a foggy day in santa monica town
Today was very pleasantly foggy; the fog of last night was supposed to disappear early today but it never did. It wasn't really thick like a Maine fog, nor yet the sort of mist you get from warm weather over melting snow, but rather like a cloud blowing in from the ocean right at ground level. You could see bits of it moving: at the intersections you could see it flowing up the streets leading from the ocean into LA, even as far up as our house on 17th. And down by the shore it was thicker still, so that you could barely see the end of pier from the beach at all.
And I sure loved it. I really enjoy weather of any sort, which is one reason why I'm not a huge fan of LA; we get so little of it. I took a little walk and took some pictures to remember the situation, because I'm sure summer sun will be back before too long. Looking at the palm trees in the fog made me think of hurricanes. I wonder if they ever get those here?
in a bubble and out of the loop
Since I've moved I've been almost completely unaware of what's going on in the world; what with not getting the newspaper, not having a radio in the house that other people turn on, and having a million channels on the tv, a million minus four or so of which are not news. That's not to say I don't read, or listen to the radio, or watch tv: in fact, in my small way--about sports from the tv and about tech issues from reading on the internet--I'm perfectly well-informed. But as for general news, I don't get a great deal.
Not the I really mind the state of affairs, but I suppose it isn't really ideal. There are some big things happening out there in the world, after all! So I try and do something about it, but it's harder than I imagined. In Lexington, I could absorb all kinds of news by mistake: the paper open on the breakfast table, the radio on before dinner. Now if I want to be informed I have to make a conscious effort at it! And my time is filled up with other things--my time and set habits, both--so current events barely gets a look in. Things are changing now, though, because I've started to listen to WBUR over the internet; thus getting All Things Considered and Marketplace and things at a time when I'm more likely to be able to listen to them. Also I'm starting to get used to reading The Economist online, though it's still nothing like lying down on the couch with it and reading through from beginning to end. So I'm now upgraded to not completely ignorant, and if present trends continue I'm on track to be as informed as any other average American by the end of next week.