Iconography

Back east, Bubba and I lived in mid-town Manhattan, on the east side. We were spitting distance from a host of NYC landmarks. The 59th street bridge was practically our front driveway. The Plaza. FAO Schwartz. Bloomingdales. Central Park. Lincoln Center. All in walking distance, let alone the rest of the city, 30 minutes or less on the subway. L.A., for as big as it is, is SORELY lacking so far. At least on a per square mile basis. No classic architecture. No magnificent infrastructure. Not one skyscraper of note. No, the landmarks here are more like this. I live a stone's throw from Sunset Blvd. THAT'S where the landmarks are. On one of our initial cruises it was, "There's the Viper Room. Isn't that where River Phoenix died?" Or, "There's the big fat donut from the 'I Love L.A.' video." Or my personal favorite, "Hey, that's the comedy club where Kramer lost his shit!"

I guess in L.A., the stars are the stars (as well as the stars in the sky, which are quite refreshing to see again on a nightly basis). In New York, the sheer density of humanity in such a compact space seems to render folks virtually irrelevant day to day. Literal blurs on the street, that pass like the way the stars do when you go into hyperspace in any good sci-fi movie. Here, you get ample opportunity to take in everyone you want to, as much as you want to. I think that's how they like it. I'm feeling more and more that it's my local civic responsibility to maintain my aesthetics when I'm out and about. Akin to like, not painting your house pink so as not to devalue all of the neighborhood properties.

I would be remiss though, if I failed to highlight the truly spectacular NATURAL scenery out here. When I stretch my legs running to the 7-11 two blocks away (my only regular walking so far), the backdrop is the Hollywood Hills. Just about anywhere you go, there's SOMETHING pretty to look at, even if it's just a pretty girl ("I wish...they...all...could be Caaaaalifornia..."). One thing I've yet to figure out is, how is it so lush out here when it never rains? Lord knows I'm no botanist remotely, but I DO seem to recall something about plants needing water to live.
So what you end up with is, an insane buffet of elements that seemingly have no business together. Beautiful mountains/trees/water combined with the absolute extremes of low brow human commercialism and gluttony. Bizarre. (all right. I'm bummed. I was all set to insert my first picture. I have a great pic of the Randy's Donuts, 30 ft. high donut sign, juxtaposed with the clearest, bluest sky you've ever seen, except that you see it every day here. Alas, while I've figured out the camera, I haven't figured out how to insert pix yet).