"Carmageddon" shows how LA freeways work

Although the closure of part of the 405 freeway (a.k.a., "Carmageddon") proved to be a non-event (and not the traffic disaster predicted by the media in the weeks leading up to this weekend), it did offer proof that the freeway system in Los Angeles can be an effective way to get around town--provided that everyone stays off of it.

How did our garden grow?

Over on the photo site, you can see how my wife's garden out on our condo patio turned from this:

To this in two months:

Go watch the transition (inasmuch as weekly shots of the progress qualify as transition).

Some people stink (in their brains)

Last week I witnessed the following exchange on the train: During the evening rush hour a young woman sat in the aisle seat next to me. She chatted with another young woman in the aisle seat across from her. Part way through the trip a clearly homeless man got on and stood at the front of the car, holding a sign soliciting help. That is not entirely uncommon. Similarly uncommon, most people ignored him.

However, as the man shuffled down aisle, clearly ashamed of his circumstances, the young woman leaned away from him as though he were threatening her, even though he was merely shuffling. She made remarks about how bad he smelled and told him to get away from her.

"Carmageddon": This is why the rest of the country makes fun of L.A.

This coming weekend here in the Los Angeles metropolitan area there will be the partial demolition of a bridge over a freeway. For this, a portion of a few miles of the freeway in question will be completely closed from Friday night through early Monday morning (see red rectangle below).

That seems like it would create some inconvenience for those who live or work or otherwise would travel that portion of the freeway during the weekend, but would otherwise be a minor issue, right?

Apparently you missed when I referenced this was "Los Angeles."

Giving up

On the latest Pop Culture Happy Hour they had this topic, to which I'll offer some response: When is it okay to give up on a book (and then they extrapolated out to discontinuing watching a TV series, walking out of a movie, leaving a theatrical performance)?

The answer is ridiculously simple: if you are not specifically required to read (or watch) something (for school, for work, for a book club, to keep up with what people are tweeting about, etc.), then it's a simple determination: when you're not enjoying it, getting nothing out of it.