I may not have mentioned, Wisconsin was great and I have a few notes about it over at librarian.net. My creeping insomnia is exacerbated by living in a city that is built on cars and air conditioners, but I've been having a good time anyhow. It's hot here. Hot like too-hot-laptop-hot. Hot like the DSL modem is gasping for air. Hot like all the clothes I was wearing when I got here don't fit back in my bag now that I'm just wearing a skirt, tank top and flip flops. I gave away some books to the library. I gave away some clothes to the thrift store (and to Lauren) and I think I'll just make it on the plane tomorrow. I bought sunscreen in the 4 oz size and I just hope that I'll get to LAX early enough to check my bag on my way to Hawaii, otherwise it's bye bye sunscreen, hello Lobster Girl!

I've never really come to LA to visit friends before. I've come to visit a friend but not carried a list of numbers around in my pocket in that "if this is Tuesday this must be Michael" way. Lauren, my oldest friend who was in my tiny homeroom with me when we were eleven, has a delightful apartment full of great cats and good smells and tasty food and a peaceful guestroom. We went out and bought RAM and a wireless modem to help her technology attain the high quality of the rest of her accoutrements. Bryan, my old pal from Speakeasy, is settling in here and took one of the best recent pictures of me in existence. (hope you like swearing, there is some in that picture). And then last night I got to see my friend Michael who has also recently moved into a new place in Pasadena. We went to Cliff's Books and wandered around for hours and I got a few books for my upcoming plane trips.

I also went to what is best described as a "titty bar" called Jumbo's at the tail end of the MetaFilter meetup when I first arrived. It may surprise some people to know that this is my first foray into the world of pole dancing and two drink minimums, but since LA has the "if you are drinking alcohol, you can't see naked people" law, it was actually pretty tame. Mostly it was a lot of tall attractive women in scary high heels and legwarmers (yes, legwarmers) wearing two pairs of underwear and then taking off one pair. And then our meetup newbie, code name hightechunderpants, deciding this was the best meetup ever. In short, LA has been what I've been expecting it to be, only better.

jessamyn, abada abada