The First Echo

In honor of my upcoming 10-year anniversary of living in Los Angeles (June 27), I continue to reminsce and reflect on my time spent in this mind-boggling, maddening, yet marvelous town.

Therefore I've come up with another list of lessons the City of Angels has taught me throughout the past decade (you may remember my first list from last October). Some are obvious, some are surprising, and some I shall hold dear for the rest of my life...

1. Palm Springs is where older "confirmed bachelors" and married retirees go to die. But before that, they drink lots of Bloody Marys and enjoy an occasional round of antique window shopping.

2. The Hollywood Bowl is the place to be...spotted by a dozen people you haven't seen in months or acquaintances you've been meaning to unfriend on Facebook.

3. A girl who claims that she's "a gay man trapped in a woman's body" or "must have been a gay man in a past life" is just covering up the fact that she's…

What a difference a decade or so makes. #DamnI'mOld.

I consider some of my time spent on Facebook work-related. Research, if you will. It's become one of my main sources for news, particularly when it comes to pop cultural headlines. However, I'm getting the feeling that the Facebook phenomenon has hit a plateau. As much as I love posting new music videos I like, Tumblrs I'm addicted to, links to news articles I find fascinating, songs I'm obsessed with, memes I can't resist, and pictures I'd like to show off, I am starting to see why there may be an emerging cultural shift in attitude towards Mark Zuckerberg's game-changing creation.

At the risk of being called a hypocrite, I have to say that I'm starting to detect some symptoms of Facebook Fatigue. And by "fatigue" I don't necessarily mean I've grown tired of it. It's more of a realization of my love-hate relationship with the social network and all of its trappings. I don't like that it's the first site I visit every time…

When it comes to TV shows, I consider myself a hardcore loyalist. I endured the subplots that spun out of control at the end of season 4 of Melrose Place (lobotomy anyone?). I stuck through the unnecessarily complicated third season of Lost. And I continue to give Once Upon a Time and Smash a chance despite their surprising...mediocrity.

So, now that Glee is nearing the end of its third season with the futures of many characters up in the air -- regardless of which contracts have been renewed or not -- I'm very curious to see what mastermind Ryan Murphy has up his sleeves regarding the future of the show. Why? Because, despite any backlash or diminished viewer interest the show has suffered from, I do plan to come back for a fourth round of show choir theatrics.


Murphy gave fans a glimmer of hope last summer with The Glee Project, wisely combining the drama of reality-competition with a preview of what's to come on the musical dramedy. And now that most of the original member…

Several rainstorms and three volumes later, here we have another compilation to add to the pile as you begrudgingly start that spring cleaning you've been putting off since St. Patrick's Day. This season has proven to be quite bountiful with tunage. My iTunes library has quickly blossomed into a full array of songs ranging from returning 90s alt-rockers (Hello, Garbage) to teenyboppers turned rappers (thank you Mr. Bieber).

Hurry up and get on the bandwagon before summer rears its sunburnt head...

1. "Warrior" by Mark Foster, Kimbra & A-Trak - This heavenly slice of electro-pop just might turn out to be one my favorite songs of the year. With a collaboration like this, who needs to ride on Gotye's shoulders? Kimbra is spreading her wings and ready to soar. Listen:



2. "Payphone" by Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa - Adam Levine & Co. are punching in their pop card, and although the addition of Wiz is utterly unnecessary, this should satiate those lo…