11 Comments

As a hand fetishist I adored this essay. I could not have predicted the uncanny swerve into the reciprocating gaze of baby ontology at the end-- whoosh. WOW. I adore and bow to you.

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Jul 27, 2023Liked by Amanda Fortini

Good on you for noticing and remarking on that ending!

I came here again specifically to see if anyone else did.

I bow to your grace and acumen!

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Why thank you!

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I would totally compete if eavesdropping were an Olympic sport. One of my favorite stolen convos was from a vastly differently aged male/female pair of diners at The Formosa Cafe. It was obvious he was a Master of the Hollywood Universe, and she was an escort. It wasn't naughty talk, it was the dynamic. That she was simply there to listen to the same decades-old stories he has told to who- knows- how- many other companions across various restaurant tables for decades.

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Jul 19, 2023Liked by Amanda Fortini

I love your observations! This was a very enjoyable read. I felt transported back to The Grove. I am the king of not having a clue who anyone is that I see. I always guess wrong. Thank you.

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Jul 19, 2023Liked by Amanda Fortini

Im with DMang.....I LOVED THIS!!!!! Thank you. ❤️ ( i lived in LA for a period- during the heyday of Barney’s Greengrass .... also experienced Beverly Hills healthcare). Every word and description here is perfection .

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Thank you! I'm so pleased you loved it.

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Jul 19, 2023Liked by Amanda Fortini

Loved this! Not the type of conversation you’d overhear in an outdoor cafe in your neck of the woods in Montana. The people of the greater Midwest, whom the social climbing coastal types refer to with disdain, see their arti- and superficiality and the myriad micro-industries spawned from it, for what it is; vapid and annoying.

I guess we owe them a measure of credit for providing jobs for the hordes of dreamers flocking to LA hoping to become the next big thing and with any luck find themselves mingling with the group you observed.

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Very good

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Jul 20, 2023Liked by Amanda Fortini

This was a lot of fun to read, thanks, Amanda. I am so happy and lucky never to have lived in LA. Listening to such vapid, self-serving conversations would depress me very much, though it would be some fun to sip tea and eat a Cobb salad and be uninvolved!

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Great writing! Love your exquisite layers of observation. I feel your integrity all the way through the snark.

People. Eavesdropping while on the move. Hermes would've so proud. The best conditions for material.

Look forward to more!

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