Well, we’ve been back in the Los Angeles area now for almost half a year. It’s very different when you’re hiding in the woods as opposed to being right in the thick of it all the time, but I still have to say… this is a very strange scene, folks.

I always dug the spirit of Californians, their willingness to constantly reinvent themselves and do it all in public. They don’t sit beside you on the bus and stare straight ahead; they tell you their life story. It’s a good place for someone like me, who wouldn’t have much room to breathe in my hometown in the prairies. It’s good to know there’s a place where I can be myself on ’10′, whatever that is at a given moment.

Here comes the ‘But’.

But… the things that preoccupy people’s minds here never cease to stagger the imagination, especially after a few years living in other, more regular places. Maybe it’s different in San Francisco, but down here in LA it can enter the realm of the surreal: one moment you’re talking about where there’s good food or something, and the next you’re discussing a get-rich-quick scheme involving scantily clad teenage girls. And then you realize why you left town, and wonder why you came back.

Maybe there’s a way to rise above your environment. Maybe some people have discovered the secret of trancendence – which is what’s life’s about, as I understand – and are able to swim with the sharks and not get swallowed up. But I’m not there yet, and neither are ANY of my friends, so I guess you really have to monitor your intake of processed cheese and hope (pray!) for the best.

Here’s the thing: so many people talk about things like integrity, balance, art & commerce, etc. You hear this stuff all the time. But it seems like what we really want to know is, exactly where is the LINE between slightly dodgy and just plain wrong? Like that’s the quest – ‘Where is the line? How far is too far? Do I still get into heaven?’ And for me, honestly, that’s where the surreal part really kicks in. I would rather hear about someone being 100% honest and starting a porn business than trying to mask it with ‘music’ or whatever. It’s more truthful. So instead of ‘Where is the line?’, I posit a different question: ‘What is the CONCEPT?’ Truly, of what purpose and benefit is this idea, and why am I talking about it? The root of things is where it’s at.

Allow me to illustrate. A long time ago I had a lunch meeting with a prominent dance teacher starting an entertainment project, and she wanted me to do the music. She said, ‘Here’s the concept: I’m going to take the five hottest dancers in my school, all of whom are young Asian women, and do a burlesque pop show that revolves around them doing dance routines in sexy costumes… and I’m going to call it ‘the RICE GIRLS.’ (I Swear this story is 100% true, by the way.) I asked her if she was comfortable with the racial stereotyping and sexual objectification inherent in this concept, and she laughed like I was making a joke. I said it wasn’t quite my cup of tea – no pun intended! – and wished her luck.

Now. I admire her honesty, because she wasn’t some music exec who got into the business because they loved Bruce Springsteen and now they’re pushing the Rice Girls. She was in her element, embracing it and looking for like minds. But it was still a really bizarre moment in my life, and instead of asking myself ‘Where is the line?’, all I had to do was get the Concept, what the purpose of the whole thing was, and decide if it had anything whatsoever to do with the goals of my life.

I hope to be far enough from this ‘line’ that I don’t need to worry about it. But I do live in LA…