One of the additions we've talked about at LA Observed — and have been hatching in the background — is encouraging writers to blog occasionally (or more) about the places where they live. The observations can focus on a neighborhood or an entire town. Seeing the metropolis in manageable chunks, through the eyes of locals, will add even more Angeleno texture to the new mix here. When I find a good match between writer and community, I will set them up with a blog of their own and get out of the way.

So today I'm pleased to tell you about Chicken Corner, an LA Observed blog by Echo Park dweller Jenny Burman. Jenny has written for local papers — the LA Weekly and Daily News that I know of — and has a piece of fiction in the current Los Angeles issue of Black Clock, Steve Erickson's literary journal at CalArts. She loves where she lives and sits on the board of the Echo Park Historical Society. She has already started to lay out her relationship to the Echo Park community, but what's fun about this is it's a story that will be told via real life. I have no idea what these blogs will look like a year from now, or how many we will eventually have, but I plan to enjoy the ride.

Jenny promises next to explain the local meaning of her blog's name. Small bit of disclosure business: Burman is married to RJ Smith, the senior editor and media columnist at Los Angeles Magazine and recent author.

Photo: Cindy Bennett