At 6:25 a.m. this morning, I was on the elliptical machine in our guest room, minding my own business, when suddenly, I appeared to be riding a bike on a Tilt-a-Whirl.

This was immediately followed by the thought everyone has during an earthquake: “Am I about to die, or can I finish this?” Followed immediately by: “Thank God I’m not sitting on the toilet, because, I mean, really.”

As the morning wore on, friends from around the country began to text and send Facebook messages.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh my God, is your house still standing?”

“That must have been soooo frightening.”

“I’d be scared shitless right now.”

I sighed. It was a 4.4. Yeah, it was a shock, for about ten seconds. Then, you walk around the house, straighten a few picture frames, and go back to working your glutes.

At first, I blamed the media for whipping this minor earthquake into a media event, terrifying out-of-towners with nightmarish notions of crumpled buildings and flattened cars.

And then, I realized the truth: those friends and family in the Midwest and east weren’t traumatized. They were enjoying a well-deserved moment of revenge, a chance to rub our sun-kissed noses in our perfect California weather. It was, plain and simple, a chance to even the score.

But that’s ok. We here in LA understand your petty, small-minded behavior. And we forgive you. After all, 19 feet of snow in one winter will do that to a person.

I work at a big TV network, which, as you can imagine, is a nonstop orgy of glitz.

Yesterday, for example, I was walking past a friend’s office when she called me in. She and two other women were whispering urgently. Maybe they’re trying to decide who to invite to the Emmys this year, I thought. After all, isn’t that why we work in such a sophisticated, glamorous business?

“How may I provide excellent service?” I asked.

“As the token  ‘mo,” my friend said to me, referring to the fact that I am, weirdly, the only gay guy in the department, “it is incumbent upon you to do something about the straight guys around here. They dress like they’re attending a monster truck rally.”

I sighed. It was true. The men in this department tended to dress as if they were fleeing a burning hotel at 3 a.m.

“What do you want me to do about it?” I replied. “I try to serve as a model of good taste. I can’t exactly ram it down their throats.” (I expected one of them to thank me for teeing up that line, but nothing.)

“You need to hold a seminar.”

Here, then, is my four point tutorial on DRESSING FOR SUCCESSING.

1)  Dockers should only be the province of men for whom said waterfront pier provides employment.

2)  Shower sandals are considered footwear only by those attired in bath sheets.

3)  When a shirt is marked down 80%, all those people who didn’t buy it are trying to tell you something.

4)  If you believe that your work apparel should express itself with clever phrases and puns, remember that you’re barely interesting enough yourself; pretty much no one wants to hear from your clothes.

Whoever the producer is for Idina Menzel’s new show on Broadway, I would like to marry him. Or her. I’ll swing either way.

So we’re at brunch the other day with our friends Nicole and Joe. A nice brunch. A hotel brunch. With Blueberry/maple sausage. Lobster pot pie. Semi non-swill champagne in the bottomless mimosas.

And Nicole says to the waiter: “My compliments to the chef on the Fruit Loops.”

Contrary to reports, I am not dead. Although there is the occasional day when I wish I was. Good times.

But I’m back, and I’m gonna begin posting some shorter entries so at I can keep the new content flowing on a much more regular basis. So you’ll have no reason not to visit multiple times a week.

Think of it as Facebook, without the pictures of food and invitations to play Farmville.