California Dreaming

[hrj]

I think I may have started thawing out finally, thanks to the heat wave of the last few days. Saturday I was down in LA (Diamond Bar, to be precise) for my cousin's 25th wedding anniversary. It turned into a real family reunion, with most of the west coast cousins in attendance, including the celebrant's sister whom most of us haven't seen a decade or two. The party was your typical California melting-pot-with-undissolved-chunks: held at an Indian restaurant with my cousin-in-law's immediate family in traditional Korean outfits (come to that, my cousin wore a traditional Korean outfit too, which looks ... odd ... on his decidedly Scandinavian-looking frame). Dinner was followed by multilingual karaoke (I sang a duet with my aunt) and dancing to a rather eclectic series of songs (the karaoke dj seemed quite talented at spinning off the song selections for filler music -- although the volume got quite painful as the hours wore on).

Today's checklist: Other Change of Hobbit for books, Berkeley Bowl for groceries, Stonemountain for yard goods, and Toyota Berkeley for a Prius test-drive and formally submitting my features-and-color request. (I mentioned to the salesman that it would be delightful -- although not a requirement -- if I were able to pick it up on the 12th. And when I requested it, he allowed as how a nice ribbon bow on top would be easily manageable.