You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out,
you put your left foot in, and you shake it all about;
you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around--
that's what it's all about.

---

I have named my daughter.

What do I love fiercely, unconditionally... What is it that I both belong to and belongs to me, that is so much a part of myself that I would barely know who I am without it?

California.

(psst: Cali = Kali)
She is beautiful in a million different ways. She possesses bits of every extreme, and as such is balanced, temperate, and understanding. Flexible, adaptable, her waters are diverse and clement. She is progressive, educated, intelligent (brilliant!), of mixed race and varied ideas, and so, tolerant; never afraid to speak her mind, she nonetheless possesses a peaceful disposition. She nurtures innovation and spirituality. She eats healthy. She is ceaselessly productive and has more than enough to share with everyone. She is proud of the ways in which she is different. She is sunny. She is bright. No matter which way she turns, she is a success. She leads the world.

She can be frivolous. Sometimes she has no business sense. She can be really hard on herself. She's mercurial, has secrets and moods; she's made mistakes and learned from them. A lot of people just don't understand her, and most can't keep up with her. Some people are turned off when they see the wrong side of her. Sometimes she closes her boundaries when it would be better to be open.

People from all over love her. I love her. She makes the headlines, that's for sure; she sticks out her tongue in the face of ridicule, and at the very least can laugh about herself. She never stops caring. She is a curiosity, and a force to be reckoned with. She will not be ignored.

She was named after paradise, and fulfills that promise with flair.

Oh, and: California knows how to party.

12:41 a.m. 2004-02-22�