Being a lawyer and sitting on the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, Kaylynn Kim sometimes must deal with difficult situations. But when talks turn tense, she doesn’t always think like a lawyer. She thinks like a chiropractor.

That’s because before her days in law and politics, Kim received her doctorate of chiropractic and practiced in Los Angeles for two years.

“I learned from dealing with patients that you need to listen to their concerns, and then see what can be done to help them,” Kim said. “That’s how I relate to my clients and my colleagues. I look at them sometimes like a patient.”

Now 37, the Seoul, South Korea, native said she left her chiropractic days behind. At least, officially.

“I sometimes help my close friends and family with physical pain, but I can’t practice because I no longer have a license,” Kim said.

Pope Joke

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is renowned for his world travels and his sense of humor. Both those traits were recently on display when Wozniak went to bat for a local company.

Wozniak was in Los Angeles to deliver the keynote address at the DomainFest conference in Hollywood. During his talk, he related to his captive audience a story about how he used a Macintosh tablet computer built by Axiotron Inc. in El Segundo to chat with Pope Benedict XVI. Well, not really.

Here’s what happened: While Wozniak was demonstrating Axiotron’s computer at the MacWorld Expo in December, he had arranged for a friend to send an instant message to him under the screen name “Pope Benedict.” The message popped up on Wozniak’s screen for everyone to see.

What did “Pope Benedict” ask?

“I had him type, ‘Where can I get a good glass of beer?'” Wozniak said to laughter from the crowds at DomainFest.

The pope, of course, is from Germany, known for its good beer. But Wozniak said he wrote back, “Try Helsinki.”

Hair-Brained

Since the early 1990s, the “Dummies” series of how-to books have provided readers with easy-to-read guides on everything from reupholstering dining room chairs to understanding complex corporate financial statements.

Now, add hair preservation to the list. Beverly Hills hair restoration specialist Dr. William Rassman recently got his “Hair Loss and Replacement for Dummies” published by John Wiley & Sons. He co-authored the book with two former associates.

For Rassman, a cardiac surgeon and serial inventor who went on to found the New Hair Institute, the research and writing process took only a few months. He drew on material he’s collected moderating his Web site, BaldingBlog.com.

Actually, convincing people to lay bare their hair stories can be a bit touchy.

“It’s a subject people tend to be embarrassed to talk about because they think their hair reflects on their sexuality,” Rassman said.

Staff reporters Francisco Vara-Orta, Charles Proctor and Deborah Crowe contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].