bye bye bad tree

when we moved in, there were three large trees in our backyard. one of our neighbors behind us turned out to be a landscaper, and he said they were huge ficus. they were really nice in the shade they provided, and how many people in southern california can say they have hundred year old trees in their yard? my bear may not have a hundred acre wood like his cousin winnie, but he had hundred year wood in his yard. plus they definitely mitigated heat island effect and heat-in-our-house effect. plus i had dreams of hosting fabulous dinner parties in the dirt patch beneath them on a warm, summer's evening with twinkle lights thread through their branches, perhaps on my 30th birthday.

too bad they were some bad, bad trees.

first, they dropped fruit ALL summer long. the fruit looked like berries, crushed into sneezy, yellow powder when you stepped on it, and worst of all attracted birds that like to eat it. then it was determined they were invasive. there were whole chunks of concrete in the driveway that were not only cracked but were lifted so high that they formed new steps. there were plumbing issues, and it was determined the roots of the trees were endangering the pipes. lastly, i'm sure there were many rabid squirrels up in its expansive branches. ew.

why past tense? because the trees are no more. as of today, they are all gone. one was removed a few months ago, and the remaining two were noisily killed, ground up, and taken away today.

before:

for reference, the fence below the trees is about six feet tall.


see? lots of branches for birds, squirrels, and other vermin. i think some of our neighbors' cats used to lurk up there, too.


so...bare. and so exposed to our annoying, loud, "musical" (they try, but it sounds really, really bad) neighbors.

i hope they were at least disposed of in the least wasteful way possible--perhaps they're off to a paper factory? yeah, i'm a little sad. over trees. oh, brother.

but yay! no more vermin!

while i was outside taking the before photos, i noticed some other things. like, "oh, we have roses."






and, "oh, our thai pepper plants are actually growing!" (all thanks to the bear, none to me).


and, "oh, the bougainvillea is blooming again."


i don't usually notice these types of things from my usual spot at my desk.

today, while i was taking the after photos, i went to check our mail. as i did, a notice fluttered down to the ground from our doorknob. it was something from the department of public works saying something about impending tree removal. what? our tree was privately removed by a private company hired by our private landlords. and it's finished already. then i noticed a corresponding notice ON a tree that is planted in the sidewalk in front of our house while simultaneously noticing the horribly cracked and patched sidewalk near it.


i guess it's bye bye to another bad tree.

i love LA

so much so that i went on a walking tour of downtown for my urban planning class this rainy morning. well, plus attendance was mandatory. it was nice to walk around downtown, rather than driving, feel it at that scale, and directly see the consequences of certain urban planning movements while talking about it. our instructor knows his stuff, regarding both urbanism and los angeles, so it was a good walk/talk.

i took the dusty dSLR along for a few shots.


did you know this is downtown? me neither. once upon a time, the lights glowed, the ladybug pod things played music, and a laser shot out of the top of it. the lights/sound broke shortly after its installation in the 70s, and the FAA nixed the laser right away.


the seam.
i know the reason for the gap, but it still bugs.


the original grove. el pueblo/olvera street ain't that authentic. buildings were relocated to create a dense, central area to attract people to the area during the great depression. yet another constructed/fabricated/contrived los angeles attraction.





our itinerary:
union station
el pueblo de los angeles/olvera street/avila adobe
metro mall
city hall
angel's flight
the music center
disney concert hall
cal plaza
grand central market
the bradbury building

yay for doing something i've always wanted to do but never have. yay for schooling that lets me/makes me do these things i want to do.

back to the drawing board (er computer, er mouse/keyboard?)

running

blah. but i'm squishy. and at my max. weight again. and my pants don't fit. wah wah wah.

meet my nike+ avatar. she's cute.

she also has no eyes. like me!

so today i ran. well actually, i mostly walked. you know how some people complain about how they're REALLY slow, not runners, etc? then they go and run 1.5 miles at an average 11-minute mile the FIRST day they try. or they run like 4 or 5 miles the first day. well, i'm really not a runner. like REALLY.

even she says so.

"i've turned into a couch potato! i need to run!"

i ran/walked a 15-minute mile for 2.31 miles in something pathetic like 32 minutes today. see? i'm really not a runner. after a 2-minute brisk walking warmup, i could only run for about 5 minutes before my chest felt like it was on fire and going to burst. out. of. shape.

i really want to use the nike+ coach programs to keep me motivated, but once school starts (in less than a week!!!), all bets are off.

summertime in the LBC

winnie's already posted her photos from our shooting excursion yesterday.

here are some of mine.


winnie in action.


poh-tay-toh, poh-tah-toh.
i can never get away from this color combo.


this huge used bookstore recently closed forever.
sad. some may not get to travel around the world.


we're definitely in the LBC.


les poissons, les poissons
how i love les poissons...










churrigueresque ornament tacked onto an otherwise plain box of a building.
NOT chigger-esque, as an instructor at school likes to call it.

we did take some portraits of each other as well.








hmm. i forgot i can move around the subject.
ah well.

summertime and its flexibility (in my case) are wonderful.

must visit

the high line in nyc. apparently it opened a day early today to rave reviews. abandoned, elevated rail tracks transformed into public space for walking, lounging, planting some green stuff.

[image from the high line website]

more detailed information and good photos here and here.

i wish LA were more walkable. but then it wouldn't be LA.

another successful project by james corner field operations and diller scofidio + renfro, two firms whose work i admire. i'll have to go see for myself.

we be jellin'

to officially welcome our summer vacation, j+j and the developer hosted a chill bbq in their silverlake yard. seriously, cutest little house ever.

see?

oh, and if you're looking for a place on the eastside, the front house is for rent. really nice, big yard with roses and old trees, laid back neighbors (j+j, the developer) who will rarely be home during the school year (well except one j, he works from home, the lucky bastard), and just off sunset. /plug

alright, onto business. the grub. 'twas potluck-ish, but the lovely hosts provided most of it. (excuse all the saran wrap. we were outside, and i was just too relaxed/lazy to move it aside for the photos).

summery fruit, chips + corn and regular salsa

mmm...cheese.
steve buscemi (not really) and his fiancee brought
some brie, port salut, and dill (i think) havarti.

one of the canadians brought kalbi.
(on sale at galleria little tokyo market for $2/pound right now!)

gramps brought some pinot grigio,
which he watered down with san pellegrino.
told you he was old.
oh, and gramps's son (roommate), socal hippy boy, brought delicious tamales
from somewhere in highland park.

gramps + his wife also brought a steak in case.

delish.
midwestern hoosier boy manned the grill well.
j+j are from brooklyn and have never had a grill before.

laid-back berkeley girl (LBBG) made a refreshing cabbage + almond salad.

LBBG also mixed up some similarly refreshing
spiked cucumber mint lemonade in this cute retro jar.


the lemonade-cucumber-mint combo was so, so
summery.

mexican wedding cookies from whole foods.
they were eh.

told you architecture students like smoking.
instead of candy or nuts, there were these.

it turns out my favorite ginger beer
is very delicious with dark rum.

oh, and i brought j-e-l-l-O! two kinds, no less.

spiked! broken glass jello
(klassier, pretty jello shots)
broken up and crazy!
just like booze can do.

virgin rainbow jello
you can see which set was broken into first.
layered, pretty, calm, square.
booze-less.

some process photos, so you can see what's under the foil.

blurry, of course.
macro fail.

too many bubbles,
but i was not about to try and pop all those.

chopped up.
in pretty green cupcake liners.

pretty red + white cupcake liners for the rainbow slices.


taste the rainbow.
oh wait, that's skittles.


macro decides to start working again.
pretty colors.


jiggle jiggle.
(ignore my grossly funkily wrinkled hand).

to spike the broken glass jello, i used 3 oz. of jello packet, 1 cup of hot water, 1 cup of vodka per color. i forgot to spike the white, condensed milk gelatin, so there wasn't quite enough of it volume-wise compared to all the color. next time, i'd add a cup or so of vodka to that, too.

you can totally taste the deeelicious condensed milk even when gelled. oh yum. i could drink/eat that stuff straight outta the can.

oh, and i used justJENN's suggested jello flavors/combos. i was in the jello aisle, starting to contemplate all the flavor/color combos. i would have deliberated (much) further had i not had to pee so badly. dang ralphs with no bathroom. anyway, i digress.

everyone was so relaxed. finally. beautiful socal summer-y day (stay way may gray and june gloom!). lots of food + drink. fun company. what more do you need to kick off summer vacation?

ziggy says, "oh, hullo."
best. labradoodle. ever.


then runs off to cuddle with his mama.
his dad is steve buscemi (not really).

socal hippy boy took a two hour nap in the sun.
this is all we could see of him from our picnic table.

the end. of the beginning of summer! booya!