Music, Sex and Poetry

I have heard LA described as the bastard child of America. Not so anymore! There are, of course, the obvious sides of LA. You've seen it in the movies, and you've heard it on TV – car chases, prostitution, Sunset Strip, and hundreds of young people with big dreams and no money. As much as LA can be the horror of horrors, LA is fast becoming a total Mecca for New Age spirituality and learning. You can really become a weekend or full-time student of the esoteric in LA. Sure, when I first arrived in town, I did spend endless nights hanging out on the Sunset Strip at the Whiskey bar with weird rock creatures who were probably on all kinds of drugs, cause they didn't look as thought they had slept in a few thousand years. However, not so anymore! These days, if I'm not plunked on my sofa with a guitar and a Dictaphone, or in the studio, I'm on the yoga mat, or in front of a meditation teacher, or going to some extraordinary, wild esoteric event. You can do it all in LA, you can to workshops on finding your soulmate, or transcendental meditation. This weekend I did Kundalini yoga at Golden Bridge, followed by a wonderfully enlightened conversation with a British bloke who I happened to be sitting next to on an Indian sofa. Then I went to Erewhon, where Truth, who is a magician with Chinese herbs gave me some sort of drink which he said included something to do with raising my "jing." It was accompanied by a beautifully enlightened conversation with Truth about creating your own reality. After that I hit Beverly Hot Springs, whose mineral pools are to die for. LA is an extraordinary place. It's never quite what you expect it be. You think it's one thing, then it reveals itself as another. But more and more I'm enjoying being an LA woman, not for the apparent reasons, but because there's so much variety to be had in this city if you don't fall into the clichés. There's something for everyone in Los Angeles. Of course, being in the music industry I'm spoiled by the sheer level of pro musicians, pro engineers, and pro producers on tap. I really have met the most extraordinary, creative people in this city…I've met the good, the bad and the ugly, too, but LA has provided me the space to do my very own brand of musical alchemy. So give LA another look, even if she's let you down from time to time. You might just find something new to learn this weekend out here!