green hills and botanica & history

the hills are a lovely green..


stumbling upon the Lummis Home & Gardens


came upon a beautiful space..


where things were in bloom..



and a door was open.

downtown riders ride at night..

I scanned the gang of cyclists for familiar faces as they zoomed by on their bikes.


"Come ride with us!" said someone.. as I snapped this photo, the cyclists rode by me on my way back from catching live music on a late Friday night. Another rider chanted "one of us! one of us!" as I gave them the "thumbs up." I was really wishing that I didn't need to go back, and could join up with them on whatever was left of their midnight ride. I'm sure it was fun, whatever road they traveled.

Safe journeys to them all.

early morning ramblings

This last week has been terribly busy & bumpy in a mostly good way, but one barely takes a breath before realizing the week is out and you wonder where the days went.

I could do a Chinese Lunar New Year post.. I was there, and the festivities were great and food amazing, and Valentine's Day was full of art, and hearts.. some of them broken, and some on the mend. Lots of walking, lots of talking, bands, buses, and more food.

Then there was last night which included more art, some notes, and a special viewing of a special photo essay projection, and many familiar faces and places. Despite the turn in the weather, (it's been getting a little chilly and breezy the last couple days) and a long cold walk home, it's good.

I'd post photos but so many have done so already. =) Just know there are people out there doing some great and amazing things. It's a better & lovelier world because of them, (and no, I'm not talking about me).

Beneath the tree

I sat to listen to the music.

Thinking of Bob

This is one of my favorite pix of me and my brothers (Bob on the left & Craig on the right). What a chubby little rugrat. I didn't know I was allergic to chocolate yet, I don't think... Look how happy we are. =)

You'd never know I'd grow up to be so freaking emo =P

If you have diabetes, take care of yourself.. and if you don't, take care of yourself. Someone is thinking of you even if you don't know it.

(MOCA) Geffen Contemporary *reminder*

FREE THURSDAY!


For those of you so inclined, tonight is the chance to check out the MURAKAMI exhibit from 5pm-8pm.

February SkidRow Watch Walk

"Are you having fun?" ..Someone asked me that last night on the SkidRow Watch Walk, and I was rather confused.

It was in reference to something else, but it stuck with me. I did take many photos of signs and mural work and graffiti art, however very little came out in the darkness. I was lucky to accompany fellow citizens & LAPD on the watch walk, but there are so many folks that have to sleep there in the cold tonight.

Even if you are 'lucky' to have some kind of shelter, the cold air can still get to you. Certainly not fun, and not safe. Those of us who walk and then go home to relative comfort are fortunate. It's something I think about often. As sterile as some of these lofts can be, it's still a roof over my head.

Thanks especially to the LAPD, as well thanks to the kind gentlemen blogger friends that accompanied me in & out of there. I would have been lost getting around otherwise.

LAist "Super Tuesday" party at Seven Grand

This is not me. =)

First, let me just say that although I thought I was registered to vote when I updated my CADL information, they must not have sent my voter registration information like I requested. That said, I wouldn't know who to vote for anyway, I'm used to not voting in the primaries..




beer on tap..


Let me just say that as the morning after, I didn't get much sleep and I'm wishing I probably hadn't bothered going. While it was nice to see some of the folks and meet a few new people, the bar scene isn't my thing. Too many people, too noisy and too dark. I wish I had just gone back to South Park and heard about all the 'fun' later. Next time I'll skip the whole thing. Very bothersome,(not to mention I later found out that when you move to a new county, you have to manually register with your new county of residence). I also would have been able to view & hear the primaries from the quiet of my living room. Yes, I know very unsocial. Yet somehow it seems like it would have been a more peaceful evening.

beautiful banquette breakfast

Went downtown to check out Ed Fuentes "Main Street Recovery" mural up at the Regent and had breakfast at Banquette.

Fritata with cheese, arugala, onions, peppers and sausage. OMG good! and filling too, I couldn't finish it. That and a cafe au lait was a perfectly filling meal to keep me going the rest of the mid-day and afternoon.

Poor Snoopy..

the only dogs you'll see in Hope Park (FIDM adjacent) are these sculpted statues..

As "dog friendly" as downtown promoters would have you think the new & old neighborhoods are, there are still few and far between places one can take your dog to roll in the grass and catch a Frisbee.

While not a dog person myself, dog parks, and dog runs (as well other dog-friendly places like bag stands) make life easier on downtowner's, as well the folks who have to step around the dogs that have literally nowhere to go.

LLoyd Alexander (1924)

Today my honorary uncle Lloyd would have been 84years old.

I started writing him when I was about 12years old (I'll be 40 this summer). We corresponded through everything in my life. He always had time for me, he always was a decent and kind human being. I can't say I would ever live up to to him or what I imagined he was like. Just knowing him gave you something to aspire to, perhaps. I loved him so much like the family I never had, and never would have. He was one of the smartest, kindest most decent people I ever have been lucky to meet, and I would have done anything for him. Honestly. He never asked anything of me no matter what I offered, he was always appreciative. He's one person had he asked me the moon I would have given it.

Not knowing me or much about me,you should know I don't trust easy. I find it hard to love people as deeply or unconditionally as that. He and his wife Janine were beyond measure. I could go on and on about what a good friend he and Janine, but especially Lloyd has been to me. I could never imagine my life without him. He always believed in me. Even when I didn't believe in myself. He seemed to have a sense of love for the people that came into his life. He was giving. He was selfless, and he hardly ever had a bad word for anyone. So of course he wasn't perfect, and who is? No one that's right. He made everything alright though, even when they weren't.

Last year, the 17th of May, 2 days before my 6th wedding anniversary, I got the devastating news that he had passed on from cancer. He smoked most his life, but it wasn't the cigarettes that got him so much. I don't know what it was, he had colon cancer or something. I honestly never knew he was ill. He was writing not just children's literature but letters to his friends almost up the end. He never told me he was sick. I don't know who knew and who didn't, but he never really let on.

I find so many times a day there are things I want to tell him and share with him. Things I'd ask him if only he were here. Adventures I've had and things I've seen, and people I've met. None of that really makes a difference if it's all gone. I imagine it perhaps. Because he isn't here to know. How much he's loved and missed and wanted and needed. He's sailed his golden ship to the Summer Country and left me behind to scrabble on the docks losing my footing now & again..

I know it's not his fault, he stayed as long as he could. He's not responsible for my life. I am. No one else. I learned what I could and then it's up to me and the rest of us to keep going, falling and getting up and teaching each other what we've learned, and perhaps helping each other when we can along the way, grasping.. reaching out for each other when, like a slippery shore, we've fallen forward and hope there's someone to catch us when we lose our balance.

Yes I know I have loved because my heart breaks every day. It's just sometimes there are things that make us forget just a little bit. Today was not one of those days. I wanted to make it right so much. Sometimes no matter how much you want things for yourself or other people, today isn't always going to be the day it happens.


sorry if this post is too long, it had to be said.