An expedition by public transit - from LA to the beach and back

Waiting for the Silver line (bus rapid transit) in downtown LA.

Cruising in the HOV lane of the 110 highway, heading south.


The end of the line - Artesia Transit Center. It looks like the end of the world..

Passing by the Dominguez Creek on the way from Vermont and 182nd street up to Artesia Blvd.


Back on the Silver line to the Harbor Freeway stop where we changed for the Green line. We are at the ground level of a major highway interchange between the 110 Harbor Freeway and the 105 Imperial Freeway.


Going up two escalators to reach the Green metro line heading west.


Destination Redondo Beach! From there we took a 12-member passenger van, also known as the Beach Cities Transit driven by a dreadlocked driver who blasted 'The Wave' radio station and drove this mini-bus as if it were a BMW.


We arrived to the Redondo Beach Pier and proceeded to walk to the beach...


A gathering for Scion owners with too much time on their hands.


At last - we jumped in the ocean and then walked 2 miles along the beach to Manhattan Beach.


Then repeated our steps in backward order - mini-bus, train, bus rapid transit - all the way back to 7th street metro stop.

And closed our day one of Carmeggedon with dinner in a bustling restaurant.

Backyard bounty

I'm between jobs at the moment and it's nice to be able to offer my apple picking services to my neighbor across the street.

Here the picker is leaning against the apple tree. The tree to the right is full of persimmons that should be ripe in a few weeks. I'm invited back to help and partake.


Soon the bench was full...


And I went home with a nice sackful, which I promptly used to make apple compote.

Project: Bike

I went over to the Bicycle Kitchen* on Melrose and Heliotrope and pulled this little number out of the pile of velo-carcasses and parts.

It needs some attention and love** but I am very excited for my Huffy 3 Sea Trails bike. In their computer system, they have it as a brown bike but Liz pronounced it to be burnt sienna which I much prefer...



Unlike my current ride - a sexy road bike that is nice because it is without adornment, I'm looking forward to having the kickstand and getting a basket. This will be ideal for tooling around the neighborhood


*Bike Collective in LA staffed fully by volunteers. Unlike a regular repair shop, you pay for parts and get help from the capable and nice staff in fixing it yourself. Then you leave a suggested $7/hr donation to support the space (or whatever you can afford). You can also buy a project bike for a price (mine was $50 - sliding scale) and then avail yourself of the staff and parts to build it up. Learning by doing --

**along with front and back wheels, front and back brakes, pedals, seat, etc...

Mouse Ears

Dear Mom-

Remember how in our backyard in Brooklyn, this plant would grow in the cracks? I remember them spreading out from the crevice and fanning itself along the pavement. I never saw them in a real market, certainly not in the Waldbaums down the street from our house and not even in the Chinese markets. You called them 'mouse ears' because the leaves faintly resembled them. And you would harvest them, blanch them and dress them with soy sauce, sesame oil, maybe some garlic.

We've since sold that house and it wasn't till years later in the Park Slope Farmers Market that I encountered them again. I was surprised too cause the prices they were charging were unbelievable. The young freshfaced organic farmer told me its name too - Purslane. Good for you too.

Well today coming home from the library, I stopped by my local Armenian vegetable/fruit store in East Hollywood and saw them sitting near the cash register. No name, no price. So I asked the older gentleman and he said two bunches for one dollar.

"How do you prepare it?"

He replied with a smile - in a salad -- with tomatoes, fresh lemon, some salt, olive oil, maybe onion.

So I did just that -- and it was delicious.



But you see, I really have you to thank. You nourished me with really good food all my life. You sent me off to school with a thermos of hot soup for lunch or a bento box with leftovers, strips of red bell pepper for snacking and would pack these amazing picnics for our occasional road trips.

It is because of you that I naturally gravitate towards fresh ingredients, home cooking and vibrant flavors.

Thank you for that gift.

And of course --- happy happy birthday!


Always,
Your loving daughter

Velo-themed Saturday

Sunny day in the Valley -- headed out to the Encino Velodrome to check out what Thomas called "the local track heroes"



Then on the way home, we saw this ragtag group of people -- a guy on a gigantic tall bike flanked by friends making his way slowly and surely down Santa Monica Blvd.



We watched with trepidation wondering how he was going to manage it if he ever had to stop. Perhaps the troupe of friends would be there to hold the bike. Lamp post maybe?


That is one seriously long chain.

Sun and Shade on Broadway

On my way to meet friends for breakfast at the classic Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles. Steam tables, kitschy interior, waterfall and great pancakes.



The Los Angeles Theater at 615 S. Broadway built in 1931. Its grand French Baroque style stands out in a district with many now shuttered motion picture palaces.

Chicago - late spring

Lake Michigan from the Hancock Building - I was captured by the blue green watery-ness that extended outward towards the horizon.



I love when cities see fit to invest in great public art. I was only in Chicago for a few days but I managed to visit Millenium Park three times...

The slowly mutating earnest face which eventually puckers and spits water out of the lips..


Another familiar site is the Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor aka the Silver Bean.





Corncobs as Chicagoans like to refer to Marina City by Bertrand Goldberg. I was walking along Wacker Drive when it appeared like a vision of the future created in the 60s (which it is).


I chuckled at the butts of cars protruding from the parking structure on the bottom levels.


So worth the entrance fee to see the city from the top of the Hancock Building.


860-880 Lake Shore Drive by Mies van der Rohe -- tiny in comparison to the skyscrapers of today's Chicago.


Contextualism appeared in much of the architecture


During the architecture boat tour, the guide explained that the railroad sold the air rights to building developers who created structures that hovered just above the train tracks. Another classic example of this building practice would be the Metlife building over Grand Central Terminal in NYC.


Sears Tower -- still the tallest skyscraper in the U.S. We learned that an insurance broker will be leasing much of the building and in exchange the official name will be changed. So weird.



I also checked out the Cecil Balmond of ARUP (artist/engineer extraordinaire) exhibit called "Solid Void" at the Graham Foundation. Was pleased to have run into an old acquaintance who now heads the foundation... right time right place. The excellently curated exhibit has been so well received that they have extended its run to June 20, 2009.



Lower left corner shows one of his famous collaborations with Toyo Ito - the Serpentine Summer Pavillon in 2002.


In the lower right - another one of his famous collaborations for the CCTV building in Beijing.


It seems fitting that mirrored surfaces followed me from Millenium Park to his installation on the second floor...