I spend my time in delicatessens and hotel lobbies. I was at Canter's today and saw a man wearing an eye patch and reading glasses. Where does he come from? Certainly not Los Angeles. I saw another man remove his bridge before starting on the matzo ball soup. There was a gap where one of his incisors had been when he smiled at his wife. Daughter? She was facing away from me. On the way out I bought some rugulah and immediately knew it was a mistake. I gave the bag to the gentleman begging at the corner by the parking lot.I am not from Los Angeles. I can't imagine anyone is, and since people are unknowable, why anyone comes. There is the draw of fame, weather, population. I came for the beauty, or rather the juxtaposition of urban sprawl and natural beauty. This is the quintessential twentieth century city, the ultimate expression of man's will impressed on the land. You must drive everywhere and it was here that the freeway was invented. Seen from above overlapping freeways are both organic and mathematical. This basin was desert; the Indians called it Smoke Valley, evidently, from the petroleum fumes that would be caught between the mountains. Now this city holds some of the most beautiful foliage in the United States. I spend my time in delicatessens and hotel lobbies to see what sort of people come to such a place.
Hollywood - 1/24/07
