Chapter 2: Elaine finds her Future >>

Drought-tolerant gardens got a bad rap in the days of xeriscaping. They've come a long way, and are more important than ever. >>

I address a nation recently torn asunder. I'm referring to the rift caused by Sanjaya Malakar, the hardy-as-a-cockroach contender on this year's "American Idol." Strange visitor from the planet Hairdo, the 17-year-old with the Colgate smile charmed his way into the top 10 on this, America's most popular TV show, despite his rather modest gifts as a singer. On second thought, I wouldn't call them gifts at all. >>

I once explored all seven circles of show business hell, and consequently learned one of Hollywood's primary lessons: Each time you feel you've reached the absolute lowest point of show-business humiliation, you can pretty much count on there being more to come. >>

From the '60s to the '80s, rock music billboards ruled Sunset Strip. Robert Landau was there for the pop art explosion. >>

Beachy Keen >>

I was thrilled to read Robin Abcarian's excellent article on Lilly Tartikoff as well as her daughters Calla and Lizzy ("Back on Her Feet," March 25). I've been employed by UCLA in medical sciences development for nearly 24 years and was painfully aware of Tartikoff's tragedies and inspired by her remarkable triumphs. >>

The primate portraiture of photographer Jill Greenberg >>

Personally, I'd rather not be my own time capsule ("Dear Me," by J.R. Moehringer, March 25). If I felt compelled to compose a message to my future self, I'd probably write it—OK, maybe type it and have it printed—on paper, seal it in an envelope and put it away somewhere. Why fuss with all this digital technology that might be obsolete by the time Future Me is scheduled to receive the message? >>

Thank you for the "Freshen Up" recipes (by Leslee Komaiko, Style, March 25). They were such an inspiration—I cooked them all for a Sunday afternoon feast with friends. Sublime! >>

Throughout the evolution of Western civilization, the tie was the sign of a gentleman. Now it's a date-killer. J.R. Moehringer mourns its passing. >>

Until recently I had never watched "The View," a spirited little gabfest on ABC that is, apparently, trying to destroy America. Of course, I'm referring to co-host Rosie O'Donnell's remarks suggesting there was some sort of conspiracy behind the collapse of World Trade Center 7 on 9/11 and that the British—in an incident involving the detainment of 15 of its sailors by Iranian forces—might have intentionally been trying to provoke Iran as a prelude to some larger action, a la the Gulf of Tonkin. "Google it," Rosie told her viewers. >>

Before the new normal, a former Rhodes Scholar told me that after the Soviet Union collapsed, 84 Soviet "briefcase nukes"—each a potential Hiroshima—were "lost." When "found," any Bill Gates with a double-Y chromosome could become a nuclear power by signing a check. So? >>

At first glance Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market and Patio Café, with its kitschy sign featuring a lobster lounging beneath a beach umbrella, looks like just another beachside eatery. >>

Time was when the clothes you competed in were best left in the locker room. Today's a brand-new game. Designers are thinking way beyond staid argyle, starchy whites and monochromatic Lycra. Five athl >>

It's interesting that someone besides me has noticed that most politicians have full heads of hair ("Mein Hair," by Dan Neil, 800 Words, March 18). There are some with thinning hair and the unfortunate comb-overs, but they are few and far between. >>

Designers stole a page from the scorebook when they put together Spring's clothes, riffing off soccer, track and bowling with an Uber-retro feel. Zach Braff trades in his scrubs for what's cool. >>

Lovely views—stark, unimaginative interiors from which to gaze at them ("Dreamscapes," by Barbara Thornburg, Home Design Issue, March 18). What happens at night, when all is black outside and the inside is spare and bleak? I guess you have to wait for clear skies and a full moon. >>

Patt Morrison gets it ("Goodwill Hunting," Style, March 11). She's a true pro thrift shopper, or "picker" if you will, and I should know because I am too. We pity those who have an attitude against thrift shopping for the simple reason that they'll never know the pure joy of it. >>

In Los Angeles, men's streetwear retailers—many of whom consider themselves the ultimate fashion outsiders—have embraced the vibrant Fairfax district, where Canter's Deli is still thriving and local residents shop for Sabbath dinner. Among the bakeries and produce and fish markets, male shoppers now can cruise hip-hop, skate and punk-inspired boutiques crammed with the latest in graphic Ts, footwear and denim. It's a big multicultural fest, and the new kids on the block are excited. >>

Janet Fitch hit a home run ("In Sights," Home Design Issue, March 18). Most of us live our somnambulist lives, never bothering to really see who and what is around us. But if we could, I believe we would be the better for it. Fitch's essay forces us to examine where we fit and to be more fully engaged in who we are. >>

Thanks for featuring the Backstage Cafe & Bar in Beverly Hills (A Day In, by Jessica Gelt, March 18). It's a place where the local folks can walk for a weeknight dinner. It's too bad you couldn't feature the popular community-centered independent bookstore, Dutton's, which is now gone. >>

Time Stands Still. Or seems to. >>

Why Zin lovers are flocking to this grape-growing hub >>

Like B&Bs, only better. >>

The ups and downs of an eight-hour tour around Santa Cruz >>

I am writing this on my laptop from a wobbly wrought-iron café table sitting by a battered wood banquette in the back of the hippest, coolest, most damnably noncorporate coffeehouse that I know of in Los Angeles. >>

Marin French Cheese Co. >>

The story was Hollywood picture-perfect: a handsome husband wrongly accused of killing his beautiful wife and young stepson in a rowboat off the beach in Malibu for a big life insurance payoff. He was a personal friend, someone with whom we were raising our young kids. No way, we thought. Overzealous prosecutor, we thought. >>

Wine has a sense of humor at the Colorado Wine Co., where a recent tasting paid homage to Ponch, the hunky brunet cop played by Erik Estrada on the late '70s TV show "CHiPs." Jennifer Nugent, who owns the shop with her husband, John, explains, "You can only do 'Merlots From Around the World' so many times before you want to kill yourself." >>

Americans are the world's leaders in spending energy ("Eco-Tizzy," by Dan Neil, 800 Words, March 11). So how can we change that and still remain somewhat sane? One way is to make reducing energy consumption a "family affair." On Saturday or Sunday morning, round up the kids and gather in front of a computer and calculate your carbon budget. There are a number of different calculators that can be accessed from any search engine. >>

My grandfather is in hospice care ("The End in Two Acts," by Lauren Kessler, March 11). At almost 98 years of age, he has had a good life. He has been bedridden since the beginning of this year and was given a dire prognosis due to kidney failure. On top of that he has dementia. There are days when he is not lucid enough to know what's going on around him. However, on days when he's lucid, he will often tell me that he wants the doctor to give him a shot so he can die. Until there is a law that allows one to control one's own death (besides in Oregon), there will be countless people like me who live in anguish, watching loved ones being eaten away by their terminal illness without a shred of hope to ease their pain. >>

Four talentless flunkies with "dreams" shuttle out to L.A., believing that they can break into the movies ("The Big Leap," by Deborah Netburn, March 11). I can't fathom why you wasted space on this far-too-common story. These beer bottle-clinking, fraternity-boy buffoons flock to L.A. every year by the thousands, clinging to the hope that they can write the next "Beerfest," get rich quick and bag hot chicks at parties. It's precisely this mentality and the persistence of "the dream" that lie at the root of Hollywood's demise. >>

As a working single mother, I too have discovered the joys of thrift shopping ("Goodwill Hunting," by Patt Morrison, Style, March 11). Where else can I buy my Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and cashmere sweaters? And then there are the two Saks Fifth Avenue 100% camel hair coats, the Calvin Klein jacket and the Christian Dior boots. A few years ago I would have been appalled at the idea of shopping at such a venue. I didn't know what I was missing in value and fun. >>

Wealth and fame couldn't save her from heartache. But as the former ballerina knows, you've got to pick yourself up and dance on. >>

What if. . . you could send yourself an e-mail scheduled for delivery 50 years from now? >>

The bungalow at Pacific Coast Highway and Cress Street used to be a happy hour beacon in Laguna Beach. Young men holding hands, Will-and-Grace types, the occasional gaggle of curious straights, the random lesbian couple—all would gather on weekends at Woody's at the Beach, a cottage-y gay bar. By midnight, the party would spread down the block to the venerable Boom Boom Room, with its dancing and drag queens, and to Bounce, a smaller joint across the street. >>

After months of potatoes and parsnips, chard and cabbage, the first glimpses of spring are a welcome sight. Delicate lettuces and herbs, tender vegetables and early berries explain why chefs have a li >>

After seeing "300," about the Spartans' defiant stand against the Persian juggernaut at the Battle of Thermopylae, I had a few questions. For example, I rather doubted that the great Persian king Xerxes looked like Dennis Rodman, only taller and gayer. It also seemed implausible that the Persians had mutant rhinos. And while I knew the Thespians and Arcadians were allied with the Spartans, I wasn't so sure about the Chippendales. >>

Trying to get an agent is like trying to get a bank loan; a bank will lend you money only when you can prove you don't need it. >>

Cinema Paradiso >>

For the last two years, the 24-year-old son of NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and his wife, actress Susan Saint James, has lived rent-free in the guest apartment above Lilly Tartikoff's large garage. >>

The most interesting aspect of the profile of a not very interesting L.A. teenager was its depiction of her mother, Jinx Kennedy ("The Secret Life of Cory Kennedy," by Shawn Hubler, Feb. 25). It seems as if a lot of parents are afraid of using the "N" word ("No") with their children, lest it somehow damage their self-esteem or, worse, make their children angry. Why does a 15-year-old girl need to be out till 2 in the morning on a weeknight or be driven to the Chateau Marmont to meet Lindsay Lohan? >>

Although I can understand, in principle, the reason why Ken Gonzales-Day edited the lynching photo, I feel that a kind of travesty has happened ("Franklin Avenue [1920]," Photo Synthesis, by Colin Westerbeck, March 4). >>

Thank you, Jessica Gelt, for the mention of Los Feliz ("The Lush Land of Los Feliz," A Day In, March 4). I get very nostalgic when reading about the area where I grew up. It was then oftentimes called "Pill Hill" because of the doctors living there, and there were also Disney animators, celebrities, etc. >>

The piece on Chinatown ("The Yin-Yang of Chinatown," A Day In, by Jessica Gelt, Feb. 25) was very informative, but it neglected to show Metro's Chinatown station. As a docent for the Metro Art Docent Council, our training not only includes learning about the great artwork at each Metro station, but also the adjacent neighborhoods. The Chinatown station itself is a wonderful introduction to Chinatown. >>