sand, sunset, surf

James and I were going to build a bonfire in his backyard this evening, but he had too many things to burn, and with his dogs and the lack of area and a heavy duty steel garbage can we decided to go to the beach instead (totally logical reasoning, yes). Stopping at Jamba Juice beforehand and stopping and going then speeding on the freeway out to El Porto and smelling the sea breeze mixed with the fumes from 'the Shitpipe' (the water refining plant that's right there) truly made the outing an L.A. experience. James looked longingly at the surf and noted that he should try surfing in the evenings instead of mornings, and our conversation was punctuated all throughout with surf talk (I'm clueless) and lightly poking fun at each other. We walked far out towards the refining plant until we were seemingly the only ones on the beach, and with the thin layer of water atop the sand we could see the sky and clouds reflected in it. The marine layer began to creep in so we washed off our feet and headed back home.

the wall went up

This is all I did today. Last night I went to Home Depot with my neighbor to get 8 2x6x20's and this morning we framed and set the wall, and then his buddy came by with a CRANE as a favor and hoisted the wall up, which must have weighed a thousand pounds but the crane got it up like it was nothing. Having the crane on our tiny little suburban street though was so cool, and having the headers and window openings line up perfectly along the top of the first story was so fulfilling. I am a firm believer in measure THRICE, cut once. Twice is not enough!

Also a shot of the first wall I ever framed! Disregard the name mispelling.

'may your search through nature lead to yourself'

Went hiking again with Jessica today, this time at Chantry Flats (no wallets were lost)! It was my first time at Chantry during the fall season, and it was beautiful! Fall foliage bursting with different colors and textures, and even though it was 80ºF today, Chantry has so many trees that it was generously shaded for much of the hike. Great conversation, introspection and philosophizing was had again, but we have our lighter moments too, so it's not like we were wallowing in heavy conversation the entire time. Strangely because so much has been happening to both of us recently, the past few weeks have been rife with accelerated growth and learning. The previous four months before October hadn't yielded nearly as much for me as this month has. What is it about autumn embodying transitions? I am not complaining though, far from it.

happy 21st!

dear sister,

I put this picture here on blog because I'm not sure if you want it on facebook, and I thought it'd be more fun to do a delayed birthday post (since I didn't celebrate your day on the internet yesterday). This is not one of our better photobooth photos (I blame the alcohol) but it was fun so whatever, we should just take a million more! I have a bottle of wine for you, and I think I will go ahead and put this on FB so everyone can see it forever.

see you soon,

h

treehouse, milkweed

Lots of trees. I worked in the morning at Trader Joe's then went to the office afterward! Worked on a few elevations and then all four of us bundled up into the car and drove out to Mulholland Drive to go look at a treehouse tree and a kitchen to remodel. It was basically a field trip. Today was drizzly, but things have never seemed so clear.

lost & found

I went to Millard Canyon yesterday with an old friend of mine, Jessica, whom I haven't seen for seven years. As soon as we finished driving up the winding mountain road and parked, Jessica spotted a deer, and in the flurry of grabbing my camera I dropped my wallet but didn't notice until hours later, after we'd hiked a different trail when we realized the main trail was closed because of mudslide/rockslide hazards. It was a good hike full of great conversation, reflection, and overall catching up, with me stopping every so often to pick up an acorn or look at a tree. I went home and starting preparing a big Korean dinner with my sister and mom, which was fantastic, but the night ended in anxiety on my part when I realized my wallet was gone. I woke up at 6 this morning to go back to the mountain, and managed to find the campground manager, Lonnie, who seemed to recognize me and told me he'd turned the wallet in to the sheriff's department. What luck! I didn't even care that I had to drive to La Crescenta from Altadena, and didn't care about waiting 15 minutes while they sorted it out. Lonnie had also looked me up on facebook (which I hadn't known, because in my anxious state I hadn't even thought about facebook/being on the internet except for sorting out card/dmv matters) so when I got my wallet back I asked him how I could repay him. He said no reward necessary (but I'd asked what his favorite food is) and that he enjoys KFC. So I'm going to go to KFC for my friend Lonnie this week and figure something out.

This was a rambling narrative, and probably not interesting to read but I had to get it off my chest. Seeing my old friend and catching up has awakened a part of me that has been asleep for a long time. I was so stagnant. I feel like things are stirring up again, and I'm being more aggressive about everything now, and trying to make up for lost time.

petrillo's with dan

I had never been to Petrillo's on Valley before, even though it is so close to home. But on Saturday Dan asked if I was back in town and wanted to grab a bite and catch up and I said yes! We got a pepperoni pizza which we waited a long time for, but we were amused by the faded poster of the baby with a bowl of spaghetti all over it, which we agreed had probably been there since 1986 and after realizing with delight that we were both sporting Criterion items (his Criterion shirt, my Janus Films tote) we stood outside and talked as our appetites grew. After we got our pizza we went to 7-11 and picked up a giant bottle of Blue Moon to share and ate the pizza at his house while we listened to a lecture by his anthropology professor on dysfunctional families (nerds). And then I learned that while I can eagerly and openly dissect my family through discussions with friends, it hits a lot closer to home when I talk about this stuff with an actual family member. Which is so obvious but as a hopelessly oblivious fool I messed up. But, I fixed it.

a walk in the park

signed, Jeff Smith ♥

Scenario: back in July I purchase my three-day pass to New York Comic Con. Flash forward to October where I hastily book an earlier flight back to LA and sell the pass to Steph, and impulsively ask her if she'd get the 9th trade paperback of BONE signed for me by Jeff Smith. I only brought 'Crown of Horns' because incidentally she had picked that one up for me and mailed it to me before the summer, and overt sentimentality is what kept me from purchasing a full volume of BONE to get signed. And two days ago this arrived in my mailbox. So, I didn't get to go to New York Comic Con, and didn't get to stay in the city as long as I'd originally planned with my friends, but this is a little memento/reminder of what sweet friends I have.

the starry night

You all know what Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' looks like, hence just these close-ups. I had tears in my eyes as I approached this one at the MoMA (but to be fair my eyes were never dry when I was near a Van Gogh in New York) and all I could do was stare at and obsess over the brushstrokes as I could finally understand the murkier parts of the cypress tree and see all the real tones of the village beneath the sky and the glowing lines of the stars and moon in the sky. I texted a friend saying something ridiculous like "I just saw Starry Night in person, I could die happy now." and I meant it! But seeing how I reacted to a long-gone artist's magnum opus makes me want to stick around and see more, from more artists and creatives old, dead, and new.

last morning rendezvous

This was exactly one week ago. Thursday morning I left New Jersey to go back to the city and experienced the crazy morning commute into New York! I fell over on the train, stepped on two people, and it was a gloomy day but everyone was very kind, and after a little bit of huffing and puffing I met up with Max at a little bakery called the Blue Stove, where I showed him family photos I'd borrowed from my grandparents over tea and pastries. After that we went walking and noticed a full-fledged vegetable garden growing out on the street, and turning around saw a whole weedy lot bursting with vegetables and flowers. We ducked into a tea and coffee shop where I wish I had gotten some tea now but had been too overwhelmed to choose at the time. Mentally I had been reeling - seeing Steph in an hour, spending my first night in a hostel that night, my flight back to L.A. early the next day and my interview a few hours after landing. I was hoping I wasn't being too brash to leave a few days early, but I knew inside that ten days in New York would be much too long, given the circumstances. I was just happy to be seeing both of my friends on my last day in the city, because they are, among too many of my great friends, people I don't have the luxury of seeing whenever I want to.

wanting and having

Sleep will not be mine, so blogging it shall be. A book at the Long Beach Flea that I would have gladly taken home if not for the (what I assumed) high price, even though I didn't ask. And forget that I didn't ever study French. Compulsive purchase thwarted! I spied a giant dinner-plate sized insulator, did not bring that home either... but I did bring home a star insulator with a fabulous face carved into the post that it came with. So folk-arty! And yours truly I think on Saturday, a little disheveled but surviving the Southern California heat in a linen shirt that belonged to mother.