"Anyone who has ever been exasperated by an out-of-towner who lacked the chops for New York life will empathize with Anastasia Ashman's story about a sofa-surfing friend from California who thought Ms. Ashman could hook her up with a job. The visitor seemed ''undirected in life, lost,'' as well as ridiculously unsophisticated, thanks to a penchant for Hawaiian-print shirts. ''Shacked up in my sixth-floor walkup on Houston Street,'' Ms. Ashman wrote, ''she would lie in bed all day when I was at work, resting up for our nights out on the town.'' "