parking garage magic

A couple of weeks ago I was at Trader Joe's in the early evening and I took some photos out of the concrete windows in the stairwell of the parking garage.  Wha?!!!  This is a parking garage!  With a beautiful smoggy softly lit dusk view?  Just lovely...  (I posted the uncolored drawing here but I feel like I may do a series of sharpie vs. photoshop pieces like the one above.  Using the lowest tech with the highest tech and having the drawings meet somewhere in the middle.  Hmm...)

bridge to nowhere

Today Chris and I hiked to the Bridge to Nowhere, a giant concrete bridge built in the 1930s that was originally meant to be part of a road through the San Gabriel Mountains.  In 1938 there was a flood that washed out the road, which left the bridge standing awkwardly in what feels like the middle of nowhere.  It's a 9 mile round trip hike up a river bed with lots of scrambling and river crossings.  We saw big-horned sheep, lots of amazing rocks, and when we got back to the parking lot as the sun was setting we saw a guy getting pumped up for some evening solo hiking- the trunk of his car popped and some tinny hip-hop blasting as he laced up his shoes and stretched, sipping from something that looked like it was a McDonald's milkshake.  

Then we drove back to Culver City and ate at the Hare Krishna temple.  All in all, a good day...

Crows on Christmas Eve

I went for a walk along Ballona Creek on Christmas Eve, and came across hundreds of crows spending time on the cement banks and splashing in the water.  I stopped and took photos of them for a while.  I really love crows...

and also

I am in love with Trader Joe's. They didn't have them in Rhode Island and they didn't have them in Colorado which means that I have spent my adult life, so far, not knowing what I was missing. My sister-in-law predicts the love affair will fade within the next three years, but until it does I am pretty happy. The loot above cost me about $36. And that's raw almond butter in there, gluten free bread, sun-dried tomatoes marinated in olive oil, shaved asiago cheese, and three bags of salad greens. Plus a bunch more. And as if the food and prices aren't enough- the staff is so nice that I forget where I am and they sell cheap yummy sake. AND there's one walking distance from my house. *sigh*

I can't believe I live here now

Walking home from the grocery store I passed a fruit stand and couldn't resist. They certainly don't have these in Colorado. I pointed out what I wanted from the fruit he had in front of him and he proceeded to cut up pieces for me. Mango, melons, jicima, coconut, and cucumber. Topped with chili powder and freshly squeezed lime. For $5. I'm in love...

orchids and chris

Rolling Greens in Culver City is a beautiful place to spend a few hours on a gorgeous day in early March. Afterwards I highly recommend stopping by the fruit stand near the corner of Clarington and W. Washington and getting mangoes and oranges with lemon juice and chili pepper to eat in the shade nearby...

light reading (& watching)

These were books (and a video) on a bookshelf at a coffee shop I was hanging out at in California last weekend. I think my favorite is 'Myspace for Dummies'.

flocked flowers

This plant was amazing and totally foreign to me. The colors and textures were so much like fabric, and the unopened flowers were at least as beautiful as those that had bloomed... I guess some spider liked it too, and made himself at home in the stalks and blossoms- What a fantastic place to live...

notes from a class

Chris is teaching a course about sound synthesis at the Machine Project in Echo Park. This past Saturday night I sat in on the third class of the series. My ability to grasp what he was teaching wavered in and out, and when things got a bit unclear I began drawing deer hooves, as I've been meaning to since coming across the bottom of a deer's leg the weekend before last, nestled in bark mulch in a landscaped flowerbed beside a carved wooden sign for a dermatology office.

After class Chris showed me the greenhouse of carnivorous plants in the Machine Project's basement, and then we went to eat fusion Korean food with some of his friends. Mmmm...

walk with my brother

Lisa took these with her Holga. Lisa and Todd always show me such beautiful parts of LA when I visit...

I like the one in the middle

Those showgirls sure know how to wear a pressed men's shirt...

weekend in la

How creepy and nice is this? Very. The answer is very.