1. Go running on Los Feliz Blvd in the evenings, to get the anger out. (It's well-lit, fairly level, and a little exhilarating with all the cars rushing by. Just mind the sprinklers at 8.)

2. Hang out in Studio City or Burbank, etc. There's something oddly cheerful and reliable about that area.

3. Make frequent, unapologetic Pinkberry and gelato trips.

4. Go to the Griffith Observatory and see the Planetarium. That is some uplifting sh*t. Even the narrator's voice gives you goosebumps.

5. Don't indulge in myopenbar.com...

6. Do read LAist and Flavorpill and try not to live in a bubble. ("F-Yeah Fest was last week??")

7. Buy a ticket to see Band of Horses and Dinosaur Jr. at The Wiltern. (B.O.H. has a soothing effect on the soul. ...Just don't film it when they play "The Funeral", for the love of god.)

8. Go shopping at Paper Doll on Melrose. (If you're a girl.) Cute stuff, decent prices, and the sales people leave you alone.

9. Listen to "Harmony In My Head" with Henry Rollins on Indie 103.1 and be cheered by his enthusiasm.

10. Go to MOCA, LACMA, The Ace Gallery, etc and marvel at human creation. (Realize own pain is mostly a blip on the radar.)

Got suggestions?

Photo by pete&brook via Flickr

Yesterday afternoon I went to Los Burritos, located off of Vermont and Sunset Blvd., for lunch. After finishing my carne asada taco and gulping down some diet Pepsi, I went to the bathroom to tinkle. I asked one of the workers at Los Burritos where the restroom was, and he instructed that it was located behind the Employees Only door next to the counter. I walked through the door and entered the restroom located on the left.

When I went inside, I saw that the restroom was clean and smelled like bleach, which made me more at ease that I wasn't peeing at home. I then pulled out the standard toilet seat cover from the dispenser and placed it on the bowl.

Do thine eyes deceive me? Is this a happy face I see? It is! Truly, I never felt more happy to pee in my life. Who would've thought that the toilet bowl was so happy to see me, and I it? The cut-out happy face is genius!

Thank you, Los Burritos. Way to not only think about your customers at the food counter, but also in the restrooms. Job well done.

Top and bottom photo by Sarah Ardalani

Today someone I love broke up with me, because he thinks that his whole life, he's been living for other people and not for himself. And that everyone's perception of him has been wrong, his entire life, and now it's time for him to figure out who he is. ...Anyone know what the fuck that means?? He pursued me, and he was totally wonderful for 5 months - I've never been so happy - and now he's saying that "my perception" of him was wrong. As if everyone's perception of him just came out of thin air! Our perceptions were obviously a part of his character; your self is made up partly of others' perceptions anyway, is it not? As if there's some kind of "pure" self that can ever exist!! Maybe if you're born in a lab and never allowed any human contact your entire life. That's definitely living for yourself. Sounds great.

He actually used the phrase, "living in servitude", to describe his life.

He'd been depressed for the past month about not knowing what his real purpose is in life, and I was patiently waiting for him to get through it, because he just turned 31 and I thought it was just a crisis, because it's a valid concern we all struggle with, and mostly because I never imagined that after such a strong 5 months, he wouldn't come back out of it and we'd be okay.