Thursday!

Okay, so I'm late in posting this -- cut me some slack -- I was out on business meetings all day yesterday (yes, after a night of drinking and merrymaking... that's how I roll sometimes) and at least I'm posting!

Ah, Thursday night was interesting. Before hitting the town, I went to an event at the Los Angeles Press Club -- it was a reunion of the former staff of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Are some of you too young to remember the Herald-Examiner? Or maybe you're not from L.A.? Well, either way, here's the skinny: The HerEx was an afternoon paper in Los Angeles that folded in 1989. I won't get into the details -- Google it if you're interested. The former staffers laughed and cried and told some wonderful stories of their time on this paper. It made me sad because everything they were saying played to my idealistic fantasies of the newspaper biz -- all the reasons why I wanted to be a journalist -- the busy newsroom with phones ringing constantly, the reporters shouting to each other across the room, eccentric editors supporting wild story ideas, drinking during lunch and going back to write an awesome story. You know -- REAL journalism! Truth, justice, the American way! Not the white-washed, insipid, regurgitated wire crap we have nowadays.

Here comes a rant: The ONLY thing that keeps us "free" is our free press. And now, we have newspapers folding by the dozens, and even the giants are laying off reporters and staff at alarming rates. Our news consists of stories that people want to hear -- Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and other blah, blah, blah. Gone are the days of Woodward and Bernstein -- gritty investigative journalism that resulted in the resignation of a President and the exposure of the Watergate scandal. What sorts of checks and balances do we have in this country when journalists don't have the manpower, the resources and the support to pursue real stories? Bloggers don't pick up the slack, either ... bloggers blog about things that interest them -- and don't think for a minute they aren't biased!

Okay... so that's heavy and that was on my mind as I met my friends at the Normandie Room. Thank goodness for the Norm and it's bartenders -- famous for STRONG drinks -- thank you, Tyler! It's become our favorite way to start off our evenings in WeHo -- a stiff drink and some pool -- before heading out to the other lezzie hot spots.

On to East/West where we were meeting some more friends. I'm kind of over this place -- same crowd, same over-priced drinks, same music... and the furniture is not placed for optimum flow. If you have to go to the restroom, just be prepared to spend about 40 minutes or more away from your friends -- pushing through the crowd, waiting in line for one of the two stalls that are usually occupied by groups of three or more doing drugs (of course, you CAN use one of the urinals, I suppose... ahem), and pushing your way back. Although -- is it just me, or are the crowds here dwindling of late? It does seem to be getting easier to push your way around in there.

Soooo.... we decided to head over to Here. Here on Thursdays used to be my very favorite night out -- until it got a little ghetto, that is. But, surprisingly, it seems that the promoters have really done their best to de-ghetto-fy the evening -- just be sure you're not wearing a hoodie or you won't get in. This is part of the anti-ghetto dress code, I suppose. We had a great time! The music was great, people were dancing, and there were cute girls for my friends to check out. We have decided we're going back to Here on Thursdays more often, especially now that summer is around the corner and they have such a great outdoor space. Too bad the trees have gotten so tall -- I remember you could hide in the branches if you wanted to... well, that's another story for another day (or not)...