LEAVING L.A.

Been wondering what I've been up to for the last month while I haven't been blogging? I've been preparing for the next big change in my life, which has now officially begun--I have moved from Los Angeles back to Denver, my hometown. Yea!

It wasn't easy for me. Yes, I was ready to move...I had originally planned to move back to Denver (If I wasn't happy with my glorious screenwriting career or my fabulous love life) more than three years ago. But the older we get, the harder it is to make major changes. We settle. We rationalize. And of course, we become rooted, like a sycamore tree. But my new bride and I agreed--LA was becoming too congested, too expensive and it just wasn't where we wanted to raise our family, which would probably be sooner rather than later considering that we married in our mid-30's. It was now or never.

So without jobs, a place to live or a clue of how hard it can be to uproot your entire life in a matter of months and move halfway across the country, Tracy and I have done it. We have moved to Denver. We found a place, but we're still working on the job part. (Perhaps I should dust off my Mickey D hat?) It is exciting and it feels good to be back home. Denverrites complain about the traffic (and the Metro area has added almost a million people in the last 20 years), but even in rush hour no part of Greater Denver is more than 40 minutes away from any other by car. Imagine that! There's a park on almost every block, everyone seems to be biking and/or jogging on one of the city's innumerable trails and of course the Rockies are only a half hour away and they're easily viewed from anywhere in the city. Even though I'd returned home to visit many times over the last 13 years, in some ways I had forgotten just how special Denver is. I plan to rediscover it and to share the joy of it with my wife, who patiently suffered through L.A. for 2 1/2 years, a city with a lifestyle that is anathema to her very being. I can't wait!

Slowly, I will return to my blogging ways and give you more of what you want--snarky comments about wayward celebrities, slightly askew political opinions and observations on various aspects of pop culture. There are new summer movies to review, the 2006-07 TV season to review (so long Sopranos!) and cool music downloads and websites to share. Just give me a chance to try and find a job first and I promise to get back into the swing of things.

But that's where I'm at right now and it feels good. Even our cat Sammy seems to be more blissful and zen than usual (save for his brief once-a-day freakouts) and I know we've made a good decision. Wish me luck!

By the way, it has been four years and two weeks since "Mission Accomplished" was declared in Iraq and after the deaths of over 3,000 more American soldiers, what has been done exactly? Wait a minute, what am I doing? That's another blog...

Peace...