West side video love

Tuesday is one of my "mom" days, i.e. I have baby sitting covered and I get to do something for me. I didn't have firm plans set for today. When I got a last minute email from my pal Celia Chavez to come out and be an extra in her music video in Santa Monica, I thought, "Done!"

It has been gorgeous in Los Angeles lately. The kind of weather that makes to you want to live out your life here. Low to mid 70s, sunny, blue skies, mild breeze. Perfect. I was actually a little worried that it might be cold and foggy out west being that it's been so mild over on the east side. I checked the weather and it was the same. Great.

For those of you not familiar with the greater Los Angeles acu-weather forecast, you learn quickly that weather varies greatly depending on where you live. The coast gets June gloom. The valley roasts under 100+ degree days in late summer and on sporadic heat waves. The same goes for the east side. I swear when you cross I-5, the temperature rises or falls 5 degrees. We have desert climate where I live. Cool at night with wind from the canyon and days that can bake under long sunny days with limited large tree shade.

That explained, I was psyched to head west on a perfect day to help out a friend. Turns out, she'd invited some other common friends to be part, so bonus! I knew I would be able to see and catch up with other old friends I hadn't seen in a while.

I pulled a few "looks" that met the wardrobe spec and threw in some fun heels and espadrilles, then took off toward the beach. Actually, we didn't shoot at the beach. My friend had another friend offer up her home on a quiet street. Very generous. And upon arriving, not only was I welcomed by the home owner, but I was ushered in to a huge backyard (double lot, easily) with a gigantic tree in the center.

Now this wasn't some sweet gum or palm, this was one of those MAGICAL trees, the kind that reach up with gnarled branches, shimmer with lanterns and chandeliers and beckon you to climb up into its arms and take a long nap. Within 10 minutes of getting there, I was up in the tree. I didn't head up very far because of my "You're someone's mother now" excuse I use these days. I included a few pics from the tree here.

I also sat down in one of the lovely resting spaces, this one a couch and table near the back of the house, and got to know the owner, a New Zealander who makes coasters with art and inspirational messages on terra cotta squares. She was hospitable and inquisitive. I enjoyed our conversation about transitions and life in LA and art and connections. More on her coasters here.

Now, as with most productions, this one was running behind schedule. Lots of late arrivals, which is fine. I wasn't there for the shoot. I was there to see some friends and if it worked out, be an extra in a party scene. It was a good way to approach the day. I figured I would probably not be around for much shooting even if it was on schedule because I had to drive back in rush hour traffic to relieve my sitter at 5 p.m.

And, I wasn't the only one with an early departure time... my old pal Will Hawkins was there for part of the pre-shoot wait time. I haven't seen him since before Riley was born. He's got a busy marketing company that keeps him several months here, then NYC, then Chicago. You know the drill. I knew Will from his touring musician days. In fact, he was the person who first got me over to London to tour. I owe him that introduction and many more. I met Will while attending the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) 2005? Conference at Kutcher's in Montecello, NY. He was rooming with my collaborating partner and friend Tom Glynn, and I crashed on their couch on a crazy tour schedule that had me driving to Carlisle, PA the next day.

I've seen Will go through many transformations and I'm happy to see him in his latest because he seems really happy. It's always great to witness that sort of things for people you've known for so long. We caught up and as he joked about getting older, I mused, "Well, I'm the one with the kid." And so it goes...

I had to leave. The first shot had yet to be shot and the male extras started a pick-up basketball game in another part of the lawn. I'm sure with that setting the final video will be lovely for Cel. I just had to get back and get my daughter.

So, a couple hours go by and on the topic of videos, my hub and I started our post-dinner couch routine looking for clips of "Pumping Iron" on Youtube, to no avail. A few nights earlier, we watched out of sequence clips of "Cocksucker Blues". Yes, this is what you get on Apple TV with no Netflix subscription. At least the Rolling Stones night led us to a slew of rare Beatles interviews about breaking success and the rise of Apple Corp's accounting troubles. This night, we gave in and rented another "everyone's talking about this show" show, American Horror Story.

Talk about a crazy show! Amazing title sequence. Super creepy suspense and action. Winding plot lines, in a good way. I think I may have found my new addiction. It even had me having monkey brain when my body decided to wake up after 5 hours of sleep on the dot, i.e. 4 a.m.

So video love, don't fail me now. I've got 2 seasons to devour and a really comfy couch. I don't know what I learned about myself or my journey on Tuesday other than I felt recharged and alive and connected with friends. Maybe that's all it needed to be. I really enjoyed seeing R when I got home and was a little sad that I didn't see her much that day at all. Oh, and I've been reading The Second Nine Months, a memoir by Vicki Glembocki, and it has been a wondrous thing to find someone else who struggled so much with the motherhood journey... and lived to tell. It's relief in the way you sometimes hear "your story" coming out of someone else's mouth in a 12 step room. I feel better about all the ups and downs of this job and am beginning to know it's not a bad thing to feel at all. So until I have another shake up or down, I'm sticking to it.

Today, we have swim class and play group. It's a lovely chilly foggy day on the east side. I can only hope it will stay that way all day, but I know the sun will burn through sometime midmorning. Such is life in LA...