Live in a Large City
Well, here we are again, its been a while! I have a couple of entries to post but I thought I would start with a love letter to my beloved City of Angels.
When I wrote "Live in a Large City" on my bucket list at the age of 16, I didn't really have a place in mind, though I suppose the quintessential large city would be NYC. But the city I have always had my eye on was Los Angeles... I think even then, the beginnings of adoration for the Golden Era of Hollywood were calling to me, and I think that's what I loved about living there the most... the beautiful skeletons of an era that seems on the verge of being forgotten forever. When I talk to teenagers they don't know, nor do they care, about Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, or Sophia Loren.
I loved that on any given Saturday I could grab a book, hop in a car, and take a drive to the houses of Hollywood yesteryear, from the Gatsby-esque manisions of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (PickFair) to the haunted sites of tragedy (Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood estate where she was found dead).
But that wasn't the only thing I loved about Los Angeles... I loved that you had any variety of oddities to enjoy. You could peruse the strange exhibits of the "Museum of Jurassic Technology" which is beyond description much less explanation. You could catch banjo music at "Sassafras" where one could enjoy an authentic glass of homemade sarsparilla with its dozens of complicated ingredients. You could watch "Dirty Dancing" underneath the stars in the most unlikely of places... the Hollywood Forever cemetery, a stone's throw from Valentino's final resting place.
Halloween, I venture, is better in Los Angeles than anywhere else in the world. Where else do you have movie producing, theme park creating enthusiasts that turn their houses into a walkthrough haunted attraction? Not to mention that around that time of year, you have numerous Dia de los Muertos celebrations.
And the food. You could get the most obscure of delicacies from a remote part of Iran. You could get gourmet hotdogs that were featured on the Travel Channel. You could go the the restaurant where scenes from Pulp Fiction was filmed. Heck, you could even get cheap diner food at Norms, a place that has been around since who knows when.
That's the thing about Los Angeles. It felt like every inch of it had a story, and every weekend offered something exciting and new.
Utah offers its own charm, but I am grateful that I experienced the richness of Los Angeles, heck, I even got used to the traffic.
On to the next goal!
When I wrote "Live in a Large City" on my bucket list at the age of 16, I didn't really have a place in mind, though I suppose the quintessential large city would be NYC. But the city I have always had my eye on was Los Angeles... I think even then, the beginnings of adoration for the Golden Era of Hollywood were calling to me, and I think that's what I loved about living there the most... the beautiful skeletons of an era that seems on the verge of being forgotten forever. When I talk to teenagers they don't know, nor do they care, about Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, or Sophia Loren. I loved that on any given Saturday I could grab a book, hop in a car, and take a drive to the houses of Hollywood yesteryear, from the Gatsby-esque manisions of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (PickFair) to the haunted sites of tragedy (Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood estate where she was found dead).
But that wasn't the only thing I loved about Los Angeles... I loved that you had any variety of oddities to enjoy. You could peruse the strange exhibits of the "Museum of Jurassic Technology" which is beyond description much less explanation. You could catch banjo music at "Sassafras" where one could enjoy an authentic glass of homemade sarsparilla with its dozens of complicated ingredients. You could watch "Dirty Dancing" underneath the stars in the most unlikely of places... the Hollywood Forever cemetery, a stone's throw from Valentino's final resting place. Halloween, I venture, is better in Los Angeles than anywhere else in the world. Where else do you have movie producing, theme park creating enthusiasts that turn their houses into a walkthrough haunted attraction? Not to mention that around that time of year, you have numerous Dia de los Muertos celebrations.
And the food. You could get the most obscure of delicacies from a remote part of Iran. You could get gourmet hotdogs that were featured on the Travel Channel. You could go the the restaurant where scenes from Pulp Fiction was filmed. Heck, you could even get cheap diner food at Norms, a place that has been around since who knows when.
That's the thing about Los Angeles. It felt like every inch of it had a story, and every weekend offered something exciting and new.
Utah offers its own charm, but I am grateful that I experienced the richness of Los Angeles, heck, I even got used to the traffic.
On to the next goal!
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