’04 July

Hey big D. The Groom!

Even the attendants have a part to play.

Awww.

(sfw, Wcspace see the end for the rest)

July 24

It’s my Valley Girls birthday party day and Angela has come out to help. This is the only successful effort at self portrait – what I Thought would be fun…

Here’s what I wrote to Angela today ‘Before you were even down the steps ALL the girls were telling me ‘you are soooo Lucky’ and I was telling them ‘I Know I KNOW!’! They said ‘she’s so sweet’ – ‘I know’, and ‘she’s so adorable’ – ‘I know’, and ‘she just knows what to do without you even asking’ – ‘I know!’!’

(Hummm I think I might have overdone it a bit on the eye-opening trick here…)

Twelve people stood inside the little back house pretty much without having to grease up. Not sitting of course, just standing (ten Monday Nighters, Windy, who has turned the place into a real home, and Angela who took the picture, which makes twelve!).

Presents! We love presents!! What sweet friends who worry about me and wish me a safe adventure and a long and happy life.

Nothing stays the same forever, and this year, no Polly’s. Closed. Pity. And then we had injuries among us, and a few had to leave early, so instead of beach-Polly’s-bus we did Bergamot Station and peaches and ice cream back home. It’s often helpful, being flexible…

July 21

I didn’t take this, but I like it a lot. Leslie and his mom. He asked for some pixie dust. Hi Mom!

July 18

Here Comes the Bride! This is, indeed, the perfect dress and now it is On Order exactly to Angela’s specification. Her only reluctance about buying the dress now was that she would not be able to resist wearing it around the house, just for fun, particularly when sitting on the couch watching TV, and eating chocolate ice cream! I love that image – we’ll absolutely have to get a picture of that one!!

(Cynthia will (soon!) provide the definitive picture of this event, and others will contribute as well since we were six people with seven cameras…)

July 17

Mom and Karen. We love Karen. She manages Mom for the weekends, hangs in through it all and Mom likes her too. We are sooo lucky! And like I always tell my mother she is sooo lucky I am not her only child!

sfw

Wow! Nancy took me out for my birthday to the restaurant of my choice, and I chose A.O.C.. Here’s the Zagat clip. My favorite part is the ‘sublime drama in every bite’ and it was truely sublime, and every bite was dramatic!

“Bacchus wouldn’t know where to begin” at the Lucques team’s instant new hit on Third Street – the “wonderful” wine bar offering 50 vintages by the glass, “sublime” cheese and charcuterie bar or “inventive” French/Med-accented “Californian tapas” menu offering “drama in every bite”; the staff “knows its stuff” and offers “great recommendations”, and the “chic, modern” rooms allow the “panorama of great tastes” to “shine forth”; one caveat: those “little plates at not-so-little prices” can add up fast.

Got me some eyeballs here too, courtesy of Nancy and PhotoShop.

SQUAAAAaaaK!

Self-portrait(!?). The single example of my face with actual eye balls evident instead of squinty slits, eyes disappearing into cheeks. In honor of which, ok ok, I enhanced the color.

Cut from my yard and blooming in the kitchen window. It’s like 4 feet long and twisted into a very cool shape.

This is the gang from the dentist’s office and they are here to say ‘Hi Grandma! Thank you for all the wonderful treats!’. She sits in the lobby and reads while Windy has her appointments and she won’t leave the house without treats for everyone, and tracts and hugs. Here she is her actual self even if she can’t remember why.

I have had so much dental work this year the last bit went over the insurance company’s pitiful contribution and now it’s all me. Am I buying Marc a boat?

July 12

Sister Sister!

July 11

Wow! Look who’s in LA!?! Ramon and Rodrigo from Chile! Paulina didn’t come but sent her best as did sweet Wilson. What a delightful surprise and what a great day out.

We did the regular just-in-town Santa Monica Beach outing – park in Two, hit the pier, walk to Venice, back to the car via the Promenade, go to Beverly Hills and/or Melrose if there’s time, etc..

A guy on the pier told us this display goes up every weekend to honor the American soldiers who have died in Iraq. It looked like an anti-war demonstration to me but the guy, an ex-GI, didn’t seem to share that opinion.

What’s the California Beach Scene without a major dose of vollyball. It was very foggy in the morning such that you couldn’t see the end of the pier when you were standing at the beginning, but the sun came out big time on our walk back from Venice.

Hi boys.

Finished with the beach we moved on into Beverly Hills.

Photogenic kid don’t you think? We were hanging around waiting while Ramon took video of the store fronts of every single one of those high-concept brand name stores on Rodeo Drive, for Paulina’s future entertainment.

After enjoying lovely refreshments in ‘the Pretty Woman hotel’, the Beverly Wilshire, exhausted and sunburned, we were about to leave.

The driver of this limo was sitting in front of the hotel, obviously between gigs and I knew Ramon had money within easy reach. ‘Gimme that five bucks’ I said. Then I asked the driver if we could snap some pix for a while.

He took the money in one smooth practiced stroke and with smooth practiced exuberance he said ‘Sure, go ahead!’ and offered this idea and that idea about photos and took all our pictures with all our cameras.

Those’ll be good for Rodrigo to take home to Punta Arenas I think!

Very fun! Chao guys! See you later! Don’t forget to write!

July 7

I stopped off downtown to have lunch with Marsha after what would be nice if it was my very last trip to Ikea for a very long time. Dream on.

This shot is from the parking lot looking over a wall into the plaza of the restaurant Zucca. Those artsy-fartsy tower-ish things are pretty neat to look at but a pain to really pick out in this picture. Lovin’ that parallax view.

Marsha, always a splash of color, inside the plaza…

…and inside the restaurant.

At the corner of Figueroa and Adams you’ve got your basic stick-in-the-eye strip mall anchored by a Popeye’s. I didn’t take a picture of it. You know what it looks like. The other three corners are quite fabulous and represented here and below.

Internet clips: “…this historic landmark… designed by architect Roland E. Coate… (the) three-story Spanish Revival office building was constructed in 1921/23 to serve as the headquarters for the largest Automobile Club in the country.

The building reflects the importance of the automobile to Southern California: there is a (then unique) drive-through courtyard facing Figueroa…”

“…St. Vincent de Paul Church, one of the city’s prettiest and most historically significant… Built primarily by the Doheny family and dedicated in 1925, it is modeled after one of Mexico’s finest cathedrals… designed by Albert C. Martin in the Spanish baroque style, with a mix of California mission architecture.

It has an unusual placement; at the request of the Dohenys, it was built at a 45 degree angle to the intersection… to prevent commercial buildings from detracting from its beauty… The building was designated an historic cultural monument in 1971.”

“Kitty-corner from St. Vincent’s is St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was completed in 1925… designed by architects Pierpont and Walter S. Davis, who also designed City Hall and St. Vincent’s across the street (a contradiction in designers?), the building is modeled after an eleventh century Romanesque church in Toscanella, Italy.

This is an excellent example of ecclesiastical architecture of the 1920’s… including the facade as well as the polychrome ceiling, inspired by San Miniato al Monte in Florence.”

I took these three pictures within 10 minutes of each other around 2 pm, just stood on the opposite corner and shot. I really didn’t mess with the colors and look at how differently the sky turned out. I don’t remember noticing any difference at all when I was standing there. Let me absorb this lesson!

All three buildings went up in the early 1920s and all three are still well maintained, interesting, and relavant. Very cool.

Behind glass in St Vincent’s and there’s plenty more where that came from.

July 5

Here it is the end of four days off work and this is the only picture I’ve got. What’s with That?

Because I will be asking myself where did the time go? M, Golden Hunan, Spiderman, MTVV, W, Ikea, The Terminal, R&S, SE Party, A, Ikea Again(!), B&B Dinner.

As of this picture I have Changed Everything in that I’m converting color space from ‘Adobe rgb’ to ‘basic web’ before ‘save for web’ instead of ‘save as’. We’ll see, won’t we.

July 1

The guys at work who have challanged each other to a weight loss contest. Three months. This is ‘before’, in case you were wondering…

(sa, Acspace)

(sfw, Acspace)

(sa, Wcspace)

sa

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