Lost in La La Land

    I have a lot of memories of Los Angeles. I have been there a lot. The first few times I went there were memorable. Later, when I attended school there or went visiting, there were ever more memories piled up. Sometimes I can remember things that I have long since forgotten. Then, there are always the ubiquitous movies, TV shows, and books and articles and magazines and their stories.

    The movie La La Land tried to capture some of this zeitgeist, or whimsy, or longing, or romance, or... nostalgia. Movies after movies depict these images and sentiments, narratives and angles and pictures and characters and on and on. And on... The City of Stars. Does it go one forever? Maybe.

    1993 - Rejected, and moving.

    My first visit to the City of Angels happened when I visited there from the south, the San Diego area, with my fellow Brigham Young University students. I favored one of them; I tried to make my move at the end of the day in Disney Land on Magic Mountain at the end of the evening. I made a rookie mistake, but it was probably for the best. I asked if I could hold her hand as we made our way down the rails, sitting next to each other. I had liked her for a few months. She was from Utah. 

    She said "no". Or, "no, thanks." Got it. It was sad, kind of, but for the best. She was honest, she was not interested. That was okay. I was bruised a bit, but it was all right. Other young ladies showed interest in me before and after, so my pride, ego, or self-esteem stayed afloat. Till next time, again in the world of lights or darkness, amusement park or no. I would get involved with another Utah girl not long after. Which went its way, wrapping up a few years later.

    And then again, some do not consider Anaheim part of L.A. Sure, I certainly do. The city of stars was quiet for me that night.

    1994 - Only San Diego. Right?

    1995 - Lost in the Rainy City

    Ah, another quest for searching for the right one. This time I re-met with the young lady from Chile, from our meetings and letters, correspondence from the years before. She can go nameless for now, but we met after a long time apart and then I got very lost. It was rainy, I had a poor map and visibility, and I went in circles.

    To this day I am not sure where I was, much of the time. A bit like life and romance and figuring things out. It was confusing, but it was good. We had to figure things out. I suppose we did. We kept moving on, I kept moving like two years previous.

    1996 - Visiting with Friends and Roomies

    

    This was fun and cheap. No big affairs of the heart. Better laughs and sites. Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, China Town. Beaches. Some thought of more as Orange County, but close enough.

    1997 - The Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley

    1998 - The Bay Area again.

    1999 - Moving to the Inland Empire

    And then it became the lifestyle. For a few years to come.

    Post addendum:

   

     I called this post," 

 Lost in La La Land

But maybe it is about being found.