Bookmarks: Ludlum I'm Not

I approach the drop.

I steal a glimpse over my shoulder to make sure I'm not being followed by anyone except my camera crew.

"Little...free...liberry...dot..............org! This is the place."

I write an encoded note so my contact will know this is the right book. Or maybe I sign it.

You know, this Little Free Library's got a pretty good collection.

(all photos by John Sandel)

No need to be sneaky. Leave a book, take a book. It's free. This LFL is at 1614 Las Lunas Street, Pasadena.

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As the end of my daily posting looms I'm excited to have free time, but I don't want too much. I'd love to visit your book club and talk about Camelot & Vine, for example. Or if you're involved with anime cons, invite me! I'd love to come.

I keep a calendar on the main page of my website, so if I'm not here you can always check there.
Next up: tomorrow, Sunday April 28th, 2pm at Barnes and Noble in Old Town Pasadena, a group signing of Literary Pasadena: The Fiction Edition.
The following Sunday, May 5th, I'll be signing and selling books to benefit the Bloom Again Foundation at Lunafest, at Descanso Gardens. It starts at 12:30pm. Click the link to buy your tickets in advance.
Then Litfest! May 11, all day, at Central Park in Pasadena. Look for the Boz Books booth.

More on my website. I hope to see you at one or all of these events.

El Centro de Accion Social

How many times have I driven by this brightly-painted building at the south end of Central Park? I can't count 'em. It's not smart to drive and take pictures at the same time. But it's easy to get a shot when the circumstances are right: there's a train coming, traffic is stopped, and you happen to be stuck right across from the building.

This is El Centro de Accion Social, "dedicated to providing opportunities for low income individuals and families to become self sufficient and to provide culturally sensitive programs to those in need of services, especially in the Spanish-speaking population of Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley." (I got that from the website.) They've been there, in the same building on Del Mar, helping folks for 45 years.

I don't know when the paint job happened but I admire it, and I hope the scaffolding means touch-ups and restoration, as opposed to painting over it.

Litfest 2012

Happy crowds.
Dedicated volunteers.
Diverse authors, publishers and booksellers.
Entertaining speakers and panels.
Good food.
Fun.
Expanding horizons.

Reading. This is what it's all about.

Yesterday's Litfest Pasadena was a smashing success. Can't wait for next year!

People of Letters

For a while now, I've been trying to pass myself off as a Woman of Letters. Finally I have proof! I am a Woman of Letter! And there's more where that came from.

This letter is by way of reminding you (because I didn't have an L) that Saturday, all day, the first annual Litfest Pasadena will be held at Central Park, south of Castle Green between Fair Oaks and Raymond.

The original date was rained out but that's not going to happen this time. You can take the train to DelMar Station (it's right across the street) and/or there are several lots nearby. It's going to be like a big fair, with food trucks, fun for the kids, and people of letters (people of several letters, in fact).

I'll be there as a volunteer in the morning, helping at one of the stages, and if that doesn't wear me out I'll be there as an attendee in the afternoon. So come on down. Everyone will be there: writers, publishers, editors, speakers and most of all, READERS, who tend to have more letters than you can count.

Building Materialize

It's amazing how often I can pass a place and not notice it. I have no idea how many times I've driven down Raymond Avenue in Old Town, how many times I've walked there, how many times I've passed 182 South Raymond.

Yesterday I noticed this building, plopped charmingly between Fishbeck's and Del Mar Station, directly across the street from Central Park. I've never seen it before. (Yesterday was a beautiful day to be at the park; I was there to attend a meeting of the volunteers who'll be helping out at LitFest Pasadena on Saturday, March 17th. We're ready! Come on down!)

I was able to discover the current inhabitants of 182: Hamlett Benefits Group (no website) and J. Bullock and Associates, an Architectural Presentation firm (new term for me, but they have a website so now I get it).

In a sales blurb the structure is described as "historical" but that history itself isn't mentioned. The place looks historical, but one of the things the blurb doesn't say is when the building was built. It says the building has been called the Wilkinson Building as well as the Casablanca Building. I had no luck finding them on the web either.

If you've got info, please share! Otherwise, I'm happy to believe that I never saw 182 before yesterday because it just now materialized.

Update, 3/12/12:
Brilliant (and diligent) reader Betsy found information linking designer Bernarr Judson Garnett to the Wilkinson Building and the Wilkinson Building to the Pasadena Public Library. 182 S. Raymond was built in 1931 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Thank you, Betsy!

Another update, 3/12:
Another brilliant reader, Diana, sends this information from the National Register of Historic Places, the records of which differ from those of Pasadena Public Library where Betsy got her info: 

The National Register nomination (http://pasadena.cfwebtools.com/search.cfm?res_id=3963&display=resource) says this is a vernacular masonry building built by William T. Loesch. The descriptive paragraph, which is pretty terse, reads:
"Known historically as the Wilkinson Building, this one-story brick building with a stuccoed façade sits well back from the street. Brick trim enhances the building by outlining the edges of the façade, doorways, and windows as well as by creating a frieze-like panel across the front. The rear entrance fronts on the railroad tracks."

The record also says the building was built in 1922, not 1931. It's a "contributing building" to the Old Pasadena historic district, but there's no further description of it in the National Register nomination for the historic district\ other than the one quoted above.

By the way, if you're experiencing difficulty commenting as Diana did, I'm sorry and I've notified Blogger. I'm not the only one with this problem. Many who use Blogger are complaining about this ongoing difficulty but we've received no response. I welcome your suggestions. My immediate thought is, "Wordpress."

March Your Calendar

March in Pasadena is overloaded. I don't know why this is true but it's the same every year. Just like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can't possibly get to all the parties and events you want to attend. Your digital calendar has run out of room; you have to remove spaces between words to get it all in. If you still use an analog datebook (I do), you've resorted to putting things on post-its so you can move them around and try to fit them all in.

Three things you must attend, no matter what:

Art Night, Friday, March 9th, 6-10pm. Twice a year, Pasadena's finest art venues open their doors for free. It's a tradition both erudite and wacky. You can go after Real Irish.

LitFest Pasadena, Saturday, March 17th, 9:30am to 5:00pm. Speaking of erudite and wacky, here comes a new tradition! The first annual Litfest Pasadena will take place in Central Park (pictured here) under the batting eyelashes of Castle Green. Authors, publishers, booksellers--everyone who reads will be there. Food and a kids' area, too. (They still need volunteers, find out more here.)

And don't miss Primavera IV! Saturday, March 24th, 11-5pm. Primavera is the Altadena bloggers' gift to all San Gabriel Valley bloggers and blog fans. Everyone's invited! We bring a dish to share, we enjoy Altadena's Farnsworth Park and we bask in each others' actual, as opposed to virtual, company. It's the one event when you can talk to all the local bloggers without bothering with word verification!