Feliz Navidad

near Fayette Street and Aldama Street, Highland Park

Dingbat Carport

North Hayworth Avenue and Clinton Street, Fairfax

Branch Out

Maverick

On the Outside

Somewhere in Hollywood

Hindsight is 20-20

Perlita Avenue, Atwater

Westchester: The Urban Suburbia Timewarp

West 79th Street near Winsford Avenue, Westchester

I used to house-/dog-sit for a friend, architecture photographer Barry Schwartz, in Westchester. Entering Barry’s neighborhood, I always felt like Eddie Valiant (RIP Bob Hoskins) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit–going from the gritty noir streets to Toon Town in the blink of an eye. Every fourth house had either an RV or a boat. You’d think LAX had just been built, and all the neighbors were the new staff, embracing the GI bill dream. Another time-trip was that the school up the street turned out to be where I’d gone to kindergarten, in a new location.

My first stay in Westchester, I hadn’t been at Barry’s house an hour when there was a knock at the door. I ignored it. But when it came again about five minutes later, I answered. It was the little girl next door inviting me to her lemonade stand.

Her family later replaced their lawn with astroturf. Nothing was quite real.

I had a not quite real encounter a block or two away, when I came across a biker sitting on the front steps of a house. It turned out it was his daughter’s house. He’d rode down from Canada over the course of many days, had just arrived, only to find his daughter was at work, wouldn’t be home for an hour or two.

Just a few blocks beyond there, I found the Centinela Adobe, where I got a private tour of the 1830’s Californio era house and the neighboring 1880’s Wild West land office.

And then there was the day after Christmas, when, not daring to brave the crowd at Pann’s, I went to Starbucks in the shopping center across the street, feeling totally lame. But when I pushed open the door, I entered a scene that was anything but generic, community-less, laptop land. Every table was occupied by black men playing chess!

Despite Judge Doom’s best efforts, the L.A. southland is not just “a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see.” Toon Town lives.

Place Perfect

Spotted one year ago today!

Gregory Way, Beverly Hills

Happy Halloween…Wherever you’re going

West Silverlake Drive, Silverlake

Rowena Avenue and West Silver Lake Drive, Silverlake

An Unlikely Friendship

Rowena Avenue, Silverlake