Needs

Tired from my birthday! I ate a lot. Wore me out.

These days, I don't need a party. All I need is my family of John, Boz and me, cozy in our living room.

And computers: one for John and one for me. A bone for Boz. (Addicts, all.)

And books. And crossword puzzles. And tissues to blow my nose on. And plumbing, of course. I feel like we need plumbing. Electricity, too.

But that's all. Except lunch and dinner. And bed. Stop me now, I shouldn't have started.

End of the Gallery at the End

You already know the Gallery at the End of the World is closed. But did you know Ben McGinty is selling the gallery's furnishings? Since the Gallery at the End of the World has always been unusual, the furnishings are a little eclectic as well. You never know when you might need a miniature painted shovel, an old diner counter or a disco ball.

The sale continues today from 9am to 3pm. Next weekend, Ben says he might cut some deals on Saturday (again, 9-3). Then Sunday, 2/27 is blow-out day, when he'll slash prices on what's left. There will be a final, farewell "art bender" barbecue in the cleared-out space on March 26th.

The Gallery at the End of the World has long been the spot for artists to show their work in Altadena. It's a completely unusual, funky space and I know everyone's going to miss it. But don't worry about Ben. He told me he's going to have a break; he's working on other things, other irons, other fires.

The Gallery at the End of Lake Avenue

It's Altadena week here on the old blog. For such a teeny corner of the LA sprawl, I found a lot to do in one Friday night.

McGinty's Gallery at the End of the World is a revelation. I'm tempted to use words like "funky," "whimsical," "charming" or "laid-back," but oh, blah blah blah blah. McGinty's is all of these things and none of these things. It is completely itself: welcoming, lush, open and cozy at the same time. And that's just the space.
Even the gallery greeter is an absolute individual.

Some of the art you'll love, some you might even hate. That's the nature of art. The art will change depending on who's showing what when. I hope they update the website soon so we can see what's coming up, but just go. The gallery's full of great stuff right now.

I get the impression that owner Ben McGinty is a busy guy. But although he was running the show during the Altadena Arts Coalition Open House, he took time to welcome everyone who wandered through with their mouths hanging open just as I did. I believe the people in the top photo are writing on the furniture. (Tip: art is everywhere. Be sure to look up.)

Fotoboy Ibarionex says Ben is the "self-proclaimed mayor of Altadena." Altadena is in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles county and doesn't have an official city government of its own. But if Altadena did have a government and Ben ran for mayor, he'd probably have a shot at the job.

Altadena Party Night

Altadena did indeed have a party last night. I did indeed go. I did (indeed) have such a good time that I'm too tired to stay up and write about it right now. I have lot of pictures I want to show you and I will indeed do so in the coming days.

I have loved Altadena since John and I discovered it in 2001 (it had been there a long time, but we hadn't bothered to look). Last night I discovered things about Altadena that had been there all along, but I hadn't bothered to notice before. I discovered new things to be excited about, too.

I'll tell you more about it when I get some rest, but I imagine by then the other bloggers will have beat me to the punch. That's all right. As long as you know about it it's fine with me. Don't miss out on all the fun like I did all this time. There's too much good stuff in Altadena. Indeed, you must bother to look.

Bill Westphal's lovely pics are on Tim Rutt's Altadenablog today.