A Room With a View

I suppose we could play "where am I?" Nah. Too easy for the locals, and no fun for the out-of-towners.

So okay, these are the tippy-tops of the condos at 111 S. Delacey Avenue. Which doesn't leave a lot of options for where I was when I took the photo.

I wish I could remember who recommended the tops of parking lots as good places from which to shoot photos. This lot's at the corner of Delacey and Green.

A Hopeful Independence Day

I searched and searched for the right photo for today. What would it be? Something essentially Pasadenian as well as American? Look what Clueless in Boston posted. Perfect, no?

Or would I post something more global? I was moved by Eric's post at Paris Daily Photo, reflecting the thrill of new freedom hard-won, and his kind mention of the American hostages. (click link then scroll to top.)

New York City Daily Photo has another good post—a protest! (A revolution. How quintessentially American.)

In the case of America's Fourth of July celebration, the word "independence" has a broad definition. From immigrants scratching out a living to the wealthy who've made it and everyone in between, we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not to mention free speech. These rights are worth protecting. We all agree on that. We don't always agree on how.

Life has changed since I was a kid. Everything's global now and we're not going back to the old days. The one thing you can be sure will always happen is change. Change can be a very good thing.

So I posted a hopeful photo. I'm hopeful for a future where we can work things out not just as a nation, but as a world.

Superfluous Detail: Lany's Antiques

Really. It's a door. How fancy does it have to be?

It is a door to an antique store, and one that specializes in jewels at that. It's Lany's Antiques, at the corner of Green and Catalina Streets.

Back in May I posted what I called a superfluous detail, an architectural decoration with no other use than to be beautiful. Generally, the response was that beauty was useful enough. One commenter suggested Superfluous Detail could be a regular feature here on the blog. There are enough such architecture details in town to make it at least semi-regular, so I thought I'd take him up on it.

I didn't go in to Lany's. (Bad blogger!) I felt a bit out of my league. I mean, jewelry. Precious stones. (Could I use more italics in this post?)

Old Fashioned Patticakes

I tried to pack everything in to one day—groceries, dry cleaners, merchandise returns, hardware store, dog bath, post office and everything else you can think of. By the time I'd worn myself out Patticakes was right there. I hadn't stopped by in ages and it was easy to talk myself into a treat.

But once I was inside I couldn't choose! Could you? They've got TEN different kinds of chocolate cake! Not to mention cheesecakes, muffins, croisants, mousse cakes and tarts. Plus you can pre-order just about anything for weddings, parties or personal indulgence. I finally settled on the "old fashion" chocolate cake (it had to be chocolate). Here's the menu description: " four layers of devil's food chocolate cake with a white chocolate mousse center, glazed with chocolate ganache." Not exactly like my mom used to make it. Yours?

Patticakes has been at the corner of Allen Avenue and New York Drive in Altadena for about 23 years, and has been owned by the same family for about ten years. Mike, Phyllis, Shawn, Shannon and Billy run the place, and while I was there three of them were visible. It's spotless, comfy and busy enough to be friendly but not rushed.

I took my time with that cake. The white chocolate mousse was a cool counterpart to the rich chocolate, and latte was the finishing touch.

You work hard, you rush around, you get tired. You deserve a break.

Theme Day: "No" Signs

The first of every month, the City Daily Photo Blog community shares a theme day. July 1st's theme is "No" signs.

You know, it's not like we're way out in the country here. This sign is about a hundred paces beyond an entrance to the Angeles National Forest. This particular entrance is, oh, about a quarter mile north of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

So yeah. No shooting. Please.

172 blogs are participating in theme day this month. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Zen Monday: Bridle Trail

If you work at JPL and if you're looking, you see this as you're leaving the parking lot every day.

Fun first, then back to business.

I promised one last shot of Mills Place. It's further down in this post. But first:
This guy is big in Pasadena.

Meet Ben Wideman, whose daily photo blog, The Sky Is Big In Pasadena, is Pasadena's other daily photo blog and a favorite of mine. Ben's a very cool guy. I got to meet him Saturday in the real world (well, it was sorta surreal) at a local blogger get-together hosted by Aaron Proctor and Frazgo at the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia. Monrovia Daily Photo wasn't there. Bummer! (Photo by John Sandel.) While you're at Ben's blog, check out the June 26th post and add your two cents.

I hope someone posts a good group photo of the blogger party, because mine turned out blurry. However, I'm inspired to post a San Gabriel Valley blogroll. There are so many great blogs around here, covering every subject. Watch for it coming soon here on the main page. If you have a local blog and it's not there, please notify me. I'll get started today, but it will probably never be complete!

Thanks to Aaron and Frazgo as well as to Kathie, who owns the Aztec Hotel. She went the extra mile to make it a very nice event.

Now to our last picture of Mills Place:
I took this from high up in the parking structure on DeLacy Street at Green, looking east. Mills Place is T-shaped, and this is the east-west part of the T. Way down toward the end of it you can see the red door of Crown City Mattress Works from Friday's post. And you already know the red-domed building is Castle Green because you saw it yesterday.

Hmm. That's probably enough of Mills Place for a while, huh? Tomorrow's Zen Monday. I hope I remember.