Guidebooks

Driving is David Rizzo's passion, so it's just as well he made it his life' work. Born 45 years ago under the Santa Monica Freeway, he has lived in South-Central Los Angeles, Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, Santa Ana, the Crenshaw district and Long Beach, memorizing every off-ramp, bottleneck, dead end and landmark along the way. He has worked for United Parcel Service, driven trucks and forklifts and roamed the Inland Empire as a real estate broker.

Turning 18 is the big moment for teenagers. They gain the right to vote, the right to finance a car. Even the right to marry without permission. And the right to be sued. To be drafted. To go to an adult prison or be executed. Maybe the soon-to-be-ex-kids need an owner's manual, something to explain all the legal ramifications of that big birthday. That's what Margaret Hampton of Calabasas thought when she began distributing a free booklet called "When You Become 18."

* Tustin Unified computer expert Angela Satterlee Angela Satterlee, a computer specialist with Tustin Unified School District, has coauthored a textbook on using the Internet, "Adventures on the Internet, a Beginner's Guide," with Don Busche, a dean at Saddleback College.

Backers of a March ballot initiative to limit lawyers' fees went far to find someone with consumer credentials to tout their measure--1,500 miles, in fact, to Spencer, Iowa, and the home of Garry DeLoss. In California's official voter pamphlet, DeLoss signed the ballot argument endorsing Proposition 202, one of three anti-lawyer initiatives headed for a vote March 26. He is identified as "Former Executive Director, California Consumer Organization." In fact, no group with that name exists.

Through the ages, humans have wrestled with the burning philosophical questions of their day: Does God exist? What is the meaning of life? Tastes great versus less filling. And, in a movie theater, how do you know which armrest is yours? In the 1990s, a new quandary has arisen: Dummy or idiot? At least, that's the dilemma found on the shelves of America's bookstores.

A flap over changing the date for this year's Swallows Day celebration has spread far beyond tradition-rich San Juan Capistrano. The uproar has now winged its way clear across the country to the mighty publishing houses of New York City.

The Federal Election Commission may be breathing down his neck, but Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed is undaunted. At a lecture at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace on Friday, Reed said the group will distribute 45 million voter guides nationwide, the biggest drive in its history, and hopes to register at least 1 million new voters "who will help decide the outcome of the election" before November.

In the hurly-burly world of courtship, the hottest "new" catch-a-husband strategy is such a radical throwback to pre-feminist days, a gal could get whiplash just reading about it: Never, never, never ask a man out. Don't call him. Rarely return his calls. Don't accept a Saturday date past Wednesday. Don't have sex in the first, second or even third month of dating. Hide self-help books if he's picking you up. Laugh at his jokes.

It is not expected to hit the bestsellers list any time soon, but Bill Riddell's guide to collecting professional game-used bats has apparently struck a chord with the hard-core collector. In two days at the national sports collectors' convention in St. Louis, Riddell sold out of 200 debut copies of "Bats--Professional Hillerich & Bradsby and Adirondack, 1950-1994."

Where can I get a bite to eat? That was the most frequently asked question at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza box office during the performing arts center's 1994-95 inaugural season, according to ticket sellers. It's a question members of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce are happy to answer. The chamber received approval from the Thousand Oaks City Council this month to publish the Conejo Valley Hotel & Restaurant Guide beginning in September, the start of the new theater season.