Taking another path

I WAS DATING IN L.A. IN HOPES OF FINDING MY PERFECT MATCH

- RICK LAEZMAN

My mother had always admonished me to date nice Jewish girls. Otherwise, I might fall in love with someone who wasn't.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I'm sure she thought I had come to the perfect place. Living off Fairfax Avenue, I was in the ideal neighborhood to meet a Jewish woman and not far from where my newlywed parents lived 40 years earlier.

But this was not the same city, and it had different plans for me. I started my search in earnest, unbounded by faith, within a small radius that grew bigger along the way.

During Friday night jazz at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I met Katrina, a statuesque blond who had recently emigrated from Russia. Over a Korean barbecue dinner on La Cienega Boulevard, she talked about her fiancé, explaining that an engagement for her meant something different than it did for me, which gave me hope.

She also mentioned she loved the Sunday string quartets that performed at the museum. Curiously, I developed an interest in them too. I visited a few times on Sunday but never saw Katrina again.

Speaking of art, I met Jill as I was admiring the collection in a gallery on Rodeo Drive where she worked. She told me I was handsome and had a nice voice. She looked a little bit to me like Vanessa Williams. We exchanged numbers. I wanted to ask her out but soon realized she just wanted me to buy a painting.

A friend introduced me to curious Stephanie at an event in Little Tokyo. After one of our dates, she took me to a video rental shop (yes, this was before streaming) and had me check out a gay porn movie to watch at her place. It wasn't an aphrodisiac.

After giggling and hiding her eyes behind a pillow, she fell asleep on the couch. I slipped out, returned the movie and headed home.