nothing

I have nothing to blog about lately.. I don't go anywhere, and when I do, it's not that amazing or interesting.. or not anything that I can post pix of.. hmmm. That makes it sound much more fascinating than it is. *evil grin* Ah,well..

If I ever get around to getting out there on my bike I may find something postable but I'm up to my knees in Math homework and history.. and I got a horrible headache from hitting my head on the windowsill in the house yesterday.. I'm keeping track, as if I suddenly black out we'll know why, right? The point is, I feel awful & not in the mood.

I've been volunteering when I can.. I purposely have been trying to cut back because I'm torn between being a pest, a permanent fixture, or running out of happiness credit. No, I don't know what that means either. But I do know I don't want people to be sick of seeing my ugly mug every morning. I keep thinking I'll do a post about the stuff I come across in my project(s) but then I think.. I don't work there, so it wouldn't be anything legitimate. Best to leave it alone for now. ;)

I find lately I miss my long walks more and more.. I miss the annual "Great LA Walk" our friend Mike puts on every year. I was thinking when the Spring session is over I'll have more time to go 'hiking' and maybe head up into the hills, or bus to Tilden Park or west to the Berkeley Marina and walk back.

The weather has gotten so lovely, the bike is desperate to be utilized. One of the things Berkeley is fortunate to have is the Bike Station- sort of a bike valet.. I was advised by a clerk there that BART pays for the space, probably to encourage commuting.. Since my U-Lock got busted last Fall I haven't bothered replacing it. If you leave your bike parked in the Bike Station, you don't need your U-Lock. Pretty neat huh?

I find I also miss the LA bike meander.. A friend of mine would have downtown LA neighbor/friends gather outside his loft in the Arts District on Sundays and the half dozen or so of us (whoever showed up) would ride around, meandering through the streets of LA/Boyle Heights and beyond. I was always at the back of the pack but I always had fun. It was definitely not one of those intense rides you see around the city. Just mellow.. If you can't pay attention to traffic & chat at the same time, you're going too fast.. "It's not a race.. it's a meander.." I'm so freaking out of shape at this point I don't know if I could handle a meander.. but it'd be worth it to find out. =)

Berkeley doesn't have an art walk.. Oakland has something called "First Fridays" but I've not gone. I remember when we first moved back to the Bay Area there were some issues with it, and I stayed away. I'm honestly not crazy about crowds anymore.

If I can get my act together (caught up with life) I'd like to start attending the Poetry Unbound events at Art House again. It's the first Sunday of the month I want to say.. The first 15 minutes is like an open mic and then they have some scheduled poets reading their works. It's pretty laid-back, comfortable and there's a good mix of funny, moving, romantic, emotional stuff being read. I never read my own bad poetry.. (because it's BAD poetry!) ;)

Then there's the whole history thing. I'm taking an online class right now, which makes me think it'll be the last online class I take for a while. As cranky as other people's bad habits make me (showing up late, eating, wandering in & out to use the bathroom) I miss the lecture aspect.

So here was a post about nothing. I guess it doesn't matter as I have no idea how many people actually show up & read this stuff anymore; probably not anyone I know these days! ;). (I realize I'm not writing about the Historic Core of LA. Oh, do I knew that!) I wish I had something to say, to share.. to enlighten, but I don't.. It's not a good time for me right now.. Maybe I should call this "Overwhelmed Pt 2" ..things aren't hard or difficult, just busy: I don't get out much and I miss friendly, familiar faces. Oh, and my head hurts.

Meander-ific!

I was a good girl and went on the bike meander today.. I didn't have the point & shoot (the Canon died at Disneyland, and although now working.. doesn't seem to work as quick as it used to) so I only had a cellphone for the ride...


Here we are at an overpass.. There was eight of us today,(Warren & Kay are foreground left & right respectively) on our way back through Vernon and Hancock Park.. One of the 'new folks' had a flat, which allowed my uber- out of shape self catch up.

Sometimes I know I've been avoiding the meander.. I keep meaning to go, head on over to the Toy Lofts around 10am and have fun meandering around downtown LA. Sometimes schedules work where I don't make it as there's friends in from out of town, or we're going out of town.. Then sometimes I get anxious, and don't go.

The last big one back in January had us heading to the Atwater Village bike bridge and back.. that really kicked my butt. It seems like when Warren isn't heading up these meanders people end up going to long distance places like SilverLake or who knows where. This is where my angst comes from. I know I'm out of shape and honestly not up for the long distance, or the hilly streets like I had in the past. I get anxious about where we are going and if I'll wear out. My knees have been popping a lot more lately. *whine*

We got some good meanderers though.. Kay comes all the way from Eagle Rock. I know I can't complain when this bike goddess shows herself after a ride from Eagle Rock, then rides back home. Then again, she hasn't been sitting on her butt these past five months. ;P

I am proud of myself though. I made it.. and then I met the spouse for a lunch at Wurstkuche (which was extra yummy since I forgot to eat breakfast before heading out) and super filling. A good treat, then walking back from the Arts District. Several hours later and I can honestly say I'm not sore. Yay Me! =)

Will I go next week?? um.. yes? =)

**LA Bike Meander is an informal group of cycling folks that meet up at 10am in front of the Toy Lofts every Sunday to ride around wherever, not a race.. but a meander. Yes, sometimes there's a meander of one.. sometimes four, and sometimes, like today, there were eight...

Breaking Some Resolutions (and breaking a sweat)

Is it 9am/12noon Eastern yet?? soon...

I am aware of my Resolutions for this year, and already have done my share of breaking them. I have attempted to keep weighing in, and I also gave a couple days trial on the wii fit (yoga training). I've found I am a bit too heavy for many of the poses, and the cat sharpened his claws on the exercise mat before I got to do more than the breathing exercises.

I haven't lost any weight though.. not enough walking or getting out to be social..


Although I did attend the closing of Qathryn Brehm's show at ArtShare last Friday.. I practiced with the new camera (Nikon D60) and I realized I have a lot of work to do before I learn this camera. Qatheryn is very kind to use one of my shots as her Facebook icon, though. How cool is that? =)


Sunday the 18th I showed up for the LA Bike Meander.. there were 6 of us, and we rode all the way to the Atwater Village bike bridge and back.. I was so sore it took me a good chunk of Monday to recover.. (who's kidding? I'm still sore!)




Mapped out on Google coming from 4th & Main to the Toy Factory Lofts on Industrial (via 2nd & Main to 6th & Alameda) is about 1.8miles. Then we rode through Lincoln Hts. to the LA River Bike Path.. and then back. Depending on where you start that was about 20miles. Not a long ride but long enough for me!


Canadian geese, ducks, and even an egret were among the wildlife we saw along the bike path.


Atwater Village Bike Bridge.. where we turned around and headed back.

Oh! I'm so out of shape.. I was dying by the time we got back to Toy Lofts. I needed a break before riding back to Main Street. Still, I'm glad I went. More Sundays. Less pain. ;P

More of Sunday's Meander flickr pix

meandering around town

Haven't updated in a bit but I've been spending some time meandering in one way or another.

Last Saturday was BlogDowntown's 2nd Annual "ShootDowntown" meet. A couple dozen or so avid photographers met up at Arda's Cafe to shoot the breeze then shoot around town.

shootdowntown 2 (my flickr set)
Sunday was the weekly bike meander, which I gave about 10min before deciding it was the smallest meander ever. A bike meander of one. Still, it got me up and about and out to the Arts district where I took some photos before heading back to home base in Old Bank District.




Monday found me a little under the weather but I managed to get out for a little bit yesterday in the beautiful sun before heading back in to catch that 2nd debate between Sen. Barack Obama & John McCain. I think it would have been cool if someone had a neighborhood meetup for the last debate. Who knows? Maybe it'll happen.

Until then, there's the 1st Anniversary of the downtown dogwalk in Pershing Square tonight at around 6pm. Another event to look forward to tomorrow: the Monthly Downtown Art Walk. So despite all the economic upheaval, some things continue on. You can count on Art Walk every month and people will always be wanting to meander, whether on bike, by foot or with their trusty dog by their side. Cheesy yes, yet true.

Yes there was a Bike Meander!

Yes, there was a bike meander Sunday. I was almost late getting there, too!

LAFD just off 4th Street.

I didn't take many pix though.. but I did run into the LAFD out training a couple times, and just as I was riding up 2nd Street toward Main, there was a little bit of LAPD action happening.. but I didn't stick around to see what it was. I only took a handful of photos and here's a few of the ones I liked best:






more LAFD training while meandering...


lines and angles



and last but not least:

little bit of LAPD action on my way back to Old Bank District ;) My best guess was that they were responding to an alarm or something.. (although I didn't hear one) they were just checking out the location when I pedaled on by). I'm nosy but not that nosy you know?


I don't get to the meander regular but it's Sundays, 10am in front of the Toy Lofts (on Industrial), and they usually head out by 1015am.. This time there was 2 of us.. but usually there's about 5 or 6. I don't know what was keeping folks at home, the weather or what? It was nice.. and not too hot either! I wish every day was Sunday sometimes. ;) More meandering, as long as I can get myself awake in time.

Back to the Bike Meander!

I haven't gotten out near as much as I used to, and these past few Sundays had me traveling, battling a cold, or in many cases, just plain exhausted.

Despite having gone to some good friends' birthday bbq Saturday and up pretty late, I did manage to wake up in a timely manner Sunday morning and join the LA Bike Meander.. I have even learned to post pictures from my cel phone..


riding at the cornfields.. (that are not cornfields).

I have a bunch of photos to upload & edit.. so I'll get to that at some point. Suffice to say it was a good time.. we had a good group of 6 this time, and even a gentleman from Santa Monica came out for the ride! We rode around the Arts District quite a bit and then over to the cornfields and then back to the Toy Lofts (then I rode a little bit more).

I am so incredibly sore from our little ride! I think I'll take a day off from biking and return to it mid-week because the soreness tells me that I really need to get back to cycling again. That and more walking.. I've gained at least 5lbs sitting around waiting for things to happen & things to do.

Now if the Olympics and life in general doesn't distract me too much, I'll have more to see here in another day or so.. Happy Monday! (LOL)

another sunday another meander..

of two?


yep. I missed the meander of 8 last week.. Insomnia will do that to a person. Above is Meandering leader Warren. =)


Yesterday was sunny and bright and there were folks out and about.. a lot of LAFD folks doing their job, or doing some readiness training..



We went as far out as the Cornfield park rode around the track there where several joggers were getting their exercise in, as well.


small part of a bigger piece.. "DOGTOWN Mural"


outside a nearby market



and of course.. more LAFD action in the Arts District.

How Many Bikes make a "meander?"

Today I managed to make the LA Bike Meander over at the Toy Lofts.. and very surprised that there was a meander.. of only 2! (Warren & myself).


colorful trailer Warren pointed out to me as we meandered


a gentleman out in front of his home practices his lasso technique.

However,it was of course still good and we rode around the Arts District and part of what might be considered the former industrial district and some of Boyle Heights,turning back to Broadway and to the Central Market where we were kindly treated to coffee and then I headed back to Main for a much needed nap.

Yeah.. two weeks off from the meander and I'm freaking out of shape. Better luck with my stamina next Sunday. I had fun though and appreciate the time spent! Thanks to Warren for being such a nice person and going on the meander with me, despite it being just two. =)