unintentional collections

I heard once that it's not a collection until you have three of a certain item, so the fact that these photos display four feathers total I believe then entails a collection. Two owl feathers and two parrot feathers. I haven't really done the research but they might be from a barn owl and the red-crowned parrot (not two from the same bird because they were all found on different days). The funny thing about finding feathers for me is that I never find them when actively searching for them, but encounter many when I'm barely paying attention. That's like a lot of things in life I think. There's a heat wave in L.A., kind of the last farewell to summer and it's really hot and dry and stifling in the valley. But at least there is no hurricane to face... I was worried for my friends on the east coast but they're tough cookies/badasses and they don't seem too worried. The last few days for me have been very hedonistic - full of shopping and lazing about and swimming in the pool. The coyotes are out in the neighborhood, need to keep a watchful eye on the poopies and kitties.


Edit: I forgot all about this scrub jay feather I picked up after perilously scrambling along the side of a steep mountain slope covered in crumbly, unstable soil a week ago. I remember I kind of threw myself down, grabbed hold of a tree root and started talking out loud to myself while trying to get some solid footing. Getting totally dramatic here I felt like Atreyu in the Neverending Story, out on a quest and getting my ass kicked by the natural elements. I didn't make it out to the crest like my cohort did due to his discovery of a homeless camp up there, but I was happy to turn back and find the feather, like a little badge for my hilariously city mouse in the mountains moment.

chomp

I've been uninspired, blog-wise lately, but luckily online life rarely equals real life so there's nothing to worry about. First photo is a bite taken out of a plumcot (plum + apricot) and I think they are my favorite summer fruit ever. EVER. These ones ring up as "Dapple Dandy Plumcots" which makes me way more excited than it should, I think. But they glow and are covered with swirls of muted earth colors and dim sunset tones which burst into a zany jeweled interior once you take a bite. JOY! Second photo was a haphazard breakfast I made for myself one quiet morning and, too bad I didn't have any veggies with the eggs and bacon, but I did have a bit of dry toast after all that. Life is in a funny transitional stage again, I sense a turn in the tide!

Hammond's Nature Atlas of America, 1952

Self-explanatory, I love old picture books, and a hundredfold more when there is information alongside the pictures. The painstakingly rendered, 50's cheesy but beautiful images, along with the matter-of-fact writing are educational AND entertaining. And for three bucks, what a steal...

from the archives: ice cream in Tokyo

What the... I guess this was vanilla/green tea ice cream with cake in a wafer cone sprinkled with matcha OR it's just vanilla ice cream and cake that's turning green because of the matcha. Judging from the fact that I can't remember makes me deduce this was not my cone but the purchase of a hungry friend's...

from the archives: Nikko in 2009

These are from a visit to an old temple in Nikko in May of 2009 during my Asia study abroad trip. I don't think I ever showed the shots of delicate little flowers growing out of crevices in the temple roofs, the spindly spiders crawling on moss and the steady drip of rain and moisture high up in the mountains.

Lately I have trouble looking back at old photos, I think primarily because of the sheer magnitude of them, thanks to digital technology, but also because I have trouble digesting the thought of a younger me in a different place and circumstances. Thinking of the past gives me an uncomfortable jolt and I'd rather dream of the future than dwell on the past. This is not always true, but as of now it is. That said, as I dig through old pictures I think I'll continue to post whatever evokes a memory, a strong feeling or beauty, just to share. So as I work in the present for the future I won't shun remnants of the past...

with or without a home?

I was hesitant to post these shots I took of a homeless person's home under a bridge today because it felt so invasive (right, not that photography is almost inherently invasive), which is why they're not more carefully taken and much closer to the hasty snapshots that are indicative of the moment.

The space struck me much in the way photos of peoples' homes as taken by The Selby and other peek-into-your-closet/house photo blogs do, because despite the shabby or unglamorous circumstances everything is organized into its own place. Tarps as carpet, complete with welcome mat, a neatly made bed with stuffed animals that double (I think) as pillows, flip flops at the foot of the bed and toiletries to the side, and the living room further off to the left of the bed complete with cooler, a book and armchair. I'm not glamorizing or praising the setup or capabilities of the occupant, or am I? I think I'm more touched by the concept of home despite not being in a conventional house, as well as the adaptability of a person and the reminder that the homeless are still human...

Homelessness has been a rampant issue in L.A. for as long as I can remember. I think I read somewhere that the mild California winters and overall pleasant weather makes it easier for people to make it through, which is why there are so many thousands of homeless encampments and individual shelters scattered about the city. My first reactions to the homeless while growing up were repulsion, then pity, scorn, and apathy, but now my reactions occur on a case-by-case basis. Who am I to judge them? But then again don't I have the right to fear for my safety when a particularly belligerent fellow or lady bellows at me from across the way? I'm not out on a mission to 'solve' the homeless problem, and sometimes I get away with the rationalization that they could be so much worse off. You'd be surprised at how generous people can be to the homeless, if they're panning the right neighborhoods. And I have a great story from a friend who offered a panhandler half a CPK pizza only to have the guy say "No thanks, I'm a vegetarian"... sheesh! Then again, I have no idea what it is like to be homeless, and am lucky for it. Overall I just try to be kind without getting hustled too hard, mentally recite a quick prayer for them and then move on while being grateful for my own circumstances and living situation. It is humbling to be reminded now and again that so many of us, despite our current problems and woes, have so much that is probably taken for granted.

110 explorations

Today I went exploring the 110 freeway (which was originally called the Arroyo Seco Parkway and I think since last year was reverted to that name) with my friend Andrew. It was not incredibly interesting, as you will note in the photos but for the sake of a visual diary here it all is. (I did eat that blackberry and it tasted like summer).

After semi-treacherous maneuvering into the dry "riverbed" of the L.A. River, and lots of wandering around in dry brush and taking note of things we stopped by Galco's and got o.k. sandwiches but awesome drinks! I was happy for Andrew, who found a brew called "Purple Haze" that he had fallen in love with in New Orleans and promptly made a purchase of today.

And I won't lie, for most of my life I have wondered what was beyond the borders of the winding 110 and today I got to find out (for half of the arroyo parkway part at least). In a strange way, a small dream come true. Hidden stables, homeless shelters, quiet walkways, lightly used parks. More exploring tomorrow!

thingummies

I finally found an old 70's-style woven camera strap after puttering around and searching for the perfect one for almost a decade! (I had some weird criteria for getting one, let me tell you). Initially I put it on my XT which looked and felt really stupid so I moved it to my Nikon FE, much better. This photo doesn't really show the strap at all so I'll probably show it to you in its full glory later on.

Apparently this is a bag sold at the German grocery store chain Kaisers and the sentiment printed below the kissing frog and turtle translates to "Protect our environment". New market bag/tote bag/everything bag.

A $5 bass lure - inspiration for my pop to get better so he can go on his epic fishing trips again and so I can go fly fishing with him on the Owens River!

Clutter and junk. I know people like my mom and sister who are perpetual neat freaks shudder at the sight of my room but it holds an inherent logic to me (obviously). More on my messy abode later!

A weird cloud I saw while I was out in the backyard. Sometimes I think someone's up there saying things to whoever looks up in the sky and pays attention!

There is a restless buzz in the air. My sister's moving back to school this week, I'm starting to work on architecture-y stuff sort of, and ending this summer-long snoozefest that I've kept up for so long. Even though for the past couple of years I've played the pessimist, weird confirmations of my inherent optimism (handwriting analysis!) persuades me to look upward even as I grumble and whine about current conditions. The grumbling helps no one - it doesn't make me feel any better and puts my family and peers at unease so I need to stop. As always time to move onward and upward.

23rd adventures

It was my birthday yesterday! My mom and sister surprised me by taking me to lunch at a Japanese Izakaya and at the last minute improvised to include my friend Jon, who was in town to shoot a wedding on Sunday. After lunch Jon and I went to LACMA to see the Tim Burton exhibit. While waiting to be let in we frolicked in the installation of neon-ish yellow tubes (I did a project like this my third year, but shorter, much less elegant and made of hundreds of strands of yarn!) and conversed a little too emphatically in the Ahmanson building (so much that we kind of got busted by a guard who demanded to see our tickets - we got out of that in a fit of giggles). The Tim Burton exhibit was good but I thought poorly curated/planned, although it was great to see his old Polaroid prints, the Edward Scissorhands costume, his design for the city of Burbank's trash collection, etc. After that we decided to see more art at the Norton Simon museum, where we got to see 'Woman With A Lute' on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art! The only Vermeer on the west coast, cool! And we were definitely not allowed to take pictures of it. We hung out in the garden right before it closed, then parted ways. Pizza party dinner and a tiny red velvet cake, then driving out to a friend's party where I could see city lights below the hill, sharing a hot potato baked in foil with my sister and washing it down with two beers, coming home and sobering up with a book and falling asleep to the nicest texts ever.

midnight at the gamble house

For any other Southern Californians, have you visited the Gamble House in Pasadena? I am ashamed to admit that for all my life I'd always passed by but never set foot in the famous Greene & Greene home but last night the two USC scholars-in-residence from my year threw a goodbye party there, so I finally got to check it out! We got a special nighttime tour of the house, which is why my photos are not beautiful (the lights are all 18W bulbs! how it used to be back in 1908), and it was so much fun! Such a memorable and special way to start my birthday!

forgotten tidbits - july

1. A handful of Rainier cherries. A fleeting crop but well worth the wait!
2. Stage two or three (I've lost count) of a still life I started painting in oil. It's pretty pathetic because I'm so used to painting with acrylic and thus have not successfully learned the art of "fat over lean" and how to build up layers to create that amazing luminous quality of an oil painting.
3. Mystery flower that grows in the front yard... it gives off a subtly spicy fragrance and it is right by the gate so every time I enter or exit the house I get a whiff of it. It's tantalizing, and even more so because I have no idea what this plant is called.

tent for one.

I took a nap under this ridiculous, crazy citrus-patterned blanket (that I plan to steal from my mom some day)... and having felt a bit blue all day, realized that underneath said blanket everything became sunny and beautiful, like an extreme set of rose-colored (sunshine > roses) glasses. Now to construct a tent to house more than one person for this purpose...