Probably the first time I was a boss was when I was associate dean of the graduate school at the University of Southern California. I was in my early 30s.

I've enjoyed my time in the American League, the fans of Southern California and other friendships.

I grew up with fantastic Southern food. In Southern California.

The first two pictures I did, I played a young student in prep school. When I did Lifeguard, everyone was saying, You're so Southern California. It was a surprise to me.

Like so many named places in California it was less an identifiable city than a grouping of concepts--census tracts, special purpose bond-issue districts, shopping nuclei, all overlaid with access roads to its own freeway.

So in my uncertainty, I went to graduate school and there it all happened.