all dirt and rocks

"If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern."

--Ursula K. Le Guin

Camphor Tree: macro

Ah, beautiful camphor trees. The shade is amazing, the leaves smell like Vicks Vapo Rub, the berries are parrot food and the bark is worthy of a photo. (So here's one.)

Horsing Around

Guess who wants a pony?

Cloud Painting

Have you noticed the skies around here lately? Wow! Mother Nature has been getting her creative freak on with beautiful, ever changing results. For anyone who thinks Southern California skies only offer images of smog and chem trails, here's a little evidence to the contrary.

play

“Play is the exultation of the possible.”

-- Martin Buber

Noir Palms

"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor..."

--Raymond Chandler

Everyday Objects: Great Design

You'll find these metal things on concrete benches and curbs all over the San Gabriel Valley. They are placed to discourage skateboarders from using public spaces as ramps. Yeah, the idea is kind of a buzzkiller, but I can see the point. Besides, skateboarding wouldn't be nearly as punk rock if it were accepted everywhere!

I digress.

Establishment-placed anti-skateboard thingiemabobs may serve the purpose of restraining our rambunctious teens, but they also give us an example of lovely design. We're surrounded by elegant, everyday objects like this, but probably don't take much time to notice them.

Larry Wilson wrote a great piece on two South Pasadena designers responsible for some of the objects we use and take for granted every day. I had long known that Henry Dreyfuss -- creator of the iconic Honeywell home thermostat and one of the world's most famous industrial designers -- called South Pasadena home until his tragic death in 1972. Larry points out that another designer, Henry C. Keck of Keck-Craig, also hails from our fair town. Read all about Keck's contributions to utilitarian design, as well as a few tidbits from his self-published memoir, in Larry's column here.

Strawberry Tops

South Pasadena's Farmer's Market is great for fresh produce -- and for inspiration! Even these strawberry tops are beautiful. Trash or art? (Why not both?)

Nightfall over the Arroyo

I was listening to this when I captured this moment. (It was a good moment.)

just open up and turn toward the light

"Flowers don't worry about how the're going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful."

--Jim Carrey

Here's the Deal...

There was a perfect 1940s green roadster driving right here. The blue sky! The pink tree! Those fluffy white clouds! It was a picture made in heaven and I could not stop smiling. I couldn't tell the model of the car because I was trying to keep one hand on the road while using the other hand to grab at the Lumix in my purse in a mad scramble to capture the moment. The roadster sped up and just as I was about to, um, ease through the stop sign, I noticed one of South Pasadena's finest in my rear view mirror.

He was not smiling.

Needless to say, I missed the roadster. So, just use your imagination.

Love Bug

Sometimes I swear I have an art director who goes ahead of me and sets up perfect scenes like this one. I couldn't resist a little iPhone filter magic. Here, I just pointed, shot, and processed the image through the MoreLomo app. (You all know how much I love the free spirit of lomography!)

Update 7:50AM:

Just heard about an event of note:

Everyone head over to our pal Pasadena Adjacent to learn about a fun Garvanza area party/fundraiser TONIGHT! Benefits go toward filmmaker Jake Gorst's production of a documentary about Antonio Corsi, one of our region's weirdest and coolest characters. (He was an early 20th century art model, a silent film star and a true bohemian. Learn more here. )