Look both ways before crossing

Our four woman department (six if you include our interns) marched down the street to the Grand Lux Cafe at the Beverly Center. We needed a break. We also wanted to treat our interns because they've been beyond awesome in helping restore our sanity (and alleviating my nervous eye twitch).

We had missed the green cross-walk man so we waited for the next round. To my left I see a man sneaking in a few pages before he crosses the street, too. I scoot toward him and find out that he is reading The Scar, a sci-fi fantasy by China Mieville. A friend actually recommended this book to him and let him borrow a copy. Paul isn't sure if this is part of a series. When asked what the book is about he would start but then stop. "It's kind of difficult to describe what the book is about..."

He did tell me that it involved a colony made up of sunken pirate ships! Not underwater but a neat visual nonetheless. I started picturing a Peter Pan world and the sunken pirate ships made some pretty neat treehouses and forts. The book takes place on another planet so Paul isn't sure what era the storyline takes place in. "There is not time, really, that I can make out. They are on a whole different planet in a different universe." People have magical powers and battle it out. Contrary to Liza-belief the people are, indeed, mortal.

We continue to converse as we cross the street. My group walked ahead as my boss called out that I could take my time. She is aware that I sometimes wander off to talk to readers so she handled explaining this to the other members of our clan. She even started to call out the blog name...like a doting family member. I love it.

Hands down, Paul is a big sci-fi and fantasy novel aficionado. He can't, however, name a favourite book. "My favourite book tends to be the book I am currently reading. In this case I guess I will have to say that it The Scar is my favourite book at the moment."

We reached the restaurant's entrance and the foot of the Beverly Center's escalators. Paul works at the hospital (Cedars Sinai) and wanted to see if he could cut through the mall to get back to work. Up the escalators he went.