Starbucks Camarillo (in Target)

Here, not far from the Camarillo Premium Outlets, Starbucks green competes with Target red. Even the ATM sign is RED.

There's also the smell of a big bag of $1.50 popcorn and Pizza Hut Express.

It's a mega Target,and a mega parking lot... so I guess people need a jolt of caffeine after a long, trek down the aisles.

Some girl is so tired, she sits on her boyfriend's lap and he rubs her back, making small circles.

Maybe a red and green massage booth will be next?

Newport, Rhode Island

Hiding behind the sprigs of green, just on the border of Queen Anne Square, Starbucks shares the scenery with a pretty spire.

The harbor is across the way, where boat shoes mix with flipflops.

You can take the walking tour of Historic Hill and visit Touro Park along with the Great Friends meeting House and Wanton Lyman Hazard House.

Could the colonists have ever imagined Frapuccino?

Providence, Rhode Island

Senior Week at Brown. The campus is almost empty except for seniors, only days to graduation.

Thayer Street is bursting with spring green, anticipation and hopeful sandals.

A few backpacks too.

Starbucks is full, with a view of Thayer and buses exiting from dark to light in the city tunnel.

Pretty Providence, it's got good luck written all over it.

Beverly Glen Center

Strip mall extraordinaire, nestled at the crest of Beverly Glen and straddling the valley and the city. A pretty spot, with an upscale market, boutiques, chic pet store and club, Vibrato.

Here, the Starbucks sign is in gold. (what else?)

The outdoor seating overlooks the parking lot, but oh the beautiful BMW's, Escalades, Mercedes and Ferraris you can watch rounding the corner.

And on a good day...the paparazzi following the latest Brittney, flashes going off in assault weapon succession.

Alert, alert. Dog in a pink, gem studded collar, and some industry soon-to-be-has-beens shooting the bull.

Still, a good idea to bring your laptop, talk loudly into your cellphone about future projects, and script you've just sold (even if you haven't sold it)

Starbucks New Orleans

It's so windy, the umbrellas are down.

But the breeze off the muddy Mississippi cuts the press of heat and humidity. And the steamboat whistle competes with round-mouthed tubas.

"Hey baby, what y'all have?"

Now I know I'm in the Big Easy.

This Starbucks is carved into the Westin on Iberville, at the tip of the French Quarter and opens too to Canal Street shops, the cool-aired mall.

Katrina still lingers in memory, in the X's on Ninth Ward houses.

But coffee with chicory is waiting a few blocks away at the Cafe du Monde, where the floor is dusted with white powdered sugar.

Sweet.

Ventura and Noble

Another strip mall. (Nothing new here) Still in the San Fernando Valley, but closer to the valley/city demarcation line. Ahhh.

This one's got a "Let's Relax Thai Massage" and a Cookie Diet store. There's also a nail shop. Watch out for those freshly painted nails, ladies! It's a corner location, overlooking a busy Ventura Blvd. Some seating outside for the smokers (mostly some Israeli contractor types, chain smoking Marlboros)

Warning: The cars come right up to the outside seating area, practically bumper to table. You have to hope (maybe, pray?) that the drivers know how to differentiate between "reverse" and "drive" when they're backin out. (In fact, this store's already had an unwelcome encounter with a car awhile back)

Also, beware of annoying two-honks when people lock up their car.

Inside, there's one oversized gilded mirror, for those who like the dining room motif. One person's being interviewed for a job, another's talking business.

Now, for the good stuff - a pink-haired, skinny jeaned girl who has stormed in and out of the store at least five times, yelling and crying into her cell phone.

"Never try talking to me again."

"What part of don't you ever speak to me again don't you @#$ understand?"

This goes on for twenty minutes. In and out. In and out.

So why does she keep answering the phone?

Because we do.

Victory and Canoga

It's the kind of strip mall that made the San Fernando Valley famous, and the Starbucks is squashed between a Supercuts and a ToGo's sandwich eatery. Across the parking lot is a red topped (and now closed) Circuit City (yes, a sign of recession times) But the Nordstrom Rack is still bustling with deal-hunting-moms.

There are exactly two umbrellas and some outdoor metal tables and chairs. Cars park right up to the swath of stores (so watch out for emissions) but luckily there's a metal railing and some climbing plants (the only buffer between you and a couple of tons of oncoming metal)

It's a weekday, and there are a couple of semi-dorky high-schoolers with backpacks, a valley girl in pink Uggs and a duo holding hands, both wearing matching black and white Converses ( a different kind of ugh?)

Outside, one loner-guy is reading with his legs up on the table, strategically positioned across from the front door. He's "reading" but in between page turning, he's checking out the ladies coming and going.

Inside, there's none of those newer, communal dining type tables or armchairs...not exactly conducive to striking up a casual convo. Just a full fledged laptop brigade, all sitting in a long row, some with oversized Bose earphones, made to shut out the world of possibilities.

On the postive side...there's that Supercuts just next door (for those who like a Supercuts-type-of-guy and two Crew Cut Cuties in combat army fatigues (an army reserve post nearby?)

Valley, bye.

Westwood Boulevard

Lines cross, beginning at the empty cup.

First, black, then grey, white and green.

Fan-like symmetry from my bar stool perch.

If only everything could be this perfect?

Naw.

Valentine's Day

Love's on the table.

Folded heart.

Bright red in the early morning.

But so light it could fly off with the tiniest whisper.

So, no negotiations.

La Reina, Sherman Oaks

The bearded guy's got something to say, a lot to tell, but no one's listening.

Not the blonde on her cellphone.

Or Green Shirt by the window, completely intent on his laptop.

Even the dog's not listening.

But maybe La Reina will shine down and hear him out.

Westwood Fox Theater

Ah.

There's a beacon lighting up the night sky.

Spanish Moderne with a lover's balcony, still intact.

But who climbs up the tower to tame the fox?

Chinatown

The gates of Chinatown point the way, green roofed, for the crowd crossing Bush street.

The mermaid's green logo hangs above, but points in another direction.

They're waiting for the light to change.

I'm waiting for something to change too, but what?

Dreamy

,Dreamy cold.

The flash echos back onto the window pane, like my breath in the cold air.

There's a triptych of faces, but each is looking in another direction.

Nothing new with this picture.

Three Beards

Three men.

Three beards.

The long and the short of it, under the shadows of the pergola above.

It's the time of the year for Starbucks' Xmas red cup.

But sorry, none of you three beards qualify for Santa.

Black Friday

Black Friday, in red parenthesis?

Must be code, Starbucks code.

"Please Enter Here" ....an alternative universe?

Some guy's smiling behind the glass doors.

Maybe he knows the answers to

(11/28)