Los Angeles exists. I’ve seen it. I’ve driven along Sunset Blvd, crossed over Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monaca Blvd, I bet I’ve even been in 90210.

I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was bubonic plague in Europe and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.

— Russell Crowe

Los Angeles exists. I’ve seen it. I’ve driven along Sunset Blvd, crossed over Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monaca Blvd, I bet I’ve even been in 90210. I’ve seen the Beverley Hills sign and the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. I’ve passed through Bel Air and Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

I suppose I felt the same way about Broadway and 42nd Street the first time I saw them. And Trafalgar Square, too. I know I felt it when I stood on Hadrian’s Wall.

But L.A. in particular seems magical right now. And I mean that in a good way. We’re out here for an exciting reason that seems a little unreal and magical too. But this is Hollywood, so a little drama seems appropriate. I’ll let the suspense build for a bit. That’s what a good director would do.

[Photo]

Santa Monica Pier at Night


A few observations:

  1. While I can attest that L.A. really exists, so did Randy Newman and Cheryl Crow. If you didn’t believe them, why would you believe me?

  2. If push came to shove, I don’t think I could prove I exist.

  3. If you stand on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and put your back to L.A., it’s quite possible to convince yourself that it doesn’t, in fact, exist.

[Photo]

The Pacific


There are no comments on this essay.
Add a comment or subscribe to (existing and future) comments on this essay.
Name:
Email*:
 *Please provide your real email address; it will not be displayed as part of the comment.
Homepage:
Comment**:
 **The following markup may be used in the body of the comment: a, abbr, b, br, code, em, i, p, pre, strong, and var. You can also use character entities. Any other markup will be discarded, including all attributes (except href on a). Your tag soup will be sanitized...