At home with some good vibes

Teasley finds inspiration in Laurel Canyon. There’s “country vibe, that hippie, free-spirit vibe” there, Teasley says, a setting that nurtured Joni Mitchell, the Doors, Frank Zappa and a number of other artists. The place has also worked its way into her debut novel, “Dive,” the followup to her well-reviewed 2002 collection of stories, “Glow in the Dark.”

Her Laurel Canyon home is where Teasley spends much of her weekends, cooking and enjoying her lush backyard. But when she gets out, she takes in everything from the beach to the arts.

Gallery row

Friday nights, I love to go to art show openings. I go to galleries on Chung King Road in Chinatown or that row of galleries on Echo Park Boulevard, or I’ll go to the galleries in Santa Monica. I’m more faithful to my artist friends than I am to any one venue; I’ll go wherever they have a show. And, since my daughter and I paint, I’m somewhat partial to paintings, but I also really appreciate photography, installation and performance art.

After that, I might go to the Parlour in West Hollywood to see my friend Bricktop -- that’s Ada “Bricktop” Smith, the alter-ego of performance artist Vaginal Davis. Or, I might go to the movies. Last weekend I saw “Twentynine Palms” at the Nuart. I really wanted to see the setting of the movie. I love Joshua Tree, and I’m considering that area as the setting for my next novel.

Outdoor living

Saturday mornings I head out to Will Rogers State Beach. My sisters, friends and everybody will meet me there and we play beach volleyball. I love the beach. After that, we head across Pacific Coast Highway to the Reel Inn. I love the fish taco, and I’ll have a Tecate with it. That’s good eating. If I don’t do the Reel thing, then I may go to Taverna Tony over in Malibu. They serve Mediterranean food that’s very good too.

We have an outdoor living room, that’s where I head for the afternoon. There’s a TV set into the wall of the deck, everything is there, we’ll just relax.

Hopefully, there’s a party on Saturday night. Sometimes I might have a dinner party, but usually we’ll just eat here at home, and afterward my boyfriend and I will go down to the Ivar.

Let us eat cake

If I just stay in and make dinner, I love adventurous recipes. I’ll try recipes from the paper, or I’ll pick one from an African cookbook. I love Thai food, so I’ll definitely make those dishes.

But whenever I run out of ideas, I go back to the newspapers. I’m not particular about duck, but a while back I made a mint duck with a mango chutney sauce from one of those newspaper recipes, and it was great.

Top that off with a Race Track Cake from Canter’s -- it’s a yellow cake, very cinnamony, filled with chocolate chips and covered with cherries -- now, that is good!

Family time

Sunday my daughter, my boyfriend and I go skateboarding in the streets of L.A. or around Pasadena.

My boyfriend and I have long boards, my daughter prefers a regular skateboard -- she can make more moves with it.

If we’re not skating, we may go hiking in Sycamore Canyon or Point Magu, then we’ll have lunch. I love Ethiopian food and I like to eat at Nyala on Fairfax or Rosalind’s Ethiopian restaurant.

Sunday evenings, I just make a big meal for the family and my sisters, maybe my mom and, every once in a while, my dad comes by and joins us.

That’s my idea of a beautiful weekend.

-- Carolyn Patricia Scott