Maggie Henry '14 argues that the overturning of Proposition 8 on Tuesday is a gift for opponents of the legislation, as it reduced the law to an argument about inequality.

My last post was a stop on the way to California over fall break. This time, I will be discussing some good cheap eats I had around LA and next time will be the fancy ones. Some of the places I ate at were a random Mexican stand at a street fair outside a Children of Bodom concert I went to, Chano’s, fig tree, Panini Café, Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles, and the famed In-N-Out Burger.

Embarking on my potentially final freedom summer (if you will) of life, unless I become a teacher, (which seems unlikely considering the criminal record I plan to accrue), I have begun to reflect upon the parallel time of my life. This post-college summer may or may not mirror the summer of 2005, right after I was finally unshackled from the emotional and physical fetters of boarding school and let loose with my middle school homeslices in NorCal, where the possibilities seemed endless and life seemed like it was really getting into gear …

It was all the simple things back then: Just me, my friends and a giant cup.

Last Saturday I squeezed ten mostly unrelated friends into my tiny studio apartment. They drank my drinks, they annoyingly touched my things, the usual. But as they sat on my bed, my desk, my counter and a rogue table which usually holds up several tons of not-quite-dirty clothes from the abyss of the floor, they complained about the lack of ergonomically correct devices they referred to as “chairs.”

Every summer my parents sent us to summer camp in Bumfuck, CA, in the central valley. No man’s land, if you will, where a crisp 104 degrees is just how the malaria-carrying insects like it. I would write home every day in the stationery they gave me to plead with them to bring me home. When that didn’t work, they certainly regretted giving me my grandparents’ addresses. My nearly-90 year old grandfather barged into their living room one Saturday in early July demanding to know why they sent me to a place where they made me eat spiders.

Although many Americans have lost their life savings, their homes and their jobs, the economic recession has had a beneficial effect for some of the most down and out members of our society: convicts. No, they aren’t scooping up securities and bonds from the bargain aisle, and no, they won’t be getting plasma T.V.’s paid for by the recent stimulus package. Their reward is more valuable to them than even $787 billion — freedom.

COVINA, Calif. (AP) — A man wearing a Santa suit who had been suffering marital problems opened fire at a Christmas party at a house that then caught fire, leaving more than three people dead, authorities said Thursday.

Hours later, police found the body of the suspect, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, at the home of his brother early Thursday in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. Police said he killed himself but would not say how.

"He was going through some type of marital problems, and we believe that this residence is a relative's residence," Lt. Pat Buchanan said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters on Tuesday faced worsening weather conditions that pushed flames across firebreaks in parts of inland California and chased residents out of one small community.

Along the coast, however, an evacuation order was lifted for a lengthy section in the scenic Big Sur area.

The weather change came from a high pressure system setting up over the entire West, said Mike Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. "So in addition to the very warm temperatures we're getting, we'll also be getting a little bit of offshore wind ... which keeps the moist marine air from coming inland," he said.