Felinofelice: Los Angeles

Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts

Hello

Monday, December 5, 2011

I've been away, not so much the internet but more from the blog. Think it's one of those times where I feel at a loss for words. Not sure what to type or what to share? If there's such a thing as a bloggers block, then that's sort of what I have and I apologize for being gone. But ok, on a more important subject: The Slow Readers Book Club book. Have you joined yet? The two books the club has decided to tackle this season are God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut and Priceless by Robert K. Wittman. I just started the Vonnegut novel, am enjoying it and hope to be writing again on it after Christmas!

Lulu hanging out with me in the bedroom. Apparently, she finds me très fascinating... loves to stare at me while I fix my hair and iron my clothes or type on the laptop. Here she was staring off into the empty closet as if she'd just seen something.

Pretty sweets from one of my favorite downtown
confectionery stores, Fugetsu-Do.

Breathe Life Upon These Dry Bones... Discreetly hidden street art over
the water valves of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Poster advertising MOCA's current exhibit Naked Hollywood, Weegee in Los Angeles. Said to be the first museum exhibition devoted to the work Weegee produced in Southern California. Hoping to catch it before it ends in February!

Little puppy fruit tart from Yamazaki Bakery in Little Tokyo.
They're as cute as they are tasty and a steal at $1.40. Lastly, have you seen St. Vincent's performance of Surgeon on 4AD? Out since October but I can't stop playing it...

♥ Hope you're having a great new week mis amores! ♥

Time is hard to kill

Sunday, October 9, 2011

TOP to BOTTOM: (1+2) Clifton's Cafeteria a few Saturday's ago. Have you ever been? It was where we would go on Sunday's when we were kids. I have a nostalgic fondness, but the inside is pretty amazing. It's was designed to be reminiscent of California Redwood groves with waterfalls and brooks but had fallen to disrepair over the years, then in 2009 they began restoring it. We hadn't seen it since the renovations started but loved that it hadn't really changed very much. It just looks cleaner and with better lighting so far and the food was as great as we remembered it (3) Clifton's chocolate-banana cake. My brother's dessert of choice when we eat there (4+5) Vintage paperbacks at The Last Bookstore and my $4 Gypsy Rose Lee find. It was one of my favorite movies growing up... because of this film my Barbies were often burlesque dancers by trade (6) From A Nation Emerges exhibit at the Central Library. A collection of photographs chronicling Mexico's revolution from 1910 to 1912, and in the photo is a female solider (soldadera) ca.1912. Like how proud and eager the men are to be photographed with the soldadera and how confident the woman is (7) Little Lulu is too hyper to photograph and I'm not sure if you can tell from here, but her little white parts are sort of gray from the ash in the fireplace she likes to break into. LASTLY, Little Numbers by the band Boy off the album Mutual Friends (2011). Have you heard it? A happy song with not so happy lyrics... there's clapping involved.

PS. Thanks to my friend Brandi of This B Life I'm addicted to Pinterest. Do you have one? If so, please leave me a link so I can follow! If you don't, but would like one, leave me an email address so I can send you an invite. Besos+wishes for a great new week mis amores! ♥

This week

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Top to Bottom: (1) So behind in posting on the newest Slow Readers Book Club read, but this is it... Finny by Justin Kramon. It's my most favorite pick from the club so far. Described as a coming of age story, but it's definitely more than that. Romantic but realistic. Sweet, but not saccharine. Highly recommended if you haven't read it yet! Also, if you haven't joined the club yet, be sure to visit the very official forum *HERE* and/or the Facebook page *HERE* (2) Never seen a white haired Kokeshi before I think (3) Young Secretary by artist Chaily Karubian at the Via Café in Chinatown. I searched for the artist online and didn't find anything. Possible they gave me the wrong name (4) Flyer for Soul Sessions! at the Grand Star. I love the photo they used, doesn't the guy on the floor just make it look like fun? (5) Pretty cream puffs only $2.50 each (6) Our first raspberries... hope the little birds don't beat me to them! (7) Blue parakeet basking in the sun (8) Vampire Cat tee at PopKiller in Little Tokyo (9) Baby Lulu, the newest pet member to the family. As you can see she has super powers and crazy eyes... we're pretty much infatuated with her now, except for George, who isn't all that happy about it yet...

♥♥♥ Hope you're having a great month of May! ♥♥♥

March

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Top to Bottom: (1) Downtown view after a rainy day (2) Publicly displayed piece at the Geffen Contemporary building in Little Tokyo by Parisian street artist JR. Work is part of an artwork project entitled The Wrinkles of The City currently being unveiled at various locations around LA and part of MOCA’s upcoming exhibition Art in the Streets (3) Little orchids finally in bloom after months of worrying that they wouldn't (4) Lunch with artist Laure Briard, I wrote about her a few years ago *HERE* and I had the amazing privilege of meeting her for the first time this last month. We ate at Shabu Shabu in Little Tokyo where we had to cook our meal in a pot of boiling water... Fun! (5) Cute graffiti spotted on a broken and boarded up window on the way home last week (6) The first spotting of summer fruit at our favorite farmers market (7) Little Buddha found at the Plum Blossom shop in Chinatown. Isn't he adorable? (8) Sleeping hamster photo taken at a pet shop a few weeks ago when I went to buy fat George his food (9) American Apparel factory and their show of solidarity toward immigrants and their plight.

Wishes for a lovely new month mis amores! ♥

January

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Top to Bottom: (1) After sitting for years on my bookshelf, I finally finished reading Kate Chopin's The Awakening. It was bought at a Goodwill store through the recommendation of a friend who was there shopping with me that day. Such a dork for taking so long in reading it. Loved it very much despite it's sad theme of love, oppression and the need for freedom (2+3+4) All taken last Saturday at the Griffith Observatory. My first time visiting since they closed down to remodel in 2002. It's one of my favorite places to visit in the city, not just because of it's views but also because I have good memories of visiting as a kid (5) A bus we spot almost every morning on the way in to work. Not sure where it goes, but fan of it's pretty paint job. Wonder who gets to ride in it since it's always empty when I see it? (6) One of my favorite easy-to-make comfort foods. Grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough with sharp cheddar and lots of butter when toasting (7) Sometime in the summer the flowers on my orchid died. I asked the man who keeps the orchid stand at the farmers market we visit almost every week what to do, and he told me to trim the stem of the dead orchid about half way and that in 4 months I would have new ones... and it worked! These little buds just started growing this last week. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Know I probably sound like an idiot here, but plants tend to die on me (8) George was sick this weekend? I'm not sure why? He didn't eat anything out of the ordinary, but he seems better now, so I'm hoping it was just hairballs.. gross, I know, sorry!

Wishing you a great new week! ♥

November...

Saturday, November 27, 2010

(Read and LOVED)

In the early part of the twentieth century, a Jewish girl from Poland, in the United States only weeks, went to a dinner party in Brooklyn. As she entered the house, a young man was putting on his coat to leave. When he saw the young woman coming through the door, he promptly removed his coat. Before the end of the night, he asked her to take a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, and she accepted. As they stood together, overlooking the wide expanse of Manhattan and Brooklyn and the East River, he proposed marriage. She accepted that too.

~from BRIDGES by Joanna Hershon,
of Brooklyn Was Mine

Book had me thinking of New York, my own city and also of my friend Thomas who went with me to New York about three years ago. Above is a Brooklyn Bridge view captured by him on our trip and below one by me of him eating a hot dog at Battery Park.

Also this month I fell in love with Pinkberry's
pumpkin with pomegranate and cinnamon...

Persimmons...

Shorter days...

...turning 36 (Ambrosia Cake by my sister Anna!)

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes (also by Anna)...
Actually, this is an ongoing love affair.

My owl drawing by artist Nicole Aline Legault. Part of the Kitty Stampede giveaway prize that I was lucky enough to win in September...Thank you again K♥, it's a treasure!

Lastly, can't stop playing Jónsi's 'Go Do'...
So happy, makes me want to GO DO things too!

Hope you had a nice November also!
December is going to be great, can tell already... ♥

One of my favorite
areas of Los Angeles...

Saturday, October 30, 2010

As kids, mom would take my sister and I to visit regularly. Like many in the 70's she was a huge fan of Kung-fu films. Most of the films were in Chinese (sans subtitles) but it hardly mattered, you got the gist of it with all the good fighting. Also, we loved the food. There were two restaurants we'd visit most (both long gone now). First had a formal dining atmosphere to it but I remember the noodles most and lots of exploring and running around. My sister and I would use the excuse of visiting the ladies room to go explore the restaurant and hallways that led to the kitchen area. People and noises were fascinating to us. The second restaurant was a smaller one run by brothers. There were at least 3 or 4 of them, huge sumo wrestler sized guys who made the most delicious duck noodle soup in the world. Seriously, even now, as an adult I remember that soup... and I was pretty finicky about food at that age. These were the eateries of choice and after dinner she’d take us to the little Chinese novelty shops for browsing; we'd always surface with some kind of tiny treasure. Miniature Chinese tea sets, little change purses sporting the Chinatown logo... all things aimed at tourists. In a particular plaza there was a trained monkey who’d dance to the music of his partner's hand-cranked Victrola while he played the accordion. When he’d finish his performance he'd walk up to his squealing and cheering audience with a small hat to collect money… well, maybe it was just me and my sis squealing? Definitely was a wonder though. Lastly, there was Chinese New Year. Every year our mom would take us to see the parade. Remember the first time I caught sight of a dancing dragon parading down the street, fearsome and beautiful at once! Drums pounding, the dragon weaving up and down as it traversed it’s route, firecrackers popping everywhere, bells jingling... a cacophony that made your heart pound! So there you have it, those are all the nostalgic reasons behind my love of Chinatown, and on this post are some photos taken on a recent visit. It was during the day, so the nightlife isn't captured, but the day time shopping is. Many of the shops have disappeared over the years so the scene has changed. They've been replaced by a number of art galleries and a new generation of shops, but it's definitely not a bad thing. It gives us a new wave of treasures to find...