Thursday, March 15, 2012

Enthusiasm for Spring

As my mind daydreams to the thoughts of Springtime, it also takes an unexpected route to Seattle. Pacific Galleries is a favorite Antique Mall + Auction house of mine. A great place to go escape to the past + spend time meandering on a slow day- hopefully for that one of a kind incredible find!

 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Girl Scout Cookie time! The season is upon us and I've been able to score a couple of boxes of Thin Mints + Tagalongs. This is the first time in years, like 5 or more since I've had the opportunity to order them. I know, it's hard to believe myself. It's worth the wait + just as good as I remember. Thank you Girl Scouts of America! Celebrating their 100th year in 2012.

2012 is a year of change according to Chinese year of the Dragon. I won't jinx myself but it certainly rings true for a number of others that I know. Change is constant, considering we're in the first few months of the year, these changes seem bigger + more frequent than last.

Evidently, I was born in the year of the Dragon with the elemental sign of fire.

This is not your uncle.

Watched a show about the disappearing Orangutang population in Indonesia. Studied by a woman appointed as a Trimate- the other, Jane Goodall for Gorillas & another woman for Chimpanzees as it was said women make for better observing. Apparently, the way cool Oranguntangs have only 10 years before they are gone & only left in the care of "people and their cold embrace". Loss of natural habitat for illegal logging & slaying are the reasons for their demise. Surprisingly, it was noted that Indonesia is the 3rd largest contributor to Global Warming after the United States & China. Gee Wiz! Make it stop!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Today, I started off the morning with a song I had not heard before. It was called "Wake Up" by our good ol' American Hero, Woody Guthrie. A wonderfully simple song that really works. :-)


Guthrie + his handy dandy guitar

The spirit of Woody made me recall the prolific writer, James Agee + his depression era book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Perhaps most memorable by the photographic work of Walker Evans while he worked for the Farm Security Administration. It's some of my favorite photography I've ever come across.

Photographs from the book

Thursday, March 1, 2012

It's a new month and I ought not digress into last weekends traffic nightmares- no surprise for Los Angeles on Oscar weekend. However, 2 failed attempts of going out for general errands not able to find parking + being stuck in traffic for up to an hour in a radius of 1 mile from my home is a bit outrageous.

The digression was had to make a point. If traffic is this bad, as in most cities, it must be communicated that our environmental problems persist. Like a child with a bad habit.

I once thought  that the general public did not have the tools necessary to understand how pollution + energy consumption could be reduced. However, as an adult, I realize these are problems simply ignored.

It's a challenge to live responsibly in this way but being mindful of how to do it isn't that hard. Turn off lights not being used, buy energy efficient products, take less trips with a car by planning ahead to do it all in one outing, recycle as much as possible, understand water is a luxury not to be wasted, plan your next home to be a shorter commute to work, walk or ride a bike once in a while, purchase reusable products, etc. These are simple concepts, the complexities are much greater when coming up with workable ideas on a global scale.

Check out your own carbon footprint: http://www.earthlab.com/ecp.aspx

(my carbon footprint per year is 6.9 Tons with an Earth Conservation Plan score of 242- beat that!)

Billy Crystal was the host of the Oscars this year and having once met him before, he described to me how in the 1970's you could not see the Hollywood Hills because of all the smog- thankfully someone was paying attention enough to clear up that problem!

Friday, Feruary 24, 2012

Today I would like to be (where I have been before):

In the mountains by diablo lake, camping (i took this photo)

Standing in front of this glacial ice cave (me on the lower left)

Canoeing in solitude (that's me in the canoe)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A mundane day is here. The weather is beautiful but my ambition lacks. After a restless sleep with very disturbing obscure dreams which can hardly be explained, a sense of calm was found in the wee hours of early morning. ....Pause.

After writing the above, I further investigated what this might mean according to the stars. Believe it or not, it has assisted me before and today is no exception!! 2 sources were researched to get more explaination.

The Zodiac

First, @ astrology.com, my daily horoscope says;
You need to play more today. Even if you’re no fan of sports or games, you should still find ways to inject more fun into your routines, as your great energy is perfect for enjoying what you’ve got.

Second, @ yahoo astrology, my daily horoscope says;
Disturbing dreams don't have to ruin your waking days! Just because you had some night visions that were somewhat confusing or frightening doesn't mean that they are portending anything bad coming into your life. Sometimes a dream is just a dream -- your subconscious mind is just playing around with different ideas and images. There's no hidden puzzle for you to solve, so don't waste time today trying to figure them out. You'll have different dreams tonight.

Astrology may not be taken too seriously but there is certainly something in those stars + human interpretation somehow has a way to hammer it out. Incredible.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

El Coyote has great authentic Mexican fair & atmosphere. Enhanced especially when with friends. Not my favorite Mexican food ever but the history of the place makes up for it. Within walking distance from the homefront, it's a breeze to ease into the weekend at this neighborhood spot.

After El Coyote last Friday, a visit to the Rosewood Tavern turned out to be a great place to stop. A variety of seating in its open industrial style space includes communal tables, bar tables & booth seating. The Clientele were late 20's to 30 somethings & seemingly on the pulse of today.

With 28 craft beers on tap and food served until 12:45pm weekend nights, this historical Fairfax District setting mid-city restaurant/bar is my favorite new place. It harks for my attention and I shall return.