¡Festival de libros!

Today I went 11th anual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. It was grand. This is the actually the 4th time I've been, the first being when I 10 a long time ago back in 1996, but this is the first time I've been as a literati, college student with all my radical opinions and what not. It was pretty good, I guess i missed the legendary Mr. Ray Bradbury speak yesterday (i was too hung over to attend after a rousing night with one Mr. Burt Bacharach at the UCLA annual Spring Sing), so that kinda sucks. There were many, many vendors there... a surprising amount of liberal vendors, and I don't mean just you average everyday Blue state citizen, i mean people with displays reading How to kick Republican Butt and Why Republican's Hate America. Is reading related to liberalism? Who knows.

I picked up an Invisables graphic novel I needed at the Heidi-Ho display, and bought some mystery books, oh and I got a free Qur'an at one vendor. So i got a lot of reading ahead of me.

Ok, I want to clarify something, I am no dirty hippie. Sure I protest Coca Cola at the campus, and hold demonstrations against sweat shop labor, and don't shower for days at a time. But no hippie am I. So here I am walking at the Festival of Books when an actual hippie... I mean long bearded, head band wearin, pot smokin hippir comes up and says "you look like you'd be interested in this." and hands me a flyer for a show called: "I'm Gonna Kill The Presidnet" a federal offense. What the hell, why would he assume that. Is it my beard? my unwashed, scragly hair? my hemp shoes or flannel shirt? damn hippies.

But on the good side I did get to have a rousing conversation with Phil Ortiz, so that was good.