California was beautiful today. Drove 152 E, enjoyed Fresno and then up to here. All the oaks, the golden grasses- even the impossible blue canals and reservoirs. For some literary accompaniment my trip, I am reading Highway 99, a literary collection of the Central Valley. This is a wonderful, thoughtful collection of stories and a great introduction […]
Staying at the hostel was interesting. I met people from Atlanta (in LA for “the life”), Florida (for amazing Hip Hop dance teacher), also a Muslim girl (for school), and some white guys and Latinos who just liked that it was a cheap place to stay. I would stay there again, but I had some coffee […]
Since leaving my basecamp in Hollywood, I’ve been staying in a hostel in South LA. Still don’t know why I came to stay here. I could have found a cheap hotel, or couch surfed. But after all that travel around Europe I kinda wanted to see what it would be like in an American hostel. […]
Finally last night I saw down worked through the majority of my research notes notes from the library. Basically I was transcribing my hand-written notes from shorthand! I also loaded my first batch of pictures- but I’m not sure how to deal with all these photos. I am discovering that half the work behind research is simply having […]
Today I convinced my friend to take the train too. She seemed surprised by its convenience. It’s been so great here that I am thinking about staying a few days longer, one in LA and one in San Diego. I want to go to San Diego for the sun bathing alone. And then I’d take two days […]
We went to Venice Beach today to walk the strip. Bought a lovely patterned robe with a wide collar. Looks inspired by some Jane Austen movie circa 1970. I wonder if it was in one of those films.. Tonight I already got my thoughts out in an email, instead of writing here. Workwise, I ended […]
Los Angeles has this diffused light and it makes everything up close seem extra sharp, and everything far away extra blurry. Dust, haze, smog, fog- everything that seems to account for weather here produces this effect. Also metaphorically accurate. But will it make for difficult picture taking? I can really see the appeal of LA, […]
I thought I would remember all those thoughts I had today. Somehow, with good food and company, they have slipped out of my head. Looking forward to this next week in LA and I am trying to figure out why I had such disdain for the place. Bay Area pride? Hard-headedness? The most surprising thing is that […]
Dormant for most of the last year, over the summer this blog will be TAKING OFF. Literally. In a car. Somehow, I have been fortunate enough to win a travel grant for my studies in architectural history which will support my field research over the next two months. My blog is about to become a journal for my […]
life changes one day at a time sitting listening to the rain with a productivity candle burning getting better posture from practice wearing that bracelet which reads, Live in the Moment thinking on the future and accepting the ways things are the food revolution continues: my first batch of kombucha! weeding garlic beds for a while or not. […]