taoist philosophy

2011-04-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

guys! Colombia is beautiful! hopefully I'll be able to upload some more photos soon.

2011-04-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

melaniagain

2011-03-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

cool

2011-03-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

down by the banks of the hanky panky.

these

2011-03-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

gaylord

2011-02-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

It has a funny name, but this is one of my favorite places. On the bottom floor is the H.M.S. Bounty restaurant ("food and grog"), an old nautical themed place where old-time celebrities used to hang out. The booths have plaques above them with names of people who used to to sit in them. People like Winston Churchill and William Randolph Hearst. Its a low key, quiet place, which makes it amazing. It is right next door to where the Brown Derby used to be, and across the street from where the Ambassador hotel once was, where Robert Kennedy was shot.

ode to cheese balls

2011-02-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

creepy

I bought this giant jar of cheese balls at Target a few days ago. I bought it half because I wanted to eat the cheese balls and half because the enormous container of cheese balls seemed hilarious. Look how casually and without fanfare the label states its contents. In Target I went to try on some pants and had to check the cheese balls at the dressing room counter. I like the idea of taking it as a carry-on on a plane. I think it would be funny to put a cheese ball in someone's shoe when they weren't looking so that when they put on their shoe, their foot would crunch the cheese ball. The empty container would make a good astronaut helmet.

city hall

2011-02-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

City Hall is one of my favorite L.A. buildings, I like looking at old pictures of the city when it stood out as the tallest structure in the skyline. Like these: 1 2 3

some snaps from round the block

2011-02-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

The thing with film is that I just take all the pictures as fast as I can because I'm anxious to see what they will look like.

santa monica

2011-02-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

creek of the week

2011-01-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

Another hike, in a canyon along a creek. After hiking we got ice cream, not pictured.

And this song has been in my head for days:

about

2011-01-24T00:12:00.000-08:00

echo mountain

2011-01-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

These are from a hike up Echo Mountain above Pasadena. There used to be a resort on top of the mountain with a railway leading up to it, but now only the foundations from the buildings are left. And some railroad sprockets.

2011-01-17T17:56:00.000-08:00

I walked to these stairs to take pictures for Emily's blog. The next day I watched L.A. Story and saw Steve Martin drive his car down these very steps! Everything happens for a reason.

marathon manor

2011-01-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

the last roadtrip of 2010 (pt. 2)

2011-01-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

Petroglyph National Monument

Alien beings, I think

Santa Fe

In front of the oldest church in the USA

the last roadtrip of 2010 (pt. 1)

2011-01-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Me and three of the sisters went on the last road trip of 2010. Destination: Santa Fe. It was amazing. I didn't realize quite how enchanting New Mexico is.

and some more of that film

2011-01-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

2011-01-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

The Bakersfield sky on Christmas morn.

akira tc-002

2010-12-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

I found an old toy camera, an "Akira tc-002" (I've never heard of it before) in a thrift store... The following pictures are some of the first roll I tried on it. Now I know that it kind of works.

rain

2010-12-23T01:27:00.000-08:00

It's been raining nonstop for the last week. I love it, so sue me! I can't help it if I love the rain.

gre

2010-12-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

Today I took the GRE. I was supposed to take it last week but I missed it by mistake. It is ridiculously expensive to take, especially if you have to pay for it twice. I almost gave up on taking it, but decided eventually to do it JUST THIS ONCE.
Tests are exhausting. I guessed on most of the math. When the test was finally over I started planning out in my head the sandwich I was going to make when I got home...then my car wouldn't start, the battery was dead. I had left the headlight (the other one is burnt out) on. Now I'm going to watch a movie. Maybe I'll cut out more paper snowflakes as I watch. And eat shortbread cookies out of a Christmas tin.

snowflakes

2010-12-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

I cut out these snowflakes while watching the Shining.

went drove

2010-12-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Spudnuts- potato donuts

After thanksgiving I went drove up to Richland, WA with Anna, Delmer and Jared. On the way we got to see some old friends: Chas & Lacey in Redding and Kathleen and Deanna in Portland. In Richland Anna and I bought a sample cheese platter from a cheese shop called Cheese Louise. The ones we tried were delicious: Seahive cheddar, and Ewephoria sheep milk gouda.

delmer in the snow!

2010-12-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

sectumsempra

2010-11-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

We took the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to take some pictures for the Quibbler. Find out which sister is a death eater on Emily's fashion blog.

2010-11-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

I renamed my apartment Number 315 Grimmauld Place.......I've been rereading The Deathly Hallows. Also recently watched Chinatown and since then have been acting like a private eye in a noir LA. I'm into detective movies right now.

A quite awesome, interesting set of photographs: North American Indian Photographs by Edward Curtis

2010-11-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

Recently I started a new list that is different from other lists I have because it doesn't have any real category. I allow myself to write anything on it. Whenever I have something in my mind I want to remember or do or have or learn etc. etc. I write it down on this list so I don't have to worry about remembering it anymore. It doesn't matter if I do anything with the list, as long as I know all these random thoughts are written down somewhere. Some examples of things on the list: "can you mail a tp roll?" "learn about book binding" "hat rack" and "refer to journal as pensieve" I don't know if this qualifies as a list.

Roger Ebert's perspective on architecture (I agree): The image of a man you do not see

Happy Veterans day...thank you veterans.

2010-11-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

mountains

2010-11-05T01:31:00.001-07:00

2010-10-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

One of the two black cats that crossed my path the other day.

2010-10-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

low budget decorations

2010-10-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

2010-10-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

2010-10-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

two ghosts

my haunted mexican pizza

cicLAvia

2010-10-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday 7 miles of streets were blocked off to automobiles and handed over to cyclists and pedestrians. It was LA's first ciclovía, called cicLAvia, and was lots of fun.

2010-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Bakersfield to celebrate some family birthdays. We went to antique stores and to the county fair, where most of our time was spent not on rides, but watching the hilarious habits of goats.

2010-09-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

Fall is officially here...but that doesn't really mean much in L.A. Except for shorter days I guess (and pumpkin flavored things). Instead of the weather getting cooler, we've just been hit with a heat wave, today in downtown temperatures were over 100 fahrenheit! Thank goodness for the ocean. The ocean solves most problems.

n. ireland

2010-09-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot about all the pictures I took on my Ireland/Scotland trip back in May. Well I think I'm going to share some now. These are from Northern Ireland.

NIGHT FOG

2010-09-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

2010-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Shots taken for Emily's blog

more at lemon leaf

2010-09-13T00:41:00.000-07:00

hot-dog style sushi?

(maté)

lemon leaf

2010-09-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm taking pictures for Emily's new blog. Check it out: http://lemon-leaf.blogspot.com/.

los padres

2010-09-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

Went camping in Los Padres National Forest over the weekend. Camping was fun, the weather was warm, good camp food was eaten and experimented with (conclusions: a roasted crumb donut just tastes burnt, it's hard to put a donut inside a marshmallow, it's hard to put a marshmallow inside of a donut) and on the way back we got ice cream in Solvang and some sun in Santa Barbara, where I was pooped on by a bird.

2010-08-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Shelly, Matt, and San Diego for the awesome weekend of frequent beach-going, mini-hikes, water sports, Costco hot dogs, Phil's BBQ, "Hoarders: Buried Alive", and "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant." It was perfecto patronum.

of late

2010-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

An assortment of things from lately.
Also, Melanie showed me this a while ago. A collection of color photos taken in the late 30s/early 40s, very cool.

kidnapped

2010-08-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

My bike, my pride and joy, was stolen. My sister's was stolen too (they were chained together). It must have been someone in my apartment building, since the bikes were locked in an area that is accessible only to tenants. I thought that meant they were somewhat safe...and now I cringe to think that the bike I loved and spent so many tender moments with has now most likely been sold into something like slavery or prostitution. Thieves are the worst kind of people.

2010-08-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

There's an empty weedy lot beneath our windows. At first it seemed like a bad thing, but it's not completely. Kids run around in it, wild neighborhood cats sleep and hunt in it, film crews eat lunch in it, and random objects appear in it. There's always something to look at in the overgrown lot. Definitely beats looking out at the side of some building. And the weeds have yellow flowers.

lionheart

2010-08-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Went to Ferraby Lionheart's record release party, and it was a good one. Extra good because it was free and only a couple blocks from my apartment.
Rainn Wilson cameos in Ferraby's newest video...I also like this video and song. Buy the album if ya like it!

night, day, etc.

2010-08-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Koreatown and Venice.
I've been listening to past episodes of the Mysterious Universe podcast, and they've been talking about salt lamps and their supposed benefits, which include increased concentration and better sleep. I need a salt lamp! I need money for a salt lamp! If you like mysterious things like ghosts and ufos, listen to Mysterious Universe.

2010-07-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here's an old picture of the beach bottle collection I used to have and here's a good article to read: The Creativity Crisis.

2010-07-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

It's 4:40AM and I'm not tired, so I guess I'll post something...
This week has been hot. A heat wave has struck southern California. I bought a fan for comfort and have been making lots of smoothies. Mother Earth and Father Sky compensated for the heat with some pretty skies, though. That was nice of them.

the roof

2010-07-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

My instincts tell me to get on the roof. And this post on day 19 photo blog also encourages it. Anna encourages jumping off it (into a pool).

2010-07-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing 4th of July weekend. Lots of grilling and eating, river rafting, river swimming, pool swimming, roof jumping, skateboarding, night adventures, and ice cream. And of course hanging out my nephew and the rest of the family.

I didn't take pictures of lots of the stuff I did because I was too busy having fun basking in the glory of summer.

scottish highlands

2010-07-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

It was awesome.

anna & delmer visit

2010-07-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

Right now we're all watching "Julie and Julia." INSPIRING. Check out some other Delmer adventures at Anna's blog.

hands across the sands

2010-07-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend me and Emily participated in a Hands Across the Sands event in Santa Monica. Hopefully events like this make some sort of impact through promoting awareness and getting publicity, but if not, at least its fun to join hands in a line and shout "NO MORE OIL!" at the sea.

First photo from here. Last two photos from here.

langers delicatessen

2010-06-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

There's this place just down the street called Langer's Delicatessen and it is quite famous for its pastrami sandwiches. Being within a five minute walk of this restaurant, I had to try one. I went with Emily and though the price tag for the sandwich is a bit high ($15 for the sandwich alone) I was not at all disappointed! The sandwich was so delicious, perfectly flavored and textured, I've been having frequent food dreams about it. I will eat one again, yes. But maybe I'll split it next time.

2010-06-18T01:31:00.000-07:00

I got a start on exploring hikes in the area. Hooray for people like Griffith J. Griffith who granted this land to the city of Los Angeles to be used as a park. If not for him, wealthy celebrities would probably have a monopoly on views of the haze obscured L.A. basin. (Griffith later evened out his good deeds by shooting his wife in the head.)

chaos

2010-06-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

irish coast pt. 2

2010-06-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

irish coast

2010-06-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

When I went to Scotland I also went to Ireland. Its beauty exceeded my expectations.

dt los a

2010-06-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

Emily and I rode our bikes to the downtown library to get library cards and then did a little exploring. The library is that building in the second photo with the triangular mosaic top. I think I'll be spending a lot of time there.
I wonder why librarians so often seem to be short tempered and snappy (I experienced one of these yesterday). Shouldn't they be happy to be surrounded by so many books?

the new abode

2010-06-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Yay, I am living in a new place with a sister roommate. Parties all the time.

cloudy edinburgh

2010-06-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

There were sunny days, but I think this city looks best when clouds are behind it!

scot cats

2010-05-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I went to Scotland and one amazing day saw all these cats one right after the other in Kyleakin, a mysterious foggy little village.

the witching hour

2010-05-06T02:24:00.000-07:00

From a while ago, the typical midnight donut run; paranormal themed conversation, Melanie doing homework, and a crazy person or two.

some books lying around

2010-05-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

smoke bath

2010-05-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Smoke Bath is a collection of photographs and art work loosely based on the theme of camping/ nature/ exploring. The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that provides free summer vacations to New York City children from low-income communities. The goal of smoke bath is to showcase the work of artists that are inspired by nature and raise money for freshair.org in the process."

Check out the collection on Smoke Bath, it's nice. And maybe buy the book.

fuh2

2010-05-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

This website is hilarious and awesome. Basically people submit photos of themselves flipping off Hummers.

rockies

2010-04-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago the company I worked for with the Wellness Tour called me and asked if I wanted to help drive one of their vehicles from Wisconsin to Las Vegas. They gave us a generous amount of time to complete the trip so we stopped in Denver for a day and while there saw a Rockies game (v. Padres). Baseball games are fun. I love the classic/traditional imagery of it.

book stamp

2010-04-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

I wrote a little thing on beeknee about making book stamps. Cool!

grow

2010-04-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

It is very exciting when seeds sprout, especially since I get so impatient for them to grow.

These ones haven't sprouted yet, but I think if I keep giving them encouraging words and reading them love poems by Neruda they should grow nicely.

2010-04-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Northern California and Oregon on the drive up to Kennewick.

mom, dad, dad and mom

2010-04-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

wind wolves

2010-03-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

My year of the Wellness Tour is over so now I'm back in the homeland for not very long while I plan my next move. I already miss living in hotels... Today I went on a little excursion with sister and paw in the foothills near Bakersfield. Spring is the best time of year here. If you ever come to Bakersfield, come in the spring, never the summer, when everything turns brown.

2010-03-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is amazing. My dad showed it to me, it's his "video of the week." All the videos these guys make are pretty awesome.

nautical/not naughty

2010-03-08T00:26:00.001-08:00

We stopped at a coworker's parent's house in Chattanooga, Tennessee on the drive from Georgia to Wisconsin. They had an awesome house with woods in the back and a porch in the front, and amazing decor inside. I wandered around taking pictures of everything like it was a museum.

curling

2010-02-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

Curling is absolutely my favorite winter olympics sport. I laugh and am intrigued every time I watch.

photos from life archives

lochs

2010-02-20T17:00:00.001-08:00

I was in Orlando, which is mostly amusement parks and gift shops, but it also coexists with lots of vegetation and lakes, and McDonalds. Down the street from my hotel was a McDonalds with the world's largest playplace, and a little further down was another McDonalds that looked like a castle. A little further down from that were some lakes and some ducks, so I walked next to them and took some pictures, and then I went further down to Barnes and Noble where a guy stopped me in the parking lot to ask if he could use my phone because he lost his family.
I didn't go to any parks while in Orlando, it was actually really cold and rainy most of the time. But I'll be back before long, once the Harry Potter park opens.

Opa-tisha-woka-locka

2010-02-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

There's a town down here in Florida, near Miami, called Opa locka. The name sparked my curiosity so I looked it up, and found that originally it was called Opa-tisha-woka-locka, but then was shortened to Opa locka. Either way, its fun to say.
I like Florida because it's so different from any other state, and because I love eating plantains, and sometimes it reminds me of Hawaii. And kind of like Hawaii, people here will look for any excuse to wear warm clothes. Yesterday it was 80 degrees and sunny, and all kinds of people were wearing jackets and sweatshirts...I guess the justification was that it wasn't in the 90s? Dexter the serial killer also lives here. My sister Melanie told me that out of respect, I should murder someone while in Florida, but I haven't yet.

message in a bottle

2010-01-29T07:02:00.000-08:00

I became one of the lucky winners of this contest.

In the bottle was a Dharma failsafe-key style usb with a few minutes of the season premiere on it...But most importantly for LOST fans, was this secret message:

detective novel?

2010-01-16T23:56:00.000-08:00

While I was on a walk I came across a pair of gloves and a beat up novel lying in the grass...there must be a story behind it.

sweet georgia trees

2010-01-16T23:20:00.001-08:00

I think what I love most about Atlanta is the trees. They are best appreciated away from the city center where there are beautiful houses and neighborhoods hidden among them. I love how vines engulf them completely and how they cover the hills...I guess that's why Atlanta's called a city in a forest.

solvang

2010-01-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

Solvang is a Danish inspired town in California, not far from Santa Barbara. It is comprised of bakeries, fudge shops, restaurants selling ebelskivers, ice cream parlors, toy shops, clock shops, and lots of other quaint little stores. On the day we were there, there was a farmers market where I tried some more-delicious than usual carrots and some amazing tasting cheese curds, which I'm now craving. I also ate my first ever Monte Cristo sandwich at a restaurant in Solvang. Its not Danish, but its delicious. And now I'm craving one of those too.

no work all play

2010-01-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

A few of the things I enjoyed over the holidays...family, nephew baby Delmer, ginger bread house making, trampoline jumping, downtown Bakersfield, cat pets, Delmer's birthday...

polar/hogwarts express

2010-01-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

The experience of train riding is superior to that found in any other form of long distance transportation. True, it is slower, but that's only saying its better in different words, since it implies that if you're on a train you're not in a hurry. It's comfortable, the views are relaxing, fear of death and crashing is at a minimum, the atmosphere is much more friendly for people-watching than in a car or plane...and its easy to pretend you're on your way to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

On the train I saw a man reading "Going Rogue." And there was a group of middle aged women who claimed to be on a "cougar tour" across the country. They told dirty jokes but also chatted and swapped emails with a 9 or 10 year old girl they met on the train and who they called a "cougar in training." I spoke with an old woman from Ohio who was traveling to the bay area to spend Christmas with her son's family...she told me that she used to prefer the ocean, but now she loves rivers and streams best...she finds them peaceful. The girl in the seat next to mine was a BYU student with a septum piercing and ripped jeans and she slept pretty much the whole trip, or did stuff on her phone. And then there was this man who looked like a wrestler from the early 90s, who was pretty enormous. In my mind he had a crazy eye, but that might not be true, though he did have a limp and roamed constantly up and down the aisles, day and night.

once upon a time in ute

2010-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Once, a couple weeks or something ago I visited my friends Jake and Cody in Utah. Jake constructed art with wood. We visited the animal shelter. And took a drive so their Geo car could reach 100,000 miles. We also played racquetball and I liked it.

vote!

2009-12-28T00:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone go here and vote 5 stars for this video!
http://video-contest.tikka2.com/video.php?id=bbce2caae9ae0d84b45c63d9a640223a
Its a commercial contest put on by Petzl. My friend Jimmy made it and my sister Melanie stars. I also make a cameo as a car headlight. And it really is the best of all the other entries.

caw! caw!

2009-12-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

The Grand Canyon and snowy mountains and frozen lakes...I flew over all of them when going from Phoenix to SLC. When I fly, I usually think I'm going to die, but try not to be too sad about it.

4th st. tucson

2009-12-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

4th st. is carved wooden canes, pipes, bongs, tie-dye, eastern rugs, rubber band guns, crucifixes, license plate collages, herbal remedies, cigarette cases, windchimes, banjos made from old gas cans, mexican art, incense, tattoo parlors, lotería sets, happy hours, wall murals, worm candy, and etc. etc.

man v. food

2009-12-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

A day or so after I arrived in Tucson, a new episode of Man v. Food aired where the Man v. Food guy came to Tucson! It was perfect, because I could finally satisfy the cravings I have while watching that show. One of the places he went was a place called El Guero Canelo, which serves a unique version of the hot dog called the sonoran dog where the hot dog is wrapped in bacon and topped with pinto beans, tomatoes, jalapeno sauce, mustard and mayo. Just watch the episode and you'll see. Anyway I went there and ate two of them.

the red balloon

2009-11-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

Le Ballon Rouge was playing on pbs the other day. I love pbs. It has better travel shows than the travel channel and better history shows than the history channel. If you've never seen the Red Balloon, here it is. It will make you want to go Paris forever, even if there are balloon killing bullies roaming the streets.

2009-11-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

After being in la for a month we finally left and headed into the desert of Palm Springs.
Old people love Palm Springs. There's lots and lots of them everywhere...in restaurants, walking in the streets, and often wearing giant sunglasses. Most enclosed spaces end up smelling strongly of old person perfume, truthfully. I love going places, like the grocery store for instance, and looking around to see only elderly people walking around. One lady I saw just shuffled around bumping into everything with her grocery cart, including my grocery cart.

Wednesday we took the an aerial tram up the San Jacinto peak and did some light hiking at the top. Once you go up the mountain it's suddenly not desert anymore, and its a lot cooler than the 90 degree (fall time) desert too.

second coming

2009-10-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

I saw Jesus in the mall. Look closely and you can see that his drink of choice is no longer wine, but starbucks coffee.

some more beach things

2009-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

do re mi fa so laguna

2009-10-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

So I was in D.C. for less than a week and then I got transferred to California...its a good thing I love Californiaaaaa

	The Velvet Underground - Who Loves The Sun

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

shamon!

2009-09-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

The house the Jacksons grew up in...

the man in the shadows in front of the house is MJ's cousin

A feline in Michael's backyard.

gary indiana

2009-09-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

I'm here this week

its actually not a very great place and has a really high crime rate...my usa travel book describes it as one of the "bleakest urban landscapes anywhere." MJ was from here.

Watch this other great part from the music man

snape

2009-09-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Look at these hilarious things about Snape I found saved on my computer.