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A lot of pictures. Most of the titles are song lyrics; extra points if you can identify them.

These aren’t in any kind of ranked order. They’re actually in the order I took them throughout the year.

1. Never – Niland, CA

2. Doomed to crumble unless we grow – Valley of Fire, NV

3. Life is Beautiful – Hollywood, CA

4. For fear of things still living in me – Central Park, Huntington Beach, CA

5. She’s calling you – Somewhere near Death Valley, CA

6. Kitty in the pet cemetery – Huntington Beach, CA

7. Kitty’s stockings – Huntington Beach, CA

8. I’ll take a vodka float – Westminster, CA

9. band practice – Huntington Beach, CA

10. I seem to think I don’t belong here – Los Angeles Public Library, downtown Los Angeles, CA

11. Living close to your fears – Downtown Los Angeles, CA

12. turn my whole world around – Los Angeles, CA

13. The walls between us will never break – Downtown Los Angeles, CA

14. love bible love – Niland, CA

15. Goodbye is just what you do – Los Angeles Public Library, downtown Los Angeles, CA

16. An outlaw or a leader – Downtown Huntington Beach, CA

17. Imaginary grace – Downtown Huntington Beach, CA

18. Bursting at the seams – Downtown Huntington Beach, CA

19. Leaving - Downtown Los Angeles, CA

20. Footsteps – Huntington Beach, CA

21. If I could open my arms – San Pedro, CA

22. I don’t recall a single care – Costa Mesa, CA

23. Rainbow of fun – Costa Mesa, CA

24. Confab – Huntington Beach, CA

25. Sometimes life surprises – Huntington Beach, CA

26. Must I paint you a picture – Downtown Los Angeles, CA

27. You’re the only song I want to hear – Hollywood, CA

28. This would never happen if we lived by the sea – Westminster, CA

29. Just don’t die on me – Huntington Beach, CA

30. Jump on in, the water’s fine for swimming – Seal Beach, CA

31. Gonna take something great just to get me out of bed – Huntington Beach, CA

32. Kitty in the sun – Huntington Beach, CA

33. Grieving for the loss of heaven – Huntington Beach, CA

34. You should be in my space – Westminster, CA

35. It’s just you, me and this wire – Westminster, CA

36. Free rain at the car wash – Huntington Beach, CA

37. It’s all over now – Westminster, CA

38. Was this your celebrated summer? – Newport Beach, CA

39. Yes - Newport Beach, CA

40. If you wake up and don’t want to smile – Huntington Beach, CA

41. The fragile waves of days – Huntington Beach, CA

42. Everything sleeps beneath – Huntington Beach, CA

43. I flew beyond the sun before it was time – Huntington Beach, CA

44. Bros – Hollywood, CA

45. What’s the point with a love that makes you hate and kill for. – Yermo, CA

46. Some time to think about it – Santa Ana, CA

47. Only in my dreams – Santa Ana, CA

48. Sit back and breathe – Santa Ana, CA

49. Let the broken sky break above our heads – Downtown Los Angeles, CA

50. Like the sky above me – Inglewood, CA

51. Window shopping – Beverly Hills, CA

52. May grief fall away like leaves from the trees – Rialto, CA

53. When death sleeps, it dreams of you – Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery, Colton, CA

54. Never minded working hard – Huntington Beach, CA

55. I love to feel the rain on my face – Rialto, CA

56. DOWN – Santa Ana River bike trail, Santa Ana, CA

Elijah, my 15yo, has always complained about us moving to southern Cali. He hates the sun (he’s a redhead—not only that, but a redhead that refuses to wear anything but black). He hates the crowds. He hates everything about it. He’s always said when he moves out he’s going back to Washington.

The other day the boys started asking me what I was going to do when all the kids move out. Would I miss them? Elijah asked if I’d come visit him. I asked where he was going to be living. He of course said Washington.

But then he made an admission I didn’t think he ever would.

He said, “But I don’t know if I can move to Washington, because at this point I’m sort of obligated not to.”

I thought, What 15 year old uses the word “obligated” in casual conversation? And had to go write it down so I wouldn’t forget to mention it on my blog. Ha.

When I came back he said, “Don’t you want to know why I’m obligated to stay in California?”

Of course I did. I fully intended to ask him when I got back from making notes on his language. He just got the first word in.

He said: “Well, there’s three things I might want to do in life. One is make music. And I can find a lot more people here to make music with than I could in Washington. Another is work on videogames, and yeah, they have videogame companies in Washington, but there’s more down here. And the third is make movies. And, well, you can probably make movies in Washington but not like you can in L.A.”

I said, “Yeah, there’s a lot more opportunities down here than there are in Washington.”

Then I remembered he’d mentioned he had an idea for a silent movie, so I asked him about it. He said he had lots of ideas for silent movies. Then he started talking about how he wants to make movies without scripts, just have a plot to follow and let the actors do the scenes by improvisation.

He said, “I think it’d be a lot cheaper to make movies that way.”

My parents asked what they could get Daniel for Christmas, so I suggested a portable satellite radio. This particular kind also lets you play mp3s. I had to take a picture of the music my husband has loaded on it so far. He’s one of the few people I’ve ever known who has as diverse taste in music as I do.

38 Special
JJ Fad
Kreator
Loverboy
Slayer
Sunny Day Real Estate

We went to a park on Christmas Day and played kickball. Our version of kickball, anyway. We took video which I’ll post when it’s online.

On Christmas Eve, Nathaniel, his friend Dillon, Cat and I went to the Santa Ana River bike trail and Nathaniel filmed our bike ride. Here it is, sped up and condensed into four minutes.

Nathaniel was hand-holding the camera so it’s a bit jerky, primarily at the beginning. Cat’s in blue and later red (she sheds her jacket off-screen in the middle). I’m in brown and Dillon’s on the skateboard being goofy. It was fun.

My brother got me a Lomo Fisheye camera for Christmas. Cool, huh?

Because they aren’t allowed to show people drinking alcohol, so they have to get creative.

Plus they must have endless amounts of money to toss at an ad agency.

Have you seen these “most interesting man” commercials for the Beer Dos Equis? I think they’re pretty funny.

I also find this sock commercial really amusing:

And no, I don’t mean Compton or Inglewood.

I mean Rodeo Drive.

So last weekend I was itching to get out and take pictures (story of my life) and I decided to head to downtown LA. The Toy District, to be specific, which I’ve posted pictures of before. It’s a bizarre place—full of cheapo toy stores that people take their kids to, but right on the edge of Skid Row, so it’s covered in trash. I don’t think I posted any pictures that give an accurate sense of the garbage everywhere before, so here are some from last weekend.

The store on the corner (behind all the trash) is a videogame/dvd store. I took Elijah there the first time we went down to the Toy District.

This is two frames from a half-frame camera. On the left is street corner, don’t you love how all the trash is right next to an empty garbage can? Note the mother and child. On the right is a sunglasses store.

People waiting for the crosswalk light to change.

This is a craft store. Yes, a craft store.

This was the corner near where I parked my car. This building is a library. The heap on the left is a sleeping homeless person and his shopping cart. The building in the background on the right is a church. Probably one of my fave pictures I’ve taken all year.

Some graffiti on a street corner.

More trash on the street. This area was packed with people doing Christmas shopping.

I shot this from the hip and meant to get the street, but accidentally got this fellow instead. I like how it came out.

More graffiti. This face iss a bright green.

Everyday I’m hustling. The Toy District is on Los Angeles St, probably my new fave part of downtown.

So after wandering around there for about an hour I drove over to Beverly Hills. Quite a contrast. But on the way I snapped this picture of the Disney Concert Hall from the car at a street light.

Rodeo Drive is only a couple blocks long and full of designer clothing stores. Some of the most expensive shops in the world. One you can only shop at by appointment, it’s a men’s clothing store, and suits cost about $15,000.

One store had these plexiglass cutouts on the floor with mannequins in them. The girl in this photo was shopping with her father, and they both were wearing the most expensive clothes I’ve ever seen in my life. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out his suit cost $15,000. Her clothes were also super-fine. I’m thinking her outfit probably cost more than I usually have in the bank.

Some of the mannequins there are trippy. But what trips me out most about this store is the fake books everywhere.

I was impressed with how the mannequins’ feet were so realistic at this store, with tendons and veins and stuff. Then I noticed my reflection and had to take this shot.

Just crazy, people. Crazy.

The whole street was decorated for Christmas, and who can resist a giant-ornament-reflection shot?

The lovely naked bust is a nice touch. Gives it that classy flare.

I guess Charlie Chaplin, Ray Bradbury, Jack Nicholson, and Billy Wilder have all lived here. This is near the corner of Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Blvd.

It was a weird day. But awesome.

Elijah: All my teachers this year know I’m smart.

Me: What does that mean?

Elijah: Well all my teachers have always said how smart I am.

Me: And what do they say this year?

Elijah: One of my teachers is mad at me because I’m only getting a B, but I’m the smartest kid in the class.

Me: Did you tell her that grades don’t reflect intelligence?

Elijah: Sort of…In my music theory class we had to write a chord progression. So I wrote one and turned it in, but I told my teacher it was stupid, and I didn’t really like it. He played it and said he liked it, that it sounded sad. So then I changed it a little bit, and he played it again and said it sounded really evil. I was like, “Yeah!”

(Then came a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo about music I can’t remember or understand.)

Elijah: My English teacher knows how to torture me now. She said she needed some volunteers so I said I’d do it and she said I didn’t know what she wanted me to do yet. I said I didn’t care, I’d do it. She said well maybe it’s sitting outside getting hit with stones. I said I’d be ok with that. Then she said maybe it was being forced to listen to Britney Spears all day. (Shrugs) I’d be ok with that. Then she said but what if it was having to admit that there is no greater band than Led Zeppelin, and I said OK I won’t do that.