Los Angeles
As I mushed through the five inches of snow we received last night, I reflected upon how much I absolutely loved my time I spent last week in Los Angeles. It was sixties at night and mid seventies during the day. Besides that, I have never seen such diversity in my life. I'm not just referring to skin color, but I was utterly amazed at the sight of a wealthy businessman at a street corner next to a kid still reveling in the 1980's punk scece belting out poorly his version of The Cure's greatest hits standing next to a street preacher. What an amazing scene. Oh, and the women were okay too... Sometimes when I spend too much time in Iowa or in the suburbs of the Twin Cities I forget about what an incredibly magical world is just out there for me to explore. Don't get me wrong, I love Minneapolis but it has nothing on LA. I stayed in Hollywood with a view of downtown on one side, and the Hollywood Hills on the other. Hollywood itself was fairly fun down and dirty but everything else was cool. I'd love to see Malibu and Santa Monica and all of those places but I didn't get a chance. Oh, did I mention I got Jay Leno's autograph? What a guy.
posted by cyclonejohn @ 10:58 AM
4 Comments:
you're effin' kidding me! Where did you see Leno?
Yeah, cities are great that way. They're so full of life and variety. Having never been in LA, but having spent a lot of time in New York, which I venture to guess is a realer place than LA, I'd guess that Minneapolis, while not nearly as large as LA, and while not a spectacle the way I imagine LA is, is a much better place to live, at least if you're interested in being a real person and in a real community. I definitely feel that way about New York. I love New York, but it's so busy being New York City it doesn't have time to be a real community. Community happens in New York, when it happens, in spite of New York, not because of it.
Something I simultaneously love and hate about New York is walking up the street past boutiques selling $900 pairs of shoes that have people leaning against the windows literally begging just to stay alive, and watching people be dropped off in front of those boutiques while their drivers take the Lincoln Continental with the tinted windows around the block a few times, killing the environment for the convenience of the wealthy, and watching those people walk right past the beggars and into the shop to pick up another few pairs of shoes. It's diversity. It's real life. It's undeniable. But as for actually LIVING in a place like that? (Yeah, I know, I live in this country. In this world). . . . I don't know. That might be too much diversity for me.
I don't think there's anything more humbling than holding food in your hand and choosing to go left and give it to the beggar rather than go right and throw it in the garbage. What a choice to be faced with. (That choice, of course, occurs in every city.)
Aaaand this comment is longer than your post.
Dude..i'm tellin you.. So.Cal. is where it's at. i can't take this..iowa-shit anymore.
I second that. SoCal is awesome.
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