In the past, personal information existed in dusty file cabinets, spread across multiple Midwestern states. People were ashamed to be file clerks, or if they weren’t ashamed, they at least had the decency to be drunk whenever possible. The notion of privacy—something which we eagerly gave up about a decade ago, but are only now starting to miss—was sacrosanct. You could actually talk about how something was ‘an invasion of privacy’ and people would not think you were aiming to shack up in the woods and pen a manifesto.

This past Saturday night, a large crowd of twenty-somethings braved the drizzle and traffic to support Brandon Francis’s art ehxibition opening at Archrival Clothing Store. Brandon, a staff artist for Forth, had new pieces from his Curious Beings Collection on display and for sale. His work has appeared in the past three issues of Forth Magazine, most recently in the T.C. Boyle feature article.

Cloistered in Miracle Mile’s notable art district I made my way to the Lawrence Asher Gallery for its opening exhibit which showcased artists Lola del Fresno and Bianca Kolonusz-Partee.

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the Miracle Mile Art Walk. The Art Walk is a full-on tour of the galleries on La Brea and Beverly Boulevard complete with talks by featured artists and free shuttle rides by the Holly Trolley. If this isn’t enough to convince you to join in the fun, a bouquet of balloons marks off each participating gallery. How can you say no to that?

In addition to being a fascinating preview of the emotional and spiritual complexity David Chase would later achieve with The Sopranos, the 1990’s television series Northern Exposure also offers a glimpse into what it would feel like to turn 30. As Northern Exposure’s principal character Joel turns 30, he realizes that the things that once distinguished him as a medical prodigy are now simply ‘expected’ of him. He also lugs a canoe around a pristine forest, and bitches to a shaman-in-training who dines with Peter Bogdanovich. Ripped from the headlines, I know.