Park[ing] Day '09 Gallery

Last year I drove around visiting and photographing a number of Park[ing] Day parks. This year I decided to leave the car at home and use buses, trains and my feet for getting around. Between the reduction in sites this year and the limitations of public transportation—and, of course, the heat—I didn't get to see quite as much as I had hoped. If I didn't get to your park, I wanted to—I really did—but it's a big city and I had to choose parks along or near the Wilshire corridor to maximize the limited time I had. By the end of the day I had taken 2 trains, 6 buses and walked about 5 miles.
I saw a lot of people who made a big effort to temporarily reinterpret public space, photographed some, and here it is.

It Is That Time Again

Sugar snap peas.

Park[ing] Day L.A. 2009

This is Gruen Associates' park from 2008. Creative people all over L.A. will be taking over parking spaces and making parks again this Friday (9/18). And I'll be taking pictures. Last year's gallery of the sites I visited is here. Here's a map of who's doing what/where this year.

CHALK CHALK

Bike geeks like bike art. I'm no exception. It just so happens that a dear friend (who happens also to be a relative) makes some quietly fun stuff in that category—spare, elemental chalk drawings of bicycles that are beautiful individually, even more so grouped together. But don't take my word for it.
See for yourself.

Sweet and Dandy

We grew our first watermelon. And ate it. And it was sweet.

Books

Compost Lesson #9

Straw is available wherever people in jodhpurs and velvet helmets ride horses. It is the brown to your kitchen waste's green. Add it to a compost bin to keep things balanced and unsmelly. Smelly = Out of Balance. Bales of straw are also great for mulch in the garden and as benches for outdoor summer screenings. And they're cheap.

Aebleskiver

Bless you, you lovely little balls of dough.

Rocketshipless

The kid, checking out the other attractions in Rocket Ship Park. We both preferred the rocket ship.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

Design by Safdie Rabines Architects, and well worth a visit.

Field Notes

This humble notepad has an extensive devotional following on flickr. The kid (mine, pictured) has piles of notepads of every size, but using a parent's is always preferred.

Compost Lesson #8

There's no such thing as away.

Soon to Be Roasted

Cooper's Hawk?

The 30 or so sparrows usually flitting around our backyard were under cover in an instant when this hawk arrived. If anyone can help with a positive ID, I'd be most appreciative.

Other

No Title

Mockingbirds (Northern)

They like tomatoes.

Rocketship Park

Greenwashing

I made the mistake of reading the side of a milk carton this morning, and it annoyed me enough that I picked up the phone. Is there any connection between a stock image of a young seedling in a model's palm, and the milk my child drinks? I called Horizon Organic today and told them I thought it was less than honest to state "choosing organic leaves the world just a little better than how we found it." If they were indeed leaving the world a little better than they found it, you'd think they'd allow customers to visit their facilities. When I asked if I could see where the milk we buy comes from their helpful customer service associate replied, firmly, no.

Instax

I have a Fuji Instax 200 on loan and am savoring the joys of instant, undigital photography. This installation—HappyHappy by Choi Jeong-Hwa—of plastic toys and containers from a $.99 store is currently at the BCAM plaza, between LACMA and BCAM.