Riding Through the Pass

Wouldn't it be nice to get away from all the bad news?

It's not that I don't believe it. I know it's true. What I'm trying to remember is that bad news is not the only thing that's happening. There are other things going on in the world besides job losses and tanking markets.

I heard on the radio last night that the unemployment rate in California is around 10% and in Los Angeles it's 12%. Yesterday, on the same station, I heard there will "no longer be room for slackers," and that in today's job market you have to be on top of your game to stay employed.

I get that, I know. But I don't see how you can stay at the top of your game without providing for some slacker time in your schedule. Book it in there! Give yourself a slacker time pod! Tuesdays at nine, Saturdays from noon to two, or even just ten minutes wherever you can fit it in. You've got to have a break from the world to be able to get back in there and give the world your best.

During your slacker time, I suggest you turn off the news. Detach. Let go of all the things you need and yes, all the people and things who need you. It doesn't mean the world isn't having a bad time. It doesn't mean you don't care. It just means you get a bit of time to refuel.

Am I making excuses for myself? Yes. And I'm telling myself, over and over again, that this, too, shall pass.

Red Light

I had a long wait at the light. How could I not take a picture? This was my break between errands on a busy day where it seemed I had too much to do. My Zen moment, if you will.

This weekend I'll attend a gardening tea and go to the farmer's market. That's all. Nothing else. Nada. I'm going to lounge around like a goddess on a mountaintop and let Boz feed me grapes.

What are you doing this weekend?

Home Shopping With Dave, Part 3

Look closely. Click to enlarge. Yes, it's a putting green.

I don't think I'd want one in my back yard. Then again, I have dog poo in my back yard. I must want it there, because otherwise I'd go out and poop scoop instead of sitting here blogging, wouldn't I?

Dave Knight and I visited a third high-end Pasadena property on our caravan (visit yesterday and the day before for details). This one's in the Chapman Woods area, a $3.5 million property on Madre Street. For grace and charm I prefer yesterday's home but this one has some nice amenities, like a tennis court and a 1200 sq. ft. guest house. The main house has about a hundred bathrooms (I exaggerate - there are actually only six). My favorite amenity is an unmanicured area beyond the tennis court, where the kids have their own jungle.

Dave and I did some talking during the caravan. (No, we didn't, of course not! We sat silently in the car as we rode from house to house.) Dave found his way into real estate by way of charity work; he'd been with a group that helps the needy find housing, and thought he could do good work in the business. He has a wife and a three-month-old son to support so he's gotta make a living, but regardless of commissions he still gets a charge out of finding a great deal for someone who needs it. Those were the stories he relished telling: the friend who got a house for $130,000; the older couple who decided not to sell based on Dave's advice. "I lost that deal," he said, "but they would have lost everything."

If Dave looks familiar, here's why: I first met him last October, at the now famous Pie Night.

Home Shopping With Dave, Part 2

Did someone mention points for the stager? I love the candelabra on the basketball court.

I'm on a caravan with Dave Knight, Pasadena realtor. (Yesterday's post will give you a little background.) I didn't get good pictures at the first house we visited in Linda Vista, sorry. The place was nice, clean, ready to move in. Nothing fancy, though, I must say, and the asking price was $1.275 million.

This place, however, is special. The rooms flow from one to the other. The lot is gorgeous, overlooking the Arroyo and Brookside Park. And you can have it all for less than $2.4 million.

When we entered it was obvious we were in an exclusive home. We introduced ourselves and shook hands with the selling agents. Dave is a young guy, and the other agents were seasoned pros. We chatted about the house - its beautiful surroundings, flowing floor plan, artistic lighting. Dave wanted to know, so he just up and asked: "How does a new agent like me get a listing like this?"

The other agents couldn't have been nicer. Out poured all kinds of friendly advice: "keep up your contacts," "participate in the community," "do charity work," "it's all about your connections," and more.

This exchange was my favorite part of the caravan. I've experienced actors helping actors, writers helping writers, and now realtors helping realtors. I know business is competitive, but people really can be good to each other.

Anyway.

Tomorrow: Part 3, our final installment, where we'll learn why Dave looks familiar (if Cafe Observer keeps our secret), and we'll see a backyard accoutrement some folks might kill to have.

Home Shopping With Dave, Part 1

You may remember Dave Knight, but for now I'm not going to tell you from where.

When I began the irregular but not indifferent Home Shopping series here on Pasadena Daily Photo, I contacted a few local real estate agents to tell them what I was doing. Because I'm not an expert in the field I asked if they'd occasionally check in and add their input. The fabulous Irina Netchaev contributed excellent info on Mediterranean Altadena, for example, enhancing that post with her knowledge.

It's obvious I need assistance. There's a lot I don' t know about real estate. Did you know these people regularly go on caravans? They're not trekking across the desert on camels to visit mysterious oases. No, they're trekking across Pasadena in air-conditioned vehicles to view glorious properties, eat lovely snacks and schmooze with their kind.

I accompanied Dave Knight on a caravan last week. We visited three Pasadena properties, each listed at well over $1 million. I took just a few pictures so as not to be obtrusive. I learned some things. I did not indulge in snacks.

When I took this picture, Dave was standing on the back porch of a glamorous home not too far from the Gamble House. I was on the basketball court.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Zen Monday: #38

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what the photo's about.
There's no right or wrong. If the photo evokes something in you, that's all it is.

As each new Zen photo is posted, a label is added to last week's to identify it (if I know what it is).

Update, 3/9/09: Now I can tell you. The light in the sink was a reflection of a beam that came through a slit behind the window shade.

Guest photographer: John Sandel

Theme Day: Glass

It's the first of the month, Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers around the world. This month's theme is "glass," so I'm trotting out my collection of vintage bottles.

I know. Just be glad the theme isn't Hot Wheels, or beer mugs.

I find bottles in vintage shops in the small towns of California. I suppose their suppliers find them in various places, like old mining camps that aren't yet old enough to be archaeological sites. That means the bottles have no provenance. They're early 20th century litter. I know bits about a few of them: the two small ink bottles in front are from 1890's northern California. One, that my sister found for me in Texas, has a note inside describing it as a handmade soda bottle made in Decatur, Illinois, also in the 1890's.

I have quite a variety, from medicine bottles to perfume bottles to liquor bottles. I even have one for some kind of magic "elixir." My favorites still have stuff in them - dirt, sand, whatever. It makes me feel linked to whoever used them last.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in today's theme.

Geology Lesson #2

February has been too much fun. Let's get serious and learn something here on the old blog. (Not that learning can't be fun.) Since we have a resident geologist at Pasadena Daily Photo, let's take time out for a geology lesson. After all, there's geology all over Pasadena.

Here's our geologist, Becca, posing like a product model with a sedimentary deposit we found in the Hahamongna watershed basin. Becca adores sedimentary deposits. She explained it to me while I was taking the picture, but I didn't remember a word of it. So she sent me this email:

"In our last lesson we learned about graded bedding, in which the particle size decreases as one moves up a particular layer or bed. In contrast, this sedimentary deposit is a disorganized mix of pebbles and cobbles. A geologist would characterize this kind of rock unit - one in which a variety of particles are observed - as 'poorly sorted.' Upon closer inspection the geologist would also note that these are the same rock types that make up the San Gabriel Mountains, located several miles north of the Hahamongna watershed."

Then she throws a pop quiz into her email:

"How do you think these rocks were moved all the way from the San Gabriels to this basin?"

Becca gives three choices for an answer: wind, water or glaciers. I say it's water. Hahamongna's a watershed basin after all. I don't know when the glaciers were here last and I'm no geologist, but I'm pretty sure wind doesn't move rocks.

"Another observation about this deposit," Becca says in her email, "is that it's been heavily weathered. Weathering is the process by which rocks are broken down mechanically (size and shape changes) and chemically (the removal of minerals and addition of new minerals). Notice all the plants growing in the rock unit. This is an example of a physical weathering process called root wedging, during which roots force their way into the rock/deposit, breaking the rock into smaller pieces."
We also noticed some of the rocks had a rust-like coating. Becca says oxidation occurs when iron-rich minerals are exposed to oxygen, creating the reddish-brown stain. Aha! Like rust. Oxidation is a chemical weathering process, like she described. So this sedimentary deposit is going through both chemical and mechanical weathering.

And, Becca says, the end product of weathering is the development of soil. I love that. It's so logical.

I hope I was right about the rocks being moved by water. I was applying logic, after all. It's less logical for them to have come down from the mountains by glacier, don't you think? And by wind? There's no logic in that whatsoever. Whimsy, maybe, but really it's just plain dangerous.

Lovebirds Cafe (#9 in a Quest)

I've found a good one! I feel like Neil Armstrong! Yet it appears others have been there before me.

To update you, here's my quest: I'm trying to find the best coffee shop in Pasadena in which to write. That doesn't mean it's going to be the best coffee shop in Pasadena for everyone, just the best one for me. I look for good coffee, comfortable seating, something to munch on, and (this one's paramount) quiet.

I had just stomped out of my previous favorite, which shall remain nameless for now. I'm not going to rag on it now because it had to have been a fluke. The nameless place is usually fine but they were out of change and didn't give me what I ordered, the floor, tables and chairs were filthy, and as soon as I wiped off a chair and sat down they blasted the music which they've never done before. AND I'd just fed the parking meter $2.75. I'll give the nameless place another chance when I get over my pique.

I tell you the above to show you what a relief it was to happen into Lovebirds Cafe (921 E. Colorado Blvd.). The young woman at the counter was friendly. When I couldn't decide what to order (because it all looked so good) she didn't rush me, but instead pointed out some of her favorites. After I paid she even guarded my stuff while I used the ladies' room.

The tables are the right height for a laptop. The illegal marshmallow/caramel/chocolate/nut travesty I ordered was divine. (Their website says their baked goods are made daily, from scratch.) I ordered regular coffee and it was decent. The place is big - nay, vast - and clean.

And there was no music playing. None. Have I mentioned I love that? If more establishments would play that I'd go out all the time.

Dianne Emley, Pro

Do you believe it? I was actually out again last night. After dark and everything.

John and I went to Vroman's to celebrate the debut of The Deepest Cut, the third book in Dianne Emley's Nan Vining thrillogy. If you follow Pasadena Daily Photo you know I profiled Dianne here last November with the first of her Nan Vining books. We followed that with a contest to win the second book, and now the third one's here.

I've enjoyed learning from Dianne about her process. As an actor, it took me a long time to understand that acting must be approached as a business as well as an art. As a writer, I'm learning much more quickly. Dianne approaches writing like the business it is, and she's a pro.

Last night she read from The Deepest Cut, then fielded questions from a full house about everything from publishing to process. The discussion went overtime, then we all lined up to get our books signed.

Many thanks to guest photographer Bob Reiter for this shot. It makes me laugh that Dianne and I both whipped off our glasses to get our picture taken.

And many, many thanks to you, Dianne.

Business Schmisness

I'm told Pasadena has a great night-life, but if you want to find out about it this is not the place.

I like going out at night, I really do. I just happen to like staying at home even more. I used to go out quite a bit (some might say too much). These days, however, if it means getting dressed and driving somewhere, I need a compelling reason.

That reason came recently in an opportunity to meet with a friend who shared some of her business expertise with me. She suggested McCormick & Schmick's happy hour. Not only did that get me dressed, it got me out of the house.

When I saw the menu I was shocked, shocked, I tell you! The prices are outrageous! They have $1.95 chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers and more. These sandwiches are not teeny nor are they horrible, and they come with fries! There's also a $4.95 happy hour menu with fancier fare, like salmon cakes and oysters. It is beyond my comprehension.

My friend and I enjoyed ourselves. We ate until we were full. We each had more than one drink. The service was good. I paid for everything and the bill was less than $30. (Yes, I am a good tipper.)

What is wrong with these people?

Superfluous Detail: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

I love superfluous architectural details (you know I do) - those flourishes that seem to have no structural significance, but are there simply for the sake of entertaining the eye. This one's above the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 18 S. Fair Oaks in Old Town Pasadena.

I've searched the whole web over for more information on this building, but haven't found it. If you know anything, please share.

I noticed during my research that there's an OldTownPasadena.com and an OldTownPasadena.org. Surely they're not competitors? I'm so confused. Hey, but the org folks are going to have a blog. I look forward to that. And they put me on their blogroll! I am their fan.

Zen Monday: #37

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what the photo's about.
There's no right or wrong. If the photo evokes something in you, that's all it is.

As each new Zen photo is posted, a label is added to last week's to identify it (if I know what it is).

Guest photographer: John Sandel

You're Invited

Save the date! It's the San Gabriel Valley Blogger's potluck picnic, coming up on March 28th (that's March! I'm giving you lots of notice) from 12-4PM at Farnsworth Park in Altadena. Everyone's invited and that means you! You don't have to be a blogger to come. Fans, friends, commenters and lurkers are welcome. Bring a dish to share. See you there!

That's not the only invitation today. You'll remember our friend Dianne Emley and the recent contest here at Pasadena Daily Photo to win her book Cut to the Quick. Dianne will discuss and sign The Deepest Cut, the third book in her Nan Vining thrillogy, this Wednesday at Vroman's at 7PM. I'll be there and I hope you will, too. Be sure and say hello!

Speaking of friends, I'd like to say a word to blog followers, official and un: thank you! (okay, two words.) Your visits, comments and emails are much appreciated.

Altadena "Catacombs"

The Altadena Hiker called this waterway "the catacombs." Your dictionary will tell you a catacomb is a subterranean burial chamber.

So where are the dead bodies? Perhaps the Hiker knows. I'm not going to argue with her. Instead, I tried to make it look scary by messing with the picture. But in truth, it's just more beauty. Even the drainage ditches are pretty. That's Altadena for you.

And that's all for Altadena, at least for now.

Bucolic Altadena

There are quite a lot of cabins in our area. You may come across them while hiking in the hills above Pasadena or Sierra Madre. Some are historic and rustic. Many are hard to get to, all are in beautiful places.

This one's in a beautiful place: Altadena. It's easy to get to; the Altadena Hiker and I came across it while hiking on a residential street.

Tomorrow's the last day of our Altadena hike. I've enjoyed this a lot. I thank Karin for showing me so many great places, and especially for being good company.

Altadena Departure

Walking through a residential part of Altadena, the "town of extremes" as the Altadena Hiker put it, we came upon this flight of stairs leading to a modern home. Just to show you how extreme Altadena can be, I turned from the spot where I shot yesterday's photo and shot this one looking in the opposite direction. They're just a few steps apart. Karin and I guessed they're on the same property.

I wasn't going to post this one. I had two more, one for today and one for Friday, then it was going to be "au revoir, Altadena." But there's something about this picture I like. I think it's because it's a departure for me. Not my usual.

So we'll have our Friday Altadena shot and save the kittycombs for Saturday. Then it will indeed be "Altadena, au revoir."

Extreme Altadena

I don't think anyone actually lives here. But in comments the other day on a post about an Altadena mansion, the Hiker herself said "Altadena is a town of extremes" so I couldn't resist.

The Altadena Hiker led me through an almost secret neighborhood I'm not sure I could find again, a place so private we ambled down the street completely undisturbed by people, or by traffic of any kind. We finally came across a man sitting near this trailer and asked if he minded if we took some photos. He didn't.

This week we'll finish our hike with the Hiker, then I'll hand over Altadena to Debbi. I'm loathe to give up Altadena! Well, I can still take pictures there (I don't think I could stop!) , I just won't post them here. It is a pretty, pretty place. It's as close to hillbilly country as you can get and still be in LA. And I mean that in a good way.

Home Shopping #3: Mediterranean Altadena

Karin, the Altadena Hiker, knows where all the good stuff is in her neighborhood. This Mediterranean Mansion looks suitable, doesn't it? When a home goes on the market these days it gets its own website. Take a look at this.

I love all the French doors, the archways, the dark wood. The back yard and patio are fab. I'm just going to mention that I could do without the murals. As for the kitchen, I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Maybe it needs a remodel or maybe there's just too much in there. It's different, I'll give you that. Otherwise, this house is ready for me to move in.

Ah. Then again, there's that staff I mentioned the other day. I'll have to have at least a cleaning lady (or I'd be happy with a cleaning man), a gardener, a cook and a masseuse to keep this place in order.

Zen Monday: #36

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what the photo's about.
There's no right or wrong. If the photo evokes something in you, that's all it is.

As each new Zen Monday is posted, a label is added to last week's to identify it (if I know what it is).