Kristina Sauerwein    

Tour buses bypass the area. No one would dream of holding the Oscars here. Zagat guides rarely list it as a prime location for spotting celebrities.

But what the San Fernando Valley lacks in ZIP Code cachet, it makes up for in sheer numbers of screen personalities. Industry insiders estimate that the Valley, now starring in its own secession drama, is home to more actors than anyplace else, probably because it is also the address of Universal, Warner Bros., Disney, NBC, CBS and Nickelodeon...MORE

An ice-encrusted metal ladder on the ferry that links this tiny New England town to the mainland was the unlikely catalyst for a municipal revolution.

Day after dank day, the residents of Long Island climbed the frozen ladder that joined boat to land. They clung to rungs in snow, and they clung to rungs in rain. Morning and night. Sometimes, they slipped.

And though they complained, nothing was ever done...MORE

Screenland Drive lives up to its name.

It seems that almost everyone on the shady Burbank street is polishing a screenplay. Or learning lines for the next audition. Or trying to find funding for an independent film.

Living on Screenland means having a plan for fame and fortune--one that usually involves the rich and successful neighbor affectionately called WB, as in the Warner Bros. Studios Ranch...MORE

Joseph Brito stepped into his calling at a friend's barbecue last summer, after a toddler in a pink dress stepped in something else. Inspiration struck at the sight of dog droppings clinging to the little girl's polished shoes.

While the other adults blanched, Brito realized that he possessed the right stomach for tackling one of dog owners' most dreaded chores.

"A light went on," recalled Brito, 32, an apartment manager. "I said to my friend, "Would you pay someone to pick it up?"...MORE

Shivering on a desolate patch of blue ice that, at any moment, could crack and plunge us 1,000 feet deep into a sharp, slippery crevasse was exactly where I wanted to be. So there I stood, with my husband, Tom, on my 30th birthday, in ice-soaked sneakers on top of the Herbert Glacier, in the wind of southeastern Alaska , where bears reign and evergreens perfume the air.

Although I wore sunglasses, the creamy frosting of bright, white snow made me squint so hard, I felt certain my face would permanently freeze into the beady-eyed expression.

Not that I would have cared...MORE