Appearances: Puttin on the Ritz

From the moment Michael and I entered the Starbucks off Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, I could feel their eyes descend upon us, like a sparkly teen vampire seeing his first jugular. Immediately Michael's eyes scanned the room looking for a familiar face to take comfort in...He found three within seconds; I was not so lucky.

We had entered their territory and it was obvious we did not belong. Correction, it was obvious, I did not belong. Michael fit in much more easily amongst the gorgeous self involved natives as he recently started a diet where he avoided all foods.

After ordering my iced coffee beverage, I sat a long wooden table and set my MacBook Pro to begin work on a new entry for my blog. I was thinking that by coming to LA I would be able to break through my writers block that has been plaguing me for months. Twenty minutes later, no such luck. Michael was no help as he was still gossiping like a New York socialite on the Upper East Side with his trendy gay Hollywood friends in their trendy gay clothes, with their trendy gay cell phones, sun glasses, lap tops, and frappuccinos.

Looking around the room I started to notice all the young Gays working on their own blogs and film/tv scripts. It wasn't just Michael's friends, it was everyone in the room...it was me!! There I sat in my semi trendy clothes that took me an hour to pick out with my semi trendy cell phone and my uber trendy computer when I realized just how reliant we all are on appearances. Honestly, I know this all before, but somehow saying that doesn't make for as entertaining of a blog, so for the time being, lets pretend I was completely oblivious to this well known fact.

Looking back at the last month, I saw that the Gays at Starbucks weren't the only ones guilty of "Putting on the Ritz" Around a year ago my Mother came to visit my Landlord/Uncle his on again off again girlfriend and myself and the entire time I felt like my Uncle and his girlfriend were putting on a show for her and I unfortunately was the unwilling re-occuring guest star.

My Landlord/Uncle and his Girlfriend had been going through a very rough patch in their relationship and needless to say they were very off again; that is, until my Mother showed up. The moment guests arrived the lights were dimmed the curtain lifted. It was as if the last few months of their relationship had never happened.

People move out to California for so many reasons whether it be for college, grad school or a business opportunity, it seems like we all have one thing in common...We act. Some of us are paid for our performances and achieve a level of success, whereas most of our talents for the dramatic arts are never seen or acknowledged. Each of our characters certainly have different motivations for acting; some of us act because it's a passion, some of us act because we want people to think a certain things about us, and some of us act to mask the pain that hides just below the surface.

So...

"If you're blue and you don't know

where to go to why don't you go

where fashion sits

Puttin' on the Ritz."

-TACO 1982