FALL 2018

we searched for it in a new location, mostly. truth is, there must be a searching action when living in Los Angeles, FALL doesn't just show up around LA, it's not a screenwriters' batch arriving fresh at the beginning of each month. FALL is pretentious, it's got no business in Los Angeles and in fact for the most of CA. FALL likes to come where people are patient and love others more than they love themselves, consequently FALL likes people to fall in love with her. so we looked for it this time at Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding mountains of Los Angeles (that can offer a lost to fall tree here and there).

romania, 2018

another year, another visit. eastern Romania, Tulcea and Sulina, easternmost Romania. needless to say the river, Danube, makes something distinctive out of the land it passes through, it splits thru, it digs thru and builds on top, mixes with itself and so on. there was also a jazz festival in Tulcea, unexpectedly great, and a very genuine mother feeding her little boy in a sunny cafe at the back of gas station on the way back to Bucharest. 

montreal

silent town, an impression easily found at every end of block. silent not only in sound but also in personality. of course who was I to talk coming from Los Angeles, a loud, obnoxious nothingness.

Palm Springs

the striking contrast of a deep dark night and the outspoke clean white, yellow street mall.

Mars in NYC

But first it was Washington, DC thanks to a one day return of the winter who had forgotten to say goodbye. It's late March, something else should've been in place, and so everything was rerouted to the neighboring cities. I chose DC and from there a train ride to NYC, through the winter, through New Jersey, in a Polar Express that reminded why trains will forever be "the" transportation. Afterwards, The Bronx was a focal point for the most part due to the remarkable brutalist architecture spread out here and there and also because I had never been to Bronx.

Washington Subway

Washington Union Station

Daylight Pepsi Sign Long Island City

Night Pepsi Sign

Tracey Towers Bronx

Bronx College Brutalism

Joyce Theatre Chelsea

the 4th anniversary

This time, in shortage of short trips, we set on Central California. It wasn't a shortcoming at all. In fact the little winery, Rancho Sisquoc, a few miles out of Santa Maria, was a sweet spot all throughout. The wine production is on the small size, with us not having seen their wines in any shop prior to that. Coming from LA it was a bit of a drive, beautiful nonetheless, few cars heading the same way. It felt a bit isolated, but at least I was enjoying that and here we go having thoughts again on if we could live in the countryside and for how long and how to kill time. It ended as always with a rejection, it was clear we couldn't do it for too long, we could never be there in that isolation - even with all that beauty of nature - for too long. So we're destined to be city folks on the excuse that art, coffee shops&shoppings were essential living. Nature, essential as well, had to intrude intermittently. Next day, first we checked the dunes at Rancho Guadalupe which, windy and loud, did not drive away the thought that I was still between two large cities, San Fran and LA, a thinking that always hindered the development of disconnection. It always felt in Central California that I could not fully relax being in between large metropolises even tho they are a actually at a great distance from each other. The pressure of large human presences North and South squashed the freedom in the center?! Afterwards we headed for Jalama Beach - easily a top spot among Pacific Coast beaches. The discovery of the place came in an unusual way. There was a list of best burger places outside cities of California and Jalama Beach Store came at the top. And that wasn't a lie, the burger joint is sound, the beef patty juicy, the shredded salad just enough, the dressing on the bun not overpowering - a combination to keep you focused and also thankful they had an indoor space with tables to watch the outside wind (Jalama means wind) and ocean unchanged in that arrangement for million years.

Portland and nearbys

The search for snow was at the origin of this. Unlike previous years, Big Bear, only a 2 hour drive from home, was/is without snow or any other kind of winter manifestation. It’s like spring there with a bit of cold during night. Enough with meteorology. Portland and its nearbys is where we set to meet the winter, and while the winter awaited us not far from Portland, Portland itself took a break from rain and brought a smile on people's faces. now what is it to say about the city? everything to say was in comparison to Los Angeles, thus everything sounded better. Ama was keep asking what's with the always green around, and I explained the situation with the Pacific Northwest and the rain, the rain raining, the rain chain. I mentioned how Washington state is nicknamed "The Evergreen State". but it seemed that this rain everlasting rain didn't influence the city much, the citizens couldn't care less, they rode bikes and walked the streets in such a way that Missing Persons could never write a song about that like they did with Los Angeles. this was our second time in the city, first had been exactly 4 years prior. like then the vibe was about friendship and being hip, youth that almost made us feel old, and perhaps coffee keeping the youth friendly and hip. no taxes - and nothing else to say about that, the joy of looking at a restaurant bill will tell you everything, and the subsequent should we move here? the normality comes in different shapes and colors. there're parks and trams. crime is low, infrequent, and the feeling is one of "fine, I'll just walk home if no tram or cab comes by". the Ocean and Mt Hood are close enough, equally spaced from Portland, and the ride to them is countryside and green. there's a sense of poverty rising out of the side views, like anywhere farmland, but it doesn't seem that awful. Colombia Gorge is much closer. at the Ocean, Canon Beach is the fancy people's stop, while Seaside is the low income paradise, sort of. we arrived at Astoria in darkness and could only get the vibe the city was decent enough, with a riverfront that invited rather than rejected. the centerpiece, a large bridge, wish it was lit to have at least an idea. at Mt Hood, Timberline Lodge is a perfect example of construction harmoniously integrated in nature, almost an extension to it. it doesn't feel at all offensive toward Mt Hood rising just behind it; it feels more like something kneeled and perpetually thanking to the mountain for making sense of its existence. The Shining only used the facade, but that's enough to make everyone excited.