Night in the City

Post-Art Walk update

Art Walk was made interesting by the substitution of "Hippodrome" the 1940s era Art Walk bus which was hosted by Kim Cooper & Esotouric (the folks that bring you the Black Dahlia tour and the "1947 Project Crime Bus").

You can see my flickr set of the JUNE 2008 Art Walk HERE. Most of them are out of focus just to warn you.

Here's a few of the 'better ones'

Hopping on the Art Walk bus in front of the Regent Theatre.


Running into Richard McDowell,(Downtown Poet) outside the Continental Gallery on Spring St.


Blues on the Bus


More Music on the street (outside Sphinx) as watched over by our fantastic LAPD. (seriously cool dudes let the fun go reasonably then asked for folks to shut the mini singing/drumming/ jamming down which they did with little to no protest at all). I'm glad this shot came out. The rest are rather frenetic.


After the Art Walk at Banquette & Old Bank DVD's patio.


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Today SeanYoda had to go in for court duty yet again (but he got dismissed so he's done!) However, before he knew that, we went to LIME for lunch.. (now I owe him for 2 lunches!):

Sean tried the "free-range chicken" burrito this time (he had the carne asada last time):

yeah I know you can't tell much by the photo...

Thanks to Eric (white boy/ white dog) I decided to try the carne asada tacos:

I pretty much have it down to: "It was good. It was messy." (Repeat 3x)

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Personal note: I got the office mostly set up (and am blogging from my desk). My dsl is up & running. I still need to connect the wi-fi router so I can *maybe* get some wifi when I'm on the MacBook. I'm not sure that I can get it all the way to Banquette though, as I can't get Sean's wifi up here.

It feels weird. I don't feel odd working up here at all. It's the night alone in the city. Maybe it'll be different once the cats are up here, but for now it feels more like a quiet office away from it all, which I guess is what I really wanted to begin with. That and a diet coke. ;)

and.. we're back! (sort of)

What does a burrow move, several trips to IKEA, a LA River fire, a beauty sunset, floor to ceiling windows, game 3 of the Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals, mounted LAPD and a filling cheeseburger with Blogger pals at the Redwood all have in common?

...er, digital photos! (also another rash of pix of how I spent the last few days) and I'm up all night just so I can upload them on my laptop (cause my DSL hasn't been connected on schedule!) to the flickr account, edit some and direct you to gawk at all my Photoshop free editing (it's called Picnic but it's not).

starting with my "new view" set:

inside my closet (notice I'm not in it, but then again, neither are my clothes. Dangit)

Other than getting my keys and moving a few items into the new place, Saturday night I made it around to a few of the galleries open for the 2008 Dowtown LA Open House.. sort of an "Art Walk Light" and while I didn't really take pix of the happenings, I did try a few practice shots, of which this is the first one:


Looking through the window of Jim & Celia's "First/Last" Winstead Adams Gallery that will eventually become "Raw Materials" a great LOCAL place to get art & architectural supplies. That's Ms. Celia to the left of the white posted gallery show sign.



Running into Edgar Varela, owner/curator of EVFA (Edgar Varela Fine Arts) he was kind to let me practice my sad photo skills on him. ;) I'm still needing practice on night shots, but I thought it turned out alright. He has his sunglasses with him because he's working all day, and in this case, into the night.. he always has a smile ready too.


SUNDAY:

on our way to running errands, I took about 4 pix of a pillar of black smoke coming from the LA River basin.. not sure what it was.. and I was wondering what I should do in cases like this.


Is this a controlled fire like it seemed or was it bad? Either way do you call 911 for that? I wanted to but was convinced not to.

MONDAY:

out shooting around my neighborhood in the evening:


not sure if it's really open.. but hey! steak fries!


light play against the sky and the skyline


looking toward downtown

ok.. and now for Tuesday, the 10th....

Meerkat Manor.. er, Meeko's off Main

Little bit of Monday Morning Placeholding..



The subject is in reference to how I've been feeling the last couple days.. like a Meerkat changing its burrow.. I'm inbetween places.. shuttling boxes and things, including bits of old and new purchases.. shiny things,too.. down the long corridors and down the elevator through the White Rabbit's door.. and up another elevator.. Got a ways to go.. it's not that I own a lot it just takes some time getting it all from here to there.. and back again.

From Hope to Main

nothing new! Yes there is.. just not too exciting for me (and some just downright depressing).

San Fernando Bldg during the 'short' but very uncomfortable for those living there power outage last weekend (Helman & the Continental weren't affected).

-several days of crappy heat
-a panic worrying about my next move,(not that far.. around the corner)
-several nights of insomnia
-cats getting hairballs on the TJ's catfood
-celebrated my 7th anniversary a night early by going to see "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" at (you guessed it)the El Cap over at Hollywood & Highland. hmmm maybe I could do a review but then, what's the surprise in that?
-several walks to clear my head and not succeeding..
-wondering what's next?

Also around the neighborhood:
-filming at old bank dvd is still going on all day today;(rent a movie tomorrow?)

Cool stuff coming up in the next few days but wow! all at the same time after days of nothin' much:

-Streetcar coming to Broadway? Want to know more you can register at the door early a.m Thursday morning the 22nd. It's an all-day thing so hope your schedule is free! $25 for residents (otherwise it's $50).

-Art Festival at ArtShare in the Arts District, sponsored by LARABA and curated by Lilli Muller. Cool stuff and I hear Ed Fuentes is going to have a piece in it. ;) Not to mention about 30 other cool people... Susan Bolles, Emmerich, and Robert Vargas among the noted. That event is from 7pm to Midnight, so no excuse not to go and check it out and maybe contribute a little or a lot. Just saying. =)

-Also tomorrow night is the Zocolo event at the LATC.. for the taco truck! That is at 7pm and you need to be pre-registered for that. It's free and who doesn't love the ubiquitous taco trucks?

-

See? I really didn't have anything to post.. how about some pix? =)


A present for the Higgins at 2nd & Main in the late evening.. a giant crane to wake you with more construction.

Bike or Bus.. (or walk!)

Near City Hall, while running errands yesterday morning.

this installment dedicated to White Boy/ White Dog and his noisy crane.

It's still the 3BN.. right?

This time is full of so much.. I know I was going to have some photos but I'm choosing instead to use ones I have already..

I still find it amazing my shaking hands took this photo.

Lost Souls.. I keep thinking I've lost my compass.. I'm making decisions I'm not used to dealing with.

Today I looked at a place in the Continental (still GilVille) and a couple hours later, having to still clean up & turn in the keys in South Park.. (a couple conference calls and a trip to the bank), not to mention we're still not 'moved in' or 'settled' into the one here on Main, I find myself in another flux.

I have a place. It's co-signed.. However, it will be mine. More changes to come in June. All this to enjoy the silence and the process of the thought. Quiet Writing and creation. Hopefully, a blooming of work as well.



Times like this I miss my compass. I'll be taking possession about a year & three weeks to the day. I'll have his namesake (Alexander), and Kiki to keep me company though.

EDIT: UPDATE: KEYS ARE TURNED IN.. No More "South Park" for this girl who walks/meanders downtown =)
this installment is again dedicated to BigCityPoz & perhaps to my Honorary Uncle LA & Tante Janine, who I still miss very much.

From Hope to Main

Dear bored or semi-regular readers (all 3 of you)

Today was another weird one in the moving process. I know moving, or any big life-changing experience is supposed to be stressful, yet cathartic, sad, joyful.. whatever. I'm having the stress end mostly. It's taking way too long, and there's just too much stuff. Much too much! This coming from someone who used to move a LOT and got used to the whole process.

I used to like moving. I found it a good way to clear the clutter and clear stagnant, non-productive energy and make room for new and amazing possibilities. The thing is, I'm not the only one making the move. While I have my own tendency to want things, I don't want too many things. The things that aren't mine or 'ours' or whatever.. it's not my decision to make. So the STUFF comes with us.

I find 'stuff' gets in the way a lot though. I'm not saying I want to sell off my worldly goods and go join a convent (hee hee) but I think when the focus is on the stuff and not on other things, there's something missing. For me, I can't think straight and I get overwhelmed. Like too many choices on a menu, narrowing things down and getting it right can be difficult. I have given up the desire to be one of those "collect the whole set" or MUST HAVE that, though again, there are times even I fall into that. I'm getting off track here, but you get the idea.

We only have so many days and we're running into glitches.. elevators going out at the old place, parking gates non-functioning, street closures, work schedules (not mine, but the spouse is still having work things to deal with) and on top of it all, there are scheduling issues with the various organizations that we considered donating the big stuff rather than take it to the new place.

When all of this is done though, it will be worth it and we'll get to go back to normal hopefully, that being what "normal" is these days. Then maybe in another month I get to do it again.. Times like these, I can't help but think of George Carlin and his routine on "stuff"..

Enough from me..

installment 5: dedicated to: SkidrowScribe and Central City East bloggers. =)

cable guy

waiting on the cable guy er, direct tv guy this morning..

Wonder if they'll have Channel 35?

edit: unfortunately, they don't have channel 35 (city council TV) *grumble* something I'll take into consideration should I have the option to get some sort of subscriber service for myself in the future. =(

They do, however carry BBC America.. which is my guilty pleasure when I do get to watch non-network TV.

installment 4

neither here nor there, the milk isn't spoiled

checking the dates of low-fat milk..

We are neither moved in or moved out.. Wednesday night at Ralphs

3rd installment

From Hope to Main

this installment dedicated to BGFA

something looks different..

could be the day.. or the tint..



could it be the sunlight outside?

this first installment dedicated to Big City Poz & Ruby =)

stay tuned.. watch this space..

something..something Downtown!

So since I was thinking to post something about it,and it's not a one day thing, I plan to do some kind of photo essay or series "a la Bert Green" maybe, of the move to Main Street.. the entire process might take 1-2 weeks.. so a 'PotD' might be in order.. or maybe a brief description with vague images. I haven't decided yet, or perhaps a mix of both.

so yeah, stay tuned.. all 2 or 3 of you that read this thing. ;P

EDIT: a little cat nap

Alexander knows something is up.. so he chews on the moving boxes to make sure they are properly marked and waits it out. He had a long wait when this photo was taken on the 14th of April. =)