ciclavia
We had a great time at CicLAvia this Sunday. After such a terrible week of bad news, it was a relief to be outside, doing something positive. Venice Blvd was packed with cyclists and I couldn’t help but dream that a giant bicycle highway was possible. I love riding my bike in Los Angeles, but even I’ll admit that sometimes the car situation makes it a bit too stressful. Today, over 100 thousand cyclists (and skaters and runners and walkers) all road together across town which honestly made me feel better about humanity.
photos by Shawn Bannon
winter passing
I was mourning our lack of winter, I love the cool weather and change of seasons, but I went outside today and was smitten with the beautiful weather. I wouldn’t say that it’s spring, and I’m still holding out for some more rain and whatnot, but it was nice to open the windows and let our apartment breath.
It is apparently mercury retrograde, which everyone seems to be complaining about, but I was reading that while the there are problems with technology, it’s a great time for creativity. I’ve been thinking lately about how I want to express my creativity. Often times I feel like I have my hands in so many different pots and I wish I could just focus in on one thing. I have been wanting to paint lately, something I haven’t done in years now. Do I really need another outlet? I find that I generally work better at one thing when I can switch between focuses but, it would be nice to be a little more expert at one thing, rather than dabbling in so many.
Which brings me to another thought, one maybe for another blog post, but when thinking about all my different projects, I can’t help but think about how many paths I’ve left behind, how many times I’ve changed course. Maybe I’m starting to get to an age where I feel like I need to have clearly accomplished something, clearly be on a road to somewhere. Sometimes I think I am, other times I surely don’t. I try to reassure myself that this is something a lot of people probably go through (do you? speak up!).
After seeing physicist Clifford Johnson speak the other day, I couldn’t stop thinking how I wish I had stuck with science rather than going to art school. I guess it’s never too late for major life changes but it does make everything seem so distant. One of the reasons I moved away from biology when I was younger was the amount of time I would have had to spend in school. I really need to just figure out what I’m doing in general.
Ok, enough of all this esoteric life pondering. For the moment anyway. Off to make appetizers for Oscar watching, which will of course be on the blog later this week.
salton sea
We stole away to the Salton Sea this weekend. Inspired by a trip years ago, we found out just the day before that a group of people we knew were also heading out to the desert for the weekend. We camped nearby and watched some of the antics from afar. It was a little bit Mad Max meets Bellflower (yes there was a flame thrower).
Mostly it was just nice to get away from Los Angeles, even for a little while, turn off our phones and just be. We explored Niland by bike and hiked up to Slab City at night. My car got stuck in sand and a kind fellow with 4 wheel drive had to pull us out. Shawn made the best tofu scramble on our camp stove. I tried to take some medium format photos so hopefully I’ll have those to share soon.
All around fun. More camping adventures in the future.
desert
Long weekend means it’s time to get away for a little bit. Which means I should probably get off the internet and get on the road. Excited for some adventures. What are your plans for the weekend?
return to the future
We’re home from Sundance 2013. We just escaped before the snowstorm on Sunday that left so many stranded. I’ve also brought home with me the dreaded Sundance flu. At the moment, my brain is still a little foggy and I’m not quite ready to do anything I can’t do in bed.
The ten days of the festival were ultra busy but I did manage to see quite a few films and meet some really cool people, including a handful of internet acquaintances, which was a treat. Thankfully I didn’t get altitude sickness (although I was pretty woozy the first day). I grew quite fond of the cold weather and snow. I saw the most films in the Library theater, the most uncomfortable of all theaters, and ate so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner so I could make it to screenings on time.
I’ll be back to share some thoughts on a few of the films I saw later in the week, but for now, here is just a list of what I was able to see.
1. Crystal Fairy
2. The Spectacular Now
3. We Are What We Are
4. Blackfish
5. S-VHS
6. C.O.G.
7. Hell Baby
8. Upstream Color
9. Pit Stop
10. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
11. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
12. After Tiller
13. In A World
14. The Way Way Back
It’s not possible to see everything, there were so many others that I wish I could have seen. Hopefully there will be another opportunity somewhere down the line.
In the mean time, here are a few of the shorts that I really liked.
CATNIP: EGRESS TO OBLIVION
THE EVENT
IRISH FOLK FURNITURE
BLACK METAL
