Life in California is full of head-scratching questions—like, Did everyone forget about that high-speed-rail plan? Seriously. We thought that was a go. So Alta Journal has enlisted two experts to answer your pressing queries: Stacey Grenrock Woods and Gustavo Arellano, both of whom bring decades of hard-won knowledge and laser-sharp insights into the Golden State.
Have a question of your own? Ask a Californian!
Lately, I’ve been seeing California flags on a lot of the houses around my neighborhood. Are we in some sort of California history/pride month that I don’t know about?
—Flying Proud in Fresno
Stacey: Is it ever not California History/Pride Month? Isn’t that why everyone’s always taking the day off?
I, too, have noticed people displaying California flags lately, but the houses from which they wave offer few clues. If they were jutting out of, say, horizontal reclaimed-wood fences, we could make some assumptions about the owners’ ideological leanings. For example, my “In This House We Believe in Maldon Salt, True-Crime Docs, and Oxford Commas” sign lets people know what to expect before they even ring my bell. When I asked one homeowner what was with the flag, he looked up from his foil-covered tanning shield and said, simply, that he didn’t like how things were going. I asked him if he meant here in California, and he told me that he meant everywhere. So, there you have it: a vague catchall protest of sorts. Either that or these people really like The Bear.
Gustavo: I live in a part of Orange County where not only have I not seen any California flags, but the Stars and Stripes sightings pale in comparison to those of banners repping Mexico and Raider Nation, not to mention the Gadsden flag, better known as the yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” thing that your weird bearded neighbor who lets too many dandelions grow from his driveway hangs upside down. But I can see Californians buying into Guv Newsom’s maxim that we live in a nation-state wanting to display their Golden State pride more than ever in an era when too many Americans hate us. But you’re never going to see too many Californians join in because that would be too much like Texas—and who the hell wants that?
It seems like more and more, Californians initiate social plans with one another but there’s never any follow-through—like, making the plan is the activity. Is this the new way of being social, and does it happen in other places?
—Love to Last-Minute-Cancel Anyway
Stacey: It’s true: Our state motto, “Let’s do lunch,” has evolved into “Let’s say ‘Let’s do lunch.’” It’s less snappy but more accurate.
This happens only in California, where actually doing lunch is a lot harder. Most restaurants are nothing more than settings for reality shows, and the ones that aren’t are usually booked with going-out-of-business business. Very few Californians have the courage to suggest a place to eat—we just don’t want the pressure. Plus, actually doing things requires driving, parking, eating, talking to people who don’t want to be there either, and—this is the really rough part—paying. The plans-to-make-plans model is quick, easy, and cheap and provides the same satisfaction with no downside and minimal downtime.
Gustavo: Oh, you mean like the time I told one of my Anaheim High friends we should check out the new Disney California Adventure—and we finally went last fall, despite planning to go for the past 25 years? It’s totally a Californian thing because this small phenomenon called life in the Golden State gets in the way. There’s always something better to do than what you said you’d vaguely planned, and the other person gets it because they’re in the same predicament as well. I mean, I can’t imagine this scenario playing out in Idaho, where there are potatoes, griping about all those Californians moving in, and…that’s about it.
What are your picks for the best lunch stops, fruit stands, or surprising finds on I-5 between NorCal and SoCal?
—Road-Trip Ready
Gustavo: That’s a whole book, so I’ll give you a short answer: Fresno. Taking the 5 to traverse the Central Valley instead of Highway 99 is like choosing Steve DeBerg over Joe Montana as your favorite all-time San Francisco 49ers quarterback—I mean, you could do that, but why? Highway 99 is a wonderland of finds—that’s another book, so I’ll give you another short answer: FresYES.
Stacey: The 5 is for truckers who like to look at tortured cows and want a steady stream of split pea soup. If that very nuanced combination of traits has come together in you, great, but if you’re really ready for a road trip, there are better ways.
My co-columnist is correct about Route 99’s superiority to the 5, but may I interject one notion at this juncture? Driving down the middle of the state instead of along the coast is like preferring Donovan to Dylan: You could do it, but why? You wouldn’t want to start there. If you’ve never done it, drive down the coast. There are a lot of advantages—like, for one thing, the coast. It’s the perfect backdrop for all the cute little places like the Sardine Factory in Monterey and Cold Spring Tavern in Santa Barbara to make your Nancy-Meyers-coastal-grandma dreams come true. Sure, it’ll take a bit longer, but who are you kidding? You don’t have any plans!
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Stacey Grenrock Woods is a regular contributor to Esquire and a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She writes and consults on various TV shows, and has a recurring role as Tricia Thoon on Fox’s Arrested Development. Her first book is I, California.
Gustavo Arellano is the author of Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. In 2025, Arellano was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He was formerly editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, and penned the award-winning ¡Ask a Mexican!, a nationally syndicated column in which he answered any and all questions about America’s spiciest and largest minority. Arellano is the recipient of awards ranging from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Best Columnist to the Los Angeles Press Club President’s Award to an Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and he was recognized by the California Latino Legislative Caucus with a 2008 Spirit Award for his “exceptional vision, creativity, and work ethic.” Arellano is a lifelong resident of Orange County and is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy.
