Interior Courtyard

This is the interior courtyard of the Italian Cultural Center in Westwood. Design by Robert E. Alexander.

SEVEN

Luigi Ontani

I'm going to be photographing a tableaux vivant by Italian artist Luigi Ontani tomorrow (4/20 @ 5pm) at the Hammer. If you're anywhere near Westwood, come check it out. You won't be disappointed.

These images are of some colorful drapey costumes that caught, and held, my eye during today's rehearsal session.

cicLAvia 4.11.2011

Bikes. Architecture. No cars. Friends. Public space. Bikes.

More, please.

Kale Chips

This is what it looked like moments after we harvested it and before we roasted it.

6

He's most impressed with the cut of your jib.

Low-Maintenance Veggies

Friends gave us radish seeds, we planted them, and now we have radishes. Veggies that aren't easily botched are the kind of veggies we like to grow here, and so radishes are now part of the regular rotation.

Recipe suggestions are hereby welcomed.

Compost Lesson #12

Lining of biodegradeable food container, after some months.

I am drawn to photography of deteriorating cities, but closer to home, I'm fascinated with how things break down in a backyard compost bin.

This post isn't a compost lesson, really, but maybe it is.

Kringelringel

This toy was a favorite of mine before I found out its playfully rhymey name.

I love the simplicity of Haba wooden toys.

Kids seem to, too.

Faerie Circle Cake

For a happy faerie birthday.

Bailar (2)

Bailar

Yo, Jay

We're Growing Radishes

Thanks, Hana!

Artifact, 5

Backstory: Random action-figure doll loses lower body (didn't witness the event myself, so I'm not sure how), and a mermaid-obsessed 5-year-old decides to do this.

5

Joyce Carol Oates and Me

The New Yorker published A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates in the Dec. 13, 2010, issue about the sudden death of her husband, Raymond J. Smith, in 2008. It's a powerful, intensely sad essay. One of our great American writers doesn't need my nod, but I'll offer it up nonetheless.

Her words are accompanied by a striking full-page photo of the couple taken more than 40 years ago, and it reminded me that the first commercial photo I ever took was this shot of her, in about 1994. It was an editorial assignment for the now-defunct arts and entertainment weekly (so defunct it doesn't even show up when googled) L.A. Village View, for which I also copyedited at the time.

I was living in Venice, carless and nearly penniless at the time. I took a couple of busses to Dutton's in Brentwood, where Oates was to be promoting a new book. She was also being interviewed for the Village View, and I had to wait more than an hour while she was being interviewed before getting my three minutes to shoot photos. That meant no warm-up time for the subject. She was noticeably uncomfortable, but gracious and cooperative. She radiated, though not with any conventional beauty. Stereotypically bookish, she also possessed a bright and strong presence.

How did my less-than-auspicious leap into the photo fray conclude? I was paid $10 for the shot that ran in the paper. I was also reimbursed the cost of two rolls of Kodak Tmax 120 and processing. And I continued to copyedit the music section of the paper in exchange for a mediocre Thai dinner one night a week, picking up more $10 photo assignments whenever I could.

Cuatro Meses

Southern California Woodpecker of Some Sort

A juvenile, I think. Do you know? He/She was kind enough to visit the sycamore tree next door, and I couldn't make a positive ID with a field guide I consulted.