smells like girls...
The problem with living with Leah, so far, is that I've yet to buy my own soap and things; since I got here I've been using hers. That's all well and good--she's happy to help me out--but it means that when I get out of the shower I smell like a fruit salad composed of cucumbers, watermelons, cantelopes, apples, lemons and sugar cane. Yes, I'm aware that some of those items aren't quite fruits, but I am not lying when I tell you that they are all flavors featured in the various cleansing products I find myself using. Now, I'm sure that these things do as good a job as cleaning me as regular soap would, if not better--Leah swears by them--but somehow it doesn't seem right. If I smear watermelon or sugar cane over my body, I certainly won't be getting any cleaner. And all this stuff looks, and smells, like liquid candy. Soap cleans you because it's soap, and that's what it does. This stuff? I don't know. I'm just glad I live in LA, otherwise I might be worried about attracting hungry bears.
Yeah. So this morning we went down to the beach and biked (me) and rollerbladed (Leah) along the bikepath to Venice, which was very nice. The path is really well-maintained, and towards Venice it has some great curves in it, that swoop around little grassy knolls and make you feel like you're on a race course. Sadly, Leah had to work at 10:30 so we didn't have much time, but we'll definitely be back there before too long. Looking out for bears the whole time, I'm sure.
I've gone native
I just walked down to the store to pick up some ginger, and--I'm sorry to have to confess--I wore my sweatshirt. They're right: it does get kinda chilly in the evenings! Especially if you think that, um, 58 degrees is chilly. Which I'm obliged to report that I now do. It's not cold, mind you, but chilly... yes. How quickly we adapt.
And speaking of walking to the store: I always thought that it was impossible to do anything in California (LA, anyways) without a car. And it's true that there sure are alot of cars around; but really, around here anyways things are notable for their non-car-requiring convenience. The hippy co-op grocery is just around the corner, about ten minutes' walk, and the real human grocery store is around the other corner, scarcely any farther away. I biked there this afternoon in about three minutes, and while the biking along Olympic Ave wasn't anything my mother would have been happy with, it was still wonderfully easy and convenient. I guess that's the advantage of city life. (Yes, I could walk to Trader Joes in Lexington, and bike to the Stop and Shop if I really wanted to, but there's one key aspect of biking in Lexington that I don't have to cope with here: hills.)
- Danny