Why traffic on 128 will never piss me off again

Okay, I've been back on the east coast for more than 7 months and I cannot escape the tentacles of LA. I gotta let it go, I know. But in case anyone on the east coast wants a serious, in-depth understanding of all that "bad traffic" talk that always goes hand in hand with life in Los Angeles, here's what happens when bad weather gets added to the equation: a 2.5 hour commute to go 11 miles. And even when you CAN drive someplace, the roads are now more of a mess than ever.

Yesterday I made an ill-advised late night trip to Target in order to stock up on Golden Globe-watching provisions. There I found one of the most frightening signs that our global economy is really, truly in the shitter. Tucked in the back corner of the store, like a creature out of a Ray Bradbury story, one that warns us all of the perils of commercialization, was the new Global Bazaar section. Draped in colorful faux-silk flags and full of "fine imported goods" from countries around the world that usually sell the fruits of their underpaid labor to places like Pottery Barn, the section urges customers to "ShopThe World From Home." Because we would all rather buy our affordable, mass-produced decorative accents from Target instead of hoofing it to, say India, which really needs the tourism cash right now. It was frightening, but it didn't keep me from buying my Target-brand gummy worms....