Joshua Tree

This summer I took a road trip out to Joshua Tree National Park. My cousin, a writer, was chosen to write for the artists' community in Joshua Tree and spent a few months living just outside the park.


The drive out to Joshua Tree was beautiful and deserted...


The trees and other flora were starkly graceful






While there, my cousin also befriended some of the locals

Virgin of Vegas

Made my first trip to Vegas at the ripe young age of 29 for a friend's bachelorette party. Pretty fun weekend, involving champagne brunches, Cirque du Soleil, outlet malls, Studio 54 and a Valley of Fire.


I love the Wynn... thematically filled with butterflies and all things colorfully whimsical, it's just a happy place to be.




Not to mention the random water creatures!


Ah yeah, and there are casinos too. Voila!


We tried some of the fancy food, and located some chocolate fountains... I also created a yummy strawberry ice dessert with condensed milk, but was so busy eating that I don't have photos of it. Will have to wait for those!






Valley of Fire photos to come...

Ranunculus! - The Flower Fields at Carlsbad

Ventured down south a bit to The Flower Fields at Carlsbad. Open March through May, the fields are bursting with color. The fields are widely planted with Ranunculus flowers in an array of fruity colors. They also had special little gardens with some of my favorites, like foxglove and sweet peas.


Me laughing at the person taking my photo's bewilderment at the burst function on my camera.


~Foxglove~


~Sweet peas~

MOD- Museum of Death

Visited the Museum of Death up in Hollywood this weekend. Definitely not a place for the weak of heart, or people prone to nightmares or acid-tripping. It's a small museum just off Hollywood Blvd that houses some of the most interesting and disturbing relics of the history of death in the US. Everything from embalming tools, to mortuary matchbooks, various sized coffins, shrunken heads, taxodermy, and streaming videos of autopsies and burials. We respected the sweet caretakers' request not to take photos inside. There were walls covered with paintings and letters written by serial killers, some of their artwork, books, magazines, photos of victims, etc. Also on display was a recreation of the bunk beds and corpses of the Heaven's Gate cult, with actual clothing and head rags acquired from the bodies of the cult members after death.


Visiting the museum left me with... a sense of horror and despair, and also perhaps a deeper insight into the psychology of various killers and their inner drives. The people who ran the museum were very nice and informative- they happened to have siamese turtles, lovingly named after the famous siamese twins, Eng and Chang Bunker.


A big thanks to the museum caretakers, and peace and love to Eng and Chang.

Julian

last November, i went on a family excursion down to Julian, a mellow little town that lies in the north eastern hills of San Diego County. we had hoped to do some apple picking, but we had just missed the end of the season by a few weeks. still, there were plenty of apples in the pies to be had. along with rhubarb pies. and strawberry pies. and cherry rhubarb pies! we chose a place called Moms for our afternoon feast.

my nephew and sister are ready for some pie!


i have confidence in a baker that has a strong appreciation for the powers of butter.


we watched the baking process in line as the warm scents of baked goods wafted past our noses...



and our patience was well rewarded. voila! freshly baked hot apple pie a la mode~

late night state of mind

if there were a god of small things...


and his little dog too.

sakura, sakura

It's been a while since I've posted- just haven't been pulling out my camera to shoot much since cold weather tends to send me indoors seeking warmth. Signs of spring have been popping up here and there though, and once again, my camera and I have emerged. Last weekend was the annual Hiroken Hanami Picnic at Beilenson Park in Los Angeles. Hanami literally translates into flower viewing, but in Japan, it's traditionally the viewing of and celebration of cherry blossom season. What a beautiful thing to celebrate!