California is the terminus of "the West" and to move east from here would be a crime against the teleology of its foundational mythos. Everyone born in this sunset land is denied the very same absolution upon which the myth stands. Where do you go when there's nowhere left to go?
The last thing I need is another fucking transplant telling me how great everything is here. You do not know. You do not bare this burden, to have woken at the end of a dream dreamt for you.
Passed a man whose shirt read "I found love in Niles, Illinois." My heart lept. Romance had triumphed yet again. I turn, and see plastered across the back "And it was only 200 bucks!" Ah. Nothing but a cruel mockery. This bitter cynicism will save no one.