"All these things I should keep to myself
But I feel somehow strangely compelled...."

- Neil Finn, Sinner

In front of a furniture store having an outdoor sale. It has lobster claws but I swear that's the face of a spot prawn.

Giant prawn
Fountain Valley CA
Canon EOS 1000D
05 September 2009

( goofing around... )

We went for a walk downtown after the US Open of Surfing was done for the day. Lots of people watching still be had and we cooled off with some Dairy Queen, strolling around as we ate. These old beach bungalows down there are getting fewer and farther between.

Sunflowers and prayer flags
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
25 July 2009

( +2 )

Another Waymark; I noticed there was a category for "Lion statues" so I thought I'd enter the one at the top of the auditorium of my old high school, since he's a bit high up and I'm not sure anyone notices him all that much. The buildings were just recently renovated; although, apparently, he was in fine shape and didn't need anything. These buildings are about 84 years old.

Darryl Stilwagon Auditorium and Tower
Huntington Beach High School
Canon EOS 1000D
22 July 2009

( entire building, which I've probably posted before... )

There's been very little Waymarking (the alternative to Geocaching, finding places and objects instead of containers, that people otherwise might not see) in Huntington Beach, so I thought I would enter some from around me that hadn't been done yet. This is one of a set of tile murals up at the Civic Center that I entered as a waymark - they came from a shopping center that was kitty-corner across the street. You can find a bit of the history where I entered it - I might've mentioned some of them before. Trying to get them all Waymarked as a series.

Pelican Dive Mural
Huntington Beach Civic Center
Canon EOS 1000D
15 July 2009

( construction... )

Just before I went to Spokane, John went and bought a new powercord to the GPS, and I took it along with me up there. I haven't really done any geocaching since last September, partly because of that and that no one really wanted to come with me, which took a little of the fun out of it - I do do it on my own, but only if it's right on the way of somewhere I'm heading and I know it won't take too long. But I also started using Waymarking.com as well - a little easier because you're not actually looking for a cache, just a place. It can be an interesting sign, a historical place, neon art, your favorite restaurant, whatever (although I really don't see the point of marking every Starbucks and McDonald's unless you have some sort of goal of visiting every franchise everywhere you go - some people seem to do that, though). One of the featured Waymarks today was a category called "art*o*mats" which actually sounds pretty fascinating.

http://www.artomat.org/

What they are, are retired cigarette machines - since those are now illegal - that are now stocked with original artworks, either in small boxes or on blocks of wood, about the size of a cigarette package. You can purchase art from the machine or if you're an artist, sign up to submit works to them. Many of them seem to be associated with art museums, galleries, or schools, or there are a few that travel.

I will have to go search for one of these.

*******

The thing I find a bit confusing about Waymarking is not only can just about anything be entered, but if you have a paid account (which I don't yet, I already pay for too many internet sites as it is), you can start creating your own categories. And some objects can fit under several different categories. The Queen Mary in Long Beach, ferinstance, is listed under Maritime Museums, Ghosts and Hauntings,Wikipedia Entries, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, History Museums, Military Ships and Submarines (Decommissioned), and Official Local Tourist Attractions (official?). If I visit, do I only pick one? or all of them?

(Note: originally posted Aug. 11...edited to date pic actually taken...)
What is wrong with me? I never even finished posting my trip to Spokane. Certainly having a lack of motivation for just about everything. :p

After meetings Saturday, I talked a couple of colleagues into walking downriver to ride the purple gondolas across the Lower Falls. It was a nice long ride too, about 15 minutes. It would stop occasionally until a new batch of passengers got on. The only discomfort was the little cars had no ventilation except for the top six inches of window being open. On a really hot day, it would have been very uncomfortable. On the return trip, I looked up to see the cow skull decorations on the old bridge above us.

Bridge over Lower Spokane Falls
Spokane WA
Canon EOS 1000D
13 June 2009

( +2 )

Angus and I went for a walk this evening. The Civic Center is at the end of my street a block away, and Angus's favorite part of it is this tile mural mounted outsided the police station entrance. First to be spinny in front of...

HB Civic Center
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
25 April 2009

( then to feel... )

My brother sent me this link - I think I might just have to learn to knit again since what she sells are patterns....

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135

Yeah, the tutu and gold bra is just what I want to wear to the beach...
Angus was really antsy, so we decided to go for a walk, just the two of us. It's nice to get in some one on one time and no one else wanted to anyway. So we drove a little way down Main St., parked near the Art Center and walked the rest of the way down to the pier and back. The shop windows are always fun to look in. It was relatively quiet down there; during the summer, the sidewalks will be jammed even in the evening.

Downtown
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
9 April 2009

( skeletons and tagging )

Huh. Wonder why I never noticed this before. Or I did and I just forgot - it is 15 years old. In this article, pg. 224 (and don't worry,it starts on pg. 222) Fig. 2. The diagram of longline gear? I drew that. I think it was originally to illustrate the manual for our shark tagging cruises on the R/V Mako, but the gear is the same. No acknowledgement, but they probably just found it a file drawer somewhere. Not great artwork by any means, of course, but hey, I guess I can say I have at least one piece published. ;p

This guy gives a whole new meaning to "Self-portrait."

Originally referred there by this image posted in startrek, but his entire gallery is pretty amazing.

Helping the daughter start her animal diorama assignment. She wants to make a harbor seal out of clay, but they didn't have gray. So we tried mixing black & white; however, with only half the black and all of the white, it still turned out very dark. Oh well, harbor seals range in color from very light silvery to almost black (with spots), so that's all right. The clay is this really light stuff made by Crayola®, almost like rubbery foam - very odd stuff.

Clay
Huntington Beach CA
Casio EX-80A
17 February 2009

This is a kinetic sculpture by Reuben Margolin entitled "Square Wave" that hangs in the entrance of the Aquarium of the Pacific. runsamuck has a subscription to Woodworking Magazine; recently they had a feature article on this artist - he started by watching caterpillars and went back to school to learn calculus in order to design some of his moving sculptures. This was installed when the AOP had an exhibit on waves in 2007 - the exhibit's been replaced but the sculputure stayed. If you'd like to see it in action, go here and click "Waves."

Square Wave, AOP
Long Beach CA
Sharp VE-CG30
25 January 2009

( Just hanging around... )

And because I have managed to see the animated "Grinch Who Stole Xmas" about four times in the last few days on various channels, I am reminded of this; it's been in my sadly neglected favorites gallery at DA for awhile.

The Grinch Who Got a Black Eye...

Although she says that's actually the Jim-Carey-in-a-suit Grinch, because she loves the animated one.

Funny, I always couldn't wait to see that one every year as well, and even taped it one year in case I missed it. Now it seems to be on a half dozen different channels, several different times.

Workshop
Berkeley CA
Sharp VE-CG30
04 December 2008

( more public art... )

I attended a workshop on Data Poor Fisheries in Berkeley, and so was stuck in a hotel for three days. I am starting to dislike travel in winter for work, because by the time you're done for the day, it's dark already and it's hard to explore new surroundings when the sun has already gone down. We weren't in Berkeley proper either, but on a little penninsula sticking out into San Francisco Bay and not really within walking distance of anything. During break on the second day, I was determined to get outside for a least a few minutes and walked along the nearby marina. A lot of people had put in planters, places to sit, and impromptu art among the rocks along the marina embankment.

Berkeley Marina
Berkeley CA
Sharp VE-CG30
03 December 2008

( +3 )

Went to the Aquarium late in the afternoon, and after it closed, spent a while walking around the "harbor." This is a little old tug that appears to be undergoing some renovation, but in the the meantime, I thought I'd snap it to post to the Flickr groups, Sad Boats and Workboats and Tugs (I love to go to those pages and just turn on the slideshow).

Rainbow Harbor
Long Beach CA
Sharp VE-CG30
05 October 2008

( I think I took the majority of pics this month today... )

For some reason, most of the magazines that wind up in the bathroom are my spouse's, and while I'm not into sports and I don't do woodworking, occasionally I find really interesting articles. Popular Woodworking this month (a gift subscription from my father) has an article on Greene & Greene, brothers who developed their own particular style of the Art & Crafts movement in California. They designed homes and also the furniture that went with them. One of their homes, Gamble House in Pasadena, is open to the public. I've been on one of the tours many years ago, and it really is amazing. It all looks like it could be a giant-sized puzzle and every piece fits together perfectly. As it says in the article, the wood just begs to be stroked.

Article: Greene & Greene: Awakening of a Style

Online Slide show: Greene & Greene Masterworks (actually a pdf file)

The Gamble House website

There are a few of these Arts & Crafts style bungalows a few blocks away from me in downtown Huntinton Beach, but smaller and I don't think the interiors are as period, since people still live in them.

I stumbled across this webcomic ( in fortysomething) because I will pretty much click any link presented to me (I'm kind of a sucker that way).  And discovered a lovely and poignant webcomic, that will probably resonate with anyone whose parents may be getting older.  Or knowing someone in a number of other situations.

The Walk

This could be any one us, sometime in the future. 

My father is 82.  We live with him, so we've sort of become the default caretakers - not that he needs much, he's in good shape.  Truth to tell, it's mutually beneficial, as we get to live in the house I grew up in, in a neighborhood we could not afford these days.  My kids are going to the school I went to as a kid.  But I always wonder how this is going to wind up. 

I've discussed with my brother, how sometimes I dread knocking on the door of his bedroom, the room where my mother also passed away, and one day, getting no response.  And my brother looked at me and said, "You know, Leeanne, that's really the best case scenario."

I dread it.  But I know it's going to happen.  It may not be for awhile yet.  His mother only passed away six years ago, having lived to be a hundred.  But I'm trying to be prepared.

A sea cucumber puckers up. Well, I did it again. It was a special kid's morning in early February at the AOP, and as per usual I took 119 photos that I have trouble deciding on. Ooh, 7 am is way too early to be at the Aquarium!

( more critters )