Stained Glass - Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro

So much going on today! I'm at LAX waiting for the flight to London and then on to Warsaw from there. I've only driven here billions of times but today I decided for unknown reasons to try a different route. Big mistake. I found myself cruising the inner streets of Inglewood instead. Had I not been driving I would have been staring in fascination. Everyone worries about me going to the Middle East. This tells me that you've never been to Inglewood in the greater LA area. I have never seen so many cops with guns drawn, in separate incidents than today. The count - 3. Two of the detainees had their hands on their heads and the guns pointed there as well. Another few blocks down, a cop had her hand right on the gun belt as she questioned someone. Had I been wandering down that street I would have been harassed far more here in LA than anywhere else in the world. Had the cops seen me, I would have been escorted out of the Hood. Luckily in LA, all roads lead somewhere else and after a while I was back in the Century Blvd. zone and on-track to airport parking.

When you drive down the roads and really look at the shops, the people, and their life, it's a wonder any of them ever make it out. I confess to being addicted to Flavor of Love on VH1. Season 3 casting is taking mainly in Inglewood, Compton, East LA, and no wonder those girls are crying and desparate for a chance out. I also saw this on the Top Model casting. When the girls are rejected and sent home after living even one day of luxury, of course they're devasted. Good for TV bad for self esteem.

I doubt Warsaw will be so dramatic. That city has already lived through the worst of times and has moved on.