Experiencing Farmer’s Market, Los Angeles. I’d forgotten the uber-self-consciousness of the Hollywood scene (just a block or so from CBS studios).

Little gaggles of women wearing t-shirts shouting their favorite TV shows (”Price is right!” “BRIDE” — she’s also wearing a back veil with her jean shorts). Others with little name tags semi-stuck on to their shirts.

Lots of carefully important studio types in polo shirts, thick-rimmed glasses, lanyards, smartphones in belt holsters, clipboards under their arms, swapping favorite Coffee Bean recipes.

German, Swahili, Spanish, Japanese and Skype being spoken at the tables around me.

Taschen, a so-cool artsy publisher’s bookstore where I could blow $500 in 20 minutes very happily (A History of Type, Simple Diary, Collecting Design…)

It’s a totally different atmosphere from The Grove, just steps away. The Grove is for shopping and enjoying. The Farmer’s Market is for Seeing and Being Seen. No wonder they don’t validate parking for one another.

It’s funny, I don’t remember CBS being as much of a tourist hot spot in my childhood as it is now. They used to give out audience passes at Universal and Graumann’s to get people to come watch pilot screenings or game shows. Huh.

The only real things here are the three little sparrows hopping around under my table, cleaning up the crumbs.

I gotta get me some better sunglasses.