One of the best things about calling LA home is the opportunity to live unabashedly through your actor friends. If I think I've had a bad day, say, maybe received a couple rejection slips in the mail or some line producer isn't calling me back, my actor friends will come back with something like: "well try standing in a hatefully long line in a bikini top with 300 other girls, waiting to screen test a kiss with a man you've never seen before, and after that being told you should consider having yours ears... READ ON

THE BOOKSTORE: Los Angeles Public Library, Los Feliz Branch THE DICTIONARY: Miriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition THE WORD: red giant Instead of boring you with a blurb about red giants (and assuring you that it'll be a long time before our sun becomes one), I thought I'd take a look back at the words selected this week, and try to assemble something from them--something ridiculous, in that it's random and hopefully a little fun. I've been trying to manufacture some theme out of the... READ ON

THE BOOKSTORE: (well, you don't have to buy them unless you lose or destroy them) Los Angeles Central Public Library, Downtown LA THE DICTIONARY: Webster's New International Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 1976 THE WORD: "consigliere" Now, obviously there are other, more frequently employed synonyms for adviser, but this one is just way more fun in that it generally evokes organized crime (think Robert Duvall's turn as Tom Hagen in The Godfather). Consiglieres are not usually in the bloodline, nor are... READ ON

While Googling some grammar questions the other day, I came across a goldmine: AskOxford's Ask the Experts page. (This is the US version -- there's also a UK version.) This page has links to tons of English language trivia, and it answered some nagging questions I had. Here are some of my favorites: What is the 'Oxford comma'? Are there any words that rhyme with orange? What comes after once, twice, thrice? Is it acceptable to use they instead of he or she? When should I... READ ON