summertime....livin's easy

so far the summer seems to be shaping up nicely. for the past few years, the arrival of summer has not meant that much to me; i usually didn't go on any specific summer journey, nor did go to the beach every weekend. this is not to say i did not enjoy myself. i am sure i was happy, for the most part. i just never said to myself, "yeah, alright! summer! best season ever!"

this year is different. i have left my job, which was quickly taking over my life. i am doing lots of little jobs that i love, jobs that don't come home with me, except for maybe a grin when remembering something fun. i have an amazing trip lined up, my first off of this continent, with one of the most beautiful souls i know. when i return, i get to live in a fantastic house, with all kinds of flora and fauna, part of the time with my "second family". the drive by truckers are coming back to southern california, which anyone who knows me knows is cause for jubilation.

i also just found out that steely dan are here in july. STEELY freakin' DAN! my obsession with the dan started for me in the fall of '98, when i first heard the album 'aja' in its entirety. i was living in gainesville, florida, working as a live in nanny, and my family had the cd. yeah, i had heard these guys, but they had yet to permeate my soul (ok, so i'm a bit fanatical). i must have listened to this cd over and over for weeks; i'm pretty sure that nathan, my charge, knew the words to 'black cow'.
{on a tangent here, i want to tell a quick story about nate. he is amazing, and i have always adored him, and always will. when i was living with him and his family, he was two years old. i was, as usual, listening to a lot of neil young at this time, as well as steely dan. nate loved dinosaurs, and would always throw the word "dinosaur" into any form of communication he could. one day i heard him singing to himself "hey hey, my my. rock and roll will never dinosaur!". i will never ever forget that for as long as i live.}
right. so. steely dan is forever ingrained in my psyche. i am very excited to see them live, even if it is probably going to cost a fortune to go. so be it.

after all this madness is a visit from beth, who is my thailand travels partner. if she is still speaking to me after 2 weeks together in a foreign country, she will be coming out here to l.a. and then we are headed up north for the outside lands festival. holy crap, this looks like it's going to be a great one.

yeah! summer! finally!