Parking Day LA 2008

I spent the day visiting a bunch of sites celebrating Park(ing) Day today. I lost count, but I think I made it to about 12 sites. The creativity was most inspiring. I shot film, which I won't have back for a bit, but I took some digital photos, too. I hope to post more soon. If I took your photo and you want it, please get in touch.
This is the Koreatown Performance Arts and Fixed Gear Society Moving Park on Wilshire Blvd. near Hobart.

Path

This is a path on a hill in a park in Culver City. It's simple and beautiful and I used to walk on it a lot when I lived nearby. Whomever designed it (anyone know?) deserves a kiss or a beer or a nod of recognition of a job quite well done.

Film vs. This

This image started out on a 6x17cm piece of transparency film, which is really fun to look at. Light comes through it, and it's nothing at all like a crappy computer monitor. If you come over I'll show you the original.

I Thought I Knew

how fun riding a bicycle is.

Decomposing Cutlery

Anyone know how long it takes compostable cutlery to break down?
I get curious and check in on the progress from time to time. I think this one has been cooking for about three months.

Momma Alligator

I want to remember way into the future, say next year, that this kid gave herself and her parents and imaginary friends different names every day or so. Baby Cilantro turned into Baby Basil, who became Momma Alligator and then Lauren. Bryn is currently Mia.
Also, this second image illustrates what a toddler does when asked to open her eyes.

Light Shelves

Another note on the post below. Light enters through the custom-designed bookshelves that line the perimeter, all window, of this small satellite library branch. The quality of light is great for reading. And being.

Read

I'm long overdo for a post on this here blog. Life sometimes gets in the way of our writing about life. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing.
This is a public library designed by Osborn Architects. Well worth a visit if you find yourself in Glendale.

Cal Wonder

It took more than a month from the time this pepper was fully grown for it to turn from green to orange. Every day I thought I'd end the wait and harvest it early. Somehow I held off.
Bryn, Nusia and I had a celebratory predinner tasting moments after cutting it off the plant this evening. It was worth the wait.
The Purple Beauty variety we planted also grows quite an attractive fruit but it doesn't taste anywhere near as good as this one.

Even the Losers

Squash is my friend. Gardening can be—often is—a beat-down. That's one reason we're drawn to it. It's hard and it's bigger than we are. When the pests and blights and diseases and overwaterings and underfertilizings get to you, plant squash. Hard to mess this one up.

Baby Cilantro

She goes by "Baby Cilantro" now. It was her idea.

Curlers?

People ask us if we curl her hair, which is silly for a number of reasons, but mainly because she barely even lets us brush it. She's too busy doing things.

Painter

She painted a picture of my intestines (she's learning about organs in school) and my hair. It wasn't very representational, but it was pretty rad.

Of Course

This fancy bag that once contained fancy coffee from Whole Foods, by way of Ethiopia, says it's 100% compostible. It is. So are all brown paper bags whether they tell you they are or don't.

How Ya Gonna Kick It?

Over the past couple of months I posted some pictures and words about the Russian Mammoth sunflowers we've been growing here, and now their life cycles have reached a new stage. Over. At least until their seeds give rise to another generation next spring.
In the meantime I was curious about their root structure, since the plants grow so big and tall. Here's what I found.

No Explanation

Unless you ask.

Thai Dragon Peppers

Bugs tend to stay away from hot peppers with "dragon" in their name, which make these lovely red killers easy to grow.

Elegant Lodgings

Recent Work

Gardens You Can't Eat

have their place, too. This is the UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden, it's in L.A. and it's free. See you there.

Not An Homage to Weston

Obviously. Nor my favorite, Charles Jones. Just the first Purple Beauty that we grew from seed and harvested. And ceremoniously ate.

I-5 and Andersen's Pea Soup

Andersen's Pea Soup in Santa Nella on Interstate 5—south of Newman, Patterson, and most significantly, Tracy—has a bar. We didn't drink there, but Nusia and I walked through it.
I don't think Tracy gets paired with "significantly" much.
Oh yeah, Nusia liked the pea soup.

The Gardens of Berkeley

A recent trip to the Bay Area brought us to our favorite backyard farm: Uncle Rich's in Berkeley. Corn, beans, tomatoes (red and yellow, big and small), onions (sweet as candy when grilled), leeks, lettuce, strawberries (Nusia definitely picked and ate those), pears, apples, asparagus, kiwi fruit (that's right), sweet peppers, hot peppers, potatoes. And more.
Rich's backyard breadbasket was/is one of the key inspirations for me to try growing food. But whereas my novice attempts are sometimes successful, in small ways, Rich brings about some serious YIELDS. Dinners at Karen and Rich's are full of the tastiest veggies you could hope for.
You might like to make fun of Berkeley. And, don't get me wrong, it's fun. They do wear their hearts on their bumper stickers up there. Is there dramatic segregation and inequality, as in all American cities? Yes. But they also have beautiful flower gardens instead of lawns, and vegetables growing in what seems to be every other yard. Big old grand trees line the streets. The early-20th century houses are the anti-Irvine.
And bikes. Bicycles are just part of life in Berkeley. Normal people (not bike geeks) ride bicycles to get from point A to point B. Bike geeks abound. Bike paths abound. Signs indicating bike-friendly streets abound. It ain't L.A.
So make fun of Berkeley. I might, too. But we sophisticated Angelenos have a couple of things to learn from our statemates.

Road Trip

More pictures and words when we wake up and recover. (It was fun.)

Julius Shulman and the Fujica GX617

Recently I've been fortunate on two counts: I heard Julius Shulman speak in person and I had a job that required the use of a Fujica GX617. Shulman spoke about a lot of things—none of which touched upon the questions put to him. If you're 97 and still working and your images define Modernism in LA, maybe even define the photography of architecture, you don't have to answer questions. One of the things he said that I enjoyed hearing is that the camera is the least important part of the equation. True. His brilliance is in being able to see the essence of things, physical things, built structures, lines, volumes, masses, spaces. I often wonder if people really see that in his work, since so often we get caught up with dropping names ("NOOOTRA") or thinking about architectural history. Shulman's work is very important historically, but as someone who tries to do what he did (I just said "tries"), I see the value in his work less in its historical context and more in its teaching how to see and interpret and present.
So the connection between this great photographer and this camera? Whether he ever used it or not, I couldn't say. He said it's not about the camera, and it isn't. But sometimes a camera is so fun to use and so helpful in getting the user to see in a different way, that well, it is about the camera.

Volunteerism Begins at Home

If you know me, you know I enjoy composting. Here's one of many reasons why: We have this enormous primeval gourd-producing plant taking up acreage in our backyard, and we didn't plant it. Spread compost around to replenish and enrich your soil and seeds plant themselves. That's what they do. Then we have gourds.

The Kid

Happy 5th from Abe Lincoln

This somewhat historically accurate Krispy bust had extensive bullet damage in back. I ate the cupcakes instead. And the chocolate chip cookies.

Sharon

I'm busy and these pictures are rad, so I'll hand it over to Sharon.

First Tomato

This is either of the Early Red variety or Caro Rich. I forgot to label them after transplanting the seedlings into the garden. I won't make that mistake again.

German Chamomile and Death

Three things:
1. I am not a big fan of flower photography, but I am guilty of doing it sometimes because I photograph my garden a lot and my garden has flowers. Forgive me.

2. German Chamomile is very rewarding to grow. If you like to drink chamomile tea, that is. For the past two months I have harvested 20-30 flowers every few days. Until this week, the plant kept growing new flowers. A great system.

3. You may be able to see a very young grasshopper in this photo. The reality of growing your own food and herbs is that you must kill sometimes in order to harvest what you grow. It is a harsh reality; but no less real.

Kid With Compost Fork

Nusia in front of the Japanese eggplant and German chamomile; our Axis garden.

Food Garden

For anyone who hasn't been following this story, Nusia and I have been working on a vegetable garden in our backyard for the past year. It's humble but ambitious. We grow a variety of different vegetables and lots of herbs, too. We've had plenty of dramatic failures, but they've made the minor successes that much sweeter. One of the best things about being new to this vegetable gardening thing is experiencing the recognition of a familiar food item—sweet pepper in this instance—that I've seen countless times in markets and refrigerators and on tables, but never as it grows on a plant. It's a simple thing, but quite powerful. The closeup image here shows the first recognizable pepper of six plants we're currently growing from seed (Purple Beauty is the type). Whether or not we'll see these all the way through to harvest time is still a large question mark, but we're enjoying them in a way right now.

More From Trade Tech

I like the tiles.

LA Trade Tech

Urban Homestead @ Eco Village

This Thursday, June 26, if you're in the LA area you might want to go see and listen to these folks.

Hot, pt. 2

It's Hot in L.A.

This is an old image, but I find it refreshing. I hope you do, too.

Lighting My Social Imagination

This has absolutely nothing to do with the mainstay of this here blog: pictures with short captions. I like to post personal photos—snapshots—here that may not have any other home. But I heard the quote below on a podcast of Bill Moyers Journal and it seemed to put the matter in a light I hadn't previously seen. Photography is all about lighting to reveal, too, so it's sort of germane. Sort of.
"What consumer culture does is to privatize people. They see in acquisition of material goods a kind of self-liberation... To the degree that consumer culture captures your imagination you lose a social imagination; you no longer see yourself as part of a social collective."
-Steve Fraser
I'm pretty certain I like to see myself as part of a social collective. I also covet everything in the latest Patagonia catalog. This is the quandary.

Husker Du?

LA River Ride

For the past eight years the LA County Bicycle Coalition has been organizing the LA River Ride as the organization's primary annual fundraising event, which also works to familiarize cycling Angelenos with the river around which our city was built. It's a great event for beginning to advanced riders (this year featured the ride's first-ever century option), and family friendly, too, with a handful of ride-length options.
I took photos for the LACBC during the ride's first two years, and helped edit the newsletter back then, too. I'd been less involved in recent years, but this year my friend Erik presented me with the opportunity to go out the day before the ride and help mark the route. Excluding an unfortunate misunderstanding with a couple of the Vernon PD's overly zealous officers, it was a great day preriding the course, and I hope to bring my daughter to participate in the River Ride next year.
This image was taken at the Slauson bridge, where the river leaves Vernon—always a good thing—and enters Maywood.

Sunflower Fixated

at the moment. We have eight in various stages; waiting for ripe seeds on one and a new bloom on another.

Russian Mammoths

I agree that photos of flowers are a lot less interesting than flowers, but these photos are here to tell a story. The story is of Russian Mammoth seeds purchased from Seeds of Change with the promise of 9- to 12-foot tall stalks with flowers up to 14 inches across. A friend just sent us a photo of us planting the seedlings in the ground just a few months ago. Well, the tallest so far is up about 9 feet. Next summer we'll make sure to stake them a little better, as they seem to lean toward the sun and just lean in general when they hit the higher elevations. Of all the plants we've started from seed in our garden this year, this is perhaps the most satisfying because its rapid growth is so fun to follow. The slow blooming of the flowers is pretty grand, too.
Also, we choose this variety so that we'll be able to collect, dry and eat the large seeds. Will post on that soon.