Solar Salad

When I moved here from Illinois I thought of living in southern California as a vacation on another planet, especially when it came to plant life. Sometimes I still do. Click on this picture to enlarge it. These are bean pods.

The brownish stream on the lower right of this photo is bean pods. The branches above the stream show where the pods came from.

What kind of tree drops bean pods in purple, orange, yellow and green? Surely something not from our solar system.

This photo was taken awfully close to JPL. Maybe I shouldn't be wandering around over there.

Jameson Brown Coffee Roasters

Jameson Brown Coffee Roasters is situated off the beaten track, which is the first thing I liked about it before even walking through the door. Then there's the ample seating, the casual decor, the friendly service and the cleanliness.

But I can't tell you how good the coffee is.

Really, I can't.

I'm going to come clean here: I haven't had caffeine in 69 days (who's counting?). I'm not particularly happy about it but the doctor said eliminating caffeine might decrease the frequency of my migraines so I said I'd give it a shot. I can't tell you how furious it makes me that he was right.

At Jameson Brown I had herbal tea. Which was fine. Pictured here is the Jameson Brown latte, which my friend tells me is "the best latte in town." I'm so happy for all of you who get to go taste it.

Theme Day: Reflections

Nordstrom shoppers at the Westfield Santa Anita Mall.

Here it is the first of the month again, and that means a City Daily Photo theme day. On the first I like to update you how many blogs we have in the family (1243), and today I'll also mention the newest, Oxford Daily Photo (UK). I spent a summer studying at Oxford in 1999 and I still miss it. Uhoh. A new blog to love.

Not every City Daily Photo blog participates in theme day.
Find out who's reflecting today!

Last Day, June 2010

June marks the tenth month of the Last Day Project. The idea is to take a photo from the same vantage point on or about the end of each month, and view the changes over a year's time.

If you click the link above or the "Last Day" label below, you'll see Johnson Field is drying out now as it always does in summer. By September it'll be entirely parched.

I think this proves to the rest of the world that southern California actually has seasons.

Madre's

Madre's restaurant might not be a mystery to you, but it was to me. I found it in my wanderings a couple of months ago. This entryway might be gone by now. Such things are ephemeral.

Jennifer Lopez opened this "elegant Cuban restaurant" at 897 Granite Drive in April of 2002. It started out with a bang--such luminaries as Kobe Bryant, Nicole Kidman and even Maria Shriver were there for the opening.

I don't know why it closed (too expensive? not good enough? the economy?), but for some reason it didn't make the cut. Professional reviewers called it pricey, but liked the feminine decor. I tried peeking in the windows but couldn't see much. A sticker on the door said it was Zagat rated. Did you eat there? What are your memories of the place?

I haven't been linking to Yelp reviews due to the class action extortion lawsuit, but in this case Yelp can neither hurt nor help the business and the reviews are kind of funny. Many people went to Madre's to catch a glimpse of J-Lo. It gives you an idea of the grasp they have of the restaurant business, and what kind of reviewers you get on a website like Yelp.

Zen Monday: #101

Welcome to Zen Monday. In case this is your first: Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. There's no right or wrong. We're here to have fun.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. Unless I absolutely must say something I stay out of the comments box to avoid influencing the discussion, because when I get in there everything goes down hill.

Update: To understand this photo, please read the comments.

In Progress

I did some transplanting yesterday and began an attempt at organizing the wasteland we call our back yard.

These are not my plants. I said I began an attempt. I have transplanted three plants. This is the fence and driveway of someone who's much further along in their project.

Still, I feel good about my progress. My little transplanting job has needed attention for quite a while, and finishing it made me eager to do more.

I could take "before" and "after" shots of the wasteland, though I won't be posting the "befores," and I have no idea how long it'll take to get to the "afters." For now, though, I'm happy I can take one photo, in one tiny corner of the yard, and label it "during."