Missing You
The following are posts from Los Angeles Craigslist under "Missed Connections":Blonde on the 405
I am the guy with the shaved head, we have shown up next to each other where the 5 and the 405 meet a couple of times now.
me: pink razor scooter, blood stained jeans.
i remember you, but i'm sorry to have to tell you that i won't be able to meet up with you. you have to now that i'm completely in love with that blonde girl you saw me with and that shes the only person i want to share any [uninterrupted] time with. the sad truth about all this is that you saw me during what [quite possibly] is the best 2 days of my life to date, and i owe that to no one but that beautiful, leggy, modelesque, asian women. i hope you understand.
Our eyes Locked.....at Ralphs
There was instant chemistry when our eyes met, then you glanced my wedding band, and you kept walking down the aisle. But what if........
Gold's gym brunette.
You have freckles. I want to marry you. You know who I am.
You wear your heart on your wrist...
...imprinted forever in ink. Very cute asian girl at the hipster coffee spot yesterday (monday). I was sitting with my dog, talking with my friend, checking you out as you read from your book. A slight smile exchanged while ordering should have led to more, and I'm hoping to get that second chance. My odds will improve if you go there often...or if you happen to read these posts.
You left me
just when I needed you most.....
neighbor with the tatts
you so want me. i will let you in on a little secret...i want you too. big time.
Starbucks
Last fall I worked at the SF Valley Starbucks. You told me your name was N__, and that you were a music producer. You always ordered two venti soy lattes and when I finally worked up the nerve to ask you if that second latte was for your girlfriend you gave me a very vague answer. For quite unrelated reasons I quit working there shortly thereafter. It's been nearly a year since then, but I still remember you.I thought you were super cute, and nice. If you remember me, you know what to do.
What do we do if we make a connection with a stranger in Los Angeles, and that moment is over before we can exchange information? We can keep revisiting that spot and hope to see the love of our life or we can go online to Craigslist and post our Missed Connection, in hopes that that special someone will see it and contact us. It's a long shot, but Los Angeles is a city of gamblers, who have traveled here in hopes of making their mark in the world. Here in Los Angeles, Fame and Fortune share the same podium as Love, and we aren't going to let a city of 4 million people tell us the odds are against us. So we send up our love letter not in a bottle but through the internet, shooting through miles of cable like a ball bearing in a pinball machine.
You could say that the internet is our digital street pole, layers upon layers of Missing, Found, For Sale, messages from the diaspora. Where are you my love? Buy my sofa. Is this your dog? We gather round that sign post to find what is important to us, what will make us whole. We live in a city of dropped calls and missed opportunities, we have become the city that tries over and over until we make that singular connection, because we strive to have something, someone to call our own in a city of flotsam and jetsam.
Stephan Britthas alerted me to a group of illustrators that are illustrating "Missed Connections" and will be publishing a book. You can see some of the amazing artwork here on Flickr.
Image: © Ophelia Chong
