Click. "404 or Not Found error." Or more rarely: 403 “Forbidden.” ; A 404 is a standard HTTP response code indicating that the client (you) was unable to communicate with the server (them). Or in plain English, the page you are looking for doesn't exist on the web.
In real life, a 404 is a common occurrence in Los Angeles. You drive to a store, only to find it closed and a Starbucks in its place. My answer would be to flip open my cellphone and Google for the closest alternative, while my car idles at the curb with the air conditioning blasting my hair back like I had my own personal tornado. Angelenos are accustomed to an ever changing landscape; we are so blasé that when new area codes are added we just blink once and roll through another stop sign. We blithely move through do-overs, makeovers, rehabs, and, even when the ground beneath us moves, we take it all in stride and look for the next new thing. With each metamorphosis we are assured that the only sign of permanence in Los Angeles is Angelyne's age.
This could be also said about the journey I have traveled in my adopted city of Los Angeles. I am a transplant from the north, by way of China through my parents. I came here to start a new life, with a blank slate and stare. In the years I've been here, my life has changed many times over, and none of it can be revisited because the emotional, personal and physical landscape has changed. Most of my life is a code 404.
For the next few months, I'll be taking you on a journey with me on the superhighways of radio waves and asphalt, where there will be potholes and Black Holes and a few hitch hikers with their own stories, about a city that changes with a blink of an eye and a click of a mouse. So sit back and relax. The air conditioning is on and I've got the map.
The image attached to this post was created by Ophelia Chong.
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Looks like I'm going to be in for a ride. Can't wait to get lost in the 404 City!
Sounds like a plan! I'm there with you on the journey across this ever-changing city. I've been here eight years and it seems like everyday I'm discovering something new or wicked, or perverted and insane. I freakin' love it.
I like the 404 Error imagery a lot. I think lives are a inter-connected series of 404s. You can't look back, you can't look ,forward you're stuck in the here and now and even then just that portion of it that your wallet (or legs) will carry you too.
Great post Ophelia, looking forward to reading more.
I forget, does the 404 run north/south or east/west? I always see signs that say "404 Santa Monica," but since I don't know where Santa Monica is in relation to where I am, I can't tell which direction the freeway will take me.
I haven't been to LA, but you bring that vibe to me in your words. I like the parallels drawn here in your article between the cyberworld and a moving, breathing urban city.
Looks like a great start to this blog.
Yeah, I remember when I first down here and my then roommate mentioned how in a city like Los Angeles, anything can happen.
I call shotgun!
After 20 years here, it's amazing to see what's managed to survive and remain a constant, what's always been here that I've never stopped to check out, and what's changed, many times over. Looking forward to the ride.
I can't wait to continue reading! I, too, am a transplant - having moved from the Midwest almost three years ago. I came to Los Angeles to reunite with my college sweetheart only to find I was no longer the same girl that fell in love with him. I would say my experience here has been a series of 404 errors...but it's been such a great ride!!
I have been here 32 years, so in Hollywood standards I’m nothing than a “has been” so I should just pack my bags and move to the Valley and disappear into oblivion. Sadly I can say that in those 32 years I can probably count in 1 hand how many times I have been in the Valley and when all of the sudden I find myself heading up that way by mistake I quickly turn around as I feel a panic attack coming. Yes LA is constantly changing and my response is so? That’s what I like about LA. It’s like a movie set. Things constantly move according with the scene needed. Some people easily get attached to old things, I can’t understand why. That’s what they are things, buildings etc. My way of thinking is, if that thing isn’t working anymore; remove it, build a better thing. Why hold on to the past. Churchill said: “If you find yourself walking through hell, keep walking” That’s what LA is, it keeps moving and changing, as a better thing is bound to come. I too love LA.
Luis Orellana
Looking forward to having you paint your LA point of view. There must be something magical about LA. Almost everyone I know who visits, ends up moving there!
Thanks for inviting us on your trip through your 404 city!!
This looks to be a very interesting journey through LA. Got my seat belts on..
And a high five to KCET!
it's a great ride through los angeles. when you retrace your steps you end up in a new place. what was there before is no longer there. los angeles is a city of beginnings and endings. thanks for the comment danh!
We discover new when we look for familiar. And that is what makes living in Los Angeles so exciting and aggravating.
Thanks for the comment derrick!
Looking back gives the future a chance to change. Thank you so much for commenting. You are the catalyst for my foray into writing and I am thankful for your kindness and support.
The freeways in Los Angeles are as eccentric as the inhabitants.We want to go east, but end up going north, and we take it in stride. Giving anyone directions in Los Angeles means attaching footnotes. :O) thank you for commenting! ophelia
Thank you Amber. Los Angeles parallels the growth of the internet, we expand with some thought, and go back to fix our mistakes with patches of asphalt and updates. You cannot draw the borders of Los Angeles, just like you can't say where the internet ends.
Thank you for commenting! :O)
In Los Angeles, we don't limit ourselves, we don't keep road maps because we keep changing our plans. Thank you Rachel for being my copy editor and friend.
:O)
Having you as "shotgun" would be a trip that starts here and ends in a completely different place. One what we don't expect. Our route would be from shared stories and veer off into different view points, and then meet again at a roadside cafe for coffee.
thank you for commenting.:O)
Our intentions change with new sign posts. "Oh look at that, that is far more interesting than where I was going".
It is not we have a short attention span, it is because we are open to new experiences and more nimble. We can change course easily because we chose a city of changes.
Thanks for commenting!
Beautiful. I love the analogy of Los Angeles being a movie set. It is in our city's DNA. We build "sets" to create new stories, new lives.
Thank you Luis.
The city is a not a film, where you can fast forward or rewind to a favorite scene. Los Angeles has no record button. We carry what we want to the next scene and leave what is not serving us behind.
Thank you for commenting Emily. :O)
Congratulations Ophelia! I am looking forward to being in the trustworthy hands of a fellow Asian driver....
Interestingly enough, your post was on the anniversary of the Whittier earthquake - my very first one. It took me a year to recover, but now I feel as though I can sail right through them and everything else this challenging world offers. Are we Angelenos delusional? Perhaps, but at least we're glamorous!
Looking 4ward to more 404!
amp
Thank you Konda! You and I should travel across the landscape of Silver Lake for a story.:O)
Thank you for commenting!
DWS. Driving While Surfing. You are safe in my hands Karen. I will never let my eye wander unless we see something shiny on the road, then we will stop and discover what sparkles in Los Angeles.
Thank you for commenting! :O)
The ground underneath our feet is still shifting, everyday we see a new vista. Something new in our sites, a new road, path, a new route.
Thank you for commenting!
Remember that first trip into downtown, morning light, warm, motions surrounding me, from Laguna, fish outta water. I'm pumped going to get hand made paper. smell of this city, concrete and spent fuel, m fast, dreamlike, so much to take in. Fresh!
Congratz, O
Maori
My first memorable trip was taking the wrong off ramp on the 101. I had no clue where I was. Of course the area had a McDonald's, just like where I should be, and it had a 7-11, just like near my home, but it was different. I realized that Los Angeles repeats itself over and over, and you can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Just like on the internet, it looks like the page you want, but it's not quite it. It offers you the same services, but it's not the same. You are Everywhere and Nowhere.
Thanks for commenting. :O)
I need your expansive point of view to get me back into loving this city. I'm a long way from Dublin and I'm ready to let you drive for a while. You see the magical in everything. You're an inspiration.
Just to clarify the first few sentences of your article above:
403 = Forbidden.
404 = Not Found.
Los Angeles may be a 404 city. But always remember that Beijing has the 403 city.
To Brian,
This URL should fail with a 403 error saying "Forbidden"
Thank you for clarifying that. Good Catch.
:O) Ophelia