Documenting my pocket of Los Angeles
Lately I’ve been researching textiles as historical sources for women’s history. In this process, I came across the amazing quilts of mathematician Chawne Kimber. "Chawne Kimber is making some of the most powerful artworks today about race, language, women’s rights, and police brutality—all with a needle and thread," Maria Hlohowskyj (from womenarts.org). That sentence was... Continue Reading →
Through the support of Los Angeles Walks, I've been helping to organize a 4-walk series in which we're making our way around the original border of the City of Los Angeles. This past weekend, about 50 people joined the trek down the eastern border which I co-lead with the amazing urban planner James Rojas. For... Continue Reading →
Before I fully dive into the new year, I always reflect on the last one, listing accomplishments, milestones, challenges, disappointments, etc. While these reflections remain private, I did want to document here some of the historic and/or notable places I moved through this year. This is definitely not an exhaustive list but just a few... Continue Reading →
A nice surprise to see my photo pop up in a KPCC story: The story is here, and my original photo here.
Sharing this post I crafted for the Arboretum Library's Instagram: On March 10, 1841, poet Ina Coolbrith was born. In 1915, she was crowned California’s first poet laureate which is the same year Luther Burbank named his Crimson Eschscholtzia for her (this image comes from the @californiastatelibrary). Coolbrith praised the California Poppy with her 1893... Continue Reading →
On August 2, 1769, Gaspar de Portola's expedition camped alongside the LA River and named it in honor of the feast day "Our Lady of the Angels of Porciuncula." On this day, 245 years later, I stepped deep into the Los Angeles river for the first time, kayaking down the river in the Sepulveda Basin. While... Continue Reading →
When I approached the Police Academy's Revolver Café (drenched from the pouring rain), I wondered, "What strange lighting they have..." And by strange, I meant "what very very dark lighting they have." Disoriented, I wandered into the darkness, as a couple of male voices yelled "Welcome to the party!" Moments after, the waitress clarified that... Continue Reading →
One highlight of Valentine's Day in Los Angeles was speed dating along Metro's Red Line. I'm not much for speed dating but couldn't resist experiencing our transit system's attempt at playing cupid. Kudos to Metro for its innovative thinking around the role of transit in a city. While the event itself may not have resulted... Continue Reading →
A belated but heartfelt wish for the new year. Thank you Grand Park (and the LA County powers that be) for hosting a public celebration that didn’t require a $30 cover charge that was easily accessible by public transportation. Sure there were some hiccups which hopefully will be improved upon December 31, 2014… but it... Continue Reading →
I not only indulge in the amazing feast spread out over Thanksgiving but I relish in the family stories shared over a long weekend with the family. Stories shared over Thanksgiving have more time to soak, marinating over multiple nights so that the next day's conversation is richer (...almost as rich as the soft warm cinnamon... Continue Reading →
