On a Friday night in Los Angeles, I ask my friend who lives in Silver Lake to come to a bar in West Hollywood.
asserted
who → ask → Hollywood
Except I know what she is going to say.
asserted
she → know → what
“That’s not really my scene.”
asserted
That → ’ → ?
Los Angeles has a way of turning neighborhoods into identities.
asserted
Angeles → have → identities
But when we only go places that reflect ours back at us, we reduce this richly layered city into something much smaller.
asserted
we → go → something
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Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
asserted
Report → start → news
And we do the same thing to ourselves.
asserted
we → do → ourselves
We all know the drill.
asserted
We → know → drill
Silver Lake says hipster intellectual.
asserted
Lake → say → intellectual
Santa Monica says corporate wellness.
asserted
Monica → say → wellness
West Hollywood says something involving a reservation and very good lighting.
asserted
Hollywood → say → reservation
We sort ourselves into Eastsiders and Westsiders, then regard crossing La Brea as an invitation to be lobotomized.
asserted
We → sort → invitation
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To be fair, some of this resistance is logistical.
asserted
some → download → resistance
In a city with minimal public transit, straying too far from your neighborhood can be an activity in itself.
asserted
straying → stray → itself
But traffic is not the only thing keeping us in our lanes.
asserted
traffic → keep → lanes
We like places that confirm our idea of ourselves.
asserted
that → like → ourselves
I should know.
asserted
I → know → ?
I’m a central LA girl with a long Eastside past.
asserted
I → ’m → past
A former English teacher who goes to gallery openings for fun and distrusts any neighborhood with an Erewhon.
asserted
who → go → Erewhon
I know exactly what my scene should be.
asserted
scene → know → ?
Still, I have a PSA.
asserted
I → have → PSA
Which brings me back to West Hollywood.
asserted
Which → bring → Hollywood
Specifically, the lobby bar at the Edition Hotel, a place that would send some of my Eastside intellectual friends into anaphylactic shock.
asserted
that → send → shock
This is a place where you’ll see sunglasses at midnight, rappers wearing enormous silver chains and women whose heels could be used as murder weapons.
uncertain
heels → see → weapons
One night I met four men who dealt in exotic cars, each wearing a watch larger than the last.
asserted
each → meet → last
Their shirts were unbuttoned to varying degrees of optimism.
asserted
shirts → vary → optimism
They had the sort of hair that could survive a hurricane.
uncertain
that → have → hurricane
A fact I did not mention when I let them buy me a drink.
asserted
them → mention → drink
Within minutes I was folded into the group, trading outrageous stories and laughing as they roasted each other with the tenderness of old friends.
asserted
they → fold → friends
Amid endless talk of a male loneliness epidemic, here were four grown men loudly affectionate and plainly delighted by each other.
asserted
men → delight → other
They were also effortlessly fun to flirt with.
asserted
They → flirt → ?
The type who could approach women without first holding a committee meeting in their heads.
uncertain
who → approach → heads
Honestly, my nerd friends on the Eastside could really stand to learn some of that swagger.
uncertain
friends → stand → swagger
I left wanting to organize an exchange program.
asserted
I → leave → program
For years, I mostly stayed on the Eastside and spent time around people like me: writers, artists and people who own a suspicious number of New Yorker tote bags.
asserted
who → stay → bags
Now I can spend Friday night with Ferrari dealers in West Hollywood and Saturday at a literary event in Los Feliz.
asserted
I → spend → Feliz
I don’t need the Ferrari dealers to develop strong opinions about the future of independent bookselling.
asserted
dealers → need → bookselling
I don’t need the poets to start playing golf.
asserted
poets → need → golf
I like different things about both.
asserted
I → like → both
The mistake is expecting them to be all the people you need.
asserted
you → expect → ?
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
