Your Life, My Thoughts

Escape from L.A.

Q. When do you know it’s a good time to pack it up and take it home? I hate my job, my relationship will never be anything serious, and the place I am living is hell and I don’t have it in me to sign on to another year in this place. I am considering doing a sublet for the rest of the summer, but then again can I last another LA summer?
  
A. You’ll know that it’s time to move on when you feel that you’ve exhausted every LA storyline there is, and the next season of your life can be relocated to a place with a cheaper overhead and tax incentives. 

It sounds like you really may be at that point, but I’d suggest spending the rest of the summer as a last-ditch effort to try and address these issues, before throwing in the towel. At the very least, you can spend that time getting a really nice tan. (The subsequent sunspots and non-malignant moles will serve as a permanent reminder of your days in California. Yay memories!)

Let’s start with one of the easier problems to remedy — your housing situation. In addition to looking for a sublet, there’s also the option of finding a place that operates on a month-to-month basis. Should you stick around beyond Labor Day, you won’t have to worry about moving again, which is an inherent annoyance with sublets. 

If the thrill is gone in your current relationship, stop wasting your time. No need to be weighed down by that anchor when you can spend your time looking for a more satisfactory seasonal fling.

As for that job thing, if you’re serious about breaking up with LA, quit your job and find something menial that can finance your “summratime” of fun. If you’re going to stay in town, then there are a myriad of job boards to visit, connections to work, alumni to guilt, and potential bosses to sleep with that can put you on a better career path. 

So to summarize - Take action, cut the dead weight, and print some resumes. Or, to paraphrase one Ms. Ashley Simpson, “Hollywood may suck you in, but it won’t spit you out.” (This coming from a girl who got plastic surgery a year after this song was released, but it’s still a nice sentiment).
 

Books Are Silent Friends

Q. Have any good summer reading recommendations? -asteriskerin

A. So glad you asked.  In an alternate universe (sideways LOST universe?) I’d run an independent book store. Unfortunately, in this one, I have bills to pay and a misinterpreted disposition that makes customer service a no-go. None the less, I am a bit of a bookworm (mostly contemporary fiction), so I have a ton of recommendations.

If you liked Veronica Mars try Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. It’s probably my favorite of all the ones I’m recommending. A fantastic murder mystery written with great wit and an incredible ending.  

If you want to read what every other straphanger is reading, then pick up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Stieg Larsson. The first in a trilogy, it’s already received a kick-ass Swedish film adaptation currently playing (with subtitles) in select N. American theaters. The second film will hit our shores July 2. Hollywood’s version will likely surface in 2012.

If you want to read a younger, female version of David Sedaris (that isn’t named Amy) check out I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. It’s truly delectable.

For an addictive cult classic, nothing beats Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. 30 million readers can’t be wrong. Too bad the movie doesn’t do it justice.

If you’re taking a great American road trip consider State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Like the states themselves, some essays aren’t as interesting as others. Here’s lookin’ at you Kentucky. 

Want a highly amusing, modern-day Holden Caulfield? Then you’ll enjoy The Every Boy by Dana Adam Shapiro. Non spoiler: he’s dead by the end of the first page.

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor would match well with those looking for a lyrical book. It’s a suspenseful mix of poetry and prose that centers on a typical suburban block on an an atypical day. 

if you’re one of my friends to whom I’ve loaned a book and still haven’t returned it, you better be reading: Await Your Reply, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, and Call Me By Your Name. I know where y’all live.  

Lastly, if you want to read what I’ll be reading this summer get The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, which currently has 477 holds at the NY Public Library; It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me, by Ariel Leve (a title I identify with); and How Did You Get This Number, the latest from Sloane Crosley. 

Special request: if someone could find me one of those early 90s READ posters with either Andrew Shue or Oprah Winfrey for decorating my apartment alt universe book shop I would really appreciate it.