Back In the Day.

Caution.
This is a bit of a history lesson. If history causes you to rip the skin off your own face, don't attempt to read this post. You've been warned.

To be honest, I haven't had anything to write about lately. Not that my social life hasn't been on fire (which it has) but I haven't found the need to blog about parties & minor social gatherings. Plus they all end up the same way; me, drunk, talking to anyone who isn't too sober to listen, & my friends dancing to any audible beat they hear nearby. All of those party updates are usually on my Facebook wall, anyway, so there's no real need to blog about that. Am I right or am I right?

My blog's been collecting dust, and I've been anxious to find a good topic. So, sadly enough, I've decided to go from the super-interesting subject of Lamar Jay to the history of Long Beach and Lakewood (my neighboring hometowns).

*watches people hurry up and click out of the blog*

Lol, I'm actually the last person interested in history. But when it comes to a place that I've grown up at and still walk the streets of today, I'm very intrigued by it. One thing I've always imagined is that if a time machine were ever invented, I'd go back to the first day my city got started, just to see how much has changed. Thanks to the internet, I was able to do that in a sense. My life is fulfilled; I can die now.

But for anyone who's grown up in Long Beach or Lakewood, I think the discovery of what used to cover these streets eons ago would be a shock to them too, right? RIGHT?! I mean, can you imagine Native Americans walking the streets of Signal Hill? And who thought that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was actually the first person to discover Long Beach*? The only thing really remembered in his name is that high school that looks like a state penitentiary. He wasn't feeling Long Beach, though, because he wasn't able to grow his crops due to the inconsistency of the climate (look at my attempt to sound smart).**

*side note: It may say on some sites that the Spanish discovered Signal Hill, but it was occupied by the native american Indians before Juan Cabrillo and his crew crashed his little boat onto the coast. Don't believe the hype.

**another historic fact: You know Shell gas station? The name comes from Shell Oil Company, founded when oil was discovered in Signal Hill. Not to mention, that oil field was one of the most productive in the world.

Okay, enough nerdy talk.

"May Co" is now Macy's. The vents on the corners are still there.
Courtesy of Malls of America (blog)

The next time you take a stroll through the Lakewood Mall, try to imagine all of that area being used for a lima bean farm. And miles continued down south of nothing but... lima beans. I mean, not even corn, or something necessary like wheat or cotton. But lima beans.


Before the schools, busy streets, and executive buildings that now crowd Bixby Knolls, it used to be occupied by sheep galore. Sheep?! Wow. I guess you can already imagine that black people weren't seen for miles in the Bixby Knolls area. (That's actually fact)

The only school that would accept black students for a while was Polytechnic High School. Surprise, surprise. According to a family friend, Poly's been around for over 200 years, it's first teacher only being 16 years old. It was the first high school that even existed in this area.

Is that a lima bean in the corner?
Courtesy of Mall of America (blog)

I can't even try to think back to how this wasn't even a city at one point. Whenever do you see closed-off construction that says, "Do Not Enter, We're Building A City"? Never. Does Pan American sound familiar? It's the park that's between Mark Twain Elementary and Bancroft Middle school. Back in the day, there used to be the annual Pan American Fiesta, held in the parking lot of the Lakewood Shopping Center. I can't say which came first; the park or the fiesta. But either way, that explains the goofy name.

Another thing that I found interesting is that Denny's first found it's home in Lakewood. Denny's is a favorite of mine and my friends, & you can almost always find us there in the ho-stroll hours on the weekends. It's original name was Danny's Donuts. Go figure.

But yeah, that's just what I wanted to share since I couldn't find a decent topic to save my life. Hope I didn't bore anyone to tears!

Recommended Listen; Lamar Jay.

Lamar Jay & all his awesomeness.

Lately, all I've been seeing on Facebook is the craze about a new up-and-coming solo artist by the name of Lamar Jay. This guy easily has made his way onto my "25 Most Played" list on iTunes. Don't try to call him an amateur artist; Lamar Jay's single "Mysterious Love" has already been featured in the beginning of the hot summer flick "Lottery Ticket", starring Bow Wow and Ice Cube. The genre of his music is a mixture between pop and r&b, and his voice is so easy to listen to, it's hard to not find yourself hitting the "repeat" button.

However, the song that I've been going crazy about is his newest, "Nicki". It's an up-beat dance track with an addictive beat, about the infamous Nicki Minaj (obviously), where he sings out the verses while Nicki is heard on the hook. It kinda makes me wish my name was Nicki. "All the Nicki's around the woooorld, you're my number one." What about the "Lycie's", huh?!

Lamar Jay works very hard and loves what he does, and it shows. Not to mention he's unbelievably humble for someone rising so quickly. It might be cliche to say, but he really does love his fans and he aims to please them in his music. I can't tell you how many times I've come across arrogant rising artists. Making more enemies than a fan base? No bueno. Lamar Jay's personality is easy to like before you even hear his music, which makes his music that much better. So he's definitely a recommended listen. Shoutout to my new favorite artist, Lamar Jay. Keep it up (:

Click here to check out Lamar Jay on Facebook and look below for his latest single that's my favorite so far: