Advice

"John quickly pulled out his gun, shakily aimed it at Joe, and angrily shot him dead." There's one way you might write a line of fiction (or, if you're a member of my immediate family, memoir). Here's another. "John pulled out his gun, aimed it at Joe, and shot him dead." I tell you this not to offer you a glimpse into typical rural Florida family life, but to highlight some widespread advice about adverbs. The refrain goes like this: Adverbs bad. Don't use adverbs. They mess up your prose and smush up your point.

Now that Barack Obama has been sworn is as the 44th President of the United States, if you had the chance to have lunch with him, what advice would you offer him as he enters the presidency?   My advice for Mr. Obama? So far he hasn’t asked, but I’d advise him to remember five things: 1) God is watching. Regardless of what Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or Congress or anyone else has to say, it is God who speaks finally. He has the final say, the One who sees all and hears all. Politicians know they answer to their constituency but most forget that everyone answers to a God who has observed us 24/7.

In 2008, when I started writing this column, I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily, neither did the editors of this paper, so I've been allowed to ramble on each week since. I'm not a journalist and I never set out to be a columnist. When the honor was offered to me, I took it with fear and trepidation. Like parenting, or any life hurdle we're woefully ill-prepared for, it's helpful to turn to those that came before us for advice. But I didn't know any newspaper columnists.

Last year about this time, I was pontificating to graduates about setting realistic expectations and telling them to get used to a world that is going to try to beat them down. Of course, I surrounded those nuggets of sage advice by further suggesting that a good dose of lounging by the pool should precede any attempt to dive right into the workplace. For the record, I still stand by that last bit of advice. Now, as for the other bit of advice — the part where I told last year’s graduating class to prepare for a pummeling at the hands of a cold, cruel world.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE ? Facing the Burbank Major All-Star softball team meant that Cece Martinez needed to be disciplined. Listening to one of her teammates helped Martinez, a center fielder on Crescenta Valley, succeed in one of the biggest games in her career. Martinez finished with three hits ? including a solo home run ? and teammates Maddalena Polizzotto and Delaney Gay contributed three hits, as well, on Wednesday night to power Crescenta Valley to an 8-6 victory against Burbank in the Little League District 16 if-necessary championship game at Scholl Canyon Park.

Marshall Allen LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Coping with arthritis will be the subject of an upcoming seminar at the YMCA. The seminar will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Crescenta-Canada YMCA, 1930 Foothill Blvd., La Canada Flintridge. This seminar is intended for people of all ages suffering from arthritis. It will feature Dr. Robert Brumfield, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the USC School of Medicine. He'll talk about how arthritis can affect a person's daily routine, and how to cope with it. Brumfield will also give advice about exercises people can do to help alleviate arthritis pain.

With temperatures hitting 100 degrees, Glendale fire officials are encouraging people to be safe in and around the water. About 3,000 people die from drowning every year, Glendale Fire Department Capt. Tom Propst said. ?We do encourage the elderly and children to stay out of the heat,? Propst said. The Glendale Fire Department has provided residents with several water safety tips. They include: ?Never leave a child alone near water. ?Enroll children who are 3-year-old or older in swimming lessons.

Karen S. Kim DOWNTOWN -- Shoppers perusing stores and looking for bargains at the Glendale Galleria on Saturday will find quite a sale on legal advice at the Macy's Center Court. The Glendale Bar Assn. Lawyer Referral Service will be offering free consultations with attorneys from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of National Community Law Week. "We've had everything from simple questions to people bringing their whole divorce file," said Kathleen Bond, executive director of the association.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD ? Struggling homeowners sat alongside cash-strapped home shoppers and other attendees during a set of workshops Saturday aimed at helping residents through their financial crises. Some were unemployed and looking for guidance on their job searches; others sought advice on modifying home loans or overcoming growing debts. The workshops, held at Romer Middle School, were organized by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian and aimed at residents within the 43rd Assembly District.

Robert Chacon Los Angeles County public health officials made a presentation to a handful of business owners in Glendale Friday to continue educating the public about the West Nile virus. Business owners at the presentation vowed to share the information with their customers. "Because of the business I'm in, I need to keep up with this and I should be here in person," said Michael Allison, owner of Med Link, a business that stores people's medical information on identification cards.