I started my day off here and didn’t do much else.

It was her first time. She enjoyed the gardens, the architecture and the West pavilion’s photography exhibit. I dug the harsh sun and the people doing their very LA things.

One pedestrian at a time.

Arts District Los Angeles, formerly known as the Warehouse District, reminds me of an underdeveloped DUMBO. Unused rail lines lead to fences. Buildings are covered in well-known stencil art. The sidewalks are mangled by the remnants of construction work either left unfinished or postponed. There’s even a nice view of Downtown from the area. Anna and I walked over to The Novel Cafe to scout the neighborhood’s vibe because we’re hunting for a new, semi-permanent home (Everything in your late-20′s to early-30′s is semi-permanent). She’s also not native to Los Angeles and we’re trying to visit as much of LA before jobs take over our time. I could photograph the streets of LA all day every day. In fact, I could photograph anything, anytime all day every day. This neighborhood makes me think, “Why not?”

He’s recently lured me to the bright lights of a bowling alley. Champions are made on Monday nights.

I’m not inspired by fruit, flowers or vegetables. In fact, I get really frustrated at farmers markets because I can’t try most of the produce. I’m allergic to birch pollen, so nectarines, pears, peaches, apples, and kiwi – items always left out in volumes for sampling – are never for me. I’m left to do those other market things – people watching, voyeurism, spying. I stalked the homeboy above because he had the best product transport at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Makes me think you can be fashionable even when you’re only task is searching for the best figs in town.

He just likes to make sure we’re alright.

I don’t know much about Culver City, Ca. My time in the area revolved around the Samy’s Camera just west of this shot. I hear galleries have opened (and closed) over the last few years, the rents are alright and there’s a “scene.” I’ve only ever visited the city three times and I’m a native Angeleno. The other day I met up with Oscar for lunch and he helped shed a little light around the area I was in.

OG: “I hear there is a movie lot around here and The Wizard of Oz was filmed there.”
ME: “Oh yeah?”
OG: “Yeah. See that hotel over there? Apparently the entire munchkin cast stayed there.”
ME: “No kidding.”

The interior needs lots of work, but you couldn’t tell from the polished exterior. The Chevrolet DeLuxe is Pancho‘s new ride.

Notorious for being the old stomping grounds of Charles Bukowski (a rumor no one I know has ever been able to verify) the Smog Cutter sits between gangland Los Angeles and the Western fringe of Los Feliz/Silverlake. The bar is small in square footage but large in personality. If you’re not ready for pushy/playful bartenders demanded you buy another drink, a cramped setting and lukewarm Budweiser, then go elsewhere. This is the place where “dive” really means something. And where karaoke shines.