I have left the city of Hollywood for the city of politics, where the laws (rather then the culture) are made. The city where you must be smart to get by instead of beautiful and power is exchanged for fame- this city of diplomats and idealistic youth is the opposite end of surreal.

I think back on how the questions “What do you do?” used to bring forth “I’m and Actor/model/musician” and now it brings a list of acronyms standing for all the different branches of the power game (and no one looks like they should be a model).

This difference is exemplified by my first “sightings” in each city. My first Sunday in Los Angeles, I went to Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and in front of me sat Tori Spelling and her then boyfriend (who she married, and I believe recently divorced) who I met during the meet-and-greet time of the service. This past Sunday, on my way to get a cup of coffee, I was prohibited to cross the street because President Bush and his wife were attending the Red Mass at the Cathedral next to my building, so I waited until the procession of black vehicles and cops passed by. I have definitely moved to another quite extraordinary city.
Settling in to a new city is always an adventure. One of the most noticeable changes when you first begin to explore is the new rules of the road: Cars have the right of way, and pedestrians simply walk when they want to, where they want to. This is a drastic change from Los Angeles, which despites its reputation for horribly aggressive drivers, never tried to run me over. I remember clearly people getting tickets for J-walking in Los Angeles, but here in “the district” it’s each man verse the traffic, and the cars drive at you. The city is full of women in suits and funny flat shoes…which I began to understand after a few blisters-turned-open wounds. This is not a city for heals, although the general atmosphere is more formal- with mandatory nylons, heals and blazers for my roommates who work “on the hill”.
Really California and the east coast could exchange some fashion and be better off… in CA we can wear heals because we drive everywhere and never have to worry about bad weather and the men would look good in suites, where as the east coast, would no doubt enjoy flip-flops and the general silicon valley casual wear, to deal with all the silly air conditioning and heating.
The UCDC building, where I live, is located in Scotts Circle and is a short walk from Dupont Circle- home to the homeless, gay, and chess-playing communities. I work two blocks north of the circle, and enjoy the fun atmosphere of shops, NGO’s and ice cream stored. The window in my office looks across the street- directly into a yoga studio. These faithful practitioners keep me entertained from 4pm-5pm while they stretch and bend and sweat half-naked in the window, while I stare at the results of google searches….