WIRED!

Almost a month has past since I was living in "piles, piles, piles". I'm not completely "settled" yet, but very close. Most frustrating up till now has been my inability to get internet at home and cable TV (despite being a customer of Comcast here since August). Today the cable guy finally came by (after fruitless tech help over the phone the past few weeks) and brought a new cable TV box, so I can finally get a picture to go along with my cable menu on screen. And, most importantly, I am finally "wired" at home: I sit here writing this in my own bedroom! I have been back and forth to the "Mac Enthusiast" store the past week to buy a system upgrade (OS X Tiger) and upgrade my archaic level of RAM memory (state of the art circa 2000), so finally the cable modem configures properly with my computer and I can actually open my Web browser and SEE something! Up till ow, I had been reduced to driving around to various public libraries in the area for free internet, signing up for my one hour a day, waiting around till my time slot, fending off the hords who also were desperate for internet time on my machine. Not the best way to conduct a job hunt or do email!

POWER OUTAGE

At times, life in America's second city can seem like the third world. One major street heading up to my neighborhood from downtown looks like it could be Tegucigalpa or Guatemala City rather than America. The store fronts, the language on the signs, the crush of people, the styles ... is Central America. Then Monday, we had the classic third-world experience: a power outage. I came out of my shower and tried to turn on my bedroom light - nothing. I try other lights. Nothing. I thought it was probably just our building. So, I headed out with my computer in the trunk of the Infiniti to take it to the Mac repair place to have some RAM installed, and listening to the radio, I discover that much of LA is without power. Traffic lights are out. Every intersection is a 4-way stop now. I'm thinking: what's the point? Even if I can get through all the snarled traffic to the store, what's the chance they're even working now if a computer store has no electricity? Actually, some traffic lights were still working, but when I called the store on my cellphone, they said customers had complained that it was taking an hour to go 4 blocks. Hmmm. Time for Plan B. So, I headed back, went to the local Y and worked out, then went home.

THE LA LOOK

Just a preliminary report. This section refers mostly to what's "in" in my Los Feliz/Silverlake neighborhood among the cool people. (That doesn't include the immigrants fresh from Armenia, Thailand, or Mexico in the LA scheme of thiings.) Most of the hip people in this part of LA are part of the alternative, entertainment industry - ABC TV has a big studio facility nearby, there are independent film makers etc. in the hood, as well. The preppies and yuppies are further on the Westside near UCLA and Westwood. The fashionistas of Rodeo Drive who wear $900 jeans and black, black, and more black are more in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. But in Los Feliz, for guys, the look here is (bottom up) sneakers or flip-flops, knee-length shorts or jeans (the more "distressed" the better), and a T-shirt left hanging out with sleeves halfway down the arm. T-shirts with bizarre or obscure references are best - boutique rock bands popular, say, from 1971-73. Foreign languages are a plus. Black is always good. (Tucking anything in is SOOO 1990's.) Collars are out, too. But if you have to wear a button-up shirt, then it too must never be tucked in and have no long floppy tails (yech). And everyone MUST have a pair of dark sunglasses that they wear at all times in all venues (including darkened restaurants and libraries). Short, floppy, slightly unwashed hair (for guys) is good. Or no hair at all. The Bald and the Beautiful. The neatly combed, freshly washed, parted Jimmy Olson look is definitely OUT. I think freshly washed is out in general, but I rarely get close enough to most of these über-hip to smell them. I've decided I need to update my shirt collection to walk around the neighborhood here without drawing too many disdainful glances. Maybe a basic brown T-shirt (as long as the sleeves are high enough they don't hit my elbows). And time to buy some sneaks - I have no sneakers other than my gym shoes. How Midwest! Time to get up to date! ;-)