Settled.

Time has passed quickly, as we sudden realized that we have been here 7 months. We recently returned from a visit down south to Pasadena, on the occasion of the opening of a show at my gallery there (www.tirageart.com); we had a nearly perfect visit, seeing a deal deal of friends and family while parked at a perfectly nice Marriot.
As much as we enjoyed seeing people, Pasadena had surely not changed for the better: the retail/condo building boom continues unabated, traffic is worse than ever, and there's been a serious up-tick in gang-related murders. Good shopping though.
I had been anxious of late, juggling ad work while trying to turn out a respectful production of oil paintings for the show. Now that the opening is past, I'm looking forward to taking on painting with a calmer deliberation, perhaps with a new range of subject matter. Spring here has been quite beautiful - still very green here, distinct from California south of Stockton, which turned yellow-brown some time ago- and I'm casting about for painting subjects which might have some authenticity with being overly picturesque or nostalgic (still a lot of barns and tractors here!). I think I see a way.
Our hopes to buy a house of our own within the next few months wax and wane as we (I) track the real estate listings and obsess over the "housing bubble" blogs. As much as the talk is of the boom having ended, asking prices have come down only a little from the peak. It must be painful to be a seller now. We are so glad to have that behind us.