The Times building in the foreground, skyscrapers in the background. View from the 27th floor of City Hall.
Newspaper copy editors work in the afternoons and evenings, after the reporters turn in their work. I was apprehensive about the unusual hours, but I’ve found that I kind of love them. I get up early, open my windows to the bright California sun, and begin my day’s adventure with a kind of energy I just don’t have after work. It’s a great schedule for exploring.
I am, at heart, an explorer. Whether I’m in Central Illinois or the country’s second-largest city, I want to find the hidden gems, try new restaurants, figure out the lay of the land. One day before work, I stopped by the L.A. City Hall, because I had heard rumors about a free overlook of the city at the top of the building. Sure enough, they let me through security and to the 27th floor, where I had a 360-degree view of downtown L.A. and its surrounding neighborhoods – and the mountains in the background. (Could California be more beautiful?)
My favorite view was of the Times building across the street with the sleek skyscrapers of L.A. in the background. It ain’t the Chicago skyline, but it’ll do just fine.
Earlier this week, I went on a hike with my roommate, a Times intern who went to school in L.A. She took me on one of her favorite hikes in the Pacific Palisades, at Temescal Canyon Gateway Park. Another great view at the top: To the left, the neighborhoods of L.A.; to the right, Santa Monica and – oh, hey, that’s the Pacific Ocean.
That's the ocean!