It's this building. It makes people nuts. It must be something in the water, something to do with the pool. Come to think of it, I was normal when I moved in. (Dr. Michael Mancini)

The place looked pretty standard from the outside as we pulled up on the curb. I slammed the passenger door and assessed the place as I walked up to it. Rider handed me the key and told me to do the honors. I unlocked the gate and let it swing open, banging against the stucco archway. Rider was a couple steps behind as I stepped into the courtyard. The pool was a sparkling blue and I couldn’t wait to lie beside it in one of the long white tanning chairs. The building was two stories and everything faced the courtyard. I loved the layout. I loved, well, everything about it.

All the apartments in the area looked basically the same. When the television show Melrose Place started up it made this style of apartment famous in TVland. While I never really watched the show, I thought it quite authentic because my building was just a block and a half from Melrose Avenue and it looked just like their building.

At the time it was the most fashionable place for anyone who was young, hip and up-and-coming to live. Maybe it still is. However, knowing how real estate shoots up and plummets in Los Angeles County I somehow doubt it is.

That’s the thing I loved about LA then and hate about it now: it is always changing. Nothing is ever stagnating or still, everything and everyone is in a continual state of motion. I loved that then: moving, moving, moving. Maybe that’s why I’m so tired all the time now. Too long in LA will suck the life out of even the most energetic and I don’t know if I was ever really energetic, except maybe when I was really high and that wasn’t real.

Still I’ve got to say, for someone who spent so much time away from reality I never felt lost or lacking direction. All those people who are searching for themselves seem stupid to me because I always knew just who I was and just what I wanted. When I seen my Melrose Place apartment building I thought that was what I would want for the rest of my life.