It’s raining in L.A. today and as per usual, people are dry-heaving and panicking about the wetness falling from the sky.  It might be because it’s June, but it’s mostly because Angelenos-transplants or not, do not understand the concept of bad weather. They can’t compute it. “Hey, there’s snow in New York!” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Or, “I just got back from London!” [Insert gross face or entire body shiver here] “How can you staaand it?”

Listen up people of Los Angeles. I’m sick of your whining and complaning about the weather. I know you think we live in paradise, but let me tell you, every parade needs a bit of rain. Or a lot. Take your pick.

Do you know how cold it is in other parts of the country when the sun is shining out of our asses in L.A.? People actually have USE for Uggs in other countries, and they sure as hell don’t have idiotic women wearing them in the dead of summer with leggings and ripped up short skirts. So stop complaining about the weather.  You don’t even know what cold is, got that?

I mean, we’re all in our cars for crying out loud! It’s not like you have to walk home. So you don’t get to wear your sunglasses for one day, you’ll live, I promise. And then you wonder why people make fun of us, or why there are vids like this made:

Today I was in an unusually good mood, far from my scowls and confusion I’m usually faced with these days. It was almost euphoric, today. Perhaps it was because I knew that we would be closing down the office four hours too soon, to get a head start on Thanksgiving. Maybe it was because I was looking forward to finishing up the second Twilight book, “New Moon,” tonight (more on this in the future). One thing was for certain – the weather had an enormous amount of responsibility for my jovial mood. I heard the rain break through last night while I was driving and as God is my witness, it was incredible. I even saw the lightning. Los Angeles is beautiful when it rains. The smog and fog filled sky looks almost breathtaking, like some Apocalyptic painting no one was ever meant to see.

I smiled all the way home.

When I left work today, the weather wasn’t any different and I was enjoying every single minute of it, knowing full well that in an instant, it would disappear and the sun would pierce through again, ruining my rendezvous with the rain. I wasn’t as excited about the freeway as I was about the rain, I’m sure you’ve guessed. It was clogged with cars in every which way and I had no choice but to suffer through it all. I took comfort in the fact that I wasn’t exactly heading home, but to Whole Foods to buy some Quorn “Turkey” Roast for myself for tomorrow’s festivities. I can’t believe it has been almost a year that a piece of meat hasn’t touched my lips. Of course, because I still eat fish, I’m not a vegetarian in the true sense of the word, a bit like Edward Cullen I suppose. I don’t like talking about it when people ask me why I don’t eat meat. The idea of having to explain to them my thoughts on the matter are almost unbearable and definitely awkward and painful. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone pescetarian. I didn’t eat meat for about 10 months a little less than two years ago, but when Thanksgiving came around, I caved in. Once I tasted it, there was no point not eating it again on a regular basis.

I was taking a different route this year though. I didn’t have a particular interest in eating turkey, the smell of it repulsed me a bit, so the Quorn brand of faux-turkey was my next best option.

While I tried to make progress on the freeway, the rain suddenly turned violent and vicious and unleashed a three minute wrath of hail on everyone. I was enjoying myself, but remembered back to documentaries I had watched on the Discovery channel about golf-sized hail balls leaving cars looking like Swiss cheese. I had to remind myself that this was Los Angeles, and we had earthquakes and fires, not tornadoes and killer hail.

The parking lot of Whole Foods was an absolute nightmare. I had never seen it that bad before. Parking attendants were directing traffic and people were pulling in and out with carts. I eventually found a space and quickly got myself inside, focused on finding my Quorn Thanksgiving dinner. Inside was worse than outside. I was turning claustrophobic and had to take a dive in the hair care isle to stop myself from leaving without finding anything. No one else seemed slightly annoyed by the fact that there were so many people around. Maybe it’s me, I wondered. I found my Quorn and picked up some low-carb bread as well as some Ginger Peach tea from Republic of Tea – a treat to myself.

When I left, the rain had started coming down hard, so I ran to my car, but my paper bag was soaking wet. As I settled in my car, the smell of wet wood descended around me from the bag and forced me to open a window. My next order of business of getting the third Twilight book before I finished the second one, in an attempt to satiate my appetite when I finished. That search turned up fruitless, as the only version they had was a hardcover version, and I wasn’t in any mood in shelling out $20 for my guilty pleasure unhealthy obsession for a clumsy, accident-prone girl and her dazzling, vampire boyfriend. Sorry Stephenie Meyer, I had to draw the line somewhere.

When I walked out of the bookstore, it was drizzling. I pulled my umbrella out and propped it up. I hadn’t been walking in the rain for so long. It was beautiful. The gloomy skies, the wet ground, the silence of the entire city. I walked back to my car, disappointed, knowing full well that I could order on Amazon but the wait would be excruciating.

I got home and literally devoured the second book, and didn’t rest until I was done. This whole “Twilight” thing has turned me into a raging lunatic and I really don’t know how to stop. Mostly, I’m left wondering, “Why is this happening to me!” I have my theories I guess, but discussing them makes me sound crazier than I am now, so I’ll stop.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I have some intense baking to do in the morning, as well tidying up and then entertaining at night. I have my hopes set on traveling out to a J.Crew outlet for their “Hurray-For-The-Holidays” sale which starts at midnight tomorrow night. I know it sounds insane, especially since it’s Thanksgiving, but you don’t understand. No, you really don’t. It’s 50 percent off clearance, plus an additional 30 to 50 percent off regular stuff. It’s going to be fun little road trip for the three of us, including my sister and Nat, since it’s about 60 miles from my house. I’m afraid that our trip might be like that one episode of “Friends,” where Monica recruits Rachel and Phoebe to go wedding dress shopping with her and they have to communicate with whistles.

I have always had a love affair with rain. When others were craving sunshine and hot days, I was wishing for wet weather. Something about it soothes me. Maybe it’s the sound, how it falls so effortlessly and fearlessly on my car, my window and on leaves. The allure of rain for me, is not just about the rain itself, but perhaps more about what it brings: sleep, comfort, woolly socks, a cup of warm tea, a snuggle, a blanket.

It washes away my thoughts and cleanses my head, along with the outside world it touches. For a while I thought I was alone in my love of rain, and most days I think I still am.

Then one rare day a couple weeks ago, the sky in Los Angeles turned grey and I could tell, I could just tell that it was mustering up all its energy to sprinkle some rain and clean the filthy streets and people of this city, but it didn’t quite have the strength to. So it retreated back and sunshine took over and I was back to feeling depressed about the weather again.

While it was grey though, a song came on the radio that confirmed my feelings: I was not the only one who loved rain. It turns out that Loudon Wainwright, father of Rufus Wainwright, likes gloomy days in Los Angeles just as much as I do. He likes them so much in fact, that he wrote a song about it:

When it’s grey in L.A. I sure like it that way
Cause there’s way too much sunshine round here
I don’t know about you I get so sick of blue skies
Whenever they always appear

And I sure love the sound of the rain pouring down
On my carport roof made out of tin
If there’s a flood then there’s gonna be mudslides
We all have to pay for our sin

And I suppose that they’ll close canyon roads
And the freeways will all start to clog
And the waters will rise and you won’t be surprised
When your whole house smells like your wet dog

When it’s grey in L.A. it’s much better that way
It reminds you that this town’s so cruel
Yeah it might feel like fun when you’re sportin’ sunglasses
But really you’re one more fool

You might remember this song if you’ve seen the film, “Knocked Up.” You can listen to it here.

I thought that discovering this song would be the last I would ever hear of anyone being devoted to rain as I am, until I started my daily website reading routine by going to the NY Times website, as I do every morning. A gem awaited me there, in the form of a written ode and a short film capturing the essence of it all.

Jeff Scher, a painter and experimental filmmaker filmed the rain trickling down on the balcony of his home, while his wife was fast asleep with one of his sons, with a Beaulie wind-up 16 mm. movie camera from the ’60s and film that was, as he says “at least 10 years out of date.” The music in the film and sound design is by Shay Lynch and adds such a touch of loveliness to the whole thing. Even though it’s only three minutes long, this film manages to capture the essence of rain so well. Watch “While You Were Sleeping.”

“The fleeting inverted image of the landscape in the raindrops as they swell from drop to drip is an optical phenomenon, but to me it’s pure magic,” writes Sher. “And then they form streams and pulse hypnotically like luminous quicksilver.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. And let me tell you, not only is Jeff Scher awesome because he shares my affinity for rain, but he makes these incredible animated short films with amazing soundtracks. Case in point: Reasons to be Glad, which you can watch below.

I would love to be able to interview him for an article, while it was raining of course.