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...

Chris Burden’s 'Metropolis II'

I went to LACMA this past weekend with my brother and sister-in-law and niece.  Chris Burden's installation was mesmerizing- all the little cars whizzing around what feels like a bubbly shiny version of the 'future'...  Here's what LACMA says on their website:

Created by artist Chris Burden, Metropolis II (2010) is a complex, large-scale kinetic sculpture modeled after a fast-paced modern city. The armature of the piece is constructed of steel beams, forming an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of eighteen roadways, including a six-lane freeway, train tracks, and hundreds of buildings. 1,100 miniature toy cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour on the specially designed plastic roadways. Every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulates through the sculpture.

Monday pattern

box of succulents

Our landlord left a bunch of wood in the driveway that Chris and I were planning to burn at some point...  We never got around to burning it but I did make some boxes to plant things in on the back patio.

I be making bracelets

I've been making leather bracelets lately.  I'm making some of the hardware out of stainless steel wire but I imagine it could be really nice in a higher quality metal.  I like combining the leather with unlikely materials... felt, bits of copper tubing, embroidery floss...  I don't usually wear bracelets since I always have my watch on my left wrist and I don't like anything on my right wrist that will interfere with drawing or using a computer, but I seem to keep making these anyway...

Rody

This is Maggie's Rody- an inflatable rubber horse which is pretty awesome.   I got some new paper and charcoal, along with some chunks of graphite the other day and I feel rusty but excited to do some drawings...

Saturday night pattern

animal zombies

The other day some friends and I were wondering if animals could be zombies, too.  I think we decided no, unless the infection could somehow pass from human to another species, which doesn't seem to be how it works...  But if it *did*, these guys would surely terrorize...  

first day of school

We have a drawer of bags in our kitchen for groceries or whatever else needs carrying.  This is the bag that Chris decided to use to bring to school today, filled with his books and binders.  I think it's appropriate that he would bring such a special bag to school on this, the first day of the new semester.  I know I always use to try to put my best foot forward on the first day of school...

I wish Google + were cooler

So sad, right? This was what I saw when I clicked on 'Hang out' under a friend's photo on Google + (Though after I took this screen shot I actually chatted with Duncan and Vanessa for a while...I'm guessing we were the only ones using the Google + 'Hang out' feature at the time...)  Google does things so well, but I guess people are just set in their ways with Facebook.  Bummer.  That robot looks so rejected...  

Aprons for Christmas

These are the aprons I made for my sister-in-law and niece for Christmas.  I wrapped up the smaller one and put it in the pocket of the bigger one, then wrapped them both together.  Why is it that when things are smaller they are so darn cute?  I could hardly stand it as I was sketching out the pattern for the smaller one.  And even as small as it is, my niece is still swimming in it...  Maybe she'll still be able to wear it when she's a little kid helping her mom cook in the kitchen and not just a toddler stirring up a bowlful of blocks with a salad tong...

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...

keep Oklahoma

I don't really think this note needs an explanation. It's just pretty much awesome.

A Wednesday at the Hospital

Chris had surgery on his wrist on Wednesday so I went with him to the Hospital in Santa Monica. Recovering from a gnarly stomach virus myself, I spent much of the day curled in a vinyl upholstered chair in a dismal waiting room with framed faded prints of tropical island beaches. I nibbled on saltines and took sips of ginger tea and drew a blue footed booby. The whole day was sort of surreal...

another Monday pattern