Akhil and I celebrated our official anniversary last night with paper gifts (the tradition) and a magnificent dinner date at the Bel Air Hotel. I had the bouillabaise, he had the duck, and we shared an entire bottle of wine and the croissant bread pudding for dessert. A lovely evening.

The last time we'd been to the Bel Air Hotel was for my dot-com company Christmas party in 2000, when tech stocks were flying and our options actually seemed promising. We all got treated to a five-course meal, open bar, and of course, complimentary Cuban cigars. Are you kidding? Of course I smoked one!

Then -- you know what happened. The bust happened, and my old employer bit the dust. I quit before the holidays that year. Fittingly (and I'm not making this up), the 2001 Christmas party was held at "The Shack" (on Wilshire in S.M.), and our office space was rented to Oliver Stone.

Can't quite believe an entire year's gone by since the wedding - we'd thought we'd have made so many more changes than we have by now. Only difference really is that I am less, shall we say, "busy." I had lunch yesterday with my former boss from TV Week, who's now a VP and Publisher. I appreciated his friendly invitation. I know we both still feel pretty bad about the necessity of my layoff. Nothing changes, of course, but at least we got a chance to clear the air. I woke up today feeling like I'm at "Sum Zero."

Since Friday a lot has happened. For one thing, we determined that we're sick of living in Glendale and that as our real estate "project" progresses, we are less and less interested in looking here for prospective homes. Second, we joined the Bush-hating throngs last night and saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" - my former neighbor's latest blockbuster documentary - first documentary in history to become the weekend's top-grossing film. It wasn't quite as, well, relentless, than the hype made it out to be, but still typical Michael Moore of course. Amusing, tear-jerking, somewhat over-the-top but he drives his point home and helps you continue to build your Bush-wacking arsenal -- at least a little bit -- with plenty of bad Bush footage and images that remind you of the reality of the Iraq war and force you to look at the situation from an outsider's perspective. It sort of felt like the audience was way too in on all the jokes though. "Preaching to the choir" blah blah blah. I wonder if any Republicans were in attendance. (I'm an Independent, offically, like Mike!)

A year ago today, Sunday, in Malibu, Akhil and I got married. Our official anniversary is Tuesday the 29th but we had a semi-celebration today of our up-and-down-but-magical first year of wedded bliss. We had brunch in Santa Monica at Babalu followed by a couple of hours sitting and reading on the beach in Malibu. We found a spot just in front of the bird sanctuary by the Adamson House - which is where we tied the knot. Here we are in Malibu... disheveled but content:



After our miniature celebration we stopped at the Supergo to look at bicycle parts. And we had a stellar star-sighting -- Jakob Dylan, son of Bob, and family - buying a pricey green fat-tired bike for one of his three sons. There was no mistaking the blue-eyed stare (could he have recognized that he'd been recognized?) but the dead giveaway, really, was the diamond tennis bracelet his wife was wearing with her Seven jeans, low-top Converse, and "FBI" cap. You know they're celebrities when...

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at 600-thousand-dollar-plus homes in Pasadena, Cheviot Hills, Toluca Lake and Burbank, yes Burbank. Nothing exists for less than six. Not even there. At least you can count on appreciation... (right?)

Last night, we looked over the documents that you have to sign to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Akhil and I think we're reasonably intelligent people, but I have to say, it's near-impossible to keep your eyes focused on the pages long enough to figure out what the words really mean. How do so many, (MANY!) people do this? I have yet to start working but we know now that this is "home" for a while, so we may as well settle into adulthood and start the home-shopping process. I've got an interview this afternoon, as a matter of fact, so I better run.

Too much caffeine these last two days. Akhil and I are reading about real estate - hoping to make this our next project, now that we're on our way to becoming certified Angelenos. Tried to go to Porto's today, but it was too crowded, as is all of Glendale. You can make a day of it at the new Whole Foods on Glendale Ave., though. It's like a foodie amusement park. They've got sushi chefs -- and serve breakfast.

I had to laugh when my neighbor handed me some classifieds from the newspaper yesterday -- she had starred and circled jobs she thought might be appropriate for me. How did she know? Do I have a big "U" on my forehead? I feel like Hester Prynne!

I picked up a little more freelance work thankfully and have high hopes that I'll find something this month. I can feel it coming to me - employment is on its way. Meanwhile I am reading "Stupid White Men" and anxiously awaiting the release of "Fahrenheit 9/11." I met Michael Moore when we lived in the same building in New York back in 1995. He was at the elevator getting Chinese food delivery and I began gushing about his "TV Nation" show. Thought for sure it was my big break and that he would hire me. He didn't. But it makes me feel a special connection to him - I'm so proud.

By the way, I DID go to the gym yesterday. Had one of those bad mornings but was feeling much better by the time the sun emerged at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Maybe it was the cloud cover.

Four months -- still no job. It's unbelievable. But this will certainly make me feel very differently about destitution in the future - and not so quick to judge. After all, I have someone here to pay the rent for me. He and I've been killing time on weekends by visiting coffee shops and watching movies until it's finally time to make some kind of move. I attended a media literacy course this weekend given by the Center for Media Literacy in Santa Monica, where I am looking into volunteering, then had breakfast with Caroline, Michael, and the beautiful Sabrina on Sunday at Hugo's. And that afternoon, we spent a pleasant few hours with Joy and Paul at the Castle Green building where they live in Pasadena. There was an open house this weekend so we checked out the stylish open apartments there and talked some more about the price of real estate, which is taking up more brain space than it deserves these days. I just want it to stop! There have got to be places in our range out there.

Poor, poor us, right? Americans can be so annoying.

Home again, home again, and my allergies are gone. I never knew I had any, but wow, Boston was tough on me this trip. Sick most of the week. On the other hand it was great to see Deb and Samantha, Jen at the Daniel Packer Inn, the family, and of course all my Boston peeps! Todd's apartment in Salem is beautiful and I really think the witch/Halloween theme is rather charming. He's going to like it there. I especially enjoyed helping him spend his money on our whirlwind decorating spree. Furniture, fixtures, carpets, dishes... he even put up window treatments this week. I am actually jealous of the place.

Akhil and I stayed in Brookline Saturday, in Salem Sunday, and at the Kendall Hotel, the renovated firehouse, in Cambridge Monday. We flew home Tuesday and managed to get on the same flight. It was a very busy 10 days for me, and visiting the suburbs (Arlington, Lexington, Marblehead, Watertown, Somerville...) was enlightening to say the least. After dealing with sinuses, traffic, unruly pedestrians, and crappy weather, however, I have to say my appreciation for L.A. is once again renewed. Had an interview today at the public television station here in Los Angeles, KCET. Still pounding the virtual pavement... here and in the east.