THINGS I DID ON MY DAY OFF

• Marveled at how may people in Los Angeles don’t have day jobs and how many have beagles. Those are two classes of people of whom I am very jealous.
• Placed a call to the phone company, which started as a cordial call, then morphed into a mildly annoyed call when I was transfered the first time, then an angry call when I was transferred the second time, then a red-faced, snappish, veins-bursting belligerent call when I was transferred the thrid time, then, finally, a grateful call when I was connected with someone who knew what the hell she was talking about and who solved my problem for me. Thanks, Mindy.
• Watched a man wheel up a large blue curbside-style recycling bin to the trash can at the gas station. He picked out the empty cans and bottles and crushed each one before putting it into his official City of West Hollywood-issued container. His possession of such a container and his meticulous crushing of recyclables made me wonder whether he was a homeless guy or some concerned college student doing his part to save the environment, until I saw him take a sip from one of the discarded water bottles. I had my answer, though, sadly, it was not the one I was hoping for.
• Spoke to my “agent” for the first time in months. It was predictably pointless. She insisted that she just drove past the Groundlings building and that it was now a designer clothing boutique. (Though I haven’t driven past the Groundlings building in at least four days, I am fairly confident that this is not true.)
• Had lunch at Topz and actually scored a parking space on the street. While I was inside, they played “Something Got Me Started” by Simply Red. That made me almost as happy as the Aero-Fries. I’d give it all up for you. Yes I would!
• Listened to the launch of Air America Radio on 1580AM Los Angeles, which was preceded by two Spanish-speaking men signing off to their listeners for the last time. It sounds unlikely, but I swear their last word before their signal cut off was “Ciao!”
• Spent almost as much time working on this site as I did writing, which was supposed to be the point of today.
• Forgot to read my friend’s script, which was the one thing I was really supposed to do.
• Thought about packing for my trip to New Orleans tomorrow, but did not actually pack.