chillin in so-cal

this is the longest I've been away from nyc since moving there in 2004. my lack of posting in the past week or so is due to what a good time I've been having here in sunny southern cali. b and I have been staying with his sister and her boyfriend up on a bluff overlooking the pacific, in san pedro. out their living room window you can see the port of los angeles to the left and the ocean leading up to palos verdes to the right, with the anaheim hills in orange county straight ahead. I've gone hiking twice in the santa monica mountains, with b in topanga canyon, and in corral canyon in malibu with L and c yesterday. b's niece came visiting from arizona, with her 3 1/2 year old monkey joshua. for xmas he received a game which had a rotating pool of snapping fish, and two fishing poles, and he played with it the entire time he was here, ignoring all other gifts. b gave me a hello kitty waffle iron, my first ever hello kitty item. b's hawaiian mom and sister made a beautiful xmas dinner of organic free-range turkey, shu mei, rice, fruit salad, green salad, potato mac, green beans, enchiladas, and rainbow-colored paradise cake and chocolate cake from king's hawaiian bakery. about a dozen of us crowded into the living room, eating and telling stories, as L and I danced ballet moves over joshua and his fish game. somehow we can't avoid doing ballet when we see each other. in addition to b's sister (s) being a gymnastic coach, she and her boyfriend (c) are musicians. we've woken up most mornings to singing and guitar and mandolin playing. the other day I got the idea to teach them some hebrew songs, and c figured them out on guitar as I taught s the lyrics. I've also taken L's yoga class, and we attended a group meditation led by her and A. we've seen c perform twice, including a gig at sacred grounds coffee house, where a zoot suit-clad employee busted out his tap shoes and danced for a couple of songs. earlier that day we watched team practice at s's gym, getting to see 11 year-olds do walkovers and tuck flips on the beam and giant swings on the uneven bars. today I'm going to head down to santa monica and visit my favorite bead store and former employer, ritual adornments. ciao for now.