alright, i'm still around, trying to get back into the swing of things and shit. DSL for my new place should be on this monday, and i can barely wait. i'm actually sitting in an internet cafe in hollywood right now. i'd much rather be in my new home writing this, and once i get up and running i'm sure i'll be doing a bunch more updating. i still need to put all my vacation photos up here and do some work on millatimes.com, including updating my resume and adding the clips from voice of america.

the last few days have been spent fixing up my new place, which is starting to look more and more like a home. just a few boxes left. i like the place a lot and the building is nice and old -- from the hollywood of the 1920s. it actually reminds me a lot of san francisco. it's a brick building with fire escapes and lots of charm. the whole area is full of them, and most have regal names, like the commodore, monecito, fonteroy, even one named chateau des fleures. mine is more modestly named palm court, presumably for the palm tree in the courtyard. the building is pretty nice and all my (60!) new neighbors seem alright, and the area... well, that's another story. it certainly isn't as nice as the last neighborhood i lived in, the one in west hollywood at beverly and fairfax. nope, no more of that hollywood-lite living, this new place is in Hollywood with a capital H, right in the belly of the beast. my new closest cross streets are hollywood and highland. but me and pabs chose the area because we're sharing one car to cut costs and it's walking distance to the metro. there's actually a train that comes pretty close to USC, which is convenient since both of us are USC students (pabs is beginning the MBA program this fall). it's a much more flavorful area, euphemistically named (by the homeowners just north of me) "whitley heights." there's more traffic and less parking. but it'll do for now -- at least for the next two years.