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You guys know how much I love Gus's BBQ. The brisket could make stoic cowboys weep with joy and the side dishes are so down-home good they seem straight from the butcher block counter of a Southern mama's kitchen. This place is as authentic as it is yummy.

However...

As someone born and raised in Texas I can honestly say I've never seen a mounted longhorn displayed next to pink orchids. It's kind of like satin boxers worn under chaps. (I love it!)

Caption this photo (#39)

I need help with this one...

Fairy woods where the wild bee wings

Fairy places, fairy things,
Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
Tiny trees for tiny dames--
These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs
Shady fairies weave a house;
Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,
Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people's trees,
But the fairest woods are these;
Where, if I were not so tall,
I should live for good and all.

--Robert Louis Stevenson

Rorschach Walkway

Whenever I walk past this gate, I get distracted by that stone. It reminds me of something. Shakespeare's face? A map of Africa? What do you think?

Dusk

Twilight, a timid, fawn, went glimmering by, and Night, the dark-blue hunter, followed fast.

--George William Russell

Window (un)Dressing

The curving wall, the Spanish tiles and the dark wood balcony are fabulous enough, but those curtains on the outside of the windows! It's like this old girl is flaunting convention and flashing her petticoats.

Beyond wonderful.

Zinnia

If you haven't wandered into Zinnia, you're definitely missing out on one of the funkiest, most inspiring shops in the greater Los Angeles area. Modestly described as "an artist's store," Zinnia is more like a garage sale hosted by muses. You won't find oil paints or sketch pads (well, maybe they're in there somewhere...) but what you will find are overflowing baskets, bins and shelves of interesting stuff. There are beads and trinkets, stamps and old postcards, antique keys and buttons, shells, old typewriter keys, vintage photos, ribbons, rocks, papers, mismatched door handles, doll heads, springs and some unidentifiable items that just look cool. This isn't a mere store, it's an emporium of exquisite doodads and magical bijoux. If ever there was a chance to finally use the word gewgaw in conversation, it would be here. Zinnia definitely has the gewgaw you're looking for. (And a few more you didn't know you needed.)

The last time I stopped by I couldn't resist buying a mobile made out of old chandelier crystals and a rusted house number 3. If you are nodding your head, then Zinnia is the place for you. Plus, how can you go wrong with a shop that also has classes with names like "Needle Felted Fairy" and "The Art of the Altered Page?"

Read what others say about Zinnia here. Better yet, stop by and get lost among all the treasures. (And be sure to pet the store cat. He's a sweetheart.)

Come on. You know you see it too.

It's a skylight pull.

And it's right over our bed.

And every morning when I wake up, I swear it looks just like a screaming monkey.

William Holden Slept Here (well sort of)

When cinephiles trek to South Pasadena in search of William Holden's childhood home, they're often befuddled. Census records list 1911 Fletcher Avenue as the residence of 11 year old William Beedle -- Holden's name before Paramount Pictures changed it. (The rent for the Fletcher Avenue home was $62.50 a month. The census report also made note that the house had a radio.) But at some point 1911 Fletcher Avenue was consumed by the parking lot behind Huntington Cleaners, now bordered by this lovely hedge.

In 1921 three year old William Beedle moved with his family from O'Fallon, Illinois to South Pasadena. His mother taught school in neighboring Monrovia. His father was a chemist with Gooch Industries. The family was pleased that sleepy, respectable South Pasadena was aligned with their Midwestern values and seemed light years away from the wild, outrageous antics of nearby Hollywood.

But after Billy Beedle graduated from South Pasadena High School he began inching closer to the fast lane. He performed in radio plays at Pasadena Junior College (merged in 1954 with John Muir College to become Pasadena City College.) He got his big break playing the part of an 80 year old man in a play at The Playbox -- a small theater owned by the director of Pasadena Playhouse. A Paramount talent scout spotted him and offered him a contract. His mother was happy about her son's career but begged him to "date only South Pasadena girls" because she thought they weren't corrupted like those poor souls in the movie business. What's a mother to do!? (We can only guess what Mrs. Beedle eventually thought of this scene from Picnic.)

Musing on an Afternoon Walk...

Fancy orchids and heritage roses are lovely, but I think I love sunflowers best. (Daisies are a close second.)

The Trouble with Assistants

"Mommy, why are you taking a picture of those mailboxes?"

"I think they look pretty from this angle."

"Don't you think it would be a better picture if you took it down here?"

"I like it right here."

"Don't you think it would be better if I was in the picture?"

"Not this one."

"What if I was just in a little of the picture?"

"Next time."

"How about if I just barely touch one of the mailboxes? Won't that add something interesting to your picture? Then your picture won't be so boring, Mommy. Instead it will be a picture of the amazing spoooooooooky hand that came from the sky and covered the whole town! You'll see. Let me help you."

Sigh.

Everyone is an art director.

Caption this photo (#38)

Some things are too weird not to share. Ideas on this oddball shot, anyone?