Glorious weather and clear, cool blue skies today make Los Angeles appear to be the devilish little heaven that makes it so hard to beat. Akhil and I had breakfast at Love Birds in Pasadena, followed by a stroll on Colorado Blvd. where it was neither crowded, nor hurried, nor scorching, nor wet. Perfectly perfect. Oh woe is us. How will we ever decide?

The Jeep broke down again so while it got its latest repairs we went off to look for its imminent replacement. At the Honda dealership we test drove a Pilot and a CRV with our Philippino Elvis impersonator sales guy (yup glasses, high hairdo and all), whose name, I swear, was ... Elvis. (Refer to yesterday's post, please, lest I say it again, "Only in ... ..."

Here he is -- Akhil in tux -- at the Thea Awards last month:


All the freaky stuff that makes the phrase "Only in L.A." so fitting just keeps on rolling here in the City of Angels. This time, it's a loose, now sadly dead, Bengal tiger, killed Wednesday in Moorpark. Oh yeah, and of course there was Paris Hilton's digital address book, "mistakenly" distributed online last weekend. What next? Akhil and I don't know but what we do know is that we are emerging from the "darkness" that was 2004 -- what a tough year. And good riddance to it all. It was like a tunnel into the next phase of our lives -- our "adult" life, perhaps? Could be -- we'll see. But don't worry, we'll never be "mature." As of this month we've been paired up six years. Wow, longer than college.

Last weekend we ventured to Santa Barbara on Sunday despite the wind and rain. It was misty and chilly but offered plenty of parking and room on the sidewalks, and on the way home we stopped in Summerland to see if it's anything like the WB makes it out to be. Could be, but they always seem to leave out the freeways in these TV scenes -- no 101? How did these people get here? We all know what uglifies -- it's automobile traffic. TV pretends cars barely exist. They mentioned on NPR today that L.A. is set to consider a long-term plan to extend the Red Line out along Wilshire to the Miracle Mile. They say it would take ten years at least if they ever approved the project. So, ten years? Pishaw! Ever hear of the Big Dig? I wonder if they realize that at this point, it may not be a matter of choice. (Unless a lot of us make good on our threats to defect by then.)

It is positively raining babies! Craig and Suzanne (Latimer/Wong) welcomed Jasmine Audrey on the 13th. Didn't even know she was in the making. Congratulations guys.

So Akhil's sitting there at Logan, his cell phone rings, it's his boss, who asks him some stuff about actuators. He begins to explain, but after about 3 minutes, the perturbed lady next to him says, "Excuse ME sir, but could you PLEASE take that somewhere else? I am trying to watch this (TV)!"

He moves, but later, in line at the gate, she and a guy start talking a few steps behind him, and the guy says something like "So, are you from here, or from L.A.?" She says, "Oh, we're BICOASTAL." And then, "My husband's at UCLA."

"He's MICHAEL DUKAKIS."

Kitty, how could you?!!!

Akhil always gets all the good airplane stories.

Today it's raining and all's well with the world -- Akhil even came out to Encino to lunch with me. Three-day weekend ahead; what the heck could be better?

My five days of single-ness come to an end this eve when Akhil lands at LAX. He's been in Boston all week and now that I work on this side of the hill, I have to say that being here alone and sleeping in Glendale, to Encino, back to Glendale, (and repeat, repeat, repeat) just really, really sucks. It's sort of bland, monotonous, isolating, gray, and a little bit sinister-feeling. I hope it goes away when he gets back. Oh how I miss the West Side and its shiny, blondish, stylish ways... This week though I met up with Leslie for a drink at Central on the Strip - an ok place but the pricey parking situation is a bit of a buzzkill. Celeb sighting: Eriq LaSalle, but only briefly, in the bar.

The latest excellent news is of Heather's condo purchase. Big score! Two-bedroom right off Charles Street in Beacon Hill (Boston)! The envious portion of my brain lit up when I heard but I am happy for her -- for she is no frenemy. Nice work, H. The NOF just keeps on coming.

Now if only I could find the life I'd layed out for myself 10 years ago. Where'd it go? Maybe it's stuck behind the dryer drum. I certainly I hope I can find it. Soon.

Lots of NOF (news of friends) this week... First, Congrats to Craig and Rebecca and Sophie on the Feb.6 arrival of Willa. And second, it's offical: Nick in Space! Here's the NASA press release:

NASA NAMES TWO FUTURE SPACE SHUTTLE CREWS

NASA has named crews to resume training for the Space Shuttle missions designated STS-116 and 117. The missions are planned for launch to the International Space Station in 2006 to continue assembly of the orbiting laboratory.

Astronaut Mark Polansky will command STS-116. The mission will deliver and attach the Station's third port truss segment. Joining Polansky is first-time pilot William Oefelein (Cmdr., USN); mission specialists Robert Curbeam (Cmdr., USN); Joan Higginbotham, and Nicholas Patrick, Ph.D. Christer Fuglesang, Ph.D., a Swedish astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA), rounds out the crew.

Akhil and his "Lucky the Dinosaur" team head down to Anaheim tonight to receive a Themed Entertainment Association award, or THEA, for their animatronic achievement. How exciting! Too bad spouses are unwelcome. This morning we'll take a look at yet another house for sale for some astronomical price -- we're in a state of confusion about our living situation, and from the looks of the latest State of the Region report from the Southern California Association of Governments, so are a lot of other SoCal dwellers. Daily News headline: "L.A. gets D+ for Lifestyle" (see full story here).

Thank god! We thought it was just us! Reasons cited: traffic congestion, home prices, education and smog. Okay, so what are we gonna do about it? Remains to be seen... meanwhile Akhil and I are struggling to remain chipper, sane, and at peace with ourselves and with each other.