The Mob, Vegas, and Tea

Over the weekend on Saturday, I was at the Times Festival of Books (lovely) and by Sunday morning, I was in the thick of swine flu reporting and coverage (lively).

You have to ask yourself in all the panic and with everything going around the Net, where did the sickness really come from?

And I must say, there are some amazing theories out there. People have gone hog wild with the suspicions.

For a whirlwind rundown:
"Is swine flu a conspiracy?"

For full coverage of swine flu:
www.latimes.com/swineflu

For the first time that I can ever remember, the Festival of Books was not a scorching hot event. Rather it was just right outside during the day and as the sun started to set, it was even a bit chilly.

I covered three panels for the Times: Security and American Ideals; Science Fiction: The Grand Masters; and History: Unknown L.A.

I guess my day went more of less like this: Present, Future, and then Past.

Each panel offered its own sense of feeling--the first dealt with naked detainees and torture, making the audience really think about where we are going globally as it relates to terrorism; it was heavy. The second panel had the authors arguing over whether Sci-Fi belongs in an academic setting and talking about boyhood dreams. Felt hopeful and I dare say, sweet. The last panel told me things I didn't know about L.A. Made me excited to know that there are still new stories that need to be told in Los Angeles. More to discover. More to see.

For full coverage click below:
"Barton Gellman, Jane Mayer, Tom Hayden and others talk torture"

"Spaceships on the spine"

"Unknown L.A.? Tell me something I don't know"

Jacket Copy

(Photo: I took this photo with my iPhone at the Science Fiction panel. Scott Timberg chats with the Grand Masters of Sci-Fi. From left to right: Moderator Scott Timberg, Robert Silverberg, Harry Harrison, and Joe Haldeman.)

If there's one thing I've learned in my years in Los Angeles, it's this: very few things can bring this community together. Because L.A. is segmented into many different small communities and people are so spread out over a large county, creating a center for all people to come and enjoy and celebrate something can prove difficult.

One event that succeeds: the Festival of Books.


Where else can you see Ray Bradbury, DJ Waldie, T.C. Boyle and Wells Tower all in one place?

One of my favorite L.A.-esque things to do: walk around the Festival, eating churros and drinking something frozen with my friends, enjoying the sun, sitting under trees.

Photos: I took these pictures last Saturday at an elementary school in Watts, where I do a monthly project with grade-school students. Ready to Learn helps kids to love reading and art. We read the kids books, then they read to us. And then we all do a huge art project together. Last week, we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. And then, as you can see, we made very hungry caterpillars (and some beautiful butterflies, for good measure).

In big cities, how hard is it to connect?

Unlike New York, in L.A., since we spend so much time in cars, you won't bump into anyone on the street. You won't brush up against anyone on the subway. And you certainly won't be walking very much. Instead in this sprawling (and expanding) metropolis, people live far apart. Travelling in private cars to private residences. It is quite possible to go from the bubble of your apartment to the bubble of your car to the bubble of your cubicle and back to the bubble of your car to the bubble of your place again. You might have to take three freeways just to see a friend. Seriously.

A super cool project created at the Times called ICU, created by Katy Newton, seeks to capture the spirit of Los Angeles' deep need to connect. Sort of like Craigslist's Missed Connections, but in video form. You can see people's real faces, as they tell their tiny tales of longing. Watch as people pine for each other at a gas station.

The project is up for a Webby Award.

Check ICU out here.

So, I'm a bit late to the party. But better late than never, I suppose.

In this case, I'm talking about Twitter. A platform that I was reluctant to adopt early on.

And yet, after I was called "old school" by someone even older than me, I thought about this 140-character medium and wondered...maybe as a society we've reached a point where we really do want to know each other's random thoughts all the time?

Random thoughts aside, I can't deny that Twitter has proved powerful in breaking news situations, such as the Hudson River plane crash, where news of this event was first reported by a citizen journalist, who updated his Twitter status.

Around the globe, Twitter is also popular amongst Moldovan protesters. One might even say Twitter is feeding revolution.

The platform is also being employed by newsrooms like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and NPR, among others, to spread news updates. And on the go, that's a great way to stay up to date with your hometown's latest news.

Even though Mother Jones reports that Twitter has jumped the shark and tweeting is like so five minutes ago...

...well, you can catch me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/lorikozlowski

(Photo: This is a magnet on my refrigerator.)

One of the most delightful things to do after reading a book is getting to actually talk to the author about what they were thinking, what their struggles and revelations were while penning their latest work, and how they feel about their new art.

Here are a few of the latest interviews I've done for the Los Angeles Times with some authors you may know.

Carrie Fisher at her Wishful Drinking signing in Hollywood
"Carrie Fisher does Hollywood"

David Denby on Snark: It's Mean, It's Personal, and It's Ruining Our Conversation
"Why are we so snarky? David Denby thinks he knows"

Hank Cardello on Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's Really Making America Fat
"Who's making America fat? Hank Cardello on un-stuffing the nation"

Andrew Gottlieb on Drink, Play, F@#k
"'Drink Play F#@k': Doesn't the title really say it all?"

Zachary Mexico on China Underground
"Exploring 'China Underground'"

Ralph Keyes on I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech
"Talk retro to me, baby"

My latest article in the Los Angeles Times is on urban beekeeping--a popular, quirky and organic practice. I talked to so many beekeepers, scientists, and farmers and they all agree on this: bees are worth saving.

Check out the entire piece here:
"Urban beekeepers know it's more than just honey and money"