I drove 9 hours to LA and got lost again. Watched many hours of Oprah. Saw a Joan Crawford documentary on Thanksgiving with awesome gay people and a liquor-soaked turkey and cherry pie and Patti LaBelle's macaroni and cheese recipe. Saw a cheesy wax museum and South Pasadena. Hiked to the top of a mountain in the middle of the city in Griffith Park. Read Sylvia Browne and watched 'The Women'. I'm playing on my computer and drinking beers from a huge cooler in the living room. (This apartment is great. There's gay nudes and Anne Sexton poetry on the bathroom wall.) In a few hours I'll be at the opera watching Wagner. I'm filling up my iPod for the drive back. I belong in this place more than I like to admit. Check out Museum of Contemporary Art and Los Angeles Opera for what I've seen. I like the MOCA a lot. They have an exhibit now of Gary Panter, Chris Ware, Will Eisner, and Jack Kirby and others. Perfect.

Sylvia Browne's Life Themes

infallibility
This theme is exemplified by the people who are seemingly born with everything -- looks, talent, intelligence, privilege, wit, grace, etc. Believe it or not, theirs can be an unusually difficult theme. Their problems are rarely taken seriously. They are often resented for their advantages and can easily feel secretly unworthy from not having to earn their privileged place in society. It's not usuaual for them to be uniquely drawn to such excesses as obesity, promiscuity, and substance abuse, almost as if they're trying to balance the scales by creating difficulties they weren't born with. Because many things have come easily to them, they can feel emotionally inept in situations that challenge their character.

temperance
The temperance theme is typically accompanied by an addiction to deal with and overcome. Even if the actual addiction never manifests itself, people who choose this theme have to fight a constant sense of vulnerability to potential addiction, whether it's to a substance, sex, a lifestyle, or another person. They also have to avoid the opposite extreme of becoming fanatically or psychotically rebelled by the object of what they perceive to be a potential addiction. The key to the progress of the temperance theme across the board is moderation.