Finally! Hella makes it to SoCal

"Hella" scored a major point on July 6 when the Los Angeles Times ran an article on the movement. The piece, written by columnist Steve Chawkins, explains the petition, talks about Google's incorporation of the hella- prefix into their calculator, and includes commentary from Ben Stein (not that Ben Stein), spokesman for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The article also bears a picture of me which warrants a little explaining.

On my way to meet photographer Nathan Morgan, I walked through the windy streets of Dunsmuir, CA to the restaurant where we had planned to meet. As I walked, the wind did something unexpected, yet completely appropriate: it whipped my normally Jim Halpert-esque hair into an Einstein-esque quasi-afro (a physifro, if you will). Furthermore, my financial restraints have kept me from hiring a full-time cosmetologist, so I walked into the photo shoot completely oblivious. The first thing my friend Ryan said when he saw the article was, "Dude, what's up with your hair in that picture? It looks like you combed it with a blowtorch."

Anyway, enough about me; the important thing here is that hecka (sorry, my childhood continues to occasionally impact me) Southern Californians have been reading about the impending quantification and legitimization of "hella". Most of the readers of the LA Times probably have never used the word, so Mr. Chawkins' article is an accomplishment in itself. Since most of the opposition to the hella petition comes from boring people and Southern Californians, at least we're making headway in one tough, yet critical demographic. At that's carries, um, a grip of importance.

Until next time,
Austin