When I found out that the 15th Annual Los Angeles Art Show is taking place at the LA Convention Center this year, I immediately flashed back to the last time I was there, about 5 years ago, getting sworn in as an American citizen. Instead of being surrounded by fellow foreigners awkwardly waving our tiny American flags as a video George Bush, wheat fields, and smiling children played on a large screen, this time I was surrounded by rich old people, hipsters, and hungry reporters.

Anticipation better not get the best of me. An hour before my partner in XXX crime arrives to pick me up to go to Sardo’s Grill & Lounge, the so-called home of the San Fernando Valley’s Tuesday night Porn Star Karaoke, expectations are flying around, having a heyday. We have both been assigned to check out where the valley’s living exhibits go after a long, hard day at work to relax and hang loose, no pun intended. I repeatedly tell myself there’s no point in all this anticipating, that thinking too much about what will be will kill it. But in all fairness to myself, fantasizing about it is half the fun. All I can think about is having to sing “Physical” or “She’ll Be Cuming ‘Round the Mountain” to a crowd of drunken adult film stars while my arm is draped around Roxanne Hall and the new Jenna Jameson.

Adam Szymczak was born in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Eighty Seven. He was raised in a quaint New England town, and studied English at Suffolk University. He has always drawn and doodled, but only recently became truly interested in it. His comic book fury can be witnessed at: http://www.goodshowsir.com.

During parties, especially ones in designer-conscious downtown Los Angeles lofts, the couch is coveted territory. People have just spent twenty minutes making polite non-committal remarks around the kitchen island, and all anyone wants to do, at this point, is rest on the cushions and maybe squeeze an end pillow. However, the same competitive drive that applies to every other aspect of life in the city is amplified here. The people on the couch are ruthless motherfuckers.

Don’t let its title deceive you, Irish Girl, Tim Johnston’s latest book is a collection of eight short stories that explore life and happenings in small town USA. Hailing from Iowa, Johnston knows a thing or two about the ugly secrets that can often exist buried within the confines of a seemingly sleepy, small town. While the stories within Irish Girl vary in plot and theme, they do share similar small town settings in which such things as murders, love affairs, and lies are uncovered and dispersed from one gossiping townsperson to the next.