They're calling the wildflower explosion in the SoCal desert a "hundred-year bloom" that we're unlikely to see twice in a lifetime. All the rain we've had this um, winter, has created the phenomenon that's driving thousands out to Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley -- though they say the same type of thing happened after the El Nino weather of 1998. Hundred-year bloom or not, we had to see it. So, we drove out to Anza Berrago, the nation's largest state desert park, about 150 miles southeast of here, on Saturday. They're not kidding - blooming like crazy! And as full of winnebagos and motorcycles as cacti and other flora, I must say.

Here are some photos from the park:





We stayed the night in Julian (pop. 203), an old gold mining town that's very rustic, old-fashioned, and full of pie (we bought a Dutch apple to go). And it was freezing there -- like 30 degrees. First time for us in this area, which took us through Temecula and San Ysabel. Strangely enough, this part of SoCal was really similar to the New Zealand experience. Same type of rocky, hilly landscape, sparsely populated, lots of baked goods. No snowcapped mountains, a few less sheep, sadly no flat whites, but truly striking in resemblance. Ignore the end-of-the-world-like development you'll endure along the 15 freeway. Once you get to the 78 it's pleasantly bucolic.

Back at home, we're anticipating Monday. Doom. This week I'm losing my favorite colleague, Mark, to greener pastures and Akhil's getting closer to his very long trip to Florida (3 weeks).

Just drove back from an early morning power walk in Manhattan Beach -- one of SoCal's greatest features.

Now -- down to business. Houston, we have a satisfied customer. Cool toys for big kids: Here's Akhil in the Shuttle simulator at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

A wide shot:

Mission Control:

Nick & Akhil, and the littlest astronauts:


(Oh, and the conference went well too...)

Congrats to Marivel, who recently restarted her life as a hairstylist, leaving the high-falutin' world of network TV PR to live a dream. First major gig: 1 comment:

Welcome to our new and improved template. My friend Scott told me to enable comments, so I did. Does it work? Let me know (or leave a comment).

Once again, last night, we went to the Fox and Hound, a very odd bar for L.A., for happy hour. They DO have Irish soccer fans here - just like Boston. Except that here, the bartender moonlights as a supermodel and drives a BMW roadster, and the cook drives a Lotus. Well, maybe it isn't the cook's. Perhaps the Aston Martin with the faux UK license plate is. While I'm here -- Khanh I got your message and hope to talk to you asap!

Here in L.A. it's like a glorious, early summer - our windows are open, I'm wearing open-toed shoes, and the flowers are blooming as they do. Taxes are done, too, so we're heading into (offically) spring with all ducks in a row. Akhil's off to Houston on Wednesday where he'll convene with other robot people -- and visit with Nick at NASA. I'll be stuck here as usual -- not too lucky with my allotment of vacation days. But now that I am reading "Happiness," by Richard Layard, I know that being stuck at work is infinitely better than being stuck outside the workforce. Apparently, joblessness is more traumatic than divorce, death, and a variety of other troubles.

We're richer, he says, and more comfortable than we've ever been, but over the last fifty years, the western world's "average happiness" level has stayed just about the same, while trust, faith, and family have fallen. He also points out the Western world's flawed yet prevalent belief that putting yourself first results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. It doesn't. It results in "Not My Problem" -- and "Go Screw Yourself!"

It's not like the U.S. is the only place with this attitude, but it certainly may be among the worst. Comparing oneself to others, however, seems to be the real killer. And Americans excel at that. Seeking inner peace is a lifelong commitment.

Once again, I've lost touch with most of my non-California friends ... heck, make that just plain friends in general. Where is everyone NOW? Stuck in snowdrifts, I suspect, as Boston pulled down a few more feet in the past week. Here in L.A., the 101 freeway produced another rainbow today after a day of intermittent rain. This has got to be the oddest winter in a century, whichever coast you're on. Akhil's got yet another trip planned - to Houston - next week but otherwise it's rather dull drudgery here at home, where the holding pattern continues...

Glorious weather and clear, cool blue skies today make Los Angeles appear to be the devilish little heaven that makes it so hard to beat. Akhil and I had breakfast at Love Birds in Pasadena, followed by a stroll on Colorado Blvd. where it was neither crowded, nor hurried, nor scorching, nor wet. Perfectly perfect. Oh woe is us. How will we ever decide?

The Jeep broke down again so while it got its latest repairs we went off to look for its imminent replacement. At the Honda dealership we test drove a Pilot and a CRV with our Philippino Elvis impersonator sales guy (yup glasses, high hairdo and all), whose name, I swear, was ... Elvis. (Refer to yesterday's post, please, lest I say it again, "Only in ... ..."

Here he is -- Akhil in tux -- at the Thea Awards last month:


All the freaky stuff that makes the phrase "Only in L.A." so fitting just keeps on rolling here in the City of Angels. This time, it's a loose, now sadly dead, Bengal tiger, killed Wednesday in Moorpark. Oh yeah, and of course there was Paris Hilton's digital address book, "mistakenly" distributed online last weekend. What next? Akhil and I don't know but what we do know is that we are emerging from the "darkness" that was 2004 -- what a tough year. And good riddance to it all. It was like a tunnel into the next phase of our lives -- our "adult" life, perhaps? Could be -- we'll see. But don't worry, we'll never be "mature." As of this month we've been paired up six years. Wow, longer than college.

Last weekend we ventured to Santa Barbara on Sunday despite the wind and rain. It was misty and chilly but offered plenty of parking and room on the sidewalks, and on the way home we stopped in Summerland to see if it's anything like the WB makes it out to be. Could be, but they always seem to leave out the freeways in these TV scenes -- no 101? How did these people get here? We all know what uglifies -- it's automobile traffic. TV pretends cars barely exist. They mentioned on NPR today that L.A. is set to consider a long-term plan to extend the Red Line out along Wilshire to the Miracle Mile. They say it would take ten years at least if they ever approved the project. So, ten years? Pishaw! Ever hear of the Big Dig? I wonder if they realize that at this point, it may not be a matter of choice. (Unless a lot of us make good on our threats to defect by then.)

It is positively raining babies! Craig and Suzanne (Latimer/Wong) welcomed Jasmine Audrey on the 13th. Didn't even know she was in the making. Congratulations guys.

So Akhil's sitting there at Logan, his cell phone rings, it's his boss, who asks him some stuff about actuators. He begins to explain, but after about 3 minutes, the perturbed lady next to him says, "Excuse ME sir, but could you PLEASE take that somewhere else? I am trying to watch this (TV)!"

He moves, but later, in line at the gate, she and a guy start talking a few steps behind him, and the guy says something like "So, are you from here, or from L.A.?" She says, "Oh, we're BICOASTAL." And then, "My husband's at UCLA."

"He's MICHAEL DUKAKIS."

Kitty, how could you?!!!

Akhil always gets all the good airplane stories.

Today it's raining and all's well with the world -- Akhil even came out to Encino to lunch with me. Three-day weekend ahead; what the heck could be better?

My five days of single-ness come to an end this eve when Akhil lands at LAX. He's been in Boston all week and now that I work on this side of the hill, I have to say that being here alone and sleeping in Glendale, to Encino, back to Glendale, (and repeat, repeat, repeat) just really, really sucks. It's sort of bland, monotonous, isolating, gray, and a little bit sinister-feeling. I hope it goes away when he gets back. Oh how I miss the West Side and its shiny, blondish, stylish ways... This week though I met up with Leslie for a drink at Central on the Strip - an ok place but the pricey parking situation is a bit of a buzzkill. Celeb sighting: Eriq LaSalle, but only briefly, in the bar.

The latest excellent news is of Heather's condo purchase. Big score! Two-bedroom right off Charles Street in Beacon Hill (Boston)! The envious portion of my brain lit up when I heard but I am happy for her -- for she is no frenemy. Nice work, H. The NOF just keeps on coming.

Now if only I could find the life I'd layed out for myself 10 years ago. Where'd it go? Maybe it's stuck behind the dryer drum. I certainly I hope I can find it. Soon.

Lots of NOF (news of friends) this week... First, Congrats to Craig and Rebecca and Sophie on the Feb.6 arrival of Willa. And second, it's offical: Nick in Space! Here's the NASA press release:

NASA NAMES TWO FUTURE SPACE SHUTTLE CREWS

NASA has named crews to resume training for the Space Shuttle missions designated STS-116 and 117. The missions are planned for launch to the International Space Station in 2006 to continue assembly of the orbiting laboratory.

Astronaut Mark Polansky will command STS-116. The mission will deliver and attach the Station's third port truss segment. Joining Polansky is first-time pilot William Oefelein (Cmdr., USN); mission specialists Robert Curbeam (Cmdr., USN); Joan Higginbotham, and Nicholas Patrick, Ph.D. Christer Fuglesang, Ph.D., a Swedish astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA), rounds out the crew.

Akhil and his "Lucky the Dinosaur" team head down to Anaheim tonight to receive a Themed Entertainment Association award, or THEA, for their animatronic achievement. How exciting! Too bad spouses are unwelcome. This morning we'll take a look at yet another house for sale for some astronomical price -- we're in a state of confusion about our living situation, and from the looks of the latest State of the Region report from the Southern California Association of Governments, so are a lot of other SoCal dwellers. Daily News headline: "L.A. gets D+ for Lifestyle" (see full story here).

Thank god! We thought it was just us! Reasons cited: traffic congestion, home prices, education and smog. Okay, so what are we gonna do about it? Remains to be seen... meanwhile Akhil and I are struggling to remain chipper, sane, and at peace with ourselves and with each other.

It's been a week of Glendale-in-the-headlines, but not for anything we're proud of: the train collision here this week and the story of the man who caused it has become obsession for the press and the public, rightly so, perhaps, with its incomparable irony. A friend of mine does a nice job of describing the scene/issues/drama on his blog. We did go over there to try and see the scene for ourselves, and with all the people and rescue vehicles gone, it was eerily silent Thursday evening, except for the other rubber-neckers driving around the otherwise deserted neighborhood bordering the industrial area by the section of track where it occurred.

Yet another item to make you feel lucky to be alive.

Yesterday, Akhil and I decided to mix up our rather dull recent homelife and visit La Canada for lunch at Dish. I don't think we've ever done anything in La Canada, other than visit our since-fired real estate agent's office. It's a little noisy in there, but what a great space - open, light, roomy, and the food was decent though we were disappointed that we missed the breakfast hours - they stop serving it around 11:30 so, no cornmeal johnny cakes for us. BLTs and Eggs Benedict instead. Very low-fat.

Just to harp one more time on my building better cities thing -- the Congress for the New Urbanism, a leader of this charge, is holding its annual conference here in Pasadena in June. If so inclined, take a look at the Web site -- the issues may at least put a new spin on your interpretation of urban layouts and plans and inspire some passion you didn't know you had.

Also, when you get a sec, you have to check out Kunstler's [sad yet hilarious] Eyesores of the Month, on his site, here. You can click backward from the current specimen to see earlier "Eyesores."

No Best Actor nomination for Paul Giamatti? What's the deal with that? Stiffed twice in a row!

I'm reheating fettucini with chicken and would like to say that Whole Foods is a utopian place. Encino is not.

Now we're not sure whether this means I am shallow or thin-skinned or perfectly normal, but this last bidding loss we suffered on Monday evening has put me into deep, physically painful depression. I loved this last house so much, I'd almost steal it if I could. We lost out on the bid to some joker with a 350k down payment.

Sigh. Trying to move on. It is very-very difficult, despite my telling myself how easy and good our lives are in the face of such a terrifying world full of much more horrible fates. Well, I am going to drink this very large glass of wine now, and get over it.

Otherwise... Bush, sworn in again, as leader of the universe, or at least that's what he appears to believe. I liked the protesters' "skit," which included his being inaugurated wearing a crown. And big, huge, baby news from a very dear friend who hasn't told everyone yet, but hint: she's short, somewhat German, lives in Chicago, and played the Wicked Witch of the West to my Glenda in our high school play. Congratulations (gulp)!

Sun? Could it be? All of us (that's the entire population of L.A. County) trodged out to the beach today in celebration of the return of the big yellow ball and it was glorious. Bad traffic, but good times. Akhil and I have had a rough week, so we recuperated for most of the day with a walk along the beach between Santa Monica and Venice, followed by brunch and a little shopping. Speaking of shopping, our automobile search is going nowhere fast as we keep finding reasons to rule out what we thought were our best options -- especially those German ones. And we went to that darn Auto Show TWICE! Mostly, it's because of terrible reliability reports -- and in some cases, styling, which sounds like a bad reason but the crappy plastic details on some of these cars are just too horrifying to excuse. (That means you, Toyota/Lexus! What gives?!) The Prius is an exception. And the new hybrid SUVs coming out mid-year look promising -- for now, the Wagoneer lives on.

We attempted to avoid rain-induced cabin fever today by going to one of Akhil's favorite annual events -- the infamous L.A. car show. It would be fun to take Tom Wolfe there ... but we managed to have enough fun on our own, trying out the cockpits of Audis, Mercedes, Lexuses, Mazdas, Volkswagons, Jeeps, Volvos and even a Subaru among the throngs, and I mean throngs, of so-called auto enthusiasts. Where else can you do all that without pressure from a sleazy sales guy?

Brian Grazer was there too - in raingear and camo, but he was checking out the extra-fancy celebs-only 100k and up, cars-with-hired-drivers section.

Alas, the 1987 Jeep Wagoneer is seeing its twilight days. However, the plethora of so-so, less-than-perfect choices keeps us driving it, year after year. Will this be the last? Stay tuned.

Okay, anyone with an uneasy feeling about the state of the developing universe, especially Los Angeles and its status as the pinnacle of inhumane, soul-destroying, unrelenting industrial sprawl, must read the "Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kuntsler, which my fellow disgruntlee Heather gave me for Christmas and I can't put down. "The future will require us to build better places, or the future will belong to other people in other societies," says Kuntsler. And then some. It's giving me hope that there are enough frustrated people in this consistently selfish, uglifying nation that one day, we'll realize a change. A big one.

Rain rain rain and rain.

Lost out on another house that was less than 1500 sq feet but still fetched over 700k. It's worse than it's ever been right now - mainly because there's just about nothing listed but also because we've got 4 more years of good Bushie-nomics coming (though Greenspan's only there til '06!)

Akhil's parents are en route to South America for a month-long tour of the continent. That's where I wish I was at the moment. A little salsa would do me good. Happy belated b'day Jen - not TOO late, I hope. I know you're reading this!

The pressure's on as bloggers take the spotlight as ABC News' "People of the Year." This isn't really a blog in that sense -- no political views, very little gossip, nothing controversial. Akhil and I remain rather private people, and from what I hear, it's a bad idea to talk shop online (so we don't, ever).

Too bad for you -- hope it's enough that this is a way to keep up with friends and family across the miles. Akhil's at Disneyland today, we're about to jump back into "house-shopping mode," and our apartment's heating system crapped out right in the middle of the rainy cold snap here in L.A. Arnold's giving his "State of the State" address as I write this, and things are back to normal so far in 2005 -- at least here in our cozy little world. The tsunmai and Iraq continues to help keep things in perspective. The first full week back at work is somewhat relaxing after the holiday rush.

So, 2005 has begun - let this be an excellent year for us all. Happy New Year!
Congratulations to Mike and Maria on the birth of Evan -- born Dec. 24 as an early Christmas present. He's a gorgeous little guy - we met him this afternoon and I even got to hold him!

Akhil and I traveled to the east coast on Christmas Eve, a rather long and uncomfortable trip (I'm sure you've heard of the airport/flight crew hangups this season) but we made it by midnight and on Christmas Day, food and presents and time spent with the Peavey family was all good:



I hope my parents enjoy their new kayaks. I know I will enjoy my iPod and soon, my printer, and Akhil his fluid bicycle trainer... embarrassment of riches this year:



Five inches of snow were a treat on the 26th - Akhil and I braved the roads to see a movie ("Aviator"), and then Heather at her parent's house (she's from my hometown), where we met Diego, her new nephew compliments of Julie and Juan. We took Metro North to New York on Monday to visit our friends Annemarie and Josh and Craig and Rebecca - our only remaining NYC city dwellers - and their dangerously cute kids, Sophie and Ariel. Now back in California, we saw the floats last night in Pasadena after an impromptu dinner at Luna Negra - how we got seats with no reservation I have no idea.

Despite the rather sorry general state-of-the-world we're dealing with, Akhil and I are looking forward to a great year full of milestones -- here and everywhere. Cheers!