Zen Monday: Church Attic

An upstairs room at Church of the Angels.

If you want daily zen, try daily zen.

Then and Now: Church of the Angels

It's a bit of a thrill to find an old photo, taken from a spot you can get to, then go see what the shot looks like today. I've wanted to try it for a long time.

Pasadena's Church of the Angels is a good place to start. It's the oldest church in Pasadena (built in 1889), rich in history and still active today. It appears in films and TV from time to time.

My friend Bob Goldstein used to be a docent at Pasadena Heritage and probably still would be, had he not moved away from southern California. He loved that volunteer position and relished giving tours of Pasadena's historical neighborhoods. Bob took his post card collection with him, but he's shared some good scans with me. He sent tour information, too—I still haven't perused it all. There'll be more "Now and Then" installments, thanks to Bob.

There'll also be more pictures of Church of the Angels in the next few days, thanks to Kelly. She showed me around her beloved church and read to me about its history. A beautiful old building is a treasure, an old church a quiet mystery. When you and your friend have that to yourselves, it's a special kind of blessing.

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.