I know I live in Southern California where the weather kicks ass and when I go somewhere like Kentucky this time of year they say "hey why are you so tan?" But let's face it, we white folks in L.A. just aren't that tan right now--except for some of us. And I am starting to suspect that those people are doing what I used to do: courting skin cancer by hanging around inside a glowing coffin and paying for the privilege.

It's hard to live in a culture that's so focused on appearances. I am sympathetic to the urge to fake a bake just as i am to the urge to get a tit. But it's crucial to me to make decisions now based on what is truly best for me, and I am highly aware of the fact that it is no better for me to chase approval than it is to have even more exposure to the carcinogenic rays of the sun than I already have.

So why not trust these people who are glowing bronze in February? Because they don't trust themselves, and they are not comfortable with reality. And that means that they will lie, without even realizing that they are doing so. How do I know these things? Because I have been there. And now I am working hard to be somewhere else.