How very L.A...

One could argue that every place on Earth is, in some (perhaps minute) way, unique. But when it comes to experience, the City of Angels is one of the planet’s most exceptional settings. Where else in the world can you enjoy both beaches and mountains in the course of a morning, interact with people having roots a multitude of countries on a regular basis, and aspire to be anything that your heart desires? But, let’s face it what really makes L.A. a very different kind of place is the unabashedly in-your-face celebrity culture that it supports. I mean, if you haven’t seen at least one or two famous faces after living in Tinseltown for a few years and you don’t keep track of all the celebrity affairs and weddings and babies while meanwhile loading your groceries onto store counter, you simply aren’t paying attention. More importantly, you’re missing the point: you gotta love L.A. for what it is, not hate it for what it isn’t. It makes the adjustment easier (if you’re from L.A., you already love it, and you have no idea what I mean by ‘adjustment’. Who could hate it here?).

Of course, some days are more ‘typically L.A.’ than others. Last Thursday was one of them. After having a dinner party in my Hollywood Hills pad the night before, I got up at an unreasonably early hour, and began driving through my neighborhood on my way to work. Before I could get even a half-mile from my house, I had a near collision with David Beckham in his Lincoln Navigator (my small ’92 Jetta certainly would have lost that battle). Then, after a few frantic hours at work, I rushed to a meeting where some council members were considering my neighborhood’s appeal to overturn the decision of the Mulholland Scenic Design Review Board to allow a movie mogul’s massive mansion to go up on the ridge that looms over my house. Sitting in front of me at that meeting was Isaac Mizrahi, fashion designer, who was at the meeting to discuss part of his new offices.

As much as I don’t really care for celebrity culture, I have to admit it keeps things interesting in this most unique of cities. And so my love-hate relationship with L.A. continues…