The Travel Trip

One of the most elemental feelings that you can get in New York City is the sense that something might suddenly happen, and soon.  This state of being on the verge of an unknown event or quality is hard to describe, but absolutely certain and present, and it’s also very, very appealing. There is something similar going on in the city on the other side of the country, Los Angeles, but there are differences, and these differences are some of what really distinguishes the cities from each other.  On the west coast, the good luck that’s about to come your way will lead to a house and a car and time to skate near the ocean.  On the east coast, good luck is going to lead to conversations with people you’ve always wanted to meet, and a better set of conditions in which to make new work.

The difference, then, can be reduced to the cerebral over the physical, but that would be to pose a kind of mind-body dualism that could be taken apart too quickly.  This might be why there are New York casino hotels here, as well as near to Hollywood.  It’s a kind of way to make manifest the sensation of something interesting, that kind of on-the-verge-ness that’s always lurking, and keeps people moving here.  Part of the appeal, of course, can be reduced to money, and that is a commodity that can be logically understood in both cerebral and physical terms.

But there’s something much more to it than that.  In fact, there is a kind of quality about the way winning is presented in each city that is subtle but absolutely there.  In New York, it is a kind of big dog contest, and the biggest dog gets everything, and the biggest dog will also be lucky at the table.  In California, the dog doesn’t have to be big, but young, and also sleek, and a little smart doesn’t hurt.  But not too smart, because that takes away the charm.  Young dog vs. big dog, then, might be the distinction, and those who do not wish to be dogs might have to stay somewhere in the middle, where they can sleep all day and not worry about things that may or may not matter.

Posted on January 28th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Travel