My Brother

He hates having his picture taken.  I told him I was taking the view.

He noticed the lens was pointed straight at him.

  Oh well, that's what sisters are for.

Trimmings

The unusual cold snap infused my week with holiday spirit.  Layering sweaters and cranking up the heat at dawn made it undeniably winter.  The annual trombone gathering in the canyon tonight was the perfect excuse for a dinner party and tree trimming.  The mild evening lent itself to open  doors and a fire.  It's incredibly cliche but the weather in Los Angeles is spectacular.  The subtle changes are  noticeable and welcome.  I never take it for granted, this beautiful, arid landscape.  Love that I experienced the east coast as a kid, but forever grateful I have spent my adult years on this coast.

Friday Ritual

Sticks and I try to hike Friday afternoons, an ideal transition to Saturday.  The weeks our schedule is  unable to accommodate, I miss it.  The hikes ground me, provide perspective on our development slate, and brings me back to the core; our friendship.  Where this venture leads is still unknown, and most days I feel like I'm free falling.  Not an entirely unpleasant experience, thankfully there's no grasping for rails, but I do often wonder when I'll land.  Will there be a  net or a hard concrete surface?  Will limbs get broken, or will I glide to safety?  The unanswered questions of 2013 will undoubtedly bleed into 2014.

Neglict

I've been neglecting my blog, the reasons many --

camera woes, tax preparation, oodles of work, holiday engagements.

  The hours pass at a very rapid rate, even on a cold and stormy Saturday.

  Indoors, I organized, filed, purged, cooked, read, napped, and paused

long enough to snap this vision from my bedroom window.

Night Gallery

My beautiful and talented friend, JOB, had an art opening last night in Venice.  Several months ago, I viewed a few of her canvases in her studio, and I've glimpsed others on her blog, but neither compared to having her works hung on the white walls of a gallery.  Her vibrant images of reoccurring themes and symbols tell a complex story.  Layers of mythology embedded in a modern narrative, words waiting to be spoken. The crowd was as wonderful as the artwork.  A truly exceptional night.  Congrats JOB!!!!

c

& Sons

Whipped through this heartbreaking book about family, disappointment, healing and legacy.  Occasionally bumped up against the clunky narration, and the overuse of metaphors, but there was so much beauty and depth in the writing, I was compelled to keep reading.

PS Style

Love my Evergleam Christmas Tree.

It doesn't always make it out of the box,

but this year the mood to decorate struck early.

I even wandered in and out of stores this weekend.

No malls or big name stores,

you couldn't pay me to enter one of those.

Vintage boutiques and consignment stores, playing rat pack holiday tunes,

are much more my speed.