Iconic

Now that is a truck.

Multicolored

When Jon and I were first married, we painted the walls and doors of our West LA house about a dozen different colors. It was kind of like living inside of a kaleidoscope. All you had to do was turn your head for festive, ever changing views of what would have otherwise been a fairly nondescript late 1940s bungalow. In a part of town known for its beige stucco, the inside of that house was a welcome change. It was hard to stay bored staring at a ceiling painted with multicolored flowers, hard to stay mad at a dinner table surrounded by red walls and gold stars. If there had been a staircase in that house, I probably would have painted it just like this one at Busters.

I've been musing about South Pasadena's multicolored landscape lately ... just check out my latest column at Patch. It should post sometime before lunch today.

Update Tuesday Morning: Thanks to the readers pointing out my latest article and video aren't showing up under my column heading at Patch this week. Until it gets fixed, just click here for the South Pas Patch front page and you'll find my column.

A Car of One's Own

Virginia Woolf was once asked why she liked driving so much.

"The sense it gives one of lighting accidentally," she said, "like a voyager who touches another planet with the tip of his toe, upon scenes which would have gone on, have always gone on, will go on, unrecorded, save for this chance glimpse. Then it seems to me I am allowed to see the heart of the world uncovered for a moment."

(I think Virginia would have totally loved this El Camino.)

Still Life With Dirt Pile

It's the number 3 that does it for me. (Hey, if Fair Oaks is going to be torn up for a while, we might as well make art out of it...)

Moon by iPhone

Just found this on my phone. I took it on the night of the recent Supermoon. Yeah, it would have been great shot with the good camera and a telephoto lens but I am fond of the blurry, impressionistic sweetness of this one. (Or maybe I've just had too much cold medicine this week.)

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

In case South Pasadena residents may have been disturbed by loud music blasting from a certain giddy woman's open sunroof as she took her new car for a spin yesterday ... well, um, it wasn't me.

The Most Melancholy Wisteria Vine in the Whole World

Sounds like a novel by Carson McCullers. Or maybe Flannery O'Connor. What do you guys think?

Appropos of Nothing...

To me, this will always look like a one-eyed tree who is singing an aria while doing tai chi.

(Then again, I'm weird.)

Swingset Break

This is definitely not the best photo I've ever posted, but I figure we could all use something whimsical right about now.

Caption this photo (#56)

I need help with this one...

Storm Watching

The parrots chattered more than usual before the storm blew in. As for the weather forecast, winter doesn't want to leave Los Angeles just yet, despite the vernal equinox.

Make mine a double

The Allee family has been visited by the Kindergarten Rhinovirus Fairy yet again, so I'm fresh out of ideas and feeling mighty cranky. Plus, it's been so long since I've been to a bar, I had to refresh my memory with this picture from my files. (It's from Carmines. Just look at how much fun you can have if you brave the Fair Oaks Avenue construction zone!)

Basically, I got nothing today, gang.

So what topic can we talk about ... Charlie Sheen? Japan? Libya? Another oil spill in the gulf? Nuclear fallout? Jeez, we could all use a drink.