Turns out I was not fully awake. I tried to spare my mom the early morning by getting a ride share to the airport. But I left a bag and had to call her to come bring it. In good news, we're only 15 minutes away from the airport and I had plenty of time, so she didn't have to come far or rush. But still, I felt badly.

Special thanks to this column for enraging me at the crack of dawn so I have the wakefulness and energy to get going to the airport.

A lot of Angelenos remember the 1984 L.A. Games, when the Olympics actually ended with a surplus, the only Summer Games to do so in the last 60 years. Local politicians and voters changed the city charter to ensure that no L.A. taxpayer dollars would go to backstopping the Games.

LA28 ignored that lesson. Instead, the City Council and the state Legislature agreed to financially step up should any cost overruns accrue. Los Angeles is pledged to cover the first $270 million, and the state will cover the next $270 million. After that, the city is responsible for additional costs...

The estimated cost of the Los Angeles 2028 Games has already risen from $5.3 billion at the time of the bid to $6.9 billion today. 

I am SO ANGRY about this. I was angry about this when former mayor Garcetti was pushing this through and I'm angry about it now.

Packing is such an ordeal.

Brutally shamed by the Wordlebot today.

Cool, just two words left!

...daaaaaamn. Alright, wordlebot. You got me.

I am so mentally checked out, I can't believe how much work I have to do. I should have taken a month off.

Barbie wins the match-up with $155M to Oppenheimer's $80.5M.

I am very behind in my progress. I have two days to finish this project. My hands are gonna be so cramped by Monday.

This is a really good layman's explanation of some of the business forces behind the Hollywood strikes. This is what I've been trying to explain to people every time someone asks me about it. With bonus extensive quoting of Adam Conover. This is my favorite quote from the article:

It’s a sticking point in the negotiations — actors and writers on streaming series want a better way to calculate the value of their work, given that the residuals they earn are so much lower than for network or cable shows. The studios have resisted. “The reason nobody really wants to open the books on this is because if Wall Street got a look,” one Hollywood insider told New York Magazine, “they’d have a collective stroke.”

Last week during staff meeting I gave a special lecture about efficiency and how I do not want people going above and beyond on certain things. And now I find a draft letter with above-and-beyond suggestions on the thing, suggestions that I specifically said do-not-do-this and I just... do not know how to be more clear about this. Like please, I am begging you, I need you working on other things, I would rather have you sitting fucking bored at your desk than do this, because now I have to review it and it is EXTRA for me please stop doing this please I am begging you

Got an email about my flight next week asking me if I'd be willing to change. Alternative options are either 24 hours in advance, or 13 hours after.

No, I'm not worried at all, why do you ask?