As a child, Raaya Elias emigrated with her family to Detroit from Syria,

and began a life long struggle to fit in.

Her creative instincts and sexual preference for girls escalated her isolation.

Living in east village hovels in the '80s,

she barely survived her drug addiction and self destructive tendencies.

Elias was recently in the news;

after a long term friendship with Elizabeth Gilbert,
Gilbert realized her true feelings for her best friend when Elias was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The Debate

Hillary took down the vile Donald Trump in their first debate of the campaign.

His responses were riddled with blatant lies, bullying attacks, and rambling sentences.

His sniffles pointed to adderall, most liekly administered to aid his focus which lasted

for 15 minutes before he was off the rails

confusing his experience on The Apprentice with running for leader of US.

He is sexist, racist, narcissistic, condescending and unfit to represent this country.

I cannot wait for him to be knocked off his podium.

Go West Project - Carolina

When Carolina saw the shiny pink mini skirt at H&M

she was immediately reminded of the ballerina in her childhood music box 

who spun to the metallic strands from the theme from Love Story every time the lid was opened.

Even though she had reached her shopping quota for the month, she had to have the skirt.

On its inaugural outing,

Carolina paired it with high silver heels which were not as comfortable as she hoped.

Although sexy and attention getting,

they were impractical for climbing the dirt hill to watch the sunset slip behind the hills of Hollywood.
She went to bed with a blister on her big toe.

The Golden Era

Joan London's The Golden Era

is a love story between  two polio-stricken children

at a rehabilitation facility in suburban Perth in the early 1950s. 

This premise could have gone wrong at so many turns,

but London's poetic observations and lyrical prose

transcends the bleak situation. 

Mumford and Sons

Seth Meyers

Thank you Seth Meyers for calling Trump out on his many lies.

I don't know why the main stream media lets him get away with his audacious bullshit.

Enough is enough!

Brad and Angelina

Happier Times

Go West Project - Franny

Franny was on the third day of a five day cleanse.

She'd only been in LA for a year, and already she felt like a cliche.

For most of her young adult life, after each meal, she was plagued with sharp stomach pains,

and would do anything, including venturing down this hippie dippie path,

to eradicate them.

Ironically, the chronic piercing jabs were now replaced by hunger pains,

and a lightheadedness which made her want to get out of the sun.

Commonwealth

Ann Patchett's new novel is a satisfying look

at the lives of two families who are forever intertwined

when a kiss at a backyard christening on a hot summer day

changes the course of their lives.

The Princess Bride

William Goldman's brilliance and wit pours forth from these pages.

Hilarious, delightful, and forever entertaining,

even though Buttercup is in desperate need of a post feminist makeover.

Her Every Fear

The lives of a recent London transplant, a murdered girl, and a handsome voyeuristic man

converge in a posh apartment building in Boston.

This well-written thriller has a Rear Window quality.

Which is a good thing.

Go West Project - Lexie

Lexie scored when she found a discarded pillow in the trash bin

outside the French Normandy apartment complex on Gower.

Her hips were tender from months of sleeping on the hard cement.

A mattress had become an unthinkable luxury item,

but a pillow was still within the realm of dreaming.

She couldn't believe her good fortune when she rescued the pillow from the garbage collectors.

Tonight her head would be cradled by soft synthetic fibers as she slept under the 101 overpass.

Fig Season

DIETLAND

The Journey Begins

The Desert

Go West Project - Abby

Abby was surprised when Charlie asked her out on date for the following Saturday night.

They met a few months ago at a coffee shop on a side street off of Franklin in Los Feliz.

They were regulars, writers,

seeking communal space to counterbalance the isolation of their profession.

They began to smile, make eye contact and eventually made small talk.

He was a welcomed distraction when she needed a break from writing a particular scene.

She was unaware how much her smile had affected him. 

He felt as if she could see straight into his soul.