Tag Archives: blogging
A La-La Land Love Story
Most everyone can recall the moment they landed in the City of Angels, at least this is true of those of us born elsewhere. I arrived in the mid-1970’s with my head filled with all the dreams one might imagine a recent high school graduate to hold, expecting the whole world to dance along side of me. Living high above the bustle of Hollywood Boulevard, I stood on my balcony envisioning an upward trajectory as far as the stars in the night sky. Everyone had such dreams. Waiters were dancers, bartenders were writers, bus drivers and store clerks and front desk gals all aspiring actors. We nodded passionately as we passed each other in our day to day, believing that everyone’s aspiration could be realized with each affirmation. Ram Dass’s Be Here Now, already battered and earmarked, gave us the right to declare this was our moment, our now. One could feel the dynamic currents in the expanse of a cobalt blue sky and the fanning of the feathery palms overhead as you drove along the curves of Sunset Boulevard straight through the Palisades to the broad Pacific coastline. What couldn’t we do here? Possible was a battle cry being shouted by everyone in the city, a beautiful star-studded La-La Land of guarantees. A community that applauded each other with giant billboards and kind reviews. There were no impossibles.
Winter Obsessions
Most of my December was spent making our first west coast Christmas perfect. I sent out close to a 100 holiday cards with cheery notes which I wrote while listening to nothing but Christmas music. Santa’s were on display all over our new home, lights were strung and lit. We fully engaged ourselves in all the festivities, shopping and cooking and baking, while wearing silly hats. As you might have guessed from this idyllic opening the holiday could not live up to my hype. But it did not stop my push to make our New Year’s eve filled with all the garnishes I could throw at it. Yes, lesson not learned. Thankfully sense and sensibility did surface, eventually, to the realization that we were indeed somewhere new, and quite possibly, I could slow down, take a breath and notice all the possibilities in this here.
Nine Cent Girl 