In Tibet, there are no words for low self-esteem. In Los Angeles, there are enough to pave the streets. There are plenty to describe hubris, too, for many come to revise themselves. The challenge of residency then is neither worshipping contemporaries nor convicting them of fraud. Each extreme adds distance, already infamous in the region, because glory is evanescent and heartbreak, just as momentary. The L.A. River though is not concrete like they say. It’s not even visible. It’s fluid and it’ll carry you, if you know how to ask it. This is what to esteem. This is how to live and die in L.A.
{creative nonfiction ~ Tommy Tung}
{photography ~ Martin Cooper}
Fiction Mostly 