"Americans are becoming ruder."

Aha, so it's not my imagination. A CNN story today refers to an AP poll that says a lot of people have noticed:

"A slippage in manners is obvious to many Americans. Nearly 70 percent questioned in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll said people are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The trend is noticed in large and small places alike, although more urban people -- 74 percent -- report bad manners, then do people in rural areas, 67 percent."

Here's a case in point. I work right next door to a Jewish temple in Encino. Yesterday was Yom Kippur, so it was jammed at temple time mid-morning. As one woman drove up to the entrance to the parking lot, another woman and her children were waiting their turn to drive in as well, and I heard this presumably religious, middle-aged, coifed and primped, ready-to-worship woman scream out her window: "I'm sitting here waiting to get in, you stupid SH-T. Get out of my way, you dumb SH-T."

Not very benevolent. Not very festive.

Meanwhile, we're hoping for much-needed rain this weekend. It's been in the 90s this week and they're warning of an unseasonal power crisis as a result. Our lasagna party last weekend was well-timed and kicked off a decent week, for once! If it wasn't for that unfortunate job I've got to mess it up for me... well, can't have everything.

Red Sox season is over - and I'm surrounded by disgusted fans who thought a team with that good of a season record would've done a little bit better against the White Sox. My poor brother even had a ticket to Game 4 tomorrow. Oh well.

Akhil and I spent the evening cleaning up in anticipation of tomorrow's visitors to our abode, so once again, he's fast asleep with exhaustion already. My early work hours seem to wear on him more than they do me -- one good consequence of starting a job at 7 a.m.: I get by on less sleep. Another good consequence: would you believe I can get from Glendale to Encino in 12 minutes? If I get on the road at the right time that's all it takes - but if you're on the road at 5 p.m. it can be an hour. Who says we don't need mass transit? Don't answer that.

Do try Corner Bakery mini bundt cakes, however. Especially the chocolate one.

More than two weeks since I've been in here? At the moment, it's about 8:30 and the household's already asleep, so, I've got some time to get back into blog action. What have we been up to, well, let's see... there were those fires, which spun a lot of ash around through the valley over the last week or so and made my building in Encino rather smoky. But they've got them all under control now with minimal people-damage. Leslie and I were among about seven people total at Max on Ventura in Sherman Oaks the other night. People weren't terribly interested in dining out that night but inside, you couldn't smell the smoky air. We had trout and filet mignon and french silk pie for dessert. It's been a long time since I've eaten so fancy but we needed a little lift, both of us. The weekdays are a blur, the weekends are too, for the most part. Akhil and I once again dashed all over town this weekend, from Pasadena, to Camarillo, to Manhattan Beach, to Pasadena again. Housing still killing us, or something...

My little mom has become a little bit smaller this week with the extraction of her appendix, which happened unexpectedly on Monday. Quite a scare, quite a scare, to say the least! But she's home and okay now. Should be back on track next week. They did not keep it in a jar even though I asked them to. Oh well.

Fall has kicked us back into "productive mode" (I think) so it was perfect timing for the painters to come last Saturday and buff out the scuffs on the walls -- we're in the midst of reassembling the living room but the new blinds are up and pics are on the walls and it's really quite exciting.

Whenever people get down on L.A. a dose of the Hollywood Bowl seems to pick them up -- me included. Caroline and Mike got us all tickets to Brazilian night last Saturday and we ate picnic dinner beforehand so it was all good even before the orchestra came out -- but man, Pink Martini was fantastic! I had no idea. Vocalist China Forbes puts so many other singers to shame, I can't believe more people don't care about this 12-piece orchestra/band. They played with the L.A. Philharmonic, so you can imagine. Excellent.

Our whirlwind weekend was worth the effort for the perfect weather, QT with the Peavey family, and quick visit with Heather and John -- but I've GOT to find a job with more than 5 allotted vacation days a year. By caffeinating ourselves, we packed a lot into 3 days: Todd took us out into Salem Harbor to the Rockmoor Restaurant, this floating contraption that serves pretty decent seafood, then we drove all over the north shore to ogle beach houses before dinner at Victoria Station near his place up there, right off Salem Common.

Saturday the entire Peavey family (incl. Akhil) paddled out by kayak from Wequetequock (yes, that's spelled right) Cove to Sandy Point, and then we all splurged on a rich and giant dinner at Skipper's Dock in Stonington Borough. It was hard to sleep with pitch black and only the sound of chirping crickets, I'm not kidding, but then it's been a very long time since I've been "home" to Connecticut in the summer. Three years, I think, at least. Amazing! I thought my hometown was kind of lame growing up but now that I've seen some alternatives it doesn't seem all too terribly bad. Here are the intrepid:

Akhil and I zoomed up to Boston to see Heather's funky new condo in Beacon Hill on Monday and then took off to the western burbs to see how the pre-bubble buyers live there, too. The sunny, clear, balmy beautiful weather put the northeast in its best light. Somehow I was still glad to get back to L.A. Sunday night -- at least until the alarm went off at 5:45 Monday morning.

Life has a way of putting things in perspective, and this week has an eerie feel similar to Sept. of 2001. Coverage of the Katrina aftermath seems absolutely unreal -esp. for those who know New Orleans and even for those who don't. My 24-year-old cousin Colin and wife Aimee, a Folsom native, bought a house in Mandeville last year and they drive to New Orleans to teach every day. School was just about to kick off this week but they evacuated to Auburn, AL pre-Katrina and they're fine -- maybe even their house too -- we don't know that much yet. Having spent a couple of memorable Spring Breaks and Mardi Gras there as well (during Colin's wedding weekend), I know why they say it's one of the nation's most glorious cities. I've noticed a lot of people using the word "was," as if they think it's gone for good. Sure looks dire but I just can't imagine there won't be a reconstruction effort. Not much to do but send cash: American Red Cross has our info solidly in their database, that's for sure. Large-scale tragedy has become somewhat of a regular part of our generation's lives. Off to the east coast tomorrow night!

The painters who were supposed to come and shine up our seven-years-faded apartment walls never showed yesterday -- adding another insult to injury in the ever-continuing saga of our borderline-tolerable living situation. Sigh, well, I took Akhil out to Santa Monica in that case so Marivel could give us both haircuts - she's a natural! And doing great in her new career after leaving the world of entertainment PR just under two years ago -- check out Floyd's for yourself: it's just past the Nuart Theatre on Santa Monica Blvd. I think they've got another one in Melrose, but no Marivel at that one.

The two of us are headed -- on different days, different planes -- out of town next weekend to take in the last few days of summer in the place where they do summer best -- New England. It'll be nice to get out of the land of the Fast & the Furious that has become Glendale, CA. I loved L.A. when I worked on the west side and never understood why Akhil didn't feel similarly. Now that we're both confined to this side of the hill every day in the 100-degree heat with nothing to look at but the 134 freeway, I can kind of see his point of view. Major difference.

That said, it's still pretty good -- but good enough to fork out 700k for a place with 2 bathrooms in a sub-par school district? That is the question. A hard, hard question.

Okay, off to cruise the neighborhoods... oh, and Happy August Birthday Regina, Craig and Sabrina Rose!

Tarek Read Anthony, a solid 7 lbs, 11 oz., made it out into the open via C-section very early this morning, at 2:35 a.m. Congratulations Rob and Carolyn! (Tarek = "Morning star" in Lebanese.)

Just this minute I confirmed with Carolyn that she has NOT quite yet given birth. Her due date was Wednesday, so stand by, stand by!

You've got to try La Boheme in Carmel if you find yourself up there. It's a charming French-themed restaurant where just one meal is served each night so you just check the sked and make your reservation. John, Kendra, Akhil and I thought it was great - and no menus means no breaks in conversation - who would've thought of that? We lucked out with filet mignon aux champignons with mashed potatos and broccoli - yum. The wine was Californian.

We finally got to meet Dylan Tomeki, already 3 months old. What a kid! We sorely miss Kendra and John out here.

Ashley Cap, second daughter of Jenner's sister Sam, was born on Friday. And Carolyn is due in days, if not hours! Otherwise Akhil and I are getting our painting gear together to try and polish up some of these seven-year-scruffy apartment walls. Maybe we won't keep living here forever (maybe, just maybe?) but can't hold off painting for eternity.

Well somehow I mixed up the expectation dates for Minda, Kendra, and Carolyn and missed the whole thing in Minda's case - so I am sorry to be late with the news of William Pacifico Alena, born 3 weeks early on May 25! He's a beautiful baby, no surprise there - congratulations Alenas. I'll have to start asking if I'm allowed to post the pix. One more beautiful baby to report: Riya Sheth, born to Akhil's cousin Raj and his wife in July. And one more: Jenner becomes an aunt for the fourth time this week, we think (sister Sam's having Baby II).

Over the weekend Akhil and I reunited with a couple of days on the west side, including dinner at the way-too-popular-these-days Malibu Seafood (strangely, it had somewhat of a Euro crowd this trip), beach reading and a quick visit to the Adamson House. On the way we ventured all the way out to Newhall, then to Simi -- just to make sure we've covered all the bases on feasible housing solutions. Turns out, I think, we have.

Gas costs more than 3 bucks a gallon for some varieties out here, yet, this week oil cos. got tax cuts. Am I missing something? If anyone can explain this please email me. Else I'll just keep reading the Onion.

Baby watch continues for Minda and Carolyn this week! Updates soon...

I realized today it might sound strange to some that I regularly get off the phone with my husband, far away in Florida, with him saying things like, "Well, I just got out of the Hall of Presidents, and later we might go see 'A Bug's Life.' Call ya later!" Perfectly normal. That would be "work." Pity dinner is in order when he gets back on Friday, for sure (you ask: pity for him, or pity for me?). Meanwhile, join me on the latest 'Baby Watch': Carolyn has just three weeks to go til the big event -- and Minda's due any day as well. 'Tis the season of our lives... It's mind-blowing. Time just marches right on by, doesn't it. No respect, no favors!

Working away here at our spiffy new desk, spiffy, that's right. No more dining room table-PC. We've arrived! And so has Lance -- again. Unless you live sous rock, you know he won the Tour. Seven times. Seven. Into cycling or not, all humans must agree we're seeing something pretty amazing here. Apparently, he calls all autograph seekers "trolls." (Does that mean Akhil's a troll? Does that mean John Kerry's a troll?) Our presence during the early time trials surely brought him luck.

Speaking of amazing, it's been topping 100 degrees all this week and we've got -- that's right -- humidity! Why let the east coast have all the sweaty, frizzy fun. Lots of ponytails this week, lots of laundry. We spent the entire day here in the heat yesterday but today we got smart. Manhattan Beach reminds us of the goodness that is/well, can be, L.A. every time, and bonus: We literally stumbled into the Hermosa Beach Open volleyball tournament, only to get front-row bleacher seats for the semi-final with Athens gold-medalists Misty May and Kerri Walsh playing, and winning, against Elaine Youngs and Holly McPeak.

Vive le Lance! Et la France!


We're back with somewhat of an inside scoop on the Tour de France: it's easier than you'd think to see all the action up close! Evidence? Pics like these, taken from five feet away from the man himself. Our ten days began with a Sunday, July 3 arrival at CDG in Paris, taking the TGV to Tours, and checking in to our hotel on Avenue Grammont, the very street upon which the Tour de France teams were to arrive Monday, and depart Tuesday afternoon. Perfect setup.

Seeing the cyclists arrive and depart was easy, as was getting up close to the team busses near the starting line on Tuesday - NO security. None. Simply some steel rails to keep people out of the roads.

Place Plumereau in Tours is quintessential French - 16th century buildings bordering a square filled with outdoor cafes and bistros -- that's where we dined our first night. The Loire runs north of town, and the shopping is decent! From Tours we moved on to Amboise, and from there to Nancy, and over the course of the week we also saw the Tour depart from Chambord -- with the chateau as an unbelieveable backdrop, then the departure from Troyes, and of course we took in the most impressive chateaux, prioritized perfectly, I thought: Chenenceaux, Villandry, and the incredible Chambord:

Chenenceaux:

Villandry:

Chambord:

The departure at Troyes:

Our final Tour experience was the arrival in Nancy on Thursday. The six-hour drive from Amboise was worth it -- and the chance to see it all again after more than a decade was surreal. Ah, the good old days... and they truly were! ICN (my school), St. Epevre, Place Stanislas, even the "Made in France" sandwich place -- still intact, still perfectly beautiful.

We stayed in the Latin Quarter in Paris, just around the corner from Akhil's old digs at College of Pierre et Marie Curie, and by the end of the weekend, we'd become way too attached to the place -- sat by the Seine behind Notre Dame on Sunday night, watching the sun set, well after 10 p.m.



And then suddenly, Monday again. Sadly. France is to SoCal as silk is to cardboard. The people seemed friendlier this time, the wine tastier, the food more indulgent -- although we're off cheese and andouille sausage for a while (okay, maybe forever on that one). Recommended: the Clos d'Amboise, tartes framboises, Hotel Monge and Air France. Not recommended: Delta Song, French-cut boxer shorts and losing your luggage.

See more photos if you're interested here.

This must be one of our busiest Junes ever with the least amount to show for it, but we're just a day away now from our much-needed vacation to France, where we'll challenge our endurance by flying 14 hours and getting straight into a rental car from Paris to Tours. Once there, ahhh... let the vacation begin.

Amidst job dilemmas, another lost house bid ($40k over a fixer in Glendale this time), BBQs with friends and colleagues, etc., etc., etc., our second anniversary crept up on us this week. Two years, already? Feels like one! Here's me on anniversary, with custom wrapping paper for my traditional cotton gift: an LCD monitor.


Meanwhile we're keeping it interesting, at least on the weekends. One of our recent L.A. finds: the house on Lyric Ave. in Silver Lake that Walt Disney lived in with wife Lillian from 1927 to 1933. Here's a photo, but there's a great piece on the renovation you can read here. Drool away, SoCal house seekers -- purchase price? $200k.

Last week we drove to the top of Mt. Wilson, which is a quick 20 mins. up the Angeles Crest Highway, but for some reason we'd never done it before. Worth the trip for some great views, but next time we'll go when the observatory's open.

Bon Voyage until after the 12th -- and Happy Fourth!

We may be nuts, but are we crazy? We booked some flights on a whim last week to go see Lance in France. Of course, that also means we get to spend a week in the Loire Valley as he flashes by with the smelly peleton (we hear the B.O. reeks from a mile off) in Tours, in Blois, and again, perhaps, in Nancy, way up in Lorraine, three hours east of Paris. Nancy, of course, the city in which I spent one of the best years of my life, would be a rather surreal experience for me. It's like I dreamed the whole thing, 1994.

Which reminds me, Khanh has inspired me by taking up cycling, begun at first for raising money for MS in the two-day tour taking place next weekend, but now, she's all buffed up and getting in like 60 miles a weekend! Go Khanh! Lance would be much more impressed with her than with me, or with Akhil for that matter. The girl bought her FIRST BIKE EVER just for this event.

Heather and Jon have departed, Craig and his family are back in New York, and our overly social weekend is behind us so we can once again concentrate on "normal" -- whatever that is. Happy Flag Day everyone!

What a crazy week, trying to regroup and settle back into life in L.A. -- we're in a twilight zone, having discarded quite a load of junk including furniture, clothing and knicknacks, bought and sold cars, rearranged our spaces. But here we are, same old surroundings. Everything's different, somehow.

Heather is back again too, this time with her companion Jon, a very charming and sweet guy who got her (and me) interested in the Congress for the New Urbanism, national conference to be held this week in Pasadena (that's partly why they're here).

I survived drinks and dinner at Mezbaan in Pasadena, Thursday, yummy cakes and treats at the Alcove again on Friday, then Saturday the four of us started at Pedals in Santa Monica, braved a stand-up burger dining experience at Father's Office, and finished up at the gorgeous bar called Toppers at the top of the Huntley (formerly Radisson), also in Santa Monica, which has a killer view of Santa Monica, Malibu, and the ocean. We drove all the way back out on Sunday for breakfast at the Georgian, where they were staying, to revisit our wedding night digs!

Sunday afternoon, Akhil and I konked out for naps but made it back out for Star Wars: Episode III. Gotta see it, whether you think Lucas is FX-loony or not.

If there's one thing Akhil and I know how to do it's get out of town, and so we did, this past weekend, to San Francisco. We needed it more than ever, and made it through 3 days with just a couple of arguments, after a long month of life decisions (more like, indecisions?) made by a pair of very different types of thinkers.

So we hopped in the Civic and headed up early Saturday on the 5 with all the traffic, straight to the Cliff House for lunch at the bar -- a spectacular sea view. The place reopened in September, and the food and the beach were perfect; the crystal clear, sunny skies stayed with us all weekend long. From there it was strolling in Cow Hollow, then to Hotel Rex at Sutter and Powell, which is by far the best place we've ever stayed up there (oh, okay, besides the Mark Hopkins in '98)... highly recommended! Dinner was a trek around town to find long lost Little Joe's, an old Akhil haunt, which is now in the bottom of a dingy hotel on Van Ness but the food's still great.

Sunday was hiking up to the east peak of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin, which was gorgeous, with killer views of the world's best city (except maybe for Sydney -- but it's close). There's a lodge mid-way called the West Point Inn along the railroad grade from the tracks that used to go up until the early 1930s. They tore up the tracks when people started getting their own family cars.

Here we are en route, over the Golden Gate and up on the trail...



We drove all the way out to Stinson Beach so I could see it afterwards, and then we went down to Sausalito for food, followed by dessert in the city with Hiten and Suzanne, and managed a Union Square stroll and Coit Tower ascent on Monday before heading over to Berkeley -- where Akhil spent his formative years -- briefly on the way home, where we treated ourselves to dinner at Saladang in Pasadena. Splurge! Meanwhile, I neglected to publicly wish Akhil a happy birthday earlier this month, so here is a bonus pic of the birthday boy from May 18 (we celebrated a day late, on the 19th, for various reasons, ahem). Happy Birthday my love!

Been a while since I've been in a state of mind that allowed for a visit to the old blogging interface, but here we are. The stay-or-go, stay-or-go, stay-or-go debate will not cease, and it's been among the most exhausting couple of weeks of our entire lives. We did manage a momentous achievement amidst all this, however: Plush has gone off to a new home in Granada Hills, sold for a mere two grand. Oh how sad! Our 1987 Wagoneer with the wood paneling and 130,000 memorable miles is gone, gone, gone! In "her" place is a shiny new pewter pearl Honda CRV SE, with leather interior, oh yes, but no more power seats. Sigh. A bittersweet transition.

Farewell, Plush!


Akhil turned 37 this week and we were too stressed out to celebrate but one of these days we'll make up for it with more than just cake and roses. Anyhoo, enough of the whining, the real point of this whole post is to welcome, finally, the beautiful Dylan Tomeki Tanouye, born May 12 to Kendra and John, a whole week late! Congratulations! And Regina and Bill have officially left New Jersey for a new life in Cary, N.C. Things are rolling along.

We managed to make a brand new experience out of L.A. yet again this past weekend. That's among the most outstanding of the many beauties of the place -- you can do that, every weekend, for like, a decade (well, six years anyway, and counting)... god I love this town!

All we did was see 'Fever Pitch' (don't hate us) in La Canada (first time to movies there), then on Saturday headed to the Alcove on Hillhurst, which I can't believe we've never been to before (just chocolate-dipped macaroons and coffee but they've got a TON of stuff including my favorite: big, bad, sugary baked goods), and then on Sunday, after Fatty's pecan-coated french toast, it was off to Monrovia to look at cars. We're in the market -- I mean it this time. Monrovia is a step back in time, to, like, maybe 1973. Quaint and small-towny, but still western, like Greely, or the old Scottsdale, and a little surreal. Never been there before. Weird. It almost (not quite) felt like a (very) mini vacation.

The real reason for all this was to get a little QT in before Akhil was off, yet again, to Florida for another week. And this time, it's the "big show": Disney's 50th Anniversary Celebration kickoff. He's doing some press (!) for R&D, specifically Lucky the Dino. And never one to disappoint, he had a stellar star-sighting on the flight to Orlando this morning. That's right, folks: Carrot Top. Contain yourselves. Meanwhile, I, left alone yet again to my 7-4 daily grind, feel like the proverbial boiling frog.

Akhil's back after a basically successful three-week period of "Lucky" training, surreal bachelor-style living at the Animal Kingdom lodge, and minimal but sufficient amounts of cavorting through the Disney parks. So, yes, we've resumed our life together, sleeping in the same place once again. It seems to me three weeks exceeds a comfortable limit for separation from your spouse -- after about two weeks and two days you get a little too accustomed to the solo situation; then it takes a good couple of days to get reacquainted with each other.

So, "the stranger" and I finally used our first-anniversary gift certificate for The Raymond in Pasadena on Saturday night. Too bad, but this time, the food was just okay, and our table was pretty cramped. But it was nice to dress up, get out, and drink champagne together after Akhil's long stint with resort chain food and my steady diet of Luna bars and popcorn. We saw "Melinda & Melinda" on Sunday (B-) and tooled around on the West side, where Akhil thinks he spoke with Laura Innes at the Peet's in Brentwood, but I think he didn't. He DID sit behind Syndey Pollack on the plane back from Orlando Friday night, however. It's true -- he always gets the good airplane stories.

So let me be sentimenal for a second. Over the last couple of weeks I finally felt like I have a "home" in L.A., with true, hip and wonderful friends here that I just don't see enough of. When I listen to that "L.A. Songs" CD Heather left here by mistake, I almost get misty-eyed these days. It only took me a little under six years. People had told me that here it takes three -- I think it's probably more like five.

One last thing: Stay tuned for Baby Tanouye, due any day now. We're waiting, John and Kendra!

Heather's gone to San Francisco and so I'm finally alone in my Glendale abode. Akhil's got two more weeks living down in the, ahem, "Happiest Place on Earth" in Florida. I crashed for a two-hour nap after work tonight, after six days of nonstop dining, driving, shopping, strolling, touring, phoning, and yes, working, while the two of us caught up on things -- adulthood is hard, but maybe mostly for the lessons we've learned too late that we can't apply to situations that are gone for good by now. Heather and I don't agree on everything, but on that, I think we're in sync. She's having the best time of her life right now and I think mine just has to be around the corner.

Best discovery of the week: Father's Office in Santa Monica. The beer selection is super (they've got Belgian white), bar scene is solid, but the burgers are the best I have ever had, living up to all the hype. And I don't even EAT burgers -- go -- order -- eat -- and be sure to get a side of the sweet potato fries!

Akhil found an incredible Web site summarizing Glendale's aviation history recently, and the other day, I wrote up a gloriously detailed post. Just as I was about to wrap up, wouldn't you know it, our power went out (again). Luckily, however, my friend Mike has done a better job on his blog - with graphics -- and all I need to do is link! See here for what I wanted to say about that -- and here for the Go Dickson site itself. Thanks Mike!

The airport in Glendale was located precisely where the Imagineering buildings sit just south of the RR tracks that run along San Fernando Road, where Akhil has worked for the last six years. It's fascinating and heartbreaking to see how different the area is now from what it was in its glory days. The main terminal still stands, and we hear that Disney owns and plans to integrate the building into its future campus development there. I certainly hope they keep their word. It would likely be the last standing tribute to the history of what is now pretty much a sprawling industrial wasteland.

The big event in the household this week is the coming unveil of Lucky the Dinosaur to the general public. Akhil and his team set off this morning to Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando where they'll spend three weeks prepping and training Florida staff before Lucky becomes part of Disney's 50th anniversary celebration, kicking off officially May 5. They got a nice mention on the Animal Kingdom Web site -- and even a video clip. Apparently, there's merchandising too... haven't seen the evidence yet.

That said, the serendipitous arrival of Heather is happening in an hour, as she just happens to be doing the west coast leg of her 22-city "Hello, I'm the new big boss" trip this week. She's here tonight until Monday morning, and we are going to rage.

Could anything be more fascinating than the news released this week that octopi have been found to walk on two, er, legs, in order to disguise themselves? Prepare to be amazed: See this Discovery Channel video that shows the "algae" octopus, discovered off Indonesia, and the "coconut" version, discovered near Australia, on the move. Both have found ways to go mobile in which they take on the look of objects in their natural habitats, "walking" away quickly, disguised, when predators approach. This is really something - perhaps what's most incredible is that nobody's documented this before.

A beautiful spring has returned to L.A. this weekend -- cool, clear, though slightly hazy, and the hills and mountains are covered with green. We brunched in Santa Monica this afternoon and plan to view, finally, "Leoda's head" at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland this evening to check in on Akhil's handiwork. Meanwhile, Todd's in Vegas with the guys, betting on NCAA games, Heather's got a work trip to L.A. (yippee!) planned two weeks from now, Carolyn's prepping for baby, as is Minda, Regina & Bill bought their new house in N.C. already, and Kendra's due in six weeks! Counting down...

They're calling the wildflower explosion in the SoCal desert a "hundred-year bloom" that we're unlikely to see twice in a lifetime. All the rain we've had this um, winter, has created the phenomenon that's driving thousands out to Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley -- though they say the same type of thing happened after the El Nino weather of 1998. Hundred-year bloom or not, we had to see it. So, we drove out to Anza Berrago, the nation's largest state desert park, about 150 miles southeast of here, on Saturday. They're not kidding - blooming like crazy! And as full of winnebagos and motorcycles as cacti and other flora, I must say.

Here are some photos from the park:





We stayed the night in Julian (pop. 203), an old gold mining town that's very rustic, old-fashioned, and full of pie (we bought a Dutch apple to go). And it was freezing there -- like 30 degrees. First time for us in this area, which took us through Temecula and San Ysabel. Strangely enough, this part of SoCal was really similar to the New Zealand experience. Same type of rocky, hilly landscape, sparsely populated, lots of baked goods. No snowcapped mountains, a few less sheep, sadly no flat whites, but truly striking in resemblance. Ignore the end-of-the-world-like development you'll endure along the 15 freeway. Once you get to the 78 it's pleasantly bucolic.

Back at home, we're anticipating Monday. Doom. This week I'm losing my favorite colleague, Mark, to greener pastures and Akhil's getting closer to his very long trip to Florida (3 weeks).

Just drove back from an early morning power walk in Manhattan Beach -- one of SoCal's greatest features.

Now -- down to business. Houston, we have a satisfied customer. Cool toys for big kids: Here's Akhil in the Shuttle simulator at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

A wide shot:

Mission Control:

Nick & Akhil, and the littlest astronauts:


(Oh, and the conference went well too...)

Congrats to Marivel, who recently restarted her life as a hairstylist, leaving the high-falutin' world of network TV PR to live a dream. First major gig: 1 comment:

Welcome to our new and improved template. My friend Scott told me to enable comments, so I did. Does it work? Let me know (or leave a comment).

Once again, last night, we went to the Fox and Hound, a very odd bar for L.A., for happy hour. They DO have Irish soccer fans here - just like Boston. Except that here, the bartender moonlights as a supermodel and drives a BMW roadster, and the cook drives a Lotus. Well, maybe it isn't the cook's. Perhaps the Aston Martin with the faux UK license plate is. While I'm here -- Khanh I got your message and hope to talk to you asap!

Here in L.A. it's like a glorious, early summer - our windows are open, I'm wearing open-toed shoes, and the flowers are blooming as they do. Taxes are done, too, so we're heading into (offically) spring with all ducks in a row. Akhil's off to Houston on Wednesday where he'll convene with other robot people -- and visit with Nick at NASA. I'll be stuck here as usual -- not too lucky with my allotment of vacation days. But now that I am reading "Happiness," by Richard Layard, I know that being stuck at work is infinitely better than being stuck outside the workforce. Apparently, joblessness is more traumatic than divorce, death, and a variety of other troubles.

We're richer, he says, and more comfortable than we've ever been, but over the last fifty years, the western world's "average happiness" level has stayed just about the same, while trust, faith, and family have fallen. He also points out the Western world's flawed yet prevalent belief that putting yourself first results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. It doesn't. It results in "Not My Problem" -- and "Go Screw Yourself!"

It's not like the U.S. is the only place with this attitude, but it certainly may be among the worst. Comparing oneself to others, however, seems to be the real killer. And Americans excel at that. Seeking inner peace is a lifelong commitment.

Once again, I've lost touch with most of my non-California friends ... heck, make that just plain friends in general. Where is everyone NOW? Stuck in snowdrifts, I suspect, as Boston pulled down a few more feet in the past week. Here in L.A., the 101 freeway produced another rainbow today after a day of intermittent rain. This has got to be the oddest winter in a century, whichever coast you're on. Akhil's got yet another trip planned - to Houston - next week but otherwise it's rather dull drudgery here at home, where the holding pattern continues...

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.

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!

Happy Holidays -- already here! Just one more shopping day -- that is, until Akhil and I are off to the east coast for a long Christmas weekend. We're taking off Friday morning arriving in Providence at 11 p.m. So that means we'll have our own L.A. Christmas here tomorrow night, underneath our holiday poinsettia (no tree this year).

I've been exhibiting the Martha in me this week, having made sugar cutout cookies, apple pie, and Cornish game hens which Akhil has kindly devoured -- and see here his first-ever paint job on Christmas cookies -- he did the two on the top left --not bad:



Looking forward to a spectacular New Year for us all.

This update is way overdue, and somehow the last three weeks encompassed Thanksgiving in Seattle, Leslie's Christmas party, Wayne's wedding, Staffan's U.S. visit, Jon Paul's L.A. visit, holiday card "design and production," east-coast flight booking, a little gift-giving, a lotta job drama, the slightest bit of house-hunting and brink-of the flu.

Phew! I do love the holidays. Well, first -- Thanksgiving in Seattle was great as always -- hard to beat the beautiful pacific northwest when the weather is mild and the mountains are visible. Of course, on the day itself, Akhil and I were nearly asleep during dinner because we'd been up since 4 a.m. to catch our flight (and also because I'd been over at Chateau Marmont Wednesday night to see my long-lost friend Staffan here from Sweden), but it kept me, for one, from eating too much since I was too wrecked to continue lifting my fork.

Here's Staff and me at Chateau Marmont, and him and his friends Michael, Marcus and Bobo:





On Friday we visited the Music Experience museum downtown and then met up with parents-to-be John and Kendra for dinner at Flying Fish in Belltown. First time all four of us have been in town at once! (John's from Tacoma...) Pics forthcoming, I hope.

Saturday, Akhil and I got ambitious and drove up to Vancouver, saw his friend Karon and husband and babies Ian and Forrest for sushi lunch, and tooled around a bit - my first trip to that fair city. Here's Akhil downtown:



Following all this we came back to a very busy week in L.A. that included the first holiday party of the season at Leslie's on Saturday. HOWEVER, Akhil was struck with flu, so I went stag. He made it to Hope and Wayne's wedding in Claremont with me the next day though -- it poured but the theater setting was cozy, and we had a lot of fun. This week JP, my old friend from CT, was here - his first California visit. Here we are at Cafe Vienna on Melrose.



And last night, that would be Thursday, Akhil and I went to see the Groundlings (improv), but his colleague, who was supposed to have been part of the show, had postponed his appearance til next month, unbeknownst to us! Oh well, got us out of the house on a weeknight I guess.

For now all else is same -- and we're stressed out like the rest of the world about holiday chores, plans, and presents.

I'd like to remember the great David Brudnoy, in all ways an exceptional, kind, and inspiring professor, thinker and radio host, whom I had the pleasure to know at BU. He died in Boston Thursday night (see story). He'll always be remembered -- and missed.

We're getting holiday cheer in the form of three feet of *SNOW* here in SoCal this week! Beautiful views in the mountains, and this morning, I hit a traffic jam on the 101 as commuters slowed down to gaze at a rainbow just over the Sepulveda Dam -- it was stunning, really, you have to believe me.

Akhil and I leave for Seattle Thursday morning where we'll spend Thanksgiving weekend -- I've barely had a minute to think about it, but all of a sudden, holidays are here. We got into the pre-Xmas spirit yesterday by watching "Elf," which I'll give oh, maybe a B-, and we also had brunch with his cousin Gita at Blueberry in Santa Monica where the weather was very brisk, windy, and altogether un-L.A.-like, so we froze our flip-flop-wearing toes while waiting for our table. Besides a little real-estate-seeking torture, all else we got done this weekend was seeing "I Heart Huckabees," (which was hilarious -- A!), and some random errand-running on Saturday that I barely remember. I do know that we managed to finally get together for dinner with our friends Mark and Melissa at Cha Cha Cha Saturday night. Face-time with friends is therapeutic - and we don't get enough of it. My list of New Years resolutions will be very long this year.

Secret congratulations to two more Moms-To-Be! It's shocking, still shocking, every time I hear.

Todd passed the 31 mark on Monday and I warned him that this is the killer birthday -- not 30 as everyone tells you all your life. And then, at 32, your memory starts failing you. I have experienced some terribly noticeable changes in my brain function this year and have been attributing it to age -- but could it be too much computer time, or Nutrasweet, or lack of sleep, perhaps? God, I hope so. If anyone knows, please clue me in.

Akhil and I tried our best to entertain Laurel this week, visiting from Boston. We picked her up from her conference hotel, the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, on Sunday. Following a brief tour of the swanky grounds, we brunched in Laguna Beach, tooled around in Balboa, and spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at Disneyland where we turned into giant five-year-olds. Laurel and I rode Dumbo, and the 3 of us rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones following all with giant chocolate-dipped waffle cones from the ice cream place. Now on at least my tenth or twelfth visit or so, I'm starting to like that free park entry perk.



Now this is what I have to say about "The Incredibles": great movie, but see it for the Pixar "Bounding" short they play as an intro. It's priceless.

For tomorrow: Happy Diwali to those in the know!

Four more years of lunacy. Unless you're single...

From ABC News online:
...In a bid to help out their like-minded neighbours, a Canadian Web site is asking Canadians to marry someone from south of the border. "Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American," jests the site www.marryanamerican.ca.

"Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism."

Hundreds of Canadians already have signed up, ready to do their part for the cause.

"We envision a movement where everyone wins," it said. "Freedom of expression and a politically convenient marriage with love and igloos for all."

Today's mandate, of course, is don't forget to VOTE tomorrow! (Preferably for John Kerry, but this is America.) Arnold Schwarzeneggar is on our answering machine tonight, urging us to vote his way on a few California props. Now that's new. Moments ago, Akhil and I saw Manny Ramirez, World Series MVP, and neglected to get his autograph. We also saw Mark Steines, but who cares. See you at the polls!

Happy Halloween and End-of-Daylight-Savings-Day. So far, no trick-or-treaters here at my Glendale apartment. I guess that means I get all the glow-in-the-dark "Shrek" Twix bars to myself! Yesterday, my colleague Mark Essig and I formed a last-minute team to participate in an annual "Amazing Race"/L.A. event my friends Mike and Maria put on. I'd say third place is a darn good finish!

We started at 10 a.m. from a pre-race breakfast at Mike and Maria's house, among 10 other teams, travelling to 16 different clue locations from Glendale to Beverly Hills to China Town all the way to San Pedro.

One nun-baked pumpkin bread, two Grey Goose vodka shots, three obscure soda pop bottles, six sunken Holmby Hills golf balls, 10 semi-legal parking spots, 50 mariachi musicians and a swim in The Standard roof pool later, Mark and I (a.k.a. "Team Anonymous") finished up at 5:37 p.m. at Philippe's the Original in downtown L.A. -- just one minute behind Team #2 and ten minutes behind "Orange Crush." Not bad for first timers. Akhil stayed near a computer and phone and provided technical guidance/directions via Web searches -- he met up with us at Philippe's for the post-race party which included an appearance by actual "Amazing Race" winners Chip and Kim.

Does this all sound crazy and juvenile? If you'd raced, you'd understand. We had such a blast! For a full race report click here.


Clues...

Team Anonymous

Akhil at Philippe's

Mark, wife Melissa, Chip and Kim

We have our life back. Ahhh... No more television commitments, no more weeping. Maria Shriver apparently broke her foot in her Red Sox jubilation. Halloween's coming up, so we'd best get our plans together. Holidays, birthdays, and election day too. Suddenly life's abuzz again. We booked our Thanksgiving tickets this week --we're Seattle-bound.

Let the new paradigms begin.

Rain, baseball, work, all the same stuff still is consuming the average day this week. We may get 3 inches of precipitation this eve, in fact. This past science-themed weekend consisted of two perfect fall afternoons in which Akhil and I did some very exciting stuff - not the least of which was buying new Honda floormats for the Civic. This followed by Red Sox victory(ies!!!) and seeing a rather ill-designed movie called "What the X&@! Do We Know" starring (sort of?) Marlee Matlin that was all about quantum physics, perception vs. reality, and being your own "God." It had way too much cutesy animation in it, a few flighty "experts" and, well, put one of our companions to sleep. They also needed a more heavy-handed editor, but we got the point, at least.

Fortunately on Sunday we redeemed ourselves with a breakfast among the hippest crowd on the east side at Fatty's in, that's right, Eagle Rock, and finally, a trip to the Skirball Center to see the Einstein exhibit. It was packed. Absolutely packed. With a very overly determined mob of senior citizens who were a little too proud of their man Albert, who, one woman realized from the exhibit boards, was somewhat of a "ladies maaaaannnn."

I recommend it - but go early or you're at your own risk. It's a great, well-done, compact show and we'd never been to the Skirball, either, which is an impressive complex.

Otherwise, hmmm... see my Tonight Show feature at:
http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=26102

...and don't forget to check out tomorrow night's lunar eclipse.

It's on again. Baseball. Once in a very blue moon I get hooked on a series, and this is one of those times. I am not going to start watching the game until at least the fifth inning.

Rain still falls in Los Angeles as we speak. It's amazing because driving along the 101 in this weather it looks a lot like the Pacific Northwest. Lots of misty hills and trees - it's actually rather nice-looking, until you exit on Sepulveda Blvd.

RAIN. That's is the big news -- and I mean big -- this weekend. It rained all morning. Such a novelty. We're sitting here at home using it as an excuse not to go outside (even though by now I think it has stopped for the most part). You just don't get enough of those weather excuses out here, so if the skies even smack of precipitation you can stay home and read. That's the rule. I heard it from my friend's sister a couple years ago, who worked for a VERY well-known television producer at the time -- the day we saw her, this man had skipped work that day because of a 30 percent chance of rain... Ah, for the love of showbiz.

Okay people, if you tend to like to stay out of harm's way, don't be a Red Sox fan. Enuff said. Thank goodness for the Patriots. Akhil and I went to Book Soup yesterday just because we wanted to see what it's like to hang out on Sunset Strip on a Saturday. Afterwards we stumbled upon an art festival in Beverly Hills and had a coffee on Rodeo. Saw Mike Tyson. And a substantial number of tourists wearing inappropriate clothing. If not here, where, I suppose.

Come on, Red Sox. What the heck?! It's that time of year -- my poor friend-and-family fans are getting emotional again.

At work today I volunteered to become the expert on open-source programming. Now that's devotion. If anyone's got any story ideas, send them my way.

Wow, did I really volunteer to go see "Hero" last night? Well, it was no "Crouching Tiger" but we got through it ok. Today was Columbus Day and so traffic gave us all a little bit of a break. Spent an enlightening lunch hour with my new colleagues who revealed interesting details about their lives that won't be mentioned here. That's the trouble with blogs -- you become your worst censor-nightmare. Definitely necessary. Let's take a moment of silence for Christopher Reeve. A sad loss especially for the world's biggest "Smallville" fan (Akhil).

The youngster who created this blogging tool and sold it all to Google less than two years ago is leaving Google, he said on his blog (seen here: http://www.evhead.com/), to create something new. Such level of accomplishment makes the both of us feel like we're not living up to our potential. Remember those dot-com days? Everyone and his brother was doing stuff like that. Funny, I am once again working for a dot-com - this time, without the stock options. The ones that stuck around have become a little bit lackluster but knowing they might actually be here to stay allays certain job-security fears. Remnants of the old days include free caffeinated beverages and bagels on Fridays, but so far, no signs of home communications reimbursement, expense accounts, post-work cocktails and seafood dinners, or even business cards.

This weekend has, as usual, revolved around food and thoughts of our very hazy, non-directional future. It's been ages since I've been in touch with friends -- fall hits and people get busy. Halloooo out there.

Getting up at 5:30 to be a desk jockey is hard. I wonder if getting up at 5:30 to, say, perform cardiac surgery would be easier because at least the adrenaline rush you'd get would be a little bit energizing. Nevertheless, one week down, one day 'til sleep. I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. Akhil was in Detroit for 4 days -- he flew back home last night -- so I had a few days of singlehood while adjusting to the new job and it really felt like I'd up and moved to a new city. The Valley is mysterious to me and seems disconnected from the rest of L.A. -- not to mention I no longer work with Hollywood types and that's pretty weird too after more than 3 years in the thick of things. Bizarre. I have to say, L.A.'s still sunny but just not as fun when you're distanced from the biz! Well, s'money. Just noticed my plants are dying. Got to go.

Congratulations to....... ME. Starting tomorrow, I have a new 7-4 schedule. And I'll be crash coursing in all things technological for my new editing gig with an online business and tech news publisher out in Encino - another new neighborhood for me. I drove there today mid-morning and it only took 20 minutes. That alone is life-changing! After five years of bumper-to-bumper, multiple freeway, 1-2 hour commutes, this could be the sign of a new era. I have to bid a fond farewell to my loyal friends over the last six months -- Oprah, Regis, and Dr. Phil.

Meanwhile Akhil and I have been nursing a grudge against the real estate market and looking beyond the box to see what other options may be out there for us. The journey continues.

May this help you all to understand:

41 offers, seven of which were more than $100,000 over asking, for a 2-bedroom 1923 house, and the agent expects bids over $700k. They're taking counters for those seven contenders, with no contingencies. None. Ha hahhhhahh ha ha. HA HAHHHHHHHH Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaah ha. Go ahead laugh. Or you'll cry. I'm just a little bit numb.

History's in the making: we submitted our first-ever offer on a house today. As did at least seven other bidders...

At least we're in the game! Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, I didn't make it out for that biking jaunt mentioned earlier this week but this morning Akhil kicked my butt with a long, 2 and a half hour ride from our place to Griffith Park, where I survived Garbage Hill. And Akhil gloated about his new "PR" (that's obsessive, competitive, crazy man-speak for 'personal record.')

Home-buying makes you fickle. I swear, I have fallen in and out of passionate love about ten times so far and each time it feels like the last house on earth. I don't know how people do this. We're getting serious now, even have an agent. After our bike ride today we had brunch at Cafe Verde, again, in Pasadena. I almost don't want anyone else to know how great this tiny little place on Green Street is, but it's just such a find. This time I had the eggs florentine, and Akhil reverted to the vanilla french toast. The place seats maybe 20 people so it can get a little crunched in there, but that' s the only drawback, other than the fact that it's closed on Sundays. I also got a letter from my long-lost wonderful friend Ulrika, who lives in Barcelona. I met her in France during our year studying there and haven't heard from her in a couple of years - long enough for her to become a mom! Her letter came with photos of her stunning little blond one-year-old, Alba. I am freaked out and delighted at the same time. We're real people all of a sudden.

I'm trying to muster some energy for a bicycling jaunt after our 'big night out' on Tuesday -- dinner on Vermont Ave. at Il Capriccio was a lot of fun and the food was great, as was our waiter, who could pull tablecloths off without disturbing the salt shakers. Very impressive. We met up with Akhil's friend Elliott, creator of the infamous "The Roomba," and his girlfriend Zoe, a British screenwriting hopeful who was quirkily charming. We talked about the 'silliness' of Los Angeles, the fact that no one walks here - for real - and the similarities between Nebraska and rural England - both exotic to Akhil and me, who grew up on opposite coasts. Did anybody know there's this place called Lake Piru 70 miles north of Los Angeles where you can take wake-boarding lessons? Who knew! Leave it to the newcomers to figure that out.

A whole new world was opened up to us yesterday as we expanded our home-hunting horizons to -- yes, the Valley! All afternoon Akhil couldn't help himself from speaking in that 80s Valley accent so I am not sure we should live there, however, it turns out there really are nice-looking, non-delapidated, four-bedroom homes there that we could even, like, afford, maybe. Hard to take those boulevards though. They are such ecological, aesthetic and sociological disasters. It's so weird how the L.A. area is set up with these gigantic boulevards hiding what they call residential "pockets" between them. And when you get inside these pockets, they could be New England, or someplace in the midwest, like Michigan. It's the most bizarre phenomenon. Food for thought if nothing else.

This was after discovering the mysterious city of Alhambra on Friday night (which is only say 5 miles from our apartment), where we ate Vietnamese food (and were the only two non-Vietnamese people in the Golden Deli - now that's good stuff), and then made our first-ever trip to Fosselman's for white chocolate chip ice cream. I thought the place was quaint and the ice cream was ok - but still not as good as others I can remember, like J.P. Licks. Side note - the system of checks and balances appears to be working -- I was denied unemployment! Victory for the State of California's EDD! (Bastards.)

Holy heat wave! This is excruciating - and since it's the first time I've ever spent one of these hanging mostly at home in our very slightly A/C'd apartment here in the San Gabriel Valley, I realize how bad it really is when it's in the 100s over here. All other years I've been out on the west side, working in a nice, cold office space. They say on Tuesday we scored the highest power usage numbers in the city's history and Wednesday was a close second. Probably because of all the other unemployed folks who are home, cranking the A/C, the fans, the stereo and the computer system all at the same time. Praying for rain...

Once in a while this happens: you go through some period of disillusionment and discontent, when nothing can get you out of your bad mood, only to emerge all of a sudden, almost out of the blue one day feeling like you've just graduated from something. This weekend I had that feeling, on Saturday afternoon, even though it was 105 degrees out and we started the day talking about real estate. We'd had a great dinner with friends Friday night and maybe it had something to do with the conversation there, or, maybe it was the realization that I have the freedom, even now, to turn down a job I don't really want. I don't know, but the weekend was great. I still don't know what the hell we're doing with our lives, but I'm not unhappy about it!

On Saturday, our impromptu brunch with Tony & Angel included excellent french vanilla french toast and french press coffee at Cafe Verde in Pasadena. Afterwards, in keeping with Saturday's French-ish theme, we saw 'Before Sunset.' (Loved the ending.) Sunday was a day of work and housekeeping and grilled salmon that I made with sesame seeds and dijon mustard. Monday we spent the day strolling around in Santa Barbara.

As the venue for our engagement as well as our mini-honeymoon, Santa Barbara's still among my favorite places, but has anyone else noticed lately that it's starting to feel a little like Venice? Lots of "unpleasant" fragrances, transients, unkempt streets and sidewalks and almost absolutely no parking. That's new. Are they trying to get rid of us all of a sudden? They put up these 75-minute parking signs all over and we must've seen one parking enforcement vehicle per 10 tourists - plus at least 3 cars and 1 motorcycle getting pulled over on State Street and at least one car getting towed away. Also noticed some rapidly deteriorating restaurant service. For the first time we left Pacific Crepes because of the foul mood of the waitress. I'm sure we'll try again -- and soon. Can't give up on the creperie that easily - no!

Very interesting to watch Akhil buy shoes. He is getting very adept at it, having done it three times in the last two weeks -- and Cole-Haan, at that. (They have those Nike soles now.) His taste in shoes is more expensive than mine. No verdict on jobs yet - it's very hard to look at these opportunities with only cold, hard facts in mind - no passion, no emotion, no pride. But that's what I'm trying to do. If I want a house, I want a house, alas. Goodbye, journalism, goodbye.

Driving out of the parking lot at the Camarillo outlets yesterday we saw this crazy airplane making loop-de-loops and death-defying dives all over the place and Akhil realized it must've been the weekend of the annual Camarillo Air Show. What luck! Well, I was not totally into it at first, I must admit, but we headed over to the airport to see what was up. It was in the plan anyway to go have lunch at the cafe there -- it's right on the airstrip. Akhil always gets his favorite thing in the universe -- one of their famous tri-tip sandwiches -- which his flight instructor Bob had introduced him to back in his flying lessons days. They had all the WWII planes and helicopters and gliders and stuff I'll never remember the name of but the coolest thing was the actual flying - - the last act was this incredible 21-year-old kid who did the most heart-stopping 30-minute aerobatic show you could imagine. He's apparently one of the youngest aerobatic pilots in the U.S. It was really something - regardless of whether you think you're into aviation or not.

Big stuff this week: Heather is considering an opportunity to relocate to L.A.! A little different here than Boston, though. She doesn't get how people get home after happy hour, and wants to be sure you can walk from your apt. to the grocery store. Don't we all... A lso, my dad called today just to say hi. And you know he never does that.

So I'm tracking down comedians this week. Calling them. Leaving them messages. Generally bothering them and their army of "people." It's very odd, odd indeed, because sometimes they call you back. I always feel weird doing this kind of stuff from my dinky little apartment. And definitely weird when I am still wearing pajamas. Glad technology hasn't gotten over that camera-landline-phone hump quite yet.

This past weekend I helped my friend Tom babysit his kids, 1 and almost 4. We took them to Sand Dune Park in Manhattan. I swear, that is the best place to take kids, ever! Leaping down the dune is a blast for all - even us thirty-somethings. I know it sounds nuts, but try it for yourself. Then Sunday Akhil and I went right back out there - to sit on the beach and read. We walked around the sidewalk sales and had a casual dinner al fresco, and once again, I remember saying at least once that day, "I don't ever want to move!"

Los Angeles keeps doing that to me. The everyday stuff kind of sucks, but weekends by the beach and being able to live your leisure life outside -- hard to complain about that. I have another interview today - downtown L.A. - wow, I could even take the Gold Line.

We caught San Francisco on a relatively quiet weekend. I'd read that California was having a slow summer in terms of tourism and they're not kidding. Of course, that means it's a perfect time to travel around out here. Our drive up was a breeze - we met Gunther at his place in Mountain View early in the afternoon and had lunch in Los Altos. Then we took a full tour of the Stanford campus, met some of his students, reassured him that he had a pretty cushy work situation, and ended the day with a great dinner in Woodside before heading up to the city to sleep.

I can recommend the Cartwright Hotel on Sutter near Union Square. It's a clean, cozy place with free breakfast, access to parking, and a great rate of 99 bucks a night. We spent the day on Sunday walking around mostly - up Columbus Ave. to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 to see the sea lions, then a little shoe shopping in Union Square, followed by a hot dog/pretzel lunch and quick jaunt over to the Haight where Akhil had a nutella & banana crepe. Here he is in the City Lights bookstore on Columbus Ave.:



Then we headed to Bernal Heights to see his family - his brother has a great house there near his lab at UCSF's sparkling new campus - another beautiful place. The academic world has been showing some nice aesthetics lately. It's got funky furniture, light wood, scientific-looking artwork and lots of chrome. He took us along with his wife Suzanne and his/Akhil's parents to Andalu for tapas -- which was okay but we're food-spoiled now that we live in L.A. We were exhausted by the end of the day - and I would NOT recommend staying at Le Petit Auberge for a quick sleeping spot - we got a small (they called it "cozy") room where we got to hear the garbagemen do their work at 4 a.m. and none of the little niceties like turn-down service, chocolates on the pillow, 4 p.m. wine... we checked in too late, unfortunately. Monday we had breakfast in the Mission with Hiten and Suzanne before heading back down to 'Hell-A' - where we had our best meal of the weekend, actually, at Billy's Diner here in Glendale. I do love San Francisco - it's so opposite of L.A. though it's unbelievable that the two are related. Well, we're still young, sort of...

After three days of 110-degree heat, today is a bit more bearable, so, in a good mood I took the Civic in for its 45,000 mile service. It's overdue, and we're driving up to San Francisco this weekend so it was a good time for an oil change anyway. Saturday we'll visit our friend Gunther and his lab at Stanford, and then we'll meet up with Akhil's parents at his brother's house in the city on Sunday. Plan to be back in town Monday evening with reviews of our two different hotels and whatever food we eat while we're up there. Oh, to be employed and housed in San Francisco. I thought it was the perfect city and I still do -- at least in this country. Sydney has taken over my No. 1 ranking.

Someone tried to jimmy their way into our garage. So glad we got that renter's insurance! Rough neighborhood I guess. Akhil and I are sitting here sweating in our 95-degree apartment, contemplating the blandness of our lives. Well, bland at the moment since we're still waffling over real estate and I still seek work on a daily basis. Before I get into our latest plans and escapades, I'd like to congratulate "you-know-who" on the baby news! As far as I know it's still a secret in some cases... but I for one am very excited about it.

These last two weeks I got back into the volunteering groove and finally met with Liz Thoman, who runs the Center for Media Literacy in Santa Monica. It's so amazing in a way to have a chance to work with her, as she founded the journal Media&Values that we referred to every now and then in our theory classes in graduate school. A remarkable person. I'll be writing a few things for her in coming weeks.

Akhil has been decorating his new office, and I've been nitpicking the decor of our apartment just to get a few more months/years of life out of this place - yes, we thought we'd have moved by now but things are not cooperating. So, I dug up a few gift certificates from the wedding and reorganized. I can't believe what Pottery Barn charges for furniture. Yet, I feel repelled by most of Ikea's. I think there's room for a new player in between.

Let's see... "Big Fish" was good, "Bourne Supremacy" was so-so, "Collateral" was decent (and L.A.-realistic!) and I am about to finish "A Suitable Boy," finally, which is getting good in pages 1200-1375. Tonight we're going out for booze - a rare activity for us these days, but once in a while it's all you can do.