The Key to Happiness in Los Angeles

In Patrick Goldstein’s Aug. 5 profile of Steve Martin, “The Man Behind the Madness,” Martin observes how living in the Lotus Land of L.A. can drive one to retrospective depression: “One day you look back and say, ‘What did I do for the last 10 years, except figure out how to make a left turn on Santa Monica Boulevard?’ ”

Well, it took me 16 years, but I finally figured it out: Pass the corner, go a block and turn right, then another right, then right again, and voila! The key to happiness in Los Angeles is never having to make a left turn.

CLYDE WICKERSHAM

Venice