The end of an era

(Our buddy Jason, me and Elijah)

Change is sometimes tough, but always inevitable. After having worked together for almost 9 years, Elijah, my senior production manager (and good friend), had his last day at USC yesterday. He and his wife Jessica (with their 6 month old daughter Jordyn in tow), decided that the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles (to say nothing of the near-impossibility of buying a house in this state!) was not what they wanted, so they packed up and moved to Austin, Texas. As happy as I am that they are starting a wonderful new life out there, I was sad that I did not really get to say good-bye to him. Elijah had gone back to Texas to wrap up things on the purchase of their new home, fully expecting to be back in the office on Monday to wrap up work issues. But, the day before he was supposed to fly back to LA, he ran into problems with escrow, house leaks (found the first day they moved in - which the previous owner claims no knowledge of!)and could not come back. So, we will have to postpone closure until he makes his way back to LA again.

I was very fortunate to have met and worked with Elijah all these years; he really was a driving force in making the department as successful as it is. And beyond that, he became a good and trusted friend. We got to laugh and cry with each other through a lot of ups and downs in both our personal and professional lives. I will miss him... a lot.

Forget those Fall leaves...

... Go with the hair color method of determining seasons! Once September rolled around, it was time to go back to Auburn. See you next month for Winter Brown. And who says California has no seasons!!

Puttin' on My Dancin' Shoes...

I can't believe that it has been so long since I have written anything. Somehow September AND October just whizzed past me! But here we are in November. Fall is starting to creep in little by little... it feels nice. And nothing says Autumn like... Latin Dance! Well, OK, maybe there are a few other things that say it better, but since I am not taking a pumpkin pie-making class, we'll have to go with it.

A few weeks ago my niece, Kathleen, and I started taking Latin dance classes and it is SO much fun. I'm not sure which is more fun - actually doing the dancing or just being able to hang out with my very cool niece! It is great fun dancing with her (since there are so many more women than men in this class, we dance together). Unfortunately, I have found that my leading skills lack a bit of finesse; I can really sympathize with all you "real" guys who are given the unenviable task of making all those tough dance decisions ("should I turn her now?, is this a cha-cha or a salsa? was it forward with my left or back with my right?) and look debonair all the while.

But nonetheless, we have a good time. We have learned the meringue and the cha-cha and have begun working on salsa. It is quite the workout too! We leave class out of breath but with happy (albeit sore) feet! There is just something about Latin music that just makes you want to get out there and move those feet and wiggle those hips (OK, maybe not so much hip wiggling for my straight guy friends reading this!) but it is pure passion put to music.

So as Kathleen and I dance our way into Fall, we figure that by the end of the class we will be ready for "Dancing With the Stars"!! (Watching it on TV, I mean...) ;-)