbait, usless listicles, &c -- all of which are really just spam that your friends re-post directly on social media instead of in your email inbox.  

I don't have (as far as I know) any life-threatening illnesses and there are certainly people who have far more pressing needs than have I but every $40 buys me a day where I don't have to compile lists of the hottest frozen yogurt places, write about engineering fails that will leave you baffeled (you won't believe #8!), share secrets about open houses, or inform readers about how they're loading their dishwashers incorrectly. 

Thanks!