Signs of summer

June, graduation, final meetings - all of these signal that it's summertime!  Plus, almost right on schedule, June gloom arrived in the Southern CA area.  It wasn't quite June 1st, but when I went out for a long run Sunday morning, the day was still quite gray and gloomy - ideal!  May seemed like a warmer-than-usual-month, with fires already breaking out in different parts, and I was skeptical that June would bring about the usual weather 'system', but it did, and I'm not complaining about the cooler mornings.

I have tried to already take advantage of the change of pace - Michael and I took Monday afternoon to go to LACMA and enjoy our membership there.  We saw lots of German Expressionism which could have been quite depressing, but we mixed in some late 19th/early 20th Century American painting and a Matisse cut-out exhibit.  By the time we returned  to the east side, it was the afternoon, but not yet evening, so we hit up The York, for a small but potent margarita.  Drinks on a Monday?  Yes, please!

Food-wise, we're enjoying a somewhat different menu with summer fruit and veggies, and I've already enjoyed being at home for lunch.  After less-than-responsible eating in April and May, both nutritionally and financially, I'm making a push to cook more.  This week has so far been quite the success with a white, veggie lasagna on Monday and a fresh corn salad with a cilantro lime dressing (recipe for the dressing is here - we cut down on the oil; we'll definitely be making this again!) last night, and some peach and blueberry scones today.  Not so successful is the plan to drink less beer/wine and eat less ice cream.  It is summer, after all!

After a few months of pretty lame entertainment, of both the reading and viewing variety, I'd like to be more deliberate in my choices over the summer.  It's sheer laziness that I haven't pushed myself to read or watch interesting books or movies lately.  Thanks to Michael's insistence that we watch Chinatown (again), I read a few commentaries about the last line of the movie ("Forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown").  Apparently, some people think that it connects to the death of Polanski's wife, so I started reading about that, which then led me to pick up Helter Skelter, which I'm currently reading (okay, not a great intellectual oeuvre but it's fascinating to learn about LA in the 60's and who doesn't enjoy reading about cults).  And all of this prompted us to watch Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired last night, which was an interesting documentary, to say the least.

Other plans for the summer include a trip to the Hollywood Bowl, finally, and plenty of hiking and biking, road tripping, reading, beach walking, hitting up a few more museums, cooking, napping, and training.  Not necessarily in that order.

Summer 2013, I'm ready for you!