It was when I lived in L.A. that I first realized what is so German about me.

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When I arrived at J Bar L Ranch in southwestern Montana's Centennial Valley, manager Bryan Ulring doffed his hat in greeting.

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"When I was at the Roosevelt in L.A., they moved a Lamborghini Murcielago so they could park it in front of everything--a Murcielago!"

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"When I left to pursue my own dreams, to come out here to L.A. to pursue art, it's one of those things where the reality is really different, " Gomez said.

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For me, the quintessential L.A. experience occurred a number of years ago when I was crashing at Paul's apartment in West Hollywood and the doorbell rang.

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The only comment I heard from Balsillie about his business was when The New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman was introducing him and said he guessed half the Davos crowd had blackberries.

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When I got on the phone with Lauren a few weeks ago, she talked to me while weaving through L.A. traffic on her way to a photo shoot not a suggested practice but a reality of the day-to-day demands of running two fashion lines, two websites and a successful novel series (L.A. Candy was a New York Times bestseller).

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The Accord nav eventually grew on me, particularly when I compared it to the cryptic navigation system used in an Aston Martin that I also rode in during the L.A. show.

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