Happy _____.

Parol. from Michael Almacen on Vimeo
(you can mute the sound unless you wanna hear the dog bark)

I took the video above myself from my doorstep. It's called a parol and it's one of the Christmas decorations my family here put up on their house. I will spare you the continuous 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' 8-bit Atari theme it comes with.  We were already spoken to by the neighbor.  

The holidays are interesting here in Southern California. As an east coast transplant, it's definitely a big plus that I don't have to deal with the bitter cold, inclement weather, and overcoats. It does become a lot cooler than average here, however. The scarves actually start to come out around October when the temps drop below 60 degrees Fahrenheit!  ;-)  Seriously, though, it does kind of creep up on you.  You notice it more at night because the temperature changes drastically.  60 degrees with the sun out in the day is a whole lot different than let's say 50 degrees at night ... by the beach.  Trust me.  By the time night rolls around, you are just not prepared for it with the coats and things.  Just call me a baby -- I'm sensitive!

Anyway -- it's the end of an old year and the start of a whole new one.  I've started to get a lot more blog readers.  For years I used to think that I wrote to myself.  Considering I really don't advertise my musings of a whole lot of nothing, it's not bad I guess.  Thank you to all of you who do read.  More comments would be most appreciated.  Making dj mixes has also become a new hobby of mine.  Give me another year -- I'm sure I'll improve a lot.  As for work ... well, it's work.  There are a few things brewing up for me to jump on when the time is right.  Either way -- it involves some change and will eventually be the deciding factor for me to continue living here in Los Angeles.  I've been here for more than 2 years and I'm ready for a change.  We'll just leave it at that for the time being.  What else ...... ?  Oh yeah, my relationship with my family has changed a lot (for the better) this past year.  We've gotten a lot closer despite being split between coasts.  My brothers are all grown up and adults now.  My parents are now both retired and have a lot of time on their hands as well.  With the birth of my new neice, they've mellowed out big time.  Good for them.  Better for us.  Ha!  Lastly, going back home to DC in late November gave me a big boost on my personal morale level.  Seeing my family again and hanging out with old friends again is something that I miss.  We'll see what happens soon to help remedy that.

The new year is definitely a time for change on many levels.  Without the triteness of setting resolutions, I just wish everyone the best and let's start this one out with a bang.  Happy New Year everyone!