Los Angeles, 1950's Style 
So right about this time last year I was soaking up all that beautiful Los Angeles had to offer. It was Spring Break and Southern California was sunny, warm, and welcoming. The Connecticut rain and gloom? But a distant memory.
Unfortunately, I’m not repeating my West Coast jaunt this year, but I have these really awesome vintage pictures of L.A. from the ’50s and ’60s to help quench my wanderlust.
I found them on the blog A Continuous Lean, but they were originally posted on Neat Stuff Blog. Both are worthy of your time and visit.
Here’s a cute, kinda funny short film I found. It’s called “Babe” and it centers around two recently broken up yuppies. On the surface, there’s much to love: some Chet Baker and Nat King Cole songs, an argument over who “gets the Prius” - both amidst the backdrop of a drab, black and white diner.
I’d say its trying to self depreciatingly poke fun at the urban, liberal, mildly hip twentysomethings who can often get way too caught up in themselves – basically the exact same demographic who would read a blog called “All Plaid Out”, which is where I found the film. (Did I just implicate myself?) 
CAN SHE PLEASE COME TO THE MILL????
and to keep the advertising going …
Getting our Spring Break on
If your Spring Break jaunt includes a nice plane ride, here’s an NPR reading list to help you along the way.
The Mile High Book Club: Great Airplane Reads
Another musical find from the blog Wine & Bowties. Its this raw, soulful, hip, danceable, recession-driven song called “I Need A Dollar” by Aloe Blacc. Its also the theme song for the new HBO show “How To Make It In America”, a New York version of Entourage where, unlike Vince and his friends, the main characters haven’t yet hit success. The first episode is on YouTube, and I’m so far unimpressed. But this song is stellar nonetheless.
Usually I’m really late when it comes to finding songs, so this may already be on everyone’s iPod. But I can’t get enough of it. Its Mark Ronson’s remix of Miike Snow’s “Animal” I found it on the admirably tasteful blog “Wine & Bowties”
Required reading for everyone with a Facebook
I just came across this incredibly relevant and interesting article from “The Bygone Bureau” blog on the falsehood of the death of the ‘busy body’ - that little old lady that always used to peek through the blinds so she could get the dirt on the neighborhood and spread it to her bridge playing friends. Remember Gladys Kravitz, the pesky neighbor immortalized in the 1960’s sitcom Bewitched? That’s the type I’m talking about.
The author of the article now believes that all of us - you, me, the kid setting next to me in the library right on Facebook - are the new Mrs. Kravitzs of the world. We know everything about all of our Facebook friends and aren’t afraid to spread it.
The author writes:
“I would take that a step further and suggest that social networking is roping our personal worlds — all of our acquaintances spread across our lifetime and the globe — into one blue-and-white small town. And peering through the blinds at our neighbors and crushes from middle school isn’t some old lady. It’s me, you, and everyone we’ve ever met.
But every time I start a sentence with the phrase “I saw on Facebook…” I remind myself that I’m sporting the verbal-equivalent of a housecoat and hot rollers. Repeating information gleaned from Facebook without bothering to couch it in some ambiguous “I-heard-somewhere” statement is the new format of gossip, and it’s becoming more prevalent everyday.”
She is just so spot on. We really are guilty. Welcome to a new frontier my friends. If you’ve got a Facebook, you gotta read this.
RIP Pay Phone? Not just yet.
So here’s my favorite human interest story of the week.
Everyone knows the pay phone is clinging to life and just about ready to be buried in the technological cemetery. But today’s NY Times profiles one pay phone booth in Queens that is still alive and well.
According to the article, “Those who stepped into the booth provided a snapshot of New York’s pay phone user, an elusive, rather anonymous demographic sometimes viewed with suspicion.” And if you think about it, that description is so true. Its more and more likely that whenever we see someone using a pay phone we think “well that’s odd. why aren’t they just using their cell phone?”
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this piece. The stories behind the story are really fascinating and humanistic.
