Happy new year

I'm using old technology for this blog, putting pen to paper, longhand in a quiet local bar with an excellent Happy Hour.  Naturally, I've since transcribed it into the computer for your online reading pleasure, but I enjoyed the old school style.

Backtracking to my last entry, I spent a delightful few days in Huntington Beach with Sarah, her roommate (also Sarah) and Sarah 2's boyfriend Tim.  I also met Sarah 1's best friend, a thin single and neat young guy called Matt.  New Year's Eve, Sarah 1 threw a modest house party; guests included all of the above and a couple of others, a convivial group.  I bought a bottle of Veuve which I shared with Sarah 1, and I stuck to it while some of the others whipped up ghastly-looking concoctions from the assortment of liqueurs stashed on top of the fridge.  Anything with Blue Curacao in it looks ghastly and is usually teeth-grindingly sweet.  A pair of novelty cardboard '2010' spectacles was passed around, a lot of cheese and potato crisps were consumed and party poppers were dutifully popped at midnight.  At a certain point in the evening, we all tried to learn a 'dance' (I use the term loosely) called The Jerk; it features in a video clip for a 'song' (again, loose term) of the same name.  Picture Peter Garrett circa 1985 in full flight - backwards.  Nothing graceful about it, but an enjoyable bit of nonsense.

The next day, the first of the new decade, I drove back to L.A.  Roads were quiet so it took barely an hour.  I've been busily scouring craigslist for a potential new home and have seen two places, have two more appointments this week, and have screened two other possibilities over the phone: one was a two-bedroom apartment occupied by two guys - one of which is sleeping in the living room - NO; the other sounded good, nice girl, but with a dog - that's a No for me, especially in an apartment with no yard to run around in.

Meanwhile, my yoga studio is branching out into non-yoga exercises classes, such as "Nasty to the Core" (an abs workout) and "CrossTrain".  My eager eyes alighted upon one called "Mixed Martial Arts" which proved to be a very intense workout incorporating boxing training (punches, kicks, skipping rope, push ups) and some principals of tai-chi, focusing on slow, controlled movement, breathing and chakra alignment.  An aerobic workout with the soul of a yoga practice.  I liked it; great workout without pounding pop music and someone yelling at you.

This morning I went for a hike with Anthony, one of my Aussie friends from my first L.A. visit in 2007.  The trail took us from views of the Valley across the hills to views of the coast stretching out from Santa Monica to Long Beach.  Part of the trail went past a disused army missile lookout station.  It was hot on the hill as we walked, with little discernable breeze.  The Pacific looked like a great silver pond; silent and shimmering in the midday sun.

We've had a glorious couple of days, weatherwise, with temperatures returning to the mid-70s (20s Celsius) under blue skies.  This is winter??  No complaints here, I'm loving it.