Four Stars, To Be Exact

I learned from the 1/17/11 issue of Wired Women, Monica Hubbard's packed-with-Pasadena e-newsletter, that the Pasadena Public Library earned a four star rating from the The Library Journal "for providing exceptional response to patrons and superior customer service."

The Library Journal, a trade publication for libraries (as opposed to, say, itinerant rodeo riders), was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey, the guy who invented the Dewey Decimal System. It has the highest circulation of any library journal. I mention these things because I think they make recognition of our library by this publication especially brag-worthy.

I enjoyed reading about library director Jan Sanders, who in 1999 was named to the Intellectual Freedom Hall of Fame. Could there be a cooler hall of fame? Maybe, but this one's way up there. Apparently it's not like the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in that it doesn't have an actual hall. I couldn't find it on the internet. But still.

Congratulations to Ms. Sanders and the Pasadena Public Library. May your (our) funds not be cut too deeply.

Be made whole by books as by great spaces and the stars. I love the library.

Lights, Camera...

When John came home and told me he'd seen inside our sewers, I had to go look. Woohoo! The Advanced Sewer Technology truck had appeared on our street like the Wells Fargo Wagon, spreading excitement, joy and sewer video.

Hey, this stuff doesn't happen every day.

The monitor in the upper left of the photo shows the main sewer line under my street. It's quite clean, considering.

The gentleman in the photo was handling cords and lines, making sure they didn't get stressed or caught up in anything. Another person on the truck operated the underground camera, which can go as far as 6,000 feet.

These guys were inspecting the main sewer line as well as lines to individual homes. The man I spoke to said the camera couldn't get through in some places because of tree roots. (Pasadena has a lot of trees.) Advanced Sewer Technology reports such glitches to the gas company, who hired them to look for gas pipes in the sewer tunnels.

To the workers and companies involved, this means safety and problem prevention. To me, this means there's a manhole on our block I hadn't noticed before. Strange how you can drive over something every day for five years and not know it's there.

(Meanwhile, my newest article is up on South Pasadena Patch: The Gabrielinos: Life at the Mission is second in a series.)

On the Map

Civitates Orbis Terrarum


"I'm one of those people who get dizzy just being in a bookshop, so you can imagine what these rare books did to me."

Thus spake Barbara Ellis, aka Bellis, about how it felt to assist the head of Caltech's Archives and Special Collections in putting together an exhibit of rare maps and books. The "On the Map" exhibit, created by Shelley Erwin, explores the concept of mapping earth and sky, and includes such rarities as a copy of Ptolemy’s map of the world that was printed during his lifetime.*

He could have touched it himself.

I know, right??? AS IF!

Here's an early map of Moscow. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

The exhibit is small, filling a few display cases on the second floor of the Parsons-Gates Hall of Administration on the Caltech Campus. It's a wonderful opportunity because these books and maps literally rarely see the light of day. As it is, they're displayed in low light to protect them from UV rays.

This is Kronborg Castle.

I know! Elsinore! Where Shakespeare set Hamlet! Cool! Also cool, and factual as opposed to theatrical: Tycho Brahe's island observatory, Uraniborg on Hven, is pictured. It's the little island in the sound.

Most of the items were donated to Caltech by Earnest C. Watson, founder of the Watson Lecture Series, professor of physics and dean of the faculty at Caltech for many years. I'd love to know what else they've got in the archives. It must be an amazing place for the eyes, imagination, and white-gloved fingers to wander.

Bellis says, "I was very thrilled to be allowed to touch those books and look through them, though very sparingly and gently."

Read Barbara Ellis's excellent article about the On the Map exhibit in Caltech's Engineering and Science Magazine.


*Sooo wrong! See Bellis' comment.

Zen Monday: #129

It's Zen Monday again, can you believe it? This is the day you tell us what the photo's about, rather than me telling you.

The reason we call it "zen" is loosely (very, very loosely) based on the zen idea of teaching through experience rather than telling--you know, lectures, taking notes, reading books.

So, please experience the photo and let us know what you learn. There's no right or wrong. We're here to have fun.


(Please take the time to scroll down and see the stray dog pics I posted late yesterday.)

Lose Somebody?

We interrupt this post to bring you today's stray dog report. This little guy followed Boz home but ran away when I tried to lure him into the yard with treats. We saw him again when we walked in a different part of the neighborhood. This time, with Boz as a lure, a couple of kids invited the little guy into their cat carrier, where he seemed calm and willing. No collar, no tags. Looks to be a male Chihuahua mix. He's on his way to the Pasadena Humane Society because those kids and their mom are heroes.

About, oh, ninety seconds after our Chihuahua friend was dispatched, Boz and I saw this beauty. I believe it's a female but can't be sure. S/he wouldn't let us near. No collar, no tags. I almost thought she was a coyote but on second look that was only because she was scruffy from being on the loose. I wish I could tell you where s/he's headed. Last seen in the vicinity of Mountain and El Molino.

A collar, tags and chip costs about $25 and very little heartache.

Sugar Water

I love the pergola and whatever's growing on it. It's a nice way to shade a porch. I didn't think I'd like the lion but he grows on me. Not crazy about the other statue, but that's a personal choice. The bougainvillea is gorgeous. I have two of them that look like weeds. Occasionally they pop off a sallow bloom.

I don't know if the feeders are working. I did not see bird one.

Home Shopping: To the Rescue

John saw an article in the Pasadena Star-News about an unincorporated area of Pasadena called Michillinda Park. A group of neighbors there is trying to save a vintage Craftsman house. We decided to drive over and have a look.

Michillinda Park is a lovely, historic neighborhood where peacocks graze on the median. Too bad it's unincorporated because that means there's no historic preservation ordinance and anyone who has the money can buy one of these...

...and tear it down to put in one of these.

To better illustrate my point, here's a panorama John made of these two houses:

I recommend you click the panorama to enlarge it. It looks like the two houses aren't next to each other, but they are. The reason the McMansion on the right is so much brighter than the Craftsman on the left is that there are no trees in the McMansion front yard. I wonder why, when all the old houses on the block have mature trees in their yards.

Click on the photos in the Star-News article. The house the neighbors are trying to save is a beauty. And the only way to save it is to find a buyer within a week.

Plus I sure hope someone finds that rodwiller.

Update 2/25/11:
According to the Pasadena Star-News, the house will be moved instead of demolished. Not great. A McMansion will be built in its place.

Moving On

At a memorial service yesterday I saw a lot of people with whom I once worked. It's appropriate for the photo to be a little fuzzy, as I discovered my memory to be.

"Remember the time we all...?"

Not really.

"You were there when so and so..."

Was I?

It was nice to see them, or at least some of them, gathered in the name of someone we once knew and liked, even loved. Some people have moved further on than others, though moving on in space and time is not always the same as moving on in spirit.

Chris Cleave

I was at Vroman's last night, obviously. I might not have gone had my brother not asked me to get a book signed for him. He likes this author, Chris Cleave. I hadn't heard of Cleave but I like my brother and plan B involved doing nothing, so I went.

Chris has two books out right now: Little Bee and Incendiary. He read from the latter and it sounds riveting. I haven't read his books (yet) so I can't recommend them, but the woman next to me in the signing line afterward told me that "Little Bee" was the only book everyone in her book club liked.

Cleave drew a good crowd, but not so huge that he couldn't take a moment to chat with everyone who had a book signed. I swore to myself I wasn't going to tell him I'm a writer. With two books published and a third one almost finished, what's he going to say to every wannabe writer he meets? "Good for you, that's very nice, good luck in everything you do"?

It slipped out, and while I was ruing my blabbermouth he asked me what stage I'd reached with my book. I murmured "uh, finished, working on synopsis, it's very hard, blah blah." He gave me suggestions for how to approach the synopsis and was so kind and encouraging (as opposed to condescending) that by the time I headed for the cash register I had forgotten I was supposed to be kicking myself.

I learned a couple of things: attending such events might be a good use of my time at this stage of my career, and being a nice guy sells books.

Because I hadn't planned to buy one for myself, but I did.

Release

Just a cloud. Just a treetop. Just a gray day. Just some birds.

Inner Light

The Pasadena Presbyterian Church is at the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Madison Avenue, a prime Tournament of Roses Parade viewing spot. For the parade, the church had bleachers in its front yard. All along Colorado Blvd. every year, every space that can fit more than two super-deluxe adult derrieres gets bleachers.

I took the photo December 30th, two days before the parade. I like it, hate to waste it, so here it is. The cyclone fence is there to protect the church grounds from revelers. The revelers are not bad people, they don't come here to destroy, but there are just so many of them. So businesses along the parade route put up cyclone fencing or plywood to protect windows and landscaping from super-deluxe revelry.

We're facing south in this photo. The Pasadena sun is always in the southern part of the sky, and it hangs especially low in winter.

Here's another view of the church, taken from the roof of the Pasadena Professional Building at the north end of the same block. This part of the church is at the lower left of that photo.

Pasadena's quiet now. John and I went out last night and--without having to wait for it--got a table at a restaurant less than a block from Colorado Blvd. That's impossible between Christmas and New Year's Day, but a normal Pasadena Monday.

The post title: I like it, hate to waste it, so here it is. It may be relevant to the photo, but it has nothing to do with the prose.

Zen Monday: #128

Inspiration for the photo: Debra H.

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion, unless you all get out of con--nevermind. You never get out of control.

There's no right or wrong, we're here to have fun.

Sandals of Yucca

Before 1769, California was populated by native tribes. A huge area, from Riverside County to the coast, including the southern Channel Islands and the San Gabriel Valley, was dominated by people we now call the Tongva, also known as the Gabrielino.

I've been reading up on the Tongva for a series of articles for South Pasadena Patch. The first article posted a few days ago; it's about Tongva life before the Spanish came to build Mission San Gabriel. An Altadena version of the same piece posted on Altadena Patch today. I hope you'll read one or the other (feel free to read both). Your comments are welcome. Even if you don't comment (I realize it takes time and effort), I hope you'll read and think, and perhaps seek out further information about our Native American predecessors.

I can hardly explore the Dena anymore without an awareness of the presence of those who lived here before me. This is part of the joy of a place. The more I know about its history the more deeply I experience it.

Fantasy Office

When you wander aimlessly, you find the prettiest surprises.

One gray day a couple of weeks ago when I was snooping killing time, I found this pergola right smack dab in the front yard of a house near Caltech. I'd like to have a pergola just like it in my back yard, with wisteria trailing over it and chaise lounges lazing underneath. I imagined wifi, but making the back yard into an office is the opposite of my fantasy. Then again, it would be a hell of a nice office.

What's your fantasy workspace?

Oak Groves

This is part of the grove at Oak Grove Park. It's close to the Jet Propulsion Lab. This part of the park can be found by walking north out of the Oak Grove Park parking lot across from La Canada Flintridge High school. It's a serene little forest, rare in an urban setting.

There's an old oak grove in Arcadia for the moment, though it's likely to be gone tomorrow. It's called the Arcadia Woodlands. But unless something drastic happens, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (same folks we discussed here) is going to dump 500,000 cubic yards of debris on it starting...pretty much now.

I guess they'll have to change the name of the Arcadia Woodlands. Arcadia means " any real or imaginary place offering peace and simplicity." I don't know what they're going to call it once it's a dump.

If you want to help preserve the Arcadia Woodlands, there are some good suggestions at the end of this informative post from LA Creek Freak. It's late, but worth a try.

We in Pasadena still have our Oak Grove Park, adjacent to Hahamongna Watershed Park. We can still even call it an oak grove. But I recommend we don't get cocky.

Other blogs participating today:
Altadena Hiker
Ballona Blog
Bipediality
Breathing Treatment
Chance of Rain
Echo Landscape Design
Greensward Civitas 
Greymatters
L. A. Creek Freak
L.A. Ecovillage Blog
L.A. Ecovillage Gardener's Weblog
Pasadena Adjacent
Pasadena Daily Photo
Pasadena Real Estate With Brigham Yen 
Slow Water Movement
Temple City Daily Photo 
The Sky is Big in Pasadena
Weeding Wild Suburbia

Also, Arcadia Patch is giving this issue excellent coverage.

While You Were Out

My friend's three-year-old has a home office. And why not? Mommy has one and so does Daddy. Plus, like most three-year-olds, this one is a very busy girl with important things to do.

It's an organized space, considering, although I have a feeling Mommy and Daddy have a hand in that. And of course when I was there, the CEO was out.

Arroyo Gotham

I ran an errand in downtown Pasadena yesterday morning and parked in a lot I hadn't used before. As it was new to me, and because I need new pictures of Pasadena every day, I looked around for shots. I do it obsessively: Would that make a good photo? How would I shoot it? What angles might I try? Is the light good or should I come at a different time of day?

Et cetera, et cetera, finger down the throat, ack ack ack.

I saw a possible shot between tall buildings--a sort of Pasadena Gotham--and planned to return later. I came home and picked up Boz for a walk in Lower Arroyo Park, and took this picture of La Loma Bridge instead.

Artistic Mews

This cat knew how alluring she looked in her pink window. She posed for several photos while I stood on the sidewalk and snapped away.

Briefly, with Kitty as my muse, I became the Annie Liebovitz of Northwest Pasadena, the Ruth Bernhard, the Louise Dahl-Wolfe!

Oh yeah, Kitty. Gorgeous. Gorgeous! Just move a little into the light, babe. Beautiful, beautiful! Hold that for a second. Okay, okay. Chin up a bit--good, good--great! Now give me a little pout, darling. Fabulous! 

A tug on the leash.

Forms of expression other than artistic had come to pass. Boz, my canine muse, was reminding me of my less glamorous responsibilities. When I looked up again, Kitty had retreated to her dressing room.

Zen Monday: #127

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion, unless you people get totally out of control. I'm heartbroken that this never, ever happens.

There's no right or wrong, we're here to have fun.

All These Things And More

Yesterday:

while the blimp rolled and hummed above the stadium; while the prop jet circled the San Gabriel Valley and more small planes flew higher; while crews cleared Colorado Blvd. of tons of parade debris, while thousands enjoyed the 127th annual Rose Bowl Game with its excitement and noise...

...we had this.

One of the many things I love about Pasadena: that all this can happen in the same town at the same time.