Talking Glibly.

Bush decriers! Here's a new simplistic-yet-pithy analogy you can use at your next party! Impress those women's libbers!

Invading Iraq was like cleaning up your dorm room instead of writing your term paper. Yeah, it's something you were probably going to have to do eventually, and things are a little bit nicer for it. On the other hand, you're now going to fail out of Intro to Poli Sci.

ThuNYTX: 10:55. Stuck on several southern clues, but emerged with no apparent errors.

Current Television: A Survey.

What I'm watching, what I'm not watching, and why.

( Day by day by day by day by day by day by day )

Notes from Ventura Boulevard.

The rain has stopped and the clouds have disappeared, which means that it's beautiful today. Beyond beautiful. No clouds, no smog, no hot, no cold, no worries, no fears, just Los Angeles. So I took a walk down Ventura Boulevard.

In front of the Pavilions, a tree had fallen over in the storm. It was a small tree, and it just kind of flopped over onto the sidewalk. Nothing very traumatic, but I noticed that it had one of those plaques by it, dedicating the tree to the memory of someone. Sadly, I didn't have any paper to take down the name. I hope the tree gets better.

I passed several restaurants that look nice. They always look nice. Sadly, they aren't open for breakfast. I need to commit myself to waking up early and visiting for an unusually large and elaborate breakfast. I've gotten by for a while now, but eventually someone is going to ask my which of those restaurants are good, and I can't keep pointing to the P.F. Chang's.

Reminder: Earth 2 is open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. I have to go over there to order the premiere shayara issue. I've been in there once before, on a day when I was up ungodly early. The proprietor is friendly, the story was bright and airy, and there were many things that I was tempted to throw my money at. On second thought, maybe it's better that I can't get there often.

I was surprised by a set of unusual posters on the door of California Pita. It's just a little moderate-speed-food place, but they were offering a reward for information leading to the capture of a thief. Seems that some guy on a bike stole some pitas from behind the store. But they caught him on camera. The poster had some incriminating photos. What's more, they let you know that one can see a video of the crime on their website. If you know anything about this man, you could claim the reward: $2.50, the approximate value of the stolen goods.

While I was at the pharmacy, waiting for the presecription to be filled, I was drawn to a probably useless gadget. You see, it really is a beutiful day, and it seems that I spend a lot of my time telling people how great the weather is in Los Angeles. And yet, they stubbornly remain in, say, New England. So I picked up an indoor/outdoor thermometer, so that I have proof of how wonderful it is here. True, it doesn't measure the beauty of the birds singing in the pomegranate tree my backyard, but what does?

Right now? 67°F and sunny.