It turns even the most utilitarian structures into a delightful ensemble of light and shadow.
(Campus UCSD)
Category: Petra
To New Shores
November 4th 2008 will forever stay in the history books as the day when the people of the US said “enough.” They went and voted for a change and won.
Yesterday was still too filled with emotions, with letting sink in this feeling that all will be well. No, there will be no manna raining from heaven, the cows won’t shit dollar bills and there will be no wine flowing in the rivers. Times ahead will be hard, even harder than they already are – but it will be worth it.
The country is on its way to new shores. Proud and willing to do what it takes. It is wonderful to be part of this effort.
After the nastiest election campaign imaginable, many souls will be filled with inner peace again, unfolding like a serene lotus flower.
Dia De Los Muertos
Old age and even more so death seem to be quite high on the taboo list of many Western societies. Somehow I have the feeling that many people assume that by simply never touching the subject they will never grow old or never die. Hmm. These people might be in for a surprise.
Then there are societies where such topics are not taboo, but part of life. The “Day of the Dead” in Mexico is one example. The whole family goes out to the cemetery, they clean the grave site of dead relatives, put up candles and flowers and have a picnic. Yes, the kids are there, too. They learn very early on that life and death are interwoven in an endless circle.
Another tradition is the building of private altars for the deceased in the family. These installations are very colorful and incorporate photos of the family members to be so honored, flowers, their favorite foods and skulls made of sugar.
This tradition has evolved into a form of art. At a local art gallery today we saw several of those altars; the most impressive one was this one:
Another quite striking modern interpretation was this installation:
Even the simple skulls made of sugar have evolved into something much more elaborate, like beautifully fashioned cakes, much too pretty to eat:
Lots of children were running around at the art gallery, having fun and munching little sugar skulls. One hopes so much that they will grow up with a healthy understanding that old age and death are part of life for all of us.
Happy Dance!
It is not a good photo and it only lasted for a few minutes – but it was the first rain!!!!
Thanks!
Still No Rain
With eight scorchers over 90 degrees this month, Los Angeles has been in the midst of the second-hottest October since 1877, according to climate records.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-october28-2008oct28,0,4826642.story)
Yes, the outlook is bleak. Drought conditions are becoming more obvious.
On a hike in Griffith Park this enormous tumbleweed with a length of nearly four foot was a sharp reminder about weather conditions and the change in vegetation. Tumbleweed in the city? We are talking Los Angeles here, not a ghost town in the Mojave Desert.
After nearly eight months without rain it is time for some clouds to roll in.
Please!
Listen Up!
You got something wrong here:
Suitcases are for people to pack stuff in.
They are not meant for cats to travel in.
Sorry, ladies.
Ouch!
Poor mountain lions.
Poor rattlesnakes.
They do not deserve this.
And The Winner Is…
Filming goes on in Los Angeles every day, not only in studios and on back lots, but everywhere in the city. It is part of life around here. Sometimes one feels a bit annoyed when whole streets are blocked off and one has to take a detour; but then again, the film industry is one of the major employers in town and many, many people live with and from it – not only the stars which tourists hope to see when they do their Hollywood/Universal City/Santa Monica trip to Los Angeles.
Anyway, filming is going on everywhere. Even in front yards. Often these small set-ups are students from USC, one of the most prestigious film schools in the country. This bunch here are senior students filming “The Blue Heron,” a 10 minute short.
Maybe in a few years one of them will get up at the Oscar ceremonies when the well-known sentence rings out: “And the winner is…”
Good luck!
That's For Real, Man!
5 AM Saturday morning, off to Big Bear. Even though I do not mind waking up early to putter around the house, have some coffee, read the news on the computer – to actually get ready and leave the house at this hour is different. Let’s put it like that – I am not bright and chirpy and at the height of my mental faculties that early.
So it took a while to become aware of my surroundings while winding up the road towards the top. I did notice that some houses were already decorated for Halloween. Well, I though, up here in the mountains they certainly do thing differently – fake snow as decoration – but then, why not.
As I said before, my mind is a bit sluggish at that early hour. Fake snow… fake snow… Oh my God, that snow is not fake! That is not for decoration, that stuff is real!
And indeed, it was all for real. The night before temperatures had dropped to 18°F ( – 2°C) up in the mountains and it had snowed for the first time. On October 11th; even for those folks up there that was a bit too cold a bit too early.
Though it did look pretty, especially on the slopes, it was really, really cold, even after the sun came out.
All day long temperatures rose just slightly above freezing. But then again, when winding down the mountain on the way back the next day, the lovely warmth of the lowlands was appreciated even more than usual.
Small Is Beautiful
This is the second Smart I have seen in our neighborhood within one week. Two minutes later a Mini Cooper passed by.
The next 2 1/2 hours I spent counting Mini Coopers. The total came to 10.
This ties in with what I have noticed for months now: parking lots, especially at supermarkets, used to be filled with big bad cars – Explorers, Tahoes, Hummers, trucks large enough to transport whole households from one coasts to the other. Oftentimes I also saw the drivers of those big boats – women, obviously very pleased with the fact that they did not have to squish their three bags of groceries into a tiny car. I, on the other hand, was very often not pleased with the fact that said ladies, after having climbed on board, did seem to have some difficulties to navigate their whopping huge heaps of metal off the parking lot.
Today the big boats are gone. Where are they? Have they all been shipped off to some secret island, where they stand under a palm tree, dreaming of those days when gas was cheap and they could proudly display themselves on parking lots in between runs to the school two blocks away to drop off Junior or the little Princess?
I bet they would love to run over anybody who dares to proclaim “small is beautiful.”