Sunday

5 cent frank

'The market is collapsing, we’re all staring at a new Depression, and I’m talking about going to Europe now? Am I crazy? But, yes, this is what you should be thinking about now. We may all end up with food carts. But it’s a lot better to have a good cart on a good corner; conference publications and contacts are good for you.'
Berenice Abbott, Hot Dog Stand, West St. and North Moore, Manhattan,1936.

Saturday

5 years

james and i flew to the very bottom of the
Grand Canyon
and we were married
along the winding Colorado River
with all of the amazing, gigantic red rock formations surrounding us...
so- yesterday we went and rode
the train to the Grand Canyon
at Disneyland...
it was a long journey
with many spectacular sites along the way....
then we stopped at the red and white striped candy store
on main street and shared a hot dog
while listening to the piano player and
watching the mad hatter and alice
play musical chairs.
very romantic it was...
later that evening-
we went for a cuban candle lit dinner
and some bottles of havana wine
at one of my favorite places..Habana..
we talked and had a few laughs about what an adventurous five years
these have been--- indeed...
to be continued...

rainy day breakfast

a good morning breakfast at one of my favorite
little diners with charm and old time appeal...
it's the Filling Station
in old town Orange.
this place really did used to be a filling station..
but now it looks like the perfect place to sit at the
counter and sip a cupa joe while
reading the paper.
my plate had 2 sunny side up eggs with avocado
and sliced tomatoes with wheat toast- dry...
i just wish this place was open longer
then just for breakfast and lunch -
the back room would be perfect for a
get together with friends
or a romantic quiet dinner two
or even one.
oh and.. i took these splendid pictures with my
digital harinezumi camera.

Friday

a traveling museum vessel

as i have mentioned before,
since we closed up shop and gallery in portland---
searching and brainstorming
for a new space for our petite musee16
has become a favorite pass time
in the last several months...
looking for something that matched
a theme we had going
along with being pleasing to the eye.
well- guess what?
the search is over!!!
because we have found a perfect vessel for our
traveling venture/museum shop and mobile
exhibition...
we won a beautiful 1950's Airfloat Skipper
last night and just need to drive up to marine county
and tow it back down here to begin the process of transforming
it into a mobile museum that defies
easy categorization...
what it really seems to always come down to...
Aesthetic

Thursday

this exit- a vegas trip

'This Exit' we stopped for a toilet break in Baker.
the arrow points to Area 51 and where
nothing but a toilet really is.
on the way back we will look for an alien or two-
but right now we have places to go!
then we were back on the road, heading towards
the dark clouds - and the desert
rain storms were very colorful.
-
arriving in Las Vegas...
we pulled up to the Wynn and went up to our
room in the Encore tower.
what was the view from our window?
a few abandoned
construction sites that were left part done-
a sad view-
due to the recession hitting
Vegas so hard.
one of the holes
was where the old Stardust was.
but...
after reading about it
in the
local newspaper that was left for us on the desk...
James decided to put on an optimistic face despite
the industrial carnage below.
so---
we headed downstairs for a very relaxing and lovely dinner at Sinatra....
best caesar salad i think i have ever had,
[perhaps because that's the way Frank would have had it]-
and then it was back up the elevator to the 26th floor,
for a good night's rest
and a big day of bright light adventure awaiting...
[so glad Circus Circus is still over there on the left]
to be cont...
---
so then we did things like walked around and ate dinner and walked
around and looked at the many people walking up and down the strip.
there were people only looking upwards, people denying the people handing out flyers for
nude dance clubs, people who looked like they didn't want to walk anymore,
people who looked extremely lost, drunk people falling into the bushes and
even joggers weaving in and out of the strip walkers...
so
then we decided to escape
to a quiet, dark place at the far reaches of the strip.
a place where underwater creatures swim above and around you-
moving on-
after a few days of too much over the top-ness and topless this and
number one in town that and best of everything votes by whomever...
it was time to head home and recharge our heads
along with our internal batteries.
so
then it was back on the road -
and while
driving in a daze of desert wonderment,
i happened to glance over at a car passing us up...
we followed this car for several miles-
it led us to another planet... a place not much unlike that of a mini mart,
where one could find energizing-
out of this world - tasty treats such as alien jerky and
pistachios made by the local aliens themselves.
they were extra nice and even offered us a sample---
but then it was time to say our
goodbyes and traveled the rest of the way to what we call
home.

Wednesday

new camera & my walls

i recently got a new camera and these are the very first
photos i took with it...as i was trying to figure it out and
reading through the steps,
they really came out so rich and full
and turned out pretty nice...
for an amateur practice shoot.
these are few images of my inspiration walls
in the bedroom.
the pretty wood paneling is also inspiring because
my grandpa put them up about
60 years ago...
i love these looks - with the scarf and the hair piece
spiraled around in some contained netting---
imagining them as sort of a modern peacock
version of a 1970's Faye Dunaway and
a 1930's Bonnie sitting at a 1940's cafe
in Chinatown...

Sunday

valentines day dogs

today is valentine day and that means dog beach
and bon fires and weenies
for lot's of people- so it seems...
this morning, james and i went down to the beach with
fugu and walked and walked.
in the sand with so many other dogs.
big dogs and little dogs.
even tiny little versions
of fugu came running up to us
as balls flew by and waves chased us back
and forth...
as we were walking along,
one could get a wiffs of smoking fire rings and
people holding sticks with hot dogs on them.
it smelled good...
and what a great idea for a romantic valentines day
out in the sunshine...
i'm still dreaming up ideas of how to put a hot dog cart together.
i think when i find a little airstream submarine gallery,
it will double as a de-luxe dogs for
my friends and i!
and i think this will just have to happen very soon-
i'm feeling it.
those delish de-luxe dogs are going to be perfect for
birthdays and lazy days alike...
just perfect.