Los Angeles: Hell's next door neighbor

The last few days here in Los Angeles have been dreadfully HOT.
Maybe its because summer is extra long here in California, it could possibly be because our apartment is on the second floor.... But my thoughts keep wandering towards one question; Is Los Angeles Hell's next door neighbor? If you think of Hell as a sport, a Varsity sport, I would say Hollywood might just be the Junior Varsity.

Last night was spent out and about in Hollywood, to see a concert of a friend of a friend, and hop from hip to hipper scences.
One of my favorite hobbies is to people watch, and I practically won the lottery of people watching by moving here. But in Hollywood, after a while people watching can make one feel the same as the might feel after watching all 195 minutes of Schindler's List. Depressed, Sympathetic, Empathetic, and guilty.

As we cruised sunset Boulevard in our 1999 Jetta full of rare species (Young married couples in their twenties) we watched the passerby's. Between Celebrity and the homeless, there is such a wide variation. Like the (estimated) 20 year old girl next to us at the stop light; She was in her black Acura approximately mid nineties model. I know we all have our little things we do while waiting at a stop light; I like to change the song on my iPod and pop in a new piece of gum, my husband likes to pick his nose, and some light up a new cigarette. This girl had her left palm facing upwards and her other hand was holding a little straw, which she stuck in her nose and sniffed out of her full-of-potential hand. She was all alone.

We got out of our car walked past the "Huster" store (The REI for strippers and Go-Go dancers) looked n the window to see T shirts with skulls and crosses on them, I'm sure Jesus would be so proud. Bums, crack pipes, Corvettes, prostitues, Celebrites, the whole nine yards, if it's out there it's in Hollywood; The land of opportunity.

I'm not completely knocking my new residency. The people and their stories and struggles are beautiful. You meet a 70 year old woman who remembers hollywood back when we all wish we were here, The 30 year old who's been sober for 5 years, the tweny year old who doesn't know what she wants in life and is perfectly happy with her current adventure to find it. You see people constantly chasing their dreams and getting there. I enjoy going to castings and getting shut down, it makes me appreciate what I do book when I get it. Meeting a new crop of people everytime you have a photoshoot, learning where they come from and how they got here. I love it. I just am glad that I arrived here with someone to hold on to. That if I get a little lost they're here to help... If I run out of gas. They'll drive 15 miles and be there in 2 hours due to Los Angeles traffic delays. If I'm not feeling confident, I have a little coach to give me a pep talk, slap my ass and send me on my way. I know that If I came out here as an 18 year old I could have been that girl, alone, sniffing away my confusion, innocense and troubles.

So Los Angeles, is it really such a bad place? Is it really the next best thing to Helll? Probably not. It's most likely El Nino or some crazy global warming issue. But just being that during this heat wave, the corrupt city showcases it's hookers, bums, and druggies, it's just can make you wonder? As far as the Hustler store, that's just straight up ugly and tacky merchandise, I could care less if that business kills over, but for the homeless, the forlorn masses, and the addicts: We've all been down and low in one way or another, just maybe not on Hollywood or Sunset boulevard. So just remember that next time you take a stroll in La La Land.

I could go for a popsicle and a bathtub full of ice.