The Ladies Man

You don't have to live in LA very long to start seeing some celebrities out and about. I was just at the Summer Soulstice festival in Santa Monica over the weekend watching a Doors cover band, when who should be standing a few feet behind me but The Ladies Man himself--Tim Meadows. I can't be more than 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon now!

Sunshine

Nothing really special going on, but I thought I'd write about the weather. It makes me really happy to wake up to sunshine and then drive by the beach and through the mountains. The fact that I'm just going to work doesn't really bother me then. This is the first day that it's been sunny in the morning in a while, though.

Every year in LA, we get what they call "June gloom" (even though it started in early May). It doesn't really rain much, but for a month or so it's always just nasty and cloudy and, well, gloomy. So, I've been waking up to gloomy clouds and having to drive to work. Once I get on the other side of the mountains, it's pretty variable as to whether or not there will be sun. Typically, it will be cloudy in the morning but the clouds will burn off by lunchtime. Then, when I go home, I pass through the mountains back into a thick, gloomy fog.

I'm not sure how long it will stay, but the sunshine is back today. It helps me to remember some of the reasons why I moved to LA and why I'm getting up to an alarm at 6:30.

(I don't have a digital camera, so I get all of my pictures off of the internet. This one was taken somewhere in Malibu and I probably drive past it on my way to work. I live towards the left side of the shore that you see in the distance.)

Still writing...

I think I may have sent off the final version of the intro to my thesis today. (I hope.) This is dragging on way longer than I ever thought possible. Part of the problem is exemplified by the fact that today I decided I would rather clean my entire apartment, do laundry, wash and wax my car, and write this blog than work on the next chapter. I am armed with coffee and ready to go, though. Hopefully soon. After this chapter, I'm still waiting on the discussion. I'm hoping for only minor revisions to that.

Hmmm. My dog needs a bath.

My First Wave

It took three surf outings, but I finally caught my first wave! For five whole seconds, I understood why people are so addicted to surfing. The time between my first and second trips was so long that I didn't really retain much. By the end of my second trip, my paddling had become much more efficient and I was feeling much more balanced on the board, but...alas...I only managed to catch a couple of waves on one knee. During the third trip, I picked up a few more helpful hints and tricks from a guy named Bruce I was surfing with. Armed with some new knowledge and experience, I managed to stand up a couple of times. The first time didn't really count because I fell off almost immediately. When I finally rode a wave standing up, I caught a glimpse of why I had been exhausting myself and eating so much dirty saltwater.

I have to admit that I got pretty frustrated during my first couple of trips out. I was beginning to wonder why I was punishing myself so much. Seeing people riding waves didn't give me the impression that it would be worth all of the effort when I finally stood up. It was pretty thrilling, though, while it lasted. Fortunately, I've also gotten more efficient at paddling out in the first place, so it's not quite as much work. Unfortunately, the experience was so brief and no one had a camera that day, so I have no visual evidence. Here are a couple of pictures of me in a wetsuit on the beach before the second time out. (The weather wasn't so good that day.)