Tuesday, May 13, 2008

California Dreamin'

Just back from a week down in San Diego. San Diego gets sunshine 300+ days a year, yet Pumpkin and I managed to get five days without it. Truth be told, we didn't mind a bit. If any place sees more sun than SD, it's Vegas, so we enjoyed the cloud cover and the cool 60s.

There's something about California that I just love. I've been to San Diego dozens of times, Los Angeles 10 or so times, even Bakersfield once. I've loved it every time. I've driven through all different types of neighborhoods, too. I don't know what makes me like it so much. It even smells different. I know that usually when we go down to San Diego, we stay close to the coast, and it's tough not to enjoy that. I'm sure folks go on vacation in Hawaii and dream of living a life there. My image of Hawaii is more "Dog The Bounty Hunter" than "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".

Still, coming back to Las Vegas gets harder and harder each time. I was in a rotten mood yesterday, simply because I came back from my morning walk with Maverick and I was sweating- at 8am. Summer's coming and there's nothing we can do to stop it. This will be my 16th "desert southwest" summer, and I'm over it. Today, it's crisp and cool (San Diego-like!) and my mood is 100 percent better. Maybe that's what sets California apart for me. Can you really be upset when it's 74 degrees all the time? As I hit mid-life straight on, I'm realizing that more and more, my mood is affected by what the weather is, even if I spend the day inside watching a movie. Coffee seems to put me in a good mood and if it's hot, I don't tend to brew any, which leads to grumpiness. Goodness knows, I can't be easy to live with. I yelled at my computer yesterday because I was having trouble ordering a pizza online. That's not the sign of a well adjusted mental state.

Today, though, the mood is good. The weather makes me think that I could be living in San Diego this morning. The extended forecast shows mid- 90s for the weekend. Expect increasingly cranky posts.

Coming up next- Arbitron ratings, the decline and fall (?) of KWNR, and why I love it and hate it all the same.

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