It's been a week of Glendale-in-the-headlines, but not for anything we're proud of: the train collision here this week and the story of the man who caused it has become obsession for the press and the public, rightly so, perhaps, with its incomparable irony. A friend of mine does a nice job of describing the scene/issues/drama on his blog. We did go over there to try and see the scene for ourselves, and with all the people and rescue vehicles gone, it was eerily silent Thursday evening, except for the other rubber-neckers driving around the otherwise deserted neighborhood bordering the industrial area by the section of track where it occurred.

Yet another item to make you feel lucky to be alive.

Yesterday, Akhil and I decided to mix up our rather dull recent homelife and visit La Canada for lunch at Dish. I don't think we've ever done anything in La Canada, other than visit our since-fired real estate agent's office. It's a little noisy in there, but what a great space - open, light, roomy, and the food was decent though we were disappointed that we missed the breakfast hours - they stop serving it around 11:30 so, no cornmeal johnny cakes for us. BLTs and Eggs Benedict instead. Very low-fat.

Just to harp one more time on my building better cities thing -- the Congress for the New Urbanism, a leader of this charge, is holding its annual conference here in Pasadena in June. If so inclined, take a look at the Web site -- the issues may at least put a new spin on your interpretation of urban layouts and plans and inspire some passion you didn't know you had.

Also, when you get a sec, you have to check out Kunstler's [sad yet hilarious] Eyesores of the Month, on his site, here. You can click backward from the current specimen to see earlier "Eyesores."

No Best Actor nomination for Paul Giamatti? What's the deal with that? Stiffed twice in a row!

I'm reheating fettucini with chicken and would like to say that Whole Foods is a utopian place. Encino is not.

Now we're not sure whether this means I am shallow or thin-skinned or perfectly normal, but this last bidding loss we suffered on Monday evening has put me into deep, physically painful depression. I loved this last house so much, I'd almost steal it if I could. We lost out on the bid to some joker with a 350k down payment.

Sigh. Trying to move on. It is very-very difficult, despite my telling myself how easy and good our lives are in the face of such a terrifying world full of much more horrible fates. Well, I am going to drink this very large glass of wine now, and get over it.

Otherwise... Bush, sworn in again, as leader of the universe, or at least that's what he appears to believe. I liked the protesters' "skit," which included his being inaugurated wearing a crown. And big, huge, baby news from a very dear friend who hasn't told everyone yet, but hint: she's short, somewhat German, lives in Chicago, and played the Wicked Witch of the West to my Glenda in our high school play. Congratulations (gulp)!

Sun? Could it be? All of us (that's the entire population of L.A. County) trodged out to the beach today in celebration of the return of the big yellow ball and it was glorious. Bad traffic, but good times. Akhil and I have had a rough week, so we recuperated for most of the day with a walk along the beach between Santa Monica and Venice, followed by brunch and a little shopping. Speaking of shopping, our automobile search is going nowhere fast as we keep finding reasons to rule out what we thought were our best options -- especially those German ones. And we went to that darn Auto Show TWICE! Mostly, it's because of terrible reliability reports -- and in some cases, styling, which sounds like a bad reason but the crappy plastic details on some of these cars are just too horrifying to excuse. (That means you, Toyota/Lexus! What gives?!) The Prius is an exception. And the new hybrid SUVs coming out mid-year look promising -- for now, the Wagoneer lives on.

We attempted to avoid rain-induced cabin fever today by going to one of Akhil's favorite annual events -- the infamous L.A. car show. It would be fun to take Tom Wolfe there ... but we managed to have enough fun on our own, trying out the cockpits of Audis, Mercedes, Lexuses, Mazdas, Volkswagons, Jeeps, Volvos and even a Subaru among the throngs, and I mean throngs, of so-called auto enthusiasts. Where else can you do all that without pressure from a sleazy sales guy?

Brian Grazer was there too - in raingear and camo, but he was checking out the extra-fancy celebs-only 100k and up, cars-with-hired-drivers section.

Alas, the 1987 Jeep Wagoneer is seeing its twilight days. However, the plethora of so-so, less-than-perfect choices keeps us driving it, year after year. Will this be the last? Stay tuned.

Okay, anyone with an uneasy feeling about the state of the developing universe, especially Los Angeles and its status as the pinnacle of inhumane, soul-destroying, unrelenting industrial sprawl, must read the "Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kuntsler, which my fellow disgruntlee Heather gave me for Christmas and I can't put down. "The future will require us to build better places, or the future will belong to other people in other societies," says Kuntsler. And then some. It's giving me hope that there are enough frustrated people in this consistently selfish, uglifying nation that one day, we'll realize a change. A big one.

Rain rain rain and rain.

Lost out on another house that was less than 1500 sq feet but still fetched over 700k. It's worse than it's ever been right now - mainly because there's just about nothing listed but also because we've got 4 more years of good Bushie-nomics coming (though Greenspan's only there til '06!)

Akhil's parents are en route to South America for a month-long tour of the continent. That's where I wish I was at the moment. A little salsa would do me good. Happy belated b'day Jen - not TOO late, I hope. I know you're reading this!

The pressure's on as bloggers take the spotlight as ABC News' "People of the Year." This isn't really a blog in that sense -- no political views, very little gossip, nothing controversial. Akhil and I remain rather private people, and from what I hear, it's a bad idea to talk shop online (so we don't, ever).

Too bad for you -- hope it's enough that this is a way to keep up with friends and family across the miles. Akhil's at Disneyland today, we're about to jump back into "house-shopping mode," and our apartment's heating system crapped out right in the middle of the rainy cold snap here in L.A. Arnold's giving his "State of the State" address as I write this, and things are back to normal so far in 2005 -- at least here in our cozy little world. The tsunmai and Iraq continues to help keep things in perspective. The first full week back at work is somewhat relaxing after the holiday rush.

So, 2005 has begun - let this be an excellent year for us all. Happy New Year!
Congratulations to Mike and Maria on the birth of Evan -- born Dec. 24 as an early Christmas present. He's a gorgeous little guy - we met him this afternoon and I even got to hold him!

Akhil and I traveled to the east coast on Christmas Eve, a rather long and uncomfortable trip (I'm sure you've heard of the airport/flight crew hangups this season) but we made it by midnight and on Christmas Day, food and presents and time spent with the Peavey family was all good:



I hope my parents enjoy their new kayaks. I know I will enjoy my iPod and soon, my printer, and Akhil his fluid bicycle trainer... embarrassment of riches this year:



Five inches of snow were a treat on the 26th - Akhil and I braved the roads to see a movie ("Aviator"), and then Heather at her parent's house (she's from my hometown), where we met Diego, her new nephew compliments of Julie and Juan. We took Metro North to New York on Monday to visit our friends Annemarie and Josh and Craig and Rebecca - our only remaining NYC city dwellers - and their dangerously cute kids, Sophie and Ariel. Now back in California, we saw the floats last night in Pasadena after an impromptu dinner at Luna Negra - how we got seats with no reservation I have no idea.

Despite the rather sorry general state-of-the-world we're dealing with, Akhil and I are looking forward to a great year full of milestones -- here and everywhere. Cheers!