California is a queer place — in a way, it has turned its back on the world, and looks into the void Pacific.... It's sort of crazy-sensible. Just the moment: hardly as far ahead as carpe diem.

Lawrence characterizes California as geographically and psychologically “facing” the Pacific—an edge-of-the-world orientation that encourages a sense of detachment from Europe and the Atlantic-centered “old world.” The “void Pacific” suggests both vast possibility and emptiness: a frontier that can feel liberating yet unmoored. Calling the place “crazy-sensible” captures a paradox he often noted in modern life—an energetic practicality mixed with impulsiveness and spiritual restlessness. The final line, “hardly as far ahead as carpe diem,” implies a culture intensely present-focused, living for the immediate moment rather than long historical memory or long-term planning, which Lawrence both observes and subtly critiques.