Pinkerton's Weblog

A Brief Update From Heathen Lands

I've been meaning to throw an update up for two weeks now, letting people know I'm not dead, that I made it to California safely, that I'm enjoying my new job as Managing Editor of the Lampoon during the few moments these past few weeks where I haven't been too busy to focus on trivial things like "joy". I've found a place to live; met co-workers; made friends and enemies; contacted funny writers that I've read and enjoyed online for years; and experienced daily doses of culture shock.

Though I've only been here a short time, I've found LA people to be agreeable, likable folks -- despite the supremely irritating belief every single one of them has that they're all about a week from being mega-famous. Plus they have the annoying habit of assuming the rest of the country is as entertainment-obsessed as they are -- no lie: everybody seems to have seen every single movie ever released. Telling someone you haven't seen a movie seems to illicit almost complete incomprehension here. LA brains are incapable of processing the concept that filmstock could be projected onto something and someone wouldn't care enough to watch it do so. "But... but they released it."

Still, despite these traits, they seem like good folks, so long as you stick to the parts of LA where, I'm told, people won't rob and kill you. I'm glad I'm here. It's warm here. The beer is cheaper here. The movie theaters are actual old school movie theaters, with the cavernous ceilings and red velvet curtains. People seem to genuinely care about films here. The fact that they can clutch a love this profound to their bosom and still make flotsam like First Daughter confounds me.

No, there's been plenty to write about. The problem, I think, is that there's actually been too much to write about. Moving to an entirely new country's provided me with such a sensory overload of thoughts, impressions and anecdotes that after only two weeks, I wouldn't even know where to start. It's overwhelming, and seems to have temporarily short-fused the bloggy part of my brain that usually never wants to shut up.

Plus -- and this is a biggie -- my PC's still in Canada. Should be delivered soon, at which point I can start updating my Back of the Bible series, and get back into the groove of writing more of all that stuff you guys pretend to tolerate.

Talk to you soon.

J