Fun With Flowers

We rarely get driving rain in the Los Angeles basin--the kind that pelts buckets and makes you pull off the road because you can't see. We do get rain, however. (We'd almost forgotten it.) This past week we had several days of constant, gentle showers. The drought-dry soil just drank it up and all the plants are dazzled.

These miniature roses are delovely the way they are. Then again, they begged to be messed with in post.

What do you think? Anniversary card "to the one I love?" Get well card?
Maybe a sympathy card.

The black and white doesn't quite work, I suppose because the color values of the leaves and flowers are too much the same. I kind of like it, though. Now there's your sympathy card.

This could go on, but you get the idea. How will you be wasting away your weekend?

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 1

Honestly, I don't know what this is. It isn't a grave stone, but I took the photo at a cemetery.

We don't have cemeteries in Pasadena, did you know that? Not a single one. That may be disappointing for anyone who loves Pasadena so much they'd like to remain here for eternity. However, there are several lovely cemeteries nearby.

What's the closest cemetery to Pasadena's northern border?

That's where I took this photo, and it's the contest question for today. I've given you all the information you need to Google the answer, so even if you're not a local you should be able to figure it out.

Here are the contest rules:

1. Email the answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. This weekend I'll toss all the correct answers into a hat and ask my cutest, most innocent neighbor child to draw one name. (The job of cutest/most innocent neighbor child will revolve throughout the duration of the contest.) I'll announce the winner in Monday's post.

4. PRIZES! This week, the prize will be a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media. I have five of these to give away (maybe more, hint hint), so the contest will go on each Friday for five weeks--plus an additional week (that would be SIX weeks, Petrea), when Colleen and I will give away a copy of At Home Pasadena, the lovely, hardcover coffee table book about beautiful living in our beautiful town.

I'm very excited because at some point during the contest one lucky winner will receive a copy of the brand new novel, Helen of Pasadena, by Pasadenyite Lian Dolan. This book is so new it isn't available until November 1st. But you can whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here.

Many thanks to Colleen, Lian and all the Prospect Park Media writers for making this contest possible!

Locals Only

The skies should be clear for Locals Only Thursday in Old Town. Today's the day to get your shopping done.

Locals Only Thursdays rewards people who live and/or work in Pasadena for spending their money here. And why not? You might as well put money into the economy where it can do you and your city some good. Just show your driver's license or business card at participating businesses on Thursdays during October to receive specials, discounts and/or premiums.

I recommend you check out the link. Some offerings are better than others.

Most clothing stores on the list offer good discounts and perks. There are several decent restaurant bargains, too, although if you ask me, "two free English muffins" isn't nearly as enticing as "$3 martinis, mixed drinks, appetizers and beer." (Is that just me?)

Not all Old Town businesses are participating, so check the link and plan accordingly. There are only so many hours in one shopping day, and you still need to get over to Burke Williams and get 15% off that mani-pedi.

Aerial

I took this photo last year at about this time, then forgot about it. I ran across it last night, messed with the color and contrast, and came up with this.

I'm not sure what to say about it except I like it.

Yes, I took it in Pasadena. It's not an aerial shot. I was gazing out over the Devil's Gate Dam, looking north. This area is all overgrown now, but a year ago after the Station Fire and before the winter rains, the land was bare and a little stream trickled through it. We had ceased to take the dogs down there because of the color of the water. It was orange, though not this bright, from the fire retardant run-off from the Station Fire, according to Bellis. Dogs just don't care. They'll splash about in liquid plutonium if it looks like fun.

I detect footprints in this photo. They could belong to me, and to a certain canid I know.

The Real Thing

This moss-covered bust of Shakespeare stands (where else?) in the Shakespeare garden at the Huntington Library and Gardens. He looks like a friendly, handsome guy, doesn't he? Maybe, maybe not.

The Huntington owns many fine portraits. I especially admire those by the great Sir Joshua Reynolds, who knew how to make a likeness look like it was painted from life. But none of the portraits in their collection are of Shakespeare. Only two likenesses of Shakespeare have been proven to be definitive. Both are posthumous. One is the funerary monument that looks over his grave inside Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-on-Avon, England. The other is an engraving by Martin Droeshout, printed in the First Folio of Shakespeare in 1623 (Shakespeare died in 1616). Many have claimed to own a portrait of Shakespeare, but only these two are proven to be the real thing.

It's thought that about 1,000 Shakespeare First Folios were printed back in 1623. Of the 228 still extant, one is housed at the Huntington Library. It's one of the most valuable books in the world and it's often on display for viewing by the likes of you and me.

I had long been using the Folio in my research when I had the good fortune to study Shakespeare in England one summer. My teachers included members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I got to walk the ground Shakespeare walked. I went to Stratford-on-Avon and visited Shakespeare's grave. I returned to the States with a reverence for the bona fide genius of the man.

My First Folio is a 20th century facsimile copy of the original. Every once in a while I like to make a pilgrimage to the Huntington to see the real thing.

Zen Monday: #117

Zen Monday is 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 unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion. You know, because it's so deep and meaningful.

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

Good Souls

This is Boz. We're not sure of his history but after having lived with him for 7 1/2 years I can tell you it was probably something like this: he was loved and well treated. One day, someone left a gate open or a door unlatched. Boz got out and wandered. Dogs are like that. They're innocent creatures. They don't know it's dangerous out there. They just want a little adventure.

Boz (or whatever his name was then) didn't have a nametag and he didn't have a chip. He got lost. He got scared. Luckily, a good soul found him. Luckily, he ended up in a no-kill shelter. Lucky for him and lucky for us. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we're madly in love with him.

A good soul put up signs in my neighborhood today:

I don't know this little guy's name. If you do, that's lucky for both of you. Please call the Humane Society at 626-792-7151 and claim him. Then get him chipped. Put a collar on him with your phone number on it. Then give him a kiss and be happy you're both so lucky.

Which brings me to Keera.

I wish I'd thought to post about Keera before, but the other dog's poster is what made me think of her. Keera's signs have been up in the hood for a few weeks. The part of the story I know is that her owner's home was broken into, and in the melee she ran out the door and disappeared. Rumor has it she was last seen in Altadena, but rumor is a part of the story I don't know. Have you seen her? I keep hoping someone found her and took her in.

Maybe Keera wasn't meant to get out. The point is, you never know. A collar with your phone number (a few bucks at the pet store) and a microchip (about $10-$15), are for your dog's safety.

Dogs are such good souls. I hope you know these two and have a chance to be a good soul for them.

Patch

East courtyard at Baranger Studios

You may have heard about these new, hyperlocal news websites going up called Patch.com. There's SouthPasadena.Patch.com and Altadena.Patch.com and who knows what else. Patch, owned by AOL/Time Warner, is going into small-ish communities around the country. We won't be getting one in Pasadena because Pasadena's population is too large.

Some of our best local bloggers are taking part. Karin Bugge, the Altadena Hiker, will write two weekly columns for Altadena Patch. (Let's hope it doesn't keep her from blogging because her blog is nothing but brilliant.) Margaret Finnegan, who makes me laugh and think at the same time (ouch) with her weekly goddesses at Finnegan Begin Again, is a contributor at South Pasadena Patch. So is Susan Carrier, LA Times contributor and superblogger at Open Mouth, Insert Fork and Cancer Banter. Greg Middleton, Altadena Town Council member and blogger at Real Men Seminars, contributes to Altadena Patch. And so on.

Who am I missing? Hmm. Ah, Laurie. Laurie Allee. Ms. Glimpses of South Pasadena herself. Laurie writes a weekly column for South Pasadena Patch and her first one's a beauty. I want to single Laurie out because she introduced me to her editor, the way-too-talented Sonia Narang, and now I'm a Patch contributor, too. Thank you, Laurie. Thank you, Sonia.

My first article for South Pas Patch is about Baranger Studios, the pretty building at the corner of Mission and Orange Grove. It's got a wonderful history. I hope you'll get a chance to read and comment on the article.

I once said I wasn't going to blog about South Pasadena because it's Laurie's territory. Now, thanks to Laurie, I get to snoop around her territory, take photos and write history articles. That's right up my cobble-stoned alley.

I hope Patch will serve to improve all our area news outlets. It wasn't long ago that towns had more than one news outlet and it was considered a good thing. Healthy competition in journalism is healthy for our society.

Blog Action Day: Water

Today is Blog Action Day 2010. Last year's participants were given a list of topics to vote on, and we chose water for this year's topic. The topics were all important, but as the 21st century unfolds and access to water is already a crisis in so many places, water promises to be a serious subject for years to come.

I'm participating today to help raise awareness. The Blog Action Day people sent a few facts, which I'll quote. I've added my own italics:

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world. 

Thanks for reading. We're a global economy now, a global community, and it's time to think of ourselves in context with the rest of the world.

Update: Pertinent to #3, here's something interesting that Dina found: the Q Drum, a rolling water container.

Teaser

Last week I mentioned we're going to have a contest. It doesn't start today, but I wanted to do another teaser. You know, get everybody excited, blahbedy blah.

Beginning Friday, October 22nd, every Friday for five weeks I'll be giving away a copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, THE guide to our home town. The binding isn't paperback but it's not quite hardcover, either. What is that binding, does anyone know? It's flexible and durable at the same time.

On Friday of the sixth week, I'm giving away a copy of At Home Pasadena, definitely a hardcover and too big to tuck into your purse. Mine's on my coffee table, to show off.

You can win both books, so if you want At Home Pasadena, don't let that stop you from entering to win Hometown Pasadena, too. It's possible you could win every week. Holiday gifts! Yowza.

Thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates of Prospect Park Media and Hometown-Pasadena.com for the prizes. Hometown Pasadena is the place to go to know what's happening in Pasadena. And Prospect Park Media--well. They publish these books and many others, including their latest--their first novel, Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan, to be released November 1st. I am very, very excited about Helen of Pasadena.

The contest will work like this: each Friday the photo will depict a question. The Google-able answer will be in the text of the post. For example: if today's photo were a contest photo, which it is not, I might say this is the back of a barn-shaped restaurant on Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, and I might ask you what restaurant it is. All the clues are in that sentence. If you don't know the answer you can Google it.

All correct answers I receive by email, not in the comments, between midnight and midnight Pacific time on contest day will be thrown into a hat and the winner randomly drawn on Saturday by the cutest, youngest, most innocent neighbor I can find. Got it? I hope so, because this post is getting too long!

Update: I received word this morning that a new prize has been added: After November 1st, we'll also give away a copy of Helen of Pasadena! Thank you Colleen, Lian and Prospect Park Media!

Making Something

Koi at Houston's Restaurant

Boz and I took a walk last evening and got a look at some of the Halloween decorations going up in the neighborhood. Some people do the same thing every year. (If it works, don't fix it, right?) Some people try new things. It's fun to see folks being creative.

So far the Pumpkin God has not appeared. I hope he does. He's my favorite. But that display is a lot of work and maybe his creator wants to try something new this year. Or maybe he'd rather put up nothing at all. I don't blame him. I usually stick a couple of gourds on the front steps, and rarely do they even get carved.

I guess people are creative in different ways. There's the chef, the painter, the tailor, the interior designer, the architect, the gardener--these people do things I envy. Then again, I'm glad I get to take pictures and write stories. (And as soon as my talents make me enough money to hire all the aforementioned people, then perhaps I can stop envying their talents so damned much)

Sometimes I do the same thing because I know it works. Sometimes, I like to shake it up.

Mary Linn's Bridal

When you've been snorting and coughing for five days--when you've barely managed to get dressed each of those days and (you're not sure, but) you might not have managed a shower every 24 hours--when you begin to fear you're going to be a mouth-breather for the rest of your life--that's when you need a pick-me-up.

Food will not do. I've been lying around for five days getting no exercise. And for those who've been following my alcohol- and caffeine-deprivation saga, I've got nine days left to go to make it to six months. I'm not giving up after making it this far.

My cold clings to me in a much less attractive fashion than this dress clings to the mannequin, and the mannequin's not even real.

I just need something pretty.

I don't have the energy to go out and take a photo, so I dug through my archives and found this one. It practically satisfies my sweet tooth. We're peeking into the window at Mary Linn's Bridal shop at the corner of Green Street and Fair Oaks. We might even be drooling a bit, which is partly why this is perhaps not a perfect photo. But does it matter, when it's such a perfect dress?

I've never been inside Mary Linn's, but it would be fun to wander through their collection and daydream a little. I think I'll plan for such an excursion as soon as I've beaten my cold and started drinking coffee again. I promise to take a shower and get dressed before I go.

Zen Monday: #116

Zen Monday is 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 squirrely. And unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion.

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

Composting Appeals to Me

Something about composting appeals to the Midwestern farm girl in me.

Okay, I've never lived on a farm. But I grew up in the Midwest, that's gotta count.

I enjoyed assembling my compost bin and here you see my tools. On top of the bin are the kitchen knife I used for gouging the holes that needed widening, and the hammer I used for pounding through the screws when they needed a little encouragement. The shovel was for my first layer of dirt and the rake was to gather my first layer of leaves. Then comes the organic waste.

It's satisfying to save the planet, but it's almost as satisfying to save money--or, I should say, to waste less of it. Before we got our compost bin our organic waste went into the trash. If we over-bought at the farmers' market or never got to that leftover salad, it felt like we were throwing money in the garbage. Now that waste goes into our backyard savings account.

Something about composting appeals to the miser in me.

We keep a little container on the kitchen counter for egg shells, grapefruit rinds, coffee grounds and whatever else can be composted. (Tea bags? Can I compost tea bags?) When the container is full I march it out to the compost bin and dump it in. We're getting a good layer of organic waste. We've already got some fluffy, white mold happening. It's almost time to add a new layer of dirt. Then I'll add more leaves. Then more organic stuff. The instruction booklet said to balance the different elements.

Something about composting appeals to the obsessive-compulsive in me.
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On a different subject: it's 10/10/10. Do we get any prizes for this?

Door, 4

While you're out enjoying Art Weekend it seems fitting to post another door, especially one that's padlocked, as I'm shut in with a cold.

I'm not feeling sorry for myself. Oh, no no no no no. I'm feeling all benevolent and everything because I'm not going out and spreading my germs among the multitudes, unlike whoever spread this germ to me.

This provocative portal can be found at the Hahamongna Annex north of Oak Grove Park. At least it was there when I visited last spring, and I don't believe anything's been torn down. I hope not. I love rusty old sheds with creaking doors, and I'm feeling a particular affinity with this one today.

I'll get over it and, as I said, I don't feel sorry for myself. John's taking good care of me. And there's something luscious about being forced to rest for a few days. It's an excuse to putter around the house, to write, to read, and to appreciate the days when I feel human. I promise you, those are the norm.

Art Weekend

Pasadena's bursting with art. There's always an exhibit, a concert, a play or a spontaneous expression. Twice a year, in October and April, we have Pasadena Art Weekend, an event that's dear to my heart. This weekend the slogan is "6 events, 1 weekend, all free."

Art Night kicks things off tonight, when local art museums and other venues open their doors to the public, gratis. Free shuttles will take you from site to site. Plan ahead to see as much as you can.

There's quite a list of four events happening Saturday, including the Latino Heritage Parade and jamaica (ArtHeritage) culminating at La Pintoresca Park, Art of Food on South Lake, ArtWalk in the Playhouse District and ArtRhythm at the Paseo Colorado. I don't see how it's possible to catch all of Saturday's events, but it's worth a try.

Sunday is the Cultural Dance Festival at Memorial Park. It lasts all afternoon but at least it's all in one place so it should be easy to see it all.

All of this is free. Pasadena's just bustin' with art and you should go get you some.

Garages, 2

I thought doing a series on garages in Pasadena would be easy. My favorites are the old ones, some going back to the early part of the 20th century. (This does not impress the European readers or those on the east coast, but so be it.)

But it's hard to find a garage without a car or a garbage can in front of it, so I grabbed this shot hoping the purply-blue flowers might make it into a photo. I didn't notice until I got the picture onto my screen how interesting the garage is, regardless of the flowers. I love the complete individuality of the doors. Even the hinges don't match.

The fact that the padlock is painted the same color as the rest tells me these doors are rarely opened, if ever. I can't tell from the street, but this could be a storage space, or someone's studio or office, entered from the yard on the other side of the fence.

I hope they don't plan to "fix" those doors. They're perfect the way they are.

Pick One

It sure feels like summer's over. It is over, I guess, with kids back in school. Summer stays late in southern California, but here it is October and I'm lamenting its departure. I'm a glutton that way.

It's been nice, though, to feel the fall chill. Why is fall so nostalgic? I think the word "nostalgic" was invented to describe autumn. My reaction to cloudy skies is to relate them to similar skies of days gone by. When early darkness comes, I remember earlier days that ended too soon.

But I'm being over-dramatic. We have one more day of rain, then tomorrow it'll be sunny again and the weekend will be hot. Maybe I should have saved this picture for Saturday. Or maybe then I'll post gloomy skies and moan that the rain ended too soon.

Do you have a favorite season? Mine's summer. But I do like rain.

The Giving Season

We've been enjoying some wet weather. It feels like winter, southern California style, although it's only a taste. We can expect the heat to be back this weekend, with perhaps more rain next week. Nice.

The weather puts me in mind of what's to come: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and what we like to call "The Holidays": Christmas, Chanukah, New Year's and The Tournament of Roses.

You're going to need fortitude. You're going to need sanity. You're going to need presents.

I'm here to help. At Pasadena Daily Photo, we've got a contest coming up, with prizes courtesy of Colleen Dunn Bates at Hometown Pasadena and Prospect Park Books. Beginning later this month, we have books to give away. Not just any old books, but five (count 'em, FIVE) copies of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, the definitive guide to our fair city. (That's a $24.95 value.) Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010 is a great gift for your favorite Pasadenan.

My plan is to do this contest-style, beginning Friday, October 22nd and giving away a book each Friday for six weeks until they're gone.

Did I say six weeks? I believe I said I have five books.

Okay, well, the sixth prize will be a copy of At Home Pasadena, a beautiful, hardcover coffee-table book about the artful Pasadena life we'd all live if we were totally creative and organized and had a landscaper, a chef and a cleaning lady. (This book lists at $39.95.)

Hey--I didn't say the presents couldn't be for you.

I'm trying out my Amazon links for the first time today. Full disclosure: if you buy the book from Amazon via the link here, I get a cut. Frankly, I'm not sure how much. I'm probably not going to pay the mortgage with it, but I like to be upfront about these things. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the books, Colleen!

Zen Monday: #115

Zen Monday is 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 unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion.

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