Hell-Ay
I have this side gig reviewing movies for a network's website, which has to be about the most fun part time job there is; and the screenings routinely take me to L.A. Proper. I used to live in West Hollywood--when you could share a two bedroom for barely $500 a piece, imagine!--but I migrated, first against my will, to the Valley. I used to look down on the Valley in scorn: Too hot, filled with suburban strip malls, no personality. But the cost of living is cheaper there, and once I got settled, I liked it: Wide streets, plenty of parking--no lines at Trader Joe's on Sunday afternoons!
Plus, the early years of living in LA were rougher because I lived in the heart of it; there's a certain soullessness to all the people that inhabit the "cool" parts, the struggling or not so struggling models, actors, etc. Everyone has a certain air of wanting something that's always out of their reach. Of course, there are plenty of enjoyable aspects to "real" LA, the yoga classes, coffee shops, and boutiques; but I always felt a little uneasy.
And of course, I generally came to hate LA in general, valley or no.
Now, after several years, I've come to accept it. I don't plan on settling here for live, and sure as hell won't raise my kids here, but I have a respect for L.A. It is tacky, opportunistic, and garish, and F U if you don't like it! You don't even need a high school degree to make it big out here; just a mix, in whatever percentage, of talent and cajones. Plus it's sunny most of the time, arid, and mild. No warming up the car for 20 minutes every morning and scraping off the windows! And yet, we get an ocassional rainstorm and brisk, fall-like weather.
I think of all these things when I drive home now after the movies, and last night I came up Sunset Dr and had to keep glancing back at the road--looking at the new nightspots open, staring at all the billboards, watching the curve of the street lead to Hollywood. It reminded me that as a child, all I wanted was to come here, and yeah the traffic and smog, and sometimes the atmosphere really blow, but for the most part, L.A. has not disappointed.
Plus, the early years of living in LA were rougher because I lived in the heart of it; there's a certain soullessness to all the people that inhabit the "cool" parts, the struggling or not so struggling models, actors, etc. Everyone has a certain air of wanting something that's always out of their reach. Of course, there are plenty of enjoyable aspects to "real" LA, the yoga classes, coffee shops, and boutiques; but I always felt a little uneasy.
And of course, I generally came to hate LA in general, valley or no.
Now, after several years, I've come to accept it. I don't plan on settling here for live, and sure as hell won't raise my kids here, but I have a respect for L.A. It is tacky, opportunistic, and garish, and F U if you don't like it! You don't even need a high school degree to make it big out here; just a mix, in whatever percentage, of talent and cajones. Plus it's sunny most of the time, arid, and mild. No warming up the car for 20 minutes every morning and scraping off the windows! And yet, we get an ocassional rainstorm and brisk, fall-like weather.
I think of all these things when I drive home now after the movies, and last night I came up Sunset Dr and had to keep glancing back at the road--looking at the new nightspots open, staring at all the billboards, watching the curve of the street lead to Hollywood. It reminded me that as a child, all I wanted was to come here, and yeah the traffic and smog, and sometimes the atmosphere really blow, but for the most part, L.A. has not disappointed.
posted by Bunny @ 9:11 AM
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