One character in search of a paperback.

It could be the start of an L.A. mystery novel. The city we live in:

...living here can hollow one out. It is a hungry stranger of a city that fascinates, attracts, horrifies and repels minute to minute. It allows one to live in it for years and never feel like they have lived here for any period of time.

Henry Rollins wrote this in his L.A. Weekly blog six days ago. But Chicken Corner just stumbled on it this morning. He's talking about feeling lonely in Los Angeles, because of Los Angeles somehow, and he sounds sincere.

Funny that Rollins' KCRW Saturday show is such a warm and lively feature of the city. My husband and I look forward to it every week. His Fela tribute last week was beautiful.

He hits on something Chicken Corner experiences every time she leaves Echo Park: It seems residents of Los Angeles -- particularly the ones who were not raised here -- are handed a project of self-invention that other cities I've known don't require. Hence all the weird houses, the exuberant art, the strange gardens. It's an L.A. cliche -- until you feel it yourself.

Chicken Corner's advice: Get chickens, Henry! They're so lovely-weird and squawky you'll forget all about the stucco wasteland, the traffic, the over-immensity of the city.