Summer Grooves

Locos Por Juana

Never Forget

Summer Moods

Window Seat: Ritual/Remembrance

Still Blue

Luck Rides The Bus

Poker Face

It Could Happen ... Soon

Roasted, Brewed & Served by hugO Chávez

"I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee." ~Carly Simon

Crow Haiku XIII

between summer wings
memories shape the currents
fly away and dance

Break On Through

"I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day ... " ~John Muir

Cali Cruising

... what better way to end "Cali Week" and head into summer than with a cruise down San Fernando Road in a classic Thunderbird?

California Caretakers

... the uncle of the young man on the ladder, along with his father, have been taking care of the trees in Glendale for over thirty years. I've always wanted to know how the tough, indeed dangerous, dead palms of a palm tree are removed; as well as why some palm trees, an unofficial symbol of Southern California, are neglected--the ones you won't find on postcard.

California Lav

... he wasn't coming at me, per se. He was yelling at a man double parked on the street. I knew i'd be right between the men as this guy approached the man in the car. I clandestinely readied my BlackBerry at the hip ... it reminds me of this shot.

F California

"Stuff your eyes with wonder ... live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It is more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories."

~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

And one more from a brilliant author ...

"We must move into the universe. Mankind must save itself. We must escape the danger of war and politics. We must become astronauts and go out into the universe and discover the God in ourselves."

Somewhere across those outer planes of there, Ray Bradbury is having a beer with Sun Ra ...

Good Morning California!

This week i'll share some recent pix i've taken along the street i live on.

Walk With Me

De la mano [September 2011]

... just wanted to acknowledge all the Fathers, Pops, and Papis and Daddies, and, of course, the Dad-like figures in our lives. Felíz dia del padre! Happy Father's Day! 

[Still scrolling through the archives. This pic of my brother and his son is in honor of those men helping to raise their sons and daughters with an open heart and mind to the infinite possibilities available to them, and us all, when we treat one another with respect, acceptance and compassion.]

Writer Cool Cat

Dos Gatos [February]

A quote that sums up this Cat Week:

"Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance." ~Dan Greenburg

... perhaps sometimes. Y'all already know it's been a slow week of mobile shooting and navigating through the rhythms and grind at Spring's end. But Cat Week is no excuse to simply lay back and shuffle through pics from the archive: I remind you of this quote.

I chose this pic--from my MacBook's webcam--to end Cat Week because it's like a "behind-the-scenes" still of this blog. (Here, the then-unemployed, yet smiling, blogger with his peaceful gato.) Whether i post directly from my BlackBerry or from my laptop, i'm usually sitting on the couch ... with Moon looking over my shoulder; and when he's not, he's taking up virtually the entire couch and i have to move a couple pillows and make myself comfortable somehow. He's my biggest critic, really, as you can tell. 

Summer's but a few days away and this blog's nearly at the half way point of daily offerings for this processional cycle. Grateful everyday in all ways ... here's to our four-legged companions that also remind us to live each day fully. 

Do You Remember The Time?

When We First Met [Autumn 2011]

"In ancient Egypt cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have not forgotten this." ~Terry Pratchett

The mood of the past couple of days demands i also revisit a favorite MJ tune. Feel free to worship at :24 seconds into video, at 1:01, and at 9:10 ... at least remember.

This Knight Also Rises ... Or Not

Bat Cat [April 2011]

It should be obvious that Moon takes great pleasure acting out his cat noir scenarios.

Always There

Give Me Paw! [March 2011]

"A meow massages the heart." ~Stuart McMillan

The Cats On The Bus

Here Kitty!

Shadow Without A Doubt

Okay, so maybe it's Cat Week--again. Maybe. And maybe i've just been sluggish at capturing moments that inspire ( ... but i'd like to think Hitchcock would've framed a shot like this--if he directed cats). Maybe, after 7-weeks, i'm still trying to adjust to the rhythm of having a job to go (... a six-day work week also looms). But, as Spring is soon to lay out, the shadow of one lingering rhythm remains ...

These Jazzy Cats

Dance Me Through The Alleys That Our Whiskers Have Outworn

"There are two means of refuge from the misery of life - music and cats. ~Albert Schweitzer

Crow Haiku #12

somewhere there i'll find
you vigilant as always
absorbing black rays
before flight from branches where
sun meets beak meets creation

Time Enough

... which reminds me: i must compile books to read this summer. So please do share: what's on your reading list? Do you have a favorite reading spot? 

Let Me Grow

SOLitude

Aunts & Uncles

Waiting Room, 6th Floor

Venus if you will ...

The Venus Transit

... Well, at least I tried. My set up was the same as i used to watch the annular eclipse. However, the projection was much too small to get a glimpse of Venus crossing our Sun. Until the next time, my love.

2239

know tomorrow
won't come home on a someday
with yesterday's key

It's All Music

iYouWeMakeBeautifulMusic2gether

"Don't you know 
We are close to all that's music 
Live and move in music
Our whole being is music 
Love is music
Peace is music
It's all music ..."

~from 'Is Music' by Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio (Love is the Answer, 2005)

Thought i'd leave you with a dope beat to end the week and begin again. and to dance beneath a full moon to ... 

Who's Got Your Back?

Crow Poets

[From Left to Right]: Noreen Lawlor, Friday Lubina (tattooed), and Maureen Alsop ... three of about  a dozen poets that read today at Vroman's Bookstore and included in the wonderful anthology A Bird Black As The Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens. 

Which Way?

Arroyo Street Lamp