A Trip to the Store

To the store and back. I won't have to leave the pad again today unless I force myself to wash clothes. That's an almost tolerable excursion under the sun, if I listen at the door and from the balcony to be sure no neighbors, managers, landlords or other such scum are outside waiting to talk to me or inflict other such horrors.

Purchases made: Pack of Camels (non-filter, of course, it's the fiberglas & asbestos in the filters that kill the sissified weaklings who smoke filtered butts) liter of Dr Pepper (not diet; sugar good, fake sugar bad) Dentyne Ice Arctic Chill (tastes tolerable, exception that proves sugar good, fake sugar bad) L. A. Times (yes, printed on the mutilated bodies of murdered trees, how retro of me).

Non-purchases acquired: Local give-away version of The Onion (featuring events, movies, shows, music I wouldn't attend if you paid me) LA Weekly (really don't know why I still bother, it's been a suckfest for most of its 25+ years lining local litter pans, and its acquisition by the New Times organization hasn't improved it any, indeed I have a pile of about the last three months worth of issues on the floor which my feline friend & associate uses for claw trimming purposes, soon I will go through them at least to read the cartoons, or I'll just recycle them) and CityBeat (an [I think] locally owned free weekly with some good writers & columnists [Hey! I was just scanning the masthead to see who the owner(s) might be, it doesn't say, although the Human Resources Manager's e-mail is "@southlandweeklies.com," that might be a clue, but I also noticed that one of the editorial contributors listed is Richard Meltzer, so why don't we see any contibutions from The Mad Meltz? He did a fine piece on The Opera w/in recent memory, but nothing I recall since. Get on the stick, CityBeat!]).

What I will read in CityBeat: This week's cover story, about the gummint deciding that eco-activists are "domestic terrorists." See cursor.org's 30 April links to similar stories (in the 10th graf). Now, back to the original purpose of this run-on mess, which, as you may remember, is entitled: "A Trip to the Store." Is the Caramel Frappuccino no more? Did the shitheels at Starbucks decide to remove this most delectable (for Starbucks) concoction from the free market without public announcement, or requesting my permission? All I know is I've seen none of it on our nation's shelves for the last couple weeks. My advice to those of you who like to pay through the nose for coffee & similar fare is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (& not because they're ampersand fans). But don't bother visiting the one on Beverly Blvd. (north side, between Fairfax & La Brea) during Shabbat.