SoCal Minds is a new blog that bills itself as presenting "Intriguing research, ideas, activity, people -- tracked from universities, cultural-intellectual institutions in Southern California." Recent posts have come out of Rand, the Milken Institute, USC and UCLA — and the link roll runs, alphabetically, from Art Center to Zocalo. The creator and editor is Craig Matsuda, a former editor on the foreign and Calendar desks at the Los Angeles Times. He writes:

Intriguing stuff happens daily for tens of thousands of Southern Californians -- in classrooms, labs, libraries, galleries and concert and rehearsal halls -- as they go about their hectic lives and labors in one of the globe's intellectual capitals....

We're pleased to give you a snapshot of the solid reporting, writing and multimedia postings of institutional information pros across the Southland -- all eager to ensure that important work gets the public attention it merits.

More life after the L.A. Times: Since leaving as senior editor in Calendar and the Sunday magazine, Lennie LaGuire has gone to cooking school in Paris and started a company, Elle Elle Kitchen, that makes artisanal jams. Her website: "Lennie LaGuire...is a journalist-turned-chef who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and created her new company to bring small-batch, old-fashioned methods to new and classic flavors."

Still at the Times: Cause Celebre columnist Tina Daunt blogs about fashion and style from her girlie side at The English Muse.