Jorge y Jesus

... i met Jorge on the Red Line to Union Station this morning. He was holding a centaur (still in progress) made entirely of copper wire wrapped around a copper scrubber. I've seen artists handcraft beautifully original jewelry pieces out of copper wire (especially at Venice Beach), but i hadn't seen sculptural works before. The beauty of copper wire art is how its color changes from its original polished shine to a dull almost rusted look in a short time. This weathering gives the piece not just a vintage look but also a certain solidifying power.

After complimenting his intricate wire sculpture i asked if i could take a picture. He held up one of two crucifixes he had ready to sale on 6th Street and Alvarado.

Xochitl

Flor

Flower

we point phones, stand be

fore flowers--a photo kiss

sweet like honey bees:

mobile uploads aint the same

when i can't tag, smell, taste you.

Rebel Without A ...

... i know Glendale's landmark Alex Theatre will screen that classic of classics, Rebel Without A Cause (1955) next month, but is that who i think it is waiting for a burger, fries and shake? Is he waiting for pals Judy and Plato before heading off to a drag race? And, where did he park his 1949 Mercury Coupe?

Widescreen

"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul." ~Jean Cocteau

Still, We Reach

Trees @ Gold Line Mission Station

En invierno

by Francisco X. Alarcon

las ramas

son raices al aire

rogando al cielo

In Winter


the branches of trees
turn into open air roots
beseeching the sky

A Trip To ...

SOUTH PASADENA: my favorite small town in the big city. i couldn't let such a gorgeous 80-degree Thursday in January go by without making the trip, my first of the year:

• Board 780 (Rapid) East at Broadway Blvd/Brand Blvd
• Disboard at Colorado Blvd/Fair Oaks Ave
• Board 260 South at Fair Oaks Ave/Colorado Blvd
• Disboard at Fair Oaks Ave/Mission St

First stop was to The Curio Emporium, a creepy cool shop catering to your goth/steampunk/dieselpunk imaginary [Note To Self: must go back for their awesome selection of chained pocket watches!]. I then walked to the South Pasadena Farmers Market, where i was pleasantly surprised to catch a performance by son jarocho group Las Cafeteras (not to mention by the yummy honey dates i tried for the first time!). Along the way i just had to stop by my favorite shop on Mission Street, Zinnia,  for some crafty doo-dads.

Later ...

• Take Gold Line North to Pasadena at Mission Station
• Board 780 West at Colorado/Fair Oaks ... arrive in Glendale just in time for another spectacular winter sunset 

!!ATTENTION STEAMPUNKS!!
Saturday, January 28, 2012 The Curio Emporium presents "A Trip to The Curio". Artists and vendors with their gears and retro-futuristic wares (see the work of one talented artist here), baked goods, and a food truck! Bring the entire family (and your best pair of brass goggles!) and enjoy a trip to the ever present future-past!


This is the first of i'm sure many offerings from South Pasadena (as well as on Steampunk). My trips to "South Pas" have always felt as if i were going home ... to a past (future?) life. 

(A few more pics of my day in South Pasadena can be seen here)

Crow Haiku #3

a lone conductor
shapes sound in morning shadows
our life's symphony

Solar Haiku #1

focus. kiss the flares.
eye open soul's aperture:
point. shoot. let you in.

Up Against It

... but I got puddles to cross--at least splash in.

My Sol To Take

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

... the sun sets on the Chinese lunar calendar year of the rabbit. I was born in the rabbit year of 1975 [Wood Rabbit to be exact; 2011 was a Metal Rabbit year]. From what I gathered, the rabbit was supposed to be the luckiest of signs. And if 2011 was a "lucky" year for me, I'd hate to go through an unlucky year!

I give thanks to the ancestors and to Creator for dreaming and lighting the road I embark on and recreate each day: to grow, love, and live fully.

And now ... Enter the Dragon.

Party Time?

... Where's the fruit!?! At least the four little girls making this purchase were Lakers fans. Did they keep score or draw up plays on the dry-erase board? After a Lakers victory, did they celebrate by popping those champagne bottle confetti poppers?

Parabola

... i've taken many pictures of random patterns in the sky--mostly straight lines--that are definitely NOT clouds. Something tells me the jets emitting these trails aren't giving us [terrestrials] a celestial geometry lesson. Somewhere, something has graphed the axis of symmetry; the question, then, is: Do the coordinates of the vertex correspond to a physical place on Earth? Is it all just part of a larger equation?

gnikoms ton rof uoy knahT

"Glendale: A Breath of Fresh Air"

In Her Hands

ten little moonbeams

waving to an ocean

of relatives

reflecting her light.

my niece, Naima Aquetzali, born 17 January 2012

Time Was

... just one of the many curiously wonderful subjects you'll discover in the labyrinth aisles of Brand Bookshop.

Ho-rol-o-gy (n): the art or science of making timepieces or measuring time.

My late grandfather, Joaquin Chavez, was a watchmaker. In El Salvador, he belonged to a Masonic order of joyeros, or jewelers. I know of a watch and jewelry repair shop he helped open here in Glendale--I found one of his business cards many years ago--but i still don't know the whole story. Looks like it's time i went and got it ...

Down The Van Nuys Rabbit Hole

... began a 40-day liver cleanse today and made a quick trip to the valley. In an alley just off Victory Boulevard, i spotted this incredible tree hollow at the base of the trunk. My mom thought i was crazy to get out the car to take a quick pic and peek into the hole. I'd never seen one this big before. If one could crawl inside, i wonder where it would lead. A detour to the other side of the alley? Or would the trip lead to an alter-destiny for residents of the Valley? Would there be a rabbit in a vest with a pocket watch waiting to lead the way? Forget it, Alice. It's Van Nuys ... 


"You take the blue pill--the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill--you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." ~Morpheus to Neo [The Matrix, 1999]

It's a (Moon) Wrap!

... Moon's favorite time of the year officially came to an end this week as the last of the Christmas decorations were finally boxed up and stored away. Not bad really. Last year I was still putting stuff away into February. With Moon, always looking to lend a helping paw: with an empty box or gift bag, on top of wrapping paper or between the bubble wrap--putting everything away is more fun than taking it all out! Til next year buddy.

Change

... hadn't visited a Coinstar machine in a long time. Sure needed all of this $27.44. From my pennies, nickels, and dimes*, i got back everything I spent at Target last night. Even cashed in a winning $2 lottery scratcher ticket that had been in my wallet since Christmas.

I have a box on my dresser where I throw in all my loose pennies and nickels. All dimes go into a glass bottle my grandmother, mi abulla, gave me years ago. Filled to the top, the bottle holds $60 in dimes. I love this bottle not just because mi abuelita gave it to me, she was always filling up some container with coins to give to her grandchildren; but because she covered the bottle with stamps for magazine subscriptions that would come in Publishers Clearing House mailers (remember those?).

My crafty grandmother ... I know now where i get it from.


*Coinstar did not accept my dimes from the following years: 1949, 1957, 1961, 1963. Never has. For sentimental and superstitious reasons, i've just thrown those dimes back into the bottle every time.

Between the Sun and a King

Breaking bread with Elio and Ryan

Stops I made tonight along Brand Boulevard before heading to Target inside the Glendale Galleria: the peace vigil at the corner of Broadway, Brand Bookshop, and The Coffee Bean at The Americana.

I was finishing my small coffee as I looked through the pictures I had taken along Brand when a young man walked up to my table and offered me some of the panettone bread he was having with his friend, who was celebrating his birthday. I accepted and wished the elder man a Happy Birthday as he served me a slice. They invited me to join them but I declined and thanked both gentlemen before heading back to my table.

I realized I really wasn't happy with any of the pictures I had taken and returned to the two friends and asked them if I could take their picture. They kindly obliged. I introduced myself to the young man who approached me, Ryan, and to Elio, the birthday boy. Elio served me another slice of the panettone, which was delicious with my coffee, as he shared the orgin and meaning of his name: Elio, from the Greek, helios, meaning "sun".

For a brief moment I was part of a celebration with two people I had met just minutes before. I shared how I had restarted my photo blog--glimpses of mostly Glendale--and invited them to visit my page. I would've liked to offered more to the two kind men who had shared their bread with this unemployed stranger. I could only thank them and wished Elio a Happy Birthday.

A random moment, perhaps. But as I walked out into the night, leaving the Disneyland-like Americana, and passed the now year-round white lights along Brand Boulevard, I couldn't help but feel blessed. Blessed for experiencing generosity and community when (and where) you least expect it ...

The Other Side of the Mountain

... a gorgeous morning for a hike! On the way down from Mt. Hollywood, I paused and took in the view overlooking Glendale, the Verdugo Mountains, and the magestic San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Having spent my childhood in Hollywood, I'm pretty familiar with the trails in Griffith Park, as well as with the views from the top of Mt. Hollywood. On clear days there's nothing more spectacular than meditating on the expanse of L.A.'s grid in all directions, the downtown skyline, the Pacific Ocean, and the sure accompaniment of Red-Tailed Hawks [below]. It never gets old.

I've lived in Glendale for almost twenty-three years and I still refer to this town as the other side of the mountain ... but the view aint all that bad.

Ritual/Remembrance

by hugO Chavez

Hawk and Wind

dance

make invisible circles

that shape sky

“your wings are strong

and beautiful”, sings wind

“I soar in currents

of your breath” sings hawk

whirling, gliding with joy

and Tree

embraces both:

“from my branches Hawk you first faced shapeless sky greeted Wind spread your wings and took flight.”

October 7, 2002 Mt. Hollywood Trail, Griffith Park

Repeat 1 >Track 1

Today's mood ... how many times can you listen to one song on repeat? Listen to this beautiful track and you tell me.

"Menjurje"

... around this time last year i began to feel sick. I felt the usual symptoms beginning with an irritated throat and a stuffy nose, alerting me that allergy season was in full effect. I developed a cold and along with the store brand over-the-counter "medicine", I loaded up on chicken soup, teas, and vitamin-C. A week went by and when i wasn't any better, moms called upon a good friend of the family. Together, like mad, chatty scientists in a telenovela lab, they whipped up a concoction that set me on the path to well-being. This concoction didn't have a name. Family friend, Edith, recalled how the recipe to this natural tonic was handed down to her by my grandmother, mi abulla. My moms called it "menjurje". 

A mixture of ingredients that results in something with a strange odor, taste, and/or appearance is what my moms referred to as menjurje (men-hoor-heh) [pictured on the right]. I remember asking her what menjurje meant and after trying to explain she just laughed and said, "Menjurje is ... menjurje!" Whatever it was, i drank a shot of it everyday. 

Last week, Edith and my mom were in the kitchen making a large pot of menjurje and filled up several glass jars with it to store away, preparing for the season. On schedule, a couple of nights ago i began to feel those usual symptoms (and the reason why i missed posting yesterday), i immediately reached for the menjurje. I like menjurje warm and sip the shot glass amount like tea first thing in the morning. 

Yesterday my brother and his wife dropped by and brought me some "Cyclone Cider" [pictured on the left], which he swears by and picked up at Whole Foods. Nasty tasting and smelling stuff (probably because it contains vinegar and horseradish root and why you only take a dropper sized amount!), but i thought it was interesting that this herbal tonic contains some of the same ingredients as ... menjurje!


Menjurje ingredients include (but not limited to, as i'm sure there are many variations):

• water 
• garlic
• ginger root
• lemons
• cinnamon
• honey

>> Amounts vary: In a large pot add at least one whole garlic, ginger root, the peeled lemon skins, and cinnamon sticks, to the water and--in low heat--bring to a boil. Strain into another pot, adding honey and squeezing the lemon juice to your liking.

Salud!

Old Moon* Rising

"It's a full moon tonight. You should see it. It's really cool." And she got out the car and sat with me on the curb to watch the Harvest Moon* rise through the thin clouds--the eerie looking ones that linger above haunted houses in cartoons. And we had reason to feel scared, but it wasn't from sitting in the moonlight. That was four moons ago. It was the last full moon we would see rise together ...


Every month, when visible, i watch the full moon rise and each month the sight amazes me. The moon has always held an important place in my life. Maybe because Astronomy, like Art, was my favorite subject in 3rd grade (a watershed year in my schooling for sure). I wanted to be an astronaut ... or at least learn to paint stars like Van Gogh.

By the time i was in high school, fell in love, and fell in love with poetry, the moon was a natural muse. While at Pasadena City College, a random conversation with a romantic on the bus home one night, led to him supplying the title for a book i was making for a girl i had fallen for: Alcanzando la luna ("Reaching The Moon"). Around the same time, I began listening to John Coltrane. Only months before recording his masterpiece, the highly influential A Love Supreme, in December of 1964, he recorded the slightly dark Crescent. That album, like the moon phase it's named for, continues to be my favorite. Many have sung about the moon, from Billie Holiday to Tom Waits, i'll have to dedicate an upcoming entry to all the beautiful music in honor of la luna.

I named my now 8-year old ragdoll cat, Moon, mainly because he was brought to us, an 8-week fluff ball of a kitten, by my cousin Mercedes on the night of an October full moon.

My late maternal grandmother, mi abulla Ana Mercedes, playfully said to me once after i pointed to a full moon: "Mira que linda la ingrata. Como se burla de mi" ("Look how beautiful and ungrateful she is. How she mocks me"). And not long ago my paternal grandmother, my Mama Merceditas, cautioned after a discussion on world events and the cosmos, "La luna ya no es la misma de antes ... tanto hombre que ha llegado a pisarla" ("The moon is not the same as she was ... so many men that have gone and stepped on her").

I am blessed and thankful for Grandmother wisdom.


*For more on the Moon and its folkloric names, visit EarthSky ... a fantastic, and by far my favorite, resource for Science and Astronomy.

Cousins

"Meliya & Dominic"

"Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends" ~Anonymous

... for my prim@s: Ivonne, Nancy, Mercedes, Victor, Gustavo (DJ Gusto), Claudia, y Sonia

San Fernando Road: Winter

... I've lived a couple blocks from the train tracks that run alongside San Fernando Road for over twenty years. The rumblings from passing freight trains could be felt all the way to our apartment building. Except for stretches of fencing, new sheltered bus stops that don't really shelter you from anything, and paint jobs to some of the warehouses, the stretch of San Fernando Road i live by hasn't changed much. Three bright primary color painted warehouses--the blue one now occupied by Golden Road Brewing--and relics like The Big Fish dive bar give this stretch a certain mystery. It's an area that feeds my L.A. noir imaginary. People you wouldn't run into any other part of Glendale inhabit, cruise by, and pop-up along San Fernando Road.

Lazy Days

... and somewhat disorienting warm days, but I welcome them. And I welcome the word 'Beautiful'. From a neighbor in an Armenian accent leaving to drop off her daughter at basketball practice. In spanish ("que dia mas bello"), from another neighbor stepping out for a smoke. Overhearing people on their cell phones describing the afternoon on their lunch breaks along Brand Boulevard. Checking out at Trader Joe's, from the clerk who always has a smile on his face (no matter what the weather). Reading it on friends' Facebook posts. Feeling it as I sit outside with Moon, chirping birds, and a breeze that reminds me to embrace this fleeting quiet beautiful moment.

Crow Haiku nu.2

deseos vuelan,
cruzan cantos azules ...
magia celestial

$20.51

"Your descendants shall gather your fruits." ~Virgil

Introduction ... Welcome 2012

INT. GLENDALE, CA. MORNING

hugO, prior to stretching, lay on the floor in his bedroom, and posts his first Facebook message of the year from his BlackBerry, connected to its charger. His cat, Moon, observes.

"...Good Morning 2012: ancestors, who dreamed for us the beauty of this day and into us the consciousness for this new processional cycle. Thank You Creator for this shift of rhythm and breath; for the love and acceptance of family and friends; the healing company and lessons of our pets and all animal, tree, and plant relatives; for nourishment from all directions; for this day to live fully ... And now off for the second annual mother-son New Year's Day hike. Let's go 2012! Vamos ♥"

And so began 1 January, 2012 ... and so i re-launch this blog with a new name and purpose. Up until this  entry (and an edit or two of a verse here and there), my postings have been mobile uploads from my BlackBerry Tour: which features a 3.2 megapixel camera. I thought i would've upgraded to the iPhone 4S (with an 8 megapixel cam!) when my contract expired in August; however, quitting my job in November made me re-prioritize my finances. Should i just wait for the iPhone 5 (!) certainly due out this coming Fall?

I read somewhere about street photography that the best camera to use is the one in your hands at that moment. Until i am able to afford and decide which digital SLR is right for me, the best camera in my hands will be the one on my mobile phone.

The majority of the entries will still be mobile uploads--simply because i've always enjoyed the ability to do so. Still, there are times when the comfort of and tools available on my MacBook Pro will be more convenient--especially for edits and enhancements to text and image: very few things i write are ever final drafts; however, i would like to capture moments and i'll try to leave whatever accompanying text in it's original version.

In 2012, my intention to live this day fully is a (re)commitment to this blog and two of my great passions: poetry and photography. No, i'm probably not going to write a poem a day. I don't have those kind of chops ... yet. Some pictures can be poetic on their own without any accompaniment. I guess that's why i prefer instrumental versions of many a jazz standard over their vocal ones. This blog is also my version of a "jazz workshop": representing creativity, spirit, and growth. A place to find and develop my chops. An offering to the journey ...

Welcome

photo by my moms, Mt. Hollywood Trail,  01.01.12