Unfortunately, that opinion took a crushing blow yesterday when an employee returned from his lunch break and reported that he’d spent 40 minutes trying to find a parking space at Brea Mall before giving up.

“Ah,” we thought, “here at last are the frenzied masses we expect of the holiday season.” Fellow blogger Jill commented on the rather mild post-Thanksgiving Day crowds and I’ve noticed the same thing myself, both in Borders and when I was out doing my own shopping.

But no, it wasn’t Holiday madness that brought people flocking. It was another kind of madness all together. Apparently, a customer reported, Paris Hilton was making a publicity appearance at the mall, signing copies of her new book.

What is it about this floozy (I honestly can’t think of another word to describe her that wouldn’t involve profanity) that provokes such excitement and attention? While there are plenty of other publicity whores out there, most of them have at least done something productive, like an album or a movie. The only product Paris has to promote is herself, and I can’t really see much of value there. And yet, people flock to see her. Maybe it’s the same thing that makes people go visit the sideshow freaks at an old-fashioned circus.

Oh well. I’ll go back to hiding in my bookstore, and take comfort in the number of people who bought copies of Jon Stewart’s America.

Unfortunately, I can only pass on that the convention is taking place and not provide a personal account. I’ve been to the midwest GenCon several times, but a daughter’s birthday and a seasonal retail job will keep me from going to the one in my own backyard, go figure. Anyone else planning on attending?

Right now, when I look out my window, the streets look blue. It’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed before in this neighborhood on rare occassions, those fleeting moments when a blue California sky shines over still-wet streets.

In latter years, as my perspective matured, I’d peer wistfully into the courtyard whenever my footsteps took me past the gated entrance, marveling at the faded elegance, the profound connection to a past era it stirred within me. Face it, historic buildings are rare in Southern California, especially ones imbued with the kind of grandeur inherent in the Fox. It was easy to imagine myself back in the glory days of Hollywood, when going to the cinema was an event you actually dressed up for. While I recognized that the one-screen theater would have a hard time competing against modern cineplexes, it certainly deserved a better fate then the long, slow slide into disrepair and decrepitude.

Now Fullerton wants to tear down the theater and put up some apartments.

If you’ve never seen the theater, you may wonder what the big deal is. Here’s some info provided to me from a friend in the foundation:

• It was built in 1925.
• It was built by the same architects as Graumans Chinese and Egyption theatres.
• It has several famous murals by the famouse 1920′s firm A.T. Heinsbergen Co.
• Tour busses come from LA so see Fullerton’s murals. The Fox murals pre-date all others in town.
• Most of the artwork is still intact but hidden behind a 1950′s interior decoration remodel.
• Back before the mickey mouse club was on TV they had regional chapters. The Fox was the home of the North OC chapter.

If, like me, you think the Fox Theater should be saved, not just as a historical relic but as a potential community cultural center, then you need to visit the Fullteron Historic Theater Foundation web site to find out how you can help. The foundation has raised $2 milion in donations and matching pledges, but needs to raise $1.5 million dollars by November first, and they’re still far short of their goal. And once they save the theater from demolition, they’ll need another $3.5 million to renovate the theater.

Both the Register and the Times have covered the efforts to save the Fox (you’ll have to register to read these articles but it’s free). Pass the word: send your friends and neighbors to http://www.savethefox.org.

I’ll get the low point out of the way first: that would be when the Dippin’ Dots ice cream pouch my 3-year-old was eating started leaking out the bottom. Toddlers are messy enough without being sabatoged by defective packaging. The high point was definitely the train ride tour of the OCC campus, even if we did have to spend a half-an-hour waiting our turn. Okay, I confess — I may consider that the high point because it’s about the only time I got to sit down all afternoon.

It was a nice day for a festival, sunny but not too hot with a nice breeze that kept the free balloons dancing around merrily. The event was pretty low-key, with just enough people there so that attendance couldn’t be considered sparse, but neither were we elbowing our way through crowds every where we went.

There were not nearly as many vendors there as I’d thought there would be. Borders had the biggest, busiest booth. Everything else seemed to be small, independent publishers with, at most, a half-a-dozen titles for sale. I’ve nothing against small publishers, of course, but we didn’t see much among the meager offerings that tempted us (my 7-year-old is really hard to tempt beyond her avid devotion to Junie B. Jones anyway), so I spent less than $15 on books, far less than I was anticipating.

Aside from vendors, there was a variety of entertainment. The mainstage had a number of local performers while storytellers and magicians and so forth gathered audiences in various venues. There were some lectures for those interested in creating children’s books, too, though with the kids in tow I chose not to attend. Kid-pleasing festival standards (balloon animals, face painting, jumping tent and the train ride) were all free, and there were a small number of refreshments available, including the campus cafe which was open for business.

This is the first of what is supposed to become an annual event, and I think they’ve gotten off to a pretty good start. Sure, it’s small, and there are no big-name authors or publishers present, but it hasn’t lost sight of who the Festival is for, and you can tell the planners were keen on making the event entertaining for kids. One thing that might be nice is to provide some more book-and-reading-oriented activities for the kids, though, instead of jumping tents which can be found just about anywhere anymore. I’m sure it couldn’t be too hard to put together some ideas that would create a distinct and memorable character for the Festival, to distinguish it from all the other community events in the county Uh oh…I better stop before I end up volunteering for next year’s Festival!

Or maybe just “Fresh squeezed news.”

Okay, maybe not.

The autumnal equinox is Wednesday, and you can celebrate it with a Sunset Walk at the Donna O’Neill Land Conservancy down in Mission Viejo. I have to admit that I’m intrigued by the opportunity to “enjoy the California fall landscape as it has been for thousands of years.”

If you prefer moonlight to sunlight, there is a Harvest Moon Walk at the Newport Beach Environmental Nature Center. The event isn’t listed on the website, but the crucial info (snagged from the OC Family website):

MOON WALK: Experience the harvest moon at 7 p.m. during a Moon Walk at the Environmental Nature Center. Warm drinks and snacks are served. Call for reservations. Admission: $2. Address: 1601 Sixteenth St., Newport Beach. Information: 949.645.8489.

If my kids can stand it, I may drag them to both events!

As for the “Best of” lists included…well, they’re pretty uninsightful. Putting San Juan Capistrano on the “best place of historical significance” list doesn’t take imagination, nor does Disneyland on the “best entertainment venue” list. And Starbucks tops the list of “best coffeehouse” — if having the most locations qualifies as “best” then McDonalds should be a five star restaurant in the Michelin guide. It seems, in most cases, that they’ve just picked the most obvious three and stopped there. Which is a good way to keep from offending any potential advertisers, I suppose.

I jokingly tell people that I live in “Disneyland’s backyard”, but in truth the theme park is not what defines living in Orange County for me. There’s gotta be more to life than frappachinos and mouse ears, after all. That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping to find (and share) what is really best about Orange County, not what the glossy adverts tell what ought to be the best.

Now — if anyone can tell me where to get the best chai latte, I’ll be extremely happy.