My Friend Made Something Beautiful for Me

A few months ago, I was having coffee with my friend Lisa, known to much of a world as Smacksy. She is an amazing writer and blogger and occasionally, I would think, “that’s really cool that she is talented like that. It’s nice when you can see a friend succeeding at her chosen profession.”

Then one day, she started to post multimedia pieces onto her site. They were really remarkable. I just wanted to stare at them; the use of color, texture, and the way there appeared to be a story in each piece she created.

I was also a bit torn.

Part of me thought “wow, she’s really good at two creative styles. That’s really cool.”

The other (more jealous) part of me thought, “That’s not fair! Most people have to work hard to be good in just one creative field. And, she works in both and makes it look easy.”

Finally, I got over my own ego and asked if she could make a piece for me. A few weeks ago, she created something that was beautiful but also felt unique to our friendship.

Thank you, Smacksy. I love it.

(Darn it!)

Daytripping in Joshua Tree

As extroverted as I am, I’m loath to go anywhere on the weekends. I’m not sure where this Archie Bunker quality comes from in me. When K or the girls suggest a trip, excursion, or a hike, I grouse how I was going to play video games, work on a project, or do… something. I feel very serious in these moments.

They will quietly nod, and after a short pause will look to each other and say, “So, we should leave at 8am?”

I’m not saying that I approve of this, but our trip today to Joshua Tree Park was really beautiful.

David Lynch Wants to Tell You the Weather

I stumbled across a strange and wonderful thing a few days ago. David Lynch, who lives only a few miles from my tiny neighborhood has started giving a daily weather report from his desk in Los Angeles.

Each day for the last few weeks, (presumably sometime early in the morning) Lynch stares at the camera, mentions the date and the day of the week, and then looks out the window. Often it is sunny, he tells us, with golden sunshine. Occasionally, though, LA’s weather will take him by surprise. “By golly, we’ve got rain,” he said this last Monday, which was indeed mildly stormy.

There is a resolute sameness to each morning, almost like a performance art piece. He mentions the weather, the temperature (both F° and C°), and ends with a hearty “Have a Great Day.”

With his signature wavy hair, deeply lined face, fully buttoned black shirt, and a steaming cup of coffee, I feel like I’m watching a small-time radio operator outside of Missoula, MT (Lynch’s home town) giving a local update between the farm report.

David Lynch has always been a deeply weird and interesting dude, so I feel compelled to keep tuning in. You can do the same on his YouTube page.

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Jacaranda Season

In Los Angeles, it is jacaranda season, when the violet blossoms suddenly appear on all the trees and begin to rain purple on to everyone and everything. Per the LAist, “Vladimir Nabokov is said to have claimed that he could have lived in Los Angeles for the jacaranda trees alone.”

We have a giant jacaranda tree in our backyard that quite literally drops seed pods, twigs, leaves, and blossoms throughout the year. Having twigs falling on your head isn’t necessarily nice, but the blossoms make up for it in the two weeks that they bloom, fall gently to the ground, and then are then crushed under the feet of my pets.

As lovely as they are to see, I have to admit I like the word “jacaranda” most of all. It rolls off the tongue like the strikes to a marimba or the password to an underground club named “El Tigre.”

Fun Fact: Horticulturist Kate Sessions brought the trees to California from South America in the early 1920s and 30s. There are over 150,000 in the greater Los Angeles.