Things experienced so far in LA – part 1

— I arrive in LA on Friday night and go to pick up my rental car. The Enterprise window is closed. I panic immediately. I drag my crumpled receipt out of my bag and see in TEENY TINY print at the bottom that the counter is closed after 9 pm. WTF?? I call Alex, panicked. She tells me to take a cab. We are giddy. We can’t wait to see each other.

— I get in a cab. I have yet another astonishing cab drive, in a long line of astonishing cab drives. My driver is an Armenian man named Ruben. I happen to know a lot about Armenia. We talk about Armenia for the ENTIRE TIME during the 35 minute drive to Alex’s. I am deeply deeply in love with Ruben. He is so so so happy and amazed that someone knows about Armenia. He said, “From my bedroom window, growing up, I could see Mount Ararat out the window.” I say, with eternal sadness in my voice, “Only it’s in Turkey now, right?” I am very very sad about this. FOR him and for ALL the people of Armenia. There’s a long long pause. Ruben glances at me in the rear view mirror. “You know a lot about Armenia.” “I’m crazy,” I inform him. When he drops me off at Alex’s, he unloads his heart, in his thick Armenian accent. “You have made my day, Sheila. You have made my week. This is the best ride I have given all week. This beautiful woman gets into my cab and she knows all about Armenia.” “I have so enjoyed talking with you, Ruben. I would love to go see Armenia some day.” He drags my 500 pound bag up Alex’s step, and I pay him, and then he gives me a huge warm embrace. I love people.

— Alex and I remain giddy and thrilled to be in each other’s presence. We sit on her couch, in her beautiful apartment, and immediately launch into a conversation that could, conceivably, have changed the ENTIRE WORLD … if only it weren’t just the two of us in on it. We talked about blogging – we discussed our various commenters – we gloried in the value of the Delete button – we discussed Hilary Clinton, politics, the fall of communism, we talked about how our separate blogs inform each other – how we have helped each other to stay honest, or push the boundaries of what we write about … We talked about literally everything. Oh yeah, and we called Mitchell. Mitchell was just LOVING the fact that these two people – two of his best friends in the world – were now together – WITHOUT HIM. Mitchell is that kind of a generous soul. He introduced us. And now I am visiting Los Angeles and staying with Alex. A person more sparsely spirited, more ungenerous, would feel jealous – about two of HIS friends surging off into a separate friendship of their own – but to Mitchell, there is nothing more glorious.

— The car-rental issue is just the FIRST glitch in the first extraordinary 24 hours of my trip.

— Yesterday morning I wake up early. I am going to a birthday party. My cousin Mike’s daughter is having a birthday party. Cashel will be there. I make plans with my brother to drive (Alex let me borrow her car – a first string in a long line of what I now see to be MIRACLES …) to his place, pick up Cashel, and then walk over to Mike and Lisa’s. I am very excited. I also have a new outfit that I am very excited about. Yes, it makes me look a little bit like an upper-class women’s studies professor – but I am pleased with my bohemian chic charm. I totter off on my platform sandals to Alex’s car, get in, and drive off, directions laid out on the seat beside me.

— The last time I drove in Los Angeles it did not go well. I am a little bit terrified, but also eager to put those old ghosts to rest. Los Angeles: you will not break me THIS TIME!!!