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Union Station, Los Angeles

Every once in a while we have business to catch up on. On which to catch up. Straggling details. Fragments.

The annual lighting ceremony on Christmas Tree Lane will be this Saturday at 6pm, preceded by a vendor fair in the Altadena Library parking lot at 2. Altadena craftspeople don't generally try to sell you potholders their kids made at school. We're talking fine stuff. I'm going.

I enjoy the Arroyo Verde Awards, presented each year by the Council of Arroyo Seco Organizations. The Council recognizes the year's heroes in the preservation of the Arroyo. This year the ceremony will be held on December 12th at 7pm, at La Casita del Arroyo. I don't know yet who all the awardees are, but I know that Dianne Patrizzi, Patrizzi Intergarlactica, Mademoiselle Gramophone, our Doo Dah Queen, who marched in the Doo Dah parade as Princess Haha (and I don't know how many other personalities she has but these are all good ones), will receive the award for Best Activist. You can come to the awards! It's low-key fun and I love seeing people recognized for their important work.

Friend and photographer Kevin McCollister has a post up at 591PhotographyBlog. If Kevin isn't the finest photographer working in LA today, it's because Ansel Adams came back to life and moved to a downtown loft.

Did I mention this? I have a new book review up at Hometown Pasadena, of Kim Fay's The Map of Lost Memories. I might have mentioned it. I'm on new migraine pills. They are my current excuse for everything.

Some Camelot & Vine news:

One:
I said I'd keep the Camelot Where You Are photo contest going until Camelot & Vine is published. As you may know, it's not published yet. Two contest entries wait in my inbox for a third and hopefully a fourth to join them in deadly friendly competition. Take a picture of Camelot Where You Are and send it in (details here). I post it on the blog, everybody votes, and if you win I'll send you a free copy of Camelot & Vine (when it's published, which it will be. See Two).

Two:
Camelot & Vine will be published dammit! (in case you were wondering). I had hoped to have it out in time for Christmas--hell, I had hoped to have it out in October--but obviously, I had no idea how long it would take. January? This is now the plan, and it seems doable (as did October and December, once upon a time). The book has been edited and typeset, the cover's almost ready, and I can't imagine what else will hold it back.

But what the hell, let's come up with some scenarios!

Zen Monday: #164

A confession about today's photo: it wasn't taken in Pasadena. I took it with my iPhone about two years ago at a book signing--for this book by Kevin McCollister--in Venice, California. I hope you'll forgive me this transgression as it's a fun shot for Banned Books Week.

Zen Monday is supposed to be the day you interpret the photo instead of me telling you what I think it's about, so I'll stop now.

-K-

A lot of terrific photographers are out there blogging. Today I'd like to turn you on to -K-, aka Kevin McCollister, of The Jimson Weed Gazette.

Check out the Gazette and browse K's brooding, beautiful pictures. I'll link you to one, my favorite for reasons I'll attempt to articulate. See, I'm trying to learn to do more than just take a picture of a thing. I'm trying to learn how to evoke a feeling, to tell a story in a photo. Kevin is a master storyteller. Here's my favorite of his stories: it's called Old Man, Abandoned Building.

I recommend you tour Kevin's blog as well as his website and enjoy his stories.

The reason I'm thinking of Kevin today is because I'm a little jealous. It's not his talent I covet. Talent is individual. He has his, I have mine. I'm a beginner and I'll develop in my own way as I practice and learn. No, no, no, I'm jealous because I'm too chicken to take my camera and tripod into dark alleys and scary neighborhoods at night and photograph abandoned buildings and sad old men.

Which brings me to today's photograph. A dark alley in daylight doesn't scare me. Ha! (Good thing there was no one there.)