Killing time at LAX

Hey, Des Plaines! This is your Web Services Librarian, comin' at you from the - is it okay to say this? - deadly boring confines of LAX. I don't know about you, but I grew up imagining LA as the land of the Fleetwood Mac, the home of the blonde. Sit-com central, Hollywood, the Eagles, Brangelina, Britney, what have you. Rufus Wainwright has a charming little song called "California" that lists all the good/bad qualities we associate with a city like Los Angeles: "a thousand surfers, whiffs of Freon, and my new grandma Bea Arthur." And I suppose that's all out there somewhere, somewhere between the palm trees and the smog and the endless curving lines of highway ramps and roads. I'm actually thrilled to be here and on time, given the terrible fires raging in this area for the past week - I might be seeing smog which is a residual effect of those fires, I do not know. But the airport is a bummer, in that it's so typical of any airport, anywhere. I'm not even sure if I can get a smoothie in here. I wandered through The Body Shop for awhile, feeling like it was okay to indulge in their offerings since it's cruelty free and often quite healthfully made and some of the offerings are even fair trade. But I can also go to a much bigger Body Shop in Woodfield, for heaven's sakes.

However, unlike ORD, I don't have to pay for my wi-fi here, and that's fantastic.

LA is not my final destination, however. This is just a layover on my way to San Jose, where friends will then drive me on to Monterey, home of Internet Librarian 2007. In my earlier post, from O'Hare, I snapped a picture of an advertisement that seemed to suggest librarians are lacking in the sexy department. Hey, we're having a conference in Monterey - it beats Boise.

That's me in the picture for this post, just saying hello from Gate 80, LAX, Left Coast. In my post from this morning, I asked you to tell us about a time when a great book got you through a long airport delay - go ahead and post those here, there, wherever. You might inspire us to new heights of collection development (that's Librarian-speak for "the stuff we buy for you to check out") at DPPL. I have to tell you, they often say nobody walks in LA, and I'm concerned that nobody reads in LA, either. Not only am I not reading anything because I am typing this blog, everyone around me is on a computer, a phone, doing a sudoku or just staring at the ugly, overcast sky. Not a single book anywhere. In my list of LA-assumptions, music figured in a big way, but they are actually playing good old-fashioned Muzak in here. What we used to call "elevator music." I'm not sure of the last time I heard anything quite like it, and I certainly expected something hipper in LA. Even O'Hare has that crazy Brian Eno sci-fi walkway between concourses. Music is a critical part of my well-being and on my flight here, my iPod was a sanity-preserver. Wanna tell me what's on your iPod? I'll tell you what I listened to on the way here - maybe you'll find a favorite of your own.

Mystery Achievement - The Pretenders
Is It Any Wonder - Keane
Precious - The Pretenders
Stay (Faraway, So Close) - U2
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2
Honestly - Annie Lennox
Missing - Beck
When I'm Gone - Eminem
Just Getting By - Del Amitri
Don't Let It Show - Pat Benatar
Light Up My Room - Barenaked Ladies
Chelsea Hotel No. 2 - Rufus Wainwright
Bright Lights - Matchbox 20
Red Rain - Peter Gabriel
Stop This Game - Cheap Trick
Here is the House - Depeche Mode
Mayday - Shoes
You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins
The Verb "To Love" - Todd Rundgren
Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney
Union of the Snake - Duran Duran
Promises - Def Leppard
Mo Ghile Mear - Sting with the Chieftains
City of Blinding Lights - U2
Wild Heart - Stevie Nicks

Tell me 10-20 songs that are on your iPod - or, tell us here about a book that made the hours seem like minutes when you were stuck at an airport, anywhere. We'll put all the entries in a drawing and you'll win a souvenir from my California conference. Do it soon - I get back on Thursday, November 1 and will accept no entries after midnight, October 31 (Des Plaines time.).

I'll catch up with you tomorrow, Sunday, when I arrive in Monterey. Have a great weekend. Now I'll go see if the smog has lifted.