I will continue my explorations today by venturing to the Apple Store in Santa Monica, where I plan to watch the MacWorld Expo keynote tomorrow morning. The rumors include Apple’s long-anticipated replacement for Microsoft Office, and cheap low-end iPods. I haven’t been following the rumors. I never really listen to the rumor sites, but you can’t help but hear things sometimes.

Last night, we attended a party hosted by one of the teachers in The Wife’s program. His apartment is north of LA near Hollywood, and is perched on a west-facing hill with a panoramic view. We drove there and back on several LA freeways. Have I mentioned this is a large city? It is super-sized. As we wended our way slowly over underpasses, under overpasses, we could spy a number of downtown skylines. I have heard LA described as forty-six suburbs in search of a city, and our pilgrimage last night bore this observation out.

And at the moment, I have more California- and *LA-*centric songs going through my head than I can stand. Especially whenever I cross Santa Monica Boulevard. The bartender looks up from his want ads.