Los Angeles is a city not built for pedestrians. The garbage cans are miles apart. L.A residents have forgotten how to walk. When they do walk, they always stand in the sun and patiently wait for their light to turn green- a city without jay walkers.
The road burns holes in my Wal-Mart keds so I never wait for my light to cross; running across six lanes of traffic on Sunset Boulevard, attracting bewildered stared through sunglasses the size of a small country.
I'm sitting on the sidewalk on Rodeo Drive. Around me are the most expensive designer stores on earth- YSL, Prada, Tiffany's, Ermenegildo Zegna, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Armani, Miu Miu and Jimmy Choo to name the merest few.
I am struck by this feeling that this is the red light district of L.A. Here stand the world's most expensive prostitutes- some plastered on window panes, adorned in wares woth a small fortune. Some are standing marking our way across the district like silver plated flags and arrows.
It's hard not to peer through tinted windows. Everyone looks famous, though no one is beautiful. This is a city constructed for the rich, perpetuated by fame and splendor.
Over breakfast this morning, I spoke with a tear stained recovered drug addict named Sally Boyden. She was a child star, who later in life toured with the Rolling Stones and Duran Duran singing backup vocals.
I sat with her while she talked about her very recent breakup, but wasn't able to hear the whole story because her tale was peppered with notable names of famous people she knew- from Sesame Street to Steely Dan.
Everyone has something to prove and someone they know, and they are wired to schmooze so deeply that it prevents them from getting to the heart of the matter. (even when the matter is so pressing!)
At the end of our conversation, she asked me what I did- I said I'm a musician. She asked me what I play, to which I replied "the guitar."
As if that wasn't enough, she fixed me with a hard look and pressed, "are you good?"
I looked at her straight and I said "yes I am."
That seemed to satisfy her.
Talent is irrelevant when dealing in fame and fame is irrelevant when dealing in talent.
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