rain

I'm not usually that big of a fan of rainy days. They are best when you can curl up and watch a movie, but in reality they typically interfere with other happenings it seems.

Today, I was a fan of the rain though. Everyone moves so fast in L.A. But today, it seemed the rain created a sort of slow down. On the road, people realized they couldn't fly past or drive quite as recklessly as they generally tend to around here. And, I personally wasn't in a huge hurry when I was out and about, so the rain proved less stressful and almost, dare I say, calming. Plus, I had a little Greg Laswell to keep me company as I drove. Perfect rainy day music.

In any event, I enjoyed the gentle reminder to relax and slow down. If only I had consumed a big bowl of butternut squash soup or my mom's homemade chili - that would have been the perfect rainy day.

from scratch

I have a number of interests and passions, but I've come to realize a common vein running through them all - I love making things from scratch. Making music is all about generating melodies where there once was silence. Baking is about combing separate ingredients to form something entirely new.

At CHLA yesterday, I was designing a donor follow-up piece, thanking individuals for their contributions to a recent event. Basically, they told me they needed this piece, but the rest was up to me. (Working at a non-profit is awesome because they are generally understaffed, so you really get to get your hands dirty.) So, I had the opportunity to use my creativity to come up with the whole concept of the piece and design it - essentially make it from scratch. Though it's not done yet, it's the whole process of making something from scratch that I love.