Never mind the waking up at 3:30AM, the endless amounts of show preparation, the fact that you miss out on a social life or your family life because you have to go to sleep at 8PM every night. Never mind the putting up with the loonies, the pressures to entertain your audience, the insane amount of competition, the instability of the job market and the ease with which you could be replaced. The fact that a lot of morning show disc jockeys just put their lives on display and that's their entertainment still amazes me, and it amazes me even more how people respond to it.

This morning on my way into work, I heard a 15 minute discussion on KROQ about how one of the guys on the show was thinking about buying a new car and wanted to know the best way to go about getting a good price. People were calling in from all over the area to give this guy advice and share their stories on the topic, which is usually reserved more for just a few minutes of mundane discussion among friends and relatives. But this subject got 15 minutes of airtime on one of L.A.'s top-rated morning shows and this guy got phone calls with suggestions from a whole slew of people -- and I'm sure that for every person who made it on the air, there were at least a hundred either on hold or trying to call in but getting a busy signal, all wanting to offer up their advice.

And people wonder why DJs say radio is like crack. Once you're in the industry, you never want to leave. Plus, people will do just about anything for some minute piece of station paraphernalia. I was joking with a few friends about how all a DJ needs to do is to say on the air that they need something or they're stuck somewhere, and hordes of listeners will come and help them out or supply them with whatever they ask for, all in exchange for a t-shirt or a keychain or a cupholder.

I remember this one winter when I was in high school, it was exceptionally bad as far as winters could go. Blisteringly cold. Cutting wind. Ice and frost covered everything every morning to the point where I had to defrost my car twice in the mornings -- once to clear the windows on the outside and a second time to clear them on the inside because my breath condensed on the windshield and it froze there. And it snowed so many times that we used up all of our snow days in the school calendar and had to go an extra week at the end of the year to make up the time.

Because we lived out in the middle of nowhere, electricity was not always a given. During any extreme weather -- thunder and lightning storms, snowstorms, rain downpours -- we'd usually lose power at least for a few minutes. Or sometimes as long as a few days. It was difficult during the wintertime when we'd have to put extra blankets on the bed and sleep in our jackets because it was just too damn cold in the house, and waking up in the darkness to take a freezing cold shower (because the hot water heater was powered by electricity as well) was pretty much the nadir of any possible situation involving winter in an American town in the 1990s.

The power went out during one particularly bad snowstorm. Unfortunately, Mom had been in the middle of making apple pancakes for dinner and hadn't actually gotten past the batter stage. So we called the old standby: the local Chinese take-out place. They never closed. In fact, they were open when we called and still had power, so they were cooking. We placed our order, happy that we would have some hot food to enjoy while we waited out the storm so we could our power back on and start heating up the house again. The only problem was that the snow was so deep, the car couldn't make it out of our driveway. We had to call and cancel the order because we just couldn't get to the place. Dad was so frustrated, he ate the apple pancake batter raw.

People have asked me: What do Jews do on Christmas? Well, we go to the movies and have Chinese food because the Chinese food places are the only places that are open on Christmas Day. Last year, when I went out to dinner with my mom, we ran into half of the congregation of our temple at the Chinese restaurant we ate at.

It's like they just don't quit. Come rain, snow, sleet or hail, people will want their egg foo young and General Tso's Chicken. And the local Chinese food joint will be open to serve you, no matter what's going on outside. Maybe we should privatize the Postal Service and turn it over to the Chinese food workers. Either way, if there's ever a nuclear war, I know where I'll be able to get some good food after all's said and done.

1. Michael Jackson, why are you such a freak of human nature? First of all, you shouldn't have played that race card by saying that record labels conspire against black artists. Quite frankly, you shouldn't know anything about that, since you've been whiter than I am for at least a decade. Second of all, this act you're putting on by suddenly speaking out against Tommy Mottola and calling him the devil is just comical. Comical, I say. When the Reverend Al Sharpton can be considered the voice of reason in a situation, that's when it's definitely time to quit your little crusade.

2. Jason Alexander, why are you taking away any credibility you might've had by doing these asinine KFC commercials? Look, you're an accomplished Broadway and film actor. You're an icon to people worldwide who still quote George Constanza lines years after "Seinfeld" ended. We've even forgiven you for Dunston Checks In. But for the love of Pete, to lower yourself to hawking fast food in these incessantly annoying commercials... you may be committing career suicide on this one.

I try to blog responsibly. It's something that has taken a while to develop, along with my own writing style, but I think that it's for the best. By blogging responsibly, I mean this: I do not blog every last little thing that happens to me, I do not write about every random thought that crosses my mind, I do not fill my blog to the brim with silly little quizzes, I do not linkwhore simply for the sake of linking. I may still blog silly and stupid things every now & then or I may blog about things that others might consider inconsequential (and I might consider it that as well), but I try to make sure I'm writing because I have something to say and I still actively stop myself from blogging simply for the sake of blogging. I'd rather go for days without posting than post something that's simply there because I felt pressure to post anything.

The Internet is quickly becoming the Vast Wasteland of the 21st Century. Never mind the fact that Bruce Springsteen's song is outdated and we now have hundreds of channels instead of just 57, but there's still nothing on. And I fear the same thing is happening to the Net. I've stopped reading all but a small handful of blogs, not just because my time is short, but also because I've gotten tired of reading the same stuff and not much out there interests me anymore. There's too many people out there blogging for the sake of blogging, and it's filling the Net with useless blather, which in turn creates a bad perception for people who might stumble across all these blogs and think that the Internet consists only of quizzes, links to other sites and memes.

I'm not saying that everyone's each and every post needs to be Earth-shattering or talk about topics key to the functioning of the Universe. Hell, I blogged today about a stupid show on MTV. But at least I had an opinion on something. That's one of the main reasons why I killed Blogger Insider -- because too many of the people signing up had blogs that only consisted of quizzes and other meme-type activities. They couldn't come up with any original content or thoughts so they had to go out and find other people to ask them questions or take these stupid "Which Teletubby Am I?" tests in order to fill webspace. They couldn't react to anything other than to recount all their activities for the day, but honestly, we all go to school or work and go grocery shopping and do laundry, so why would I go to someone else's blog and read about it when I can experience it myself? (Which is how I feel about reality TV shows -- why would I watch it on TV when I can live it myself? But that's another topic for another time.)

It's not that I'm trying to cop a holier-than-thou attitude and say that I'm a model blogger and people need to follow my example, because I'm sure that I'm not a perfect blogger. But I am trying on my own part to save the Internet from becoming filled with all this crap to the point where there's nothing of consequence to read on it, like the many channels of TV that I get. Just because I can blog doesn't mean that I should blog all the time.

It's not that hard to think of something to say. Express yourself. That's what this is all here for. Find something that piques your interest -- or even your distaste -- and react to it. Process life. Let the thoughts flow from your brain to your fingers.

I blog responsibly. It's unfortunate that I feel that, in order to get people's attention on this issue, I ought to make up a button saying that for people to post on their blogs, but that would probably be misused as well. But my brain hungers for some good content. Feed me.

I saw more of MTV's "Sorority Life." I remembered why I do not like women like the ones in that sorority. But I can't help but watch the show -- it's like a train wreck, you know you should look away but you just can't take your eyes off it.

The women in that sorority are just so smarmy. And cutesy. I hate both. There's a time for being cute and I have no problems with cute, but never cutesy. To them, it's all about "the sisterhood" and "building trust and respect for the other sisters" and, even when they're scolding a pledge, the conversation has to end with hugs. The women that they're more interested in pledging are like putty being molded in their hands -- empty vessels that they can indoctrinate with the whole "you must be true to your sisterhood and we are your second family" mentality, and who will buy into that whole deal no questions asked.

For some reason, there's an ongoing perception that men are afraid of women who can think for themselves. I'm not quite sure why. But I work better with women who can voice an opinion and who can argue a point with me, despite the fact that recently, my brain seems to be degrading to the point of rot and I make simple mistakes (like thinking Ted Williams was the baseball recluse who was married to Marilyn Monroe, not Joe DiMaggio, even though I knew otherwise but my brain slipped out of gear for a moment). But that's another story. I prefer a strong personality in a woman because it challenges me a bit, and it also makes it easier for me to interact with her. I went on a date with someone once who was reticent to tell me that she was a Harvard Law student -- she called it "dropping the H-Bomb" -- because she'd apparently scared off guys before by revealing it, but it only made me more interested. Plus, in the times when I do just want to sit back and take the backseat, I don't have to deal with someone who becomes an emotional and indecisive mound of Jello.

To continue this line of thinking, I've also heard complaints that sometimes I do seem indecisive which is something I got a lot from one of my former girlfriends. It's not that I'm indecisive. It's that I really just don't have any preference. I like so many different things that when it comes to making a choice, I really am usually fine with whatever is presented to me and I'll find something to be happy with it. Whenever I visited my parents, they always used to get upset because I used to tell them that I wasn't really in the mood for any particular kind of food to have for dinner. I eventually solved that problem by having them list off some places they wanted to go and picking one that struck my fancy at that particular moment. But I don't understand why people get so frustrated when I tell them I don't care and they can choose whatever they want. I'm returning the favor to them of picking where they want to go, what they want to do -- you'd think they'd be appreciative and if they felt strongly about one thing or another, they'd pick it rather than getting upset with me for not making the choice for them. Honestly, if I don't feel like an activity or a meal, I'll speak up. I have no problems with speaking up. But why don't people believe me when I say that I'm okay with whatever?

Ever have one of those moments where it's a great day and things are going well and then all of a sudde, things go south? Yes, that was the extent of my 6:00 hour. I had gone out with friends to lunch this afternoon, I'd taken a nap and I was on my way out to the gym before seeing Men in Black II at a special IMAX screening tonight. It was a holiday weekend, I was doing well.

Until I left for the gym and the front door of my apartment closed behind me, locking me out without any money, my keys and my phone. D'oh. Figuring that calling a locksmith would be exceptionally hard without ID -- or money -- I tried to pry open the sliding glass door so I could unhook it from the outside. I figured it was a very arduous process that no one would actually try if they were breaking in, but if I gave it enough effort, I would succeed.

Succeed I did. At the cost of the tempered glass window next to the sliding glass door, which I cracked and broke, and also at the cost of my arm, which was cut deeply in several places. But I got back inside the apartment. However, the big irony of the entire situation is that one of my roommates, who I didn't expect back until either very late tonight or even until tomorrow, showed up at the apartment not 10 minutes after I'd broken back in. Can you imagine how stupid I felt, trying to explain to him what happened, and then trying to justify not waiting around?

Either way, I have disinfected my wounds with "hospital antiseptic" from the local drugstore, bandaged myself up and taped up the window with clear tape so it only looks like it's been cracked. Hopefully, no one will try to take advantage of my hard work and break back into our apartment to take anything. The maintenance guy says that he'll have to specially order the glass, and that it won't be cheap and he has no idea how long it will take. My bank account's not going to enjoy this very much. So now it basically means that any thoughts I had about having the brakes on my car replaced will have to be put off for a while. And in the meantime, I have to face my roommates with the constant reminder of my own stupidity and impatience in our living roo

I got an e-mail petition from a family friend that reads "I just cancelled MSNBC and I'm boycotting their advertisers. They cancelled Keyes without reason. He is a true friend to Israel. Join me in protest and click here," and it gives a website. Needless to say, the family friend is a rabid Israel supporter.

My first question is, of course, how do you cancel one channel? MSNBC is not a premium channel that you can pick and choose a la carte. But of course, that's not the biggest question. My biggest question is what made her think that Alan Keyes was being let go because of his views on Israel, because that seems to be her motivation for acting on his release? He could've been let go because he was perpetually late to his show or made racist remarks to some African-Americans on staff or maybe he was rude to the president of the network or sexually harassed one of the female staffers -- or, in what is usually the case, maybe he just wasn't getting the ratings that the channel wanted him to get. It was most likely something completely unrelated to his political views, yet action is being called to protest MSNBC for his firing and people are getting riled up simply because he held a pro-Israel viewpoint.

At what point do we recognize the person for his faults and not his views, and at what point do the "financial repercussions" end? If there were a president in power who was anti-Israel, would the rabidly pro-Israel Jews stop paying taxes because they didn't support him on that issue?

I've never understood why people insist on taking pictures of fireworks. It's not like they'll come out really well, and it's not like fireworks are that spectacular -- or that they'll never be seen again, they come every year like clockwork -- that they need to be captured for posterity.

The airplane and airport troubles here in Los Angeles almost derailed my Independence Day plans, since the place hosting the barbeque I was supposed to attend is located right behind LAX, and my friend who invited me to go with her wasn't too keen on attempting the traffic and the parking. But in the end, hanging out with people at the beach proved to be a good enough draw and we trekked out there. And I did end up seeing fireworks, even though the Santa Monica PD shooed us away from the pier by saying that they weren't having any fireworks. Too bad they neglected to mention that there would be three other towns having fireworks displays that would easily be observed from the area we were in.

As discussed on tonight's episode of "Sports Night," L.A. has the Pacific Ocean, cars, sunshine and Laker Girls. Does anyone need more than that?

It's past midnight here on the great Western frontier, so Happy Independence Day to y'all. To celebrate, here's five things that make me happy to be an American:

1. I can openly criticize our government without fear of disappearing in the middle of the night.
2. Our über-consumer-oriented way of life allows us to satisfy just about any whims we might have. Well, depending on where you live, it might be a little harder to lay your hands on some things. I mean, if I crave an orange mocha frappuccino at 4AM, I can get one. But we live in a country where you can buy or sell just about anything, including yourself and your body parts. Hell, with enough money, you can buy just about anything.
3. One word: Budweiser.
4. As far as security goes, we're pretty secure. Everyone may think that the Apocalypse is coming to their own downtown area after 9/11 and all those asinine warnings our government keeps issuing, but we really don't have as many bombings, attacks and major disturbances as a lot of other countries.
5. We've steamrolled our culture onto so many places over the world. I actually don't like that about America, but I do like the fact that we are the worldwide center of culture, lifestyle and entertainment. I like being in the thick of things.

Hope everyone has a good long weekend. And remember: if you're lighting fireworks, make sure you let go of them right after you light them and well before they go off. Otherwise, you're dumb enough that you deserve what you get.

To all my friends who I left behind on the Eastern Seaboard, from whom I've received copious amounts of hate e-mail and IMs:

Los Angeles, CA (as per Weather.com)
Tonight: Mostly clear this evening then becoming mostly cloudy after midnight. Low near 58F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow: Clearing. High around 73F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy during the evening followed by mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low near 58F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 60s.
Saturday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Sunday: Partial sunshine. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Monday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Tuesday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Wednesday: Partial sunshine. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.
Thursday: Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.
Friday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.

I've always wondered... what's the difference between partly sunny and mostly cloudy, and mostly sunny and partly cloudy?

As of two days ago, 2002 was half over. Half. Where the hell did the first half of the year go? Six months ago, I was on the other side of the country, sitting in my apartment trying to figure out what in hell I was going to do with myself. What a long, strange trip it's been.

Is anyone else as tired of hearing these vague and stupid "warnings" that our government keeps putting out? Live your lives, people. That's all. Seattle's not the only under-policed city in the country. I'm sure plenty of people could sneak terrorist materials into America from several different locations across the U.S./Canadian and the U.S./Mexican borders that are close to major cities, and I'm sure that the police in many of our major cities aren't really trained for anti-terrorism anyways. I don't see the LAPD rolling through my neighborhood looking for people plotting to blow up buildings or detonate nuclear bombs or things of that nature, they're looking for carjackers and thieves and kidnappers and rapists and people who commit domestic violence. So why even make that dumbass announcement about Seattle being a target because it's "underpoliced"? Does the administration think that's going to make people run out to Seattle and join their police department because we all want to make sure that our cities give the impression that terrorists will be caught? I can't help but think that this is all just noise and hubbub to keep us worried and distracted so we won't really realize how much of a moron our president is and how reckless and stupid the rest of his administration is as well.

I like pizza, I like bagels
I like hotdogs with mustard and beer.
I'll eat eggplant. I could even eat a ba-a-by deer.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Who's that baby deer on the la-awn there?
-- Homer Simpson

For some reason, I couldn't get this song out of my head tonight. And it kept cracking me up, so as we worked into the night, my co-workers thought I was going mildly insane. And, well, they'd be right.

The week may be only a few days old, but it's already been fraught with emotional strain and troubles that I would prefer not to talk about. Not now. Not yet. My lack of sleep didn't help at all, either. So I'm going to take it easy, watch some TV and drift off into a nice long rest tonight. Let's just hope that my subconscious allows me to rest easy as well.

So we have another sign of the Apocalypse. Someone actually gave Amy Fisher a newspaper column from which to dispense advice. The Associated Press says that Long Island's New Island Ear will begin running general-interest columns written by the Long Island Lolita herself -- the first of which will address cyberdating. Well, I'm glad she's taken up that form of dating, because then she won't be a danger to the masses seeing as how she shot her lover's wife in the head, or am I the only one who remembers that? What happens when she finds some married guy on the Net, will she mailbomb his wife's e-mail account? She still hasn't abandoned her deceptive ways though, as she writes: I met my fiance through Match.com. I was using a fake name. He pretended he was a millionaire. After numerous online chats, we met and really hit it off. One night, I said, "I have a confession to make before we go any further." He said, "What?" I answered, "I'm really Amy Fisher." He responded, "I'm not really a millionaire." Great... her marriage is based on Internet impersonation.

So, the demise of Blogger Insider. I knew that my decision would not sit well with some, but it was a decision for me to make and in the end, I do not regret it. To those of you who enjoyed the program, I'm sorry that others spoiled it for you, and for those of you who sent me messages telling me how much you enjoyed it while you were involved -- thanks, I really do appreciate it. It was for you that I kept the project going long after I began having problems.

However, I did receive an e-mail yesterday from someone who wanted to take over the program. He had sent up an e-mail address for "blogmatch" (which he asked me to post and I said no for reasons I'm about to explain, but I was not the only one approached so I wanted people to know who I was talking about) and said that he was going to continue the program. I declined to post his e-mail address based on a number of things, including the fact that his e-mail did not contain a name or website and I didn't feel comfortable just putting up some random e-mail address, but more so because he just went ahead and set everything up without even consulting me.

It's not that I have a megalomaniacal need to have the project to myself. I never said "me or no one else." But given that the project was my idea, my intellectual property, run by me on my own spare time, I would've thought it at least courteous for anyone to ask permission if I minded that someone else continue the program in my stead. As I wrote in my e-mail back to him, I considered the project over and did not feel comfortable with him just going ahead with it without even consulting me.

So if you receive an e-mail from this guy, I want you all to know that I did not supply him with any e-mail addresses or websites, nor did I sanction his actions. As I said, as far as I'm concerned, the project is over.

So at least there are others in my office who are noticing the similarities in my life to Almost Famous. Right after I hung up the phone from interviewing Beyoncé Knowles of Destiny's Child this evening, I noticed a couple of my co-workers who were waiting to talk to me. One of them nodded in my direction and said, "Almost Famous is off the phone, you can ask him now."

It's a good thing that I don't have hair as long as Patrick Fugit's was in that film, I'd go through sixteen bottles of shampoo every month. Plus, I'd kind of look like a dork.