I HEART LA

Summertime concerts in the park between the towers in Century City.

Absolutely delightful!

TGIF

This week flew!

Clouds

Atticus

Boyhood

AMAZING!!!

TGIF

Heaven

Work isn't letting up.

Weekdays are indistinguishable from weekends, day from night.

So I was even more grateful

when I made it out of the house

for a sunset hike.

Now back to work.

Press Conference

Every July, 200 television critics from around the country gather

in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

Foe three weeks networks present their slate of upcoming programs through panels and interviews. 

I attended my first TCA in the early 90s as a studio exec.

Fifteen years later as a network executive I stood at the podium relaying the channel's performance.

Today I attended as an executive producer,

albeit an exhausted one.

Returning home from Atlanta at 1230am,

I only had four hours sleep before I needed to be in hair and makeup.

The make up artist told me there was a procedure to reduce the puffiness under my eyes.

Yep, it's called sleep, and being out of production.

Saturday

Life

One day your life will flash before your eyes.

Make sure it’s worth watching.

~Unknown

Inman Park

One of my favorite neighborhoods in Atlanta is Inman Park.

Rich with community pride and architectural gems, this was the first planned suburb of Atlanta.

In the 1880s, 130 acres east of the city was developed and connected to the metropolis

by the first electric street cars.

What technology initially gave, it eventually took away.

 In the 1950s, the automobile made neighborhoods north of the city more desirable and fashionable.

Residents fled, the exuberant Victorian homes seemed dated,

 and many mansions were subdivided into apartments.

Gentrification started in 1969 with the Beath-Dickey house,

a resident I unwittingly photographed (first photo).

Beath was an ice magnet who built the house to woo his fiancee from Boston.

She wasn't impressed, and never moved to Inman Park.

At least he tried.

Going for a Drive

A much needed long weekend,

but bittersweet to be spending it alone

in Atlanta.

After catching up on sleep, and work,

revisiting my favorite neighborhoods,

and hitting a few good consignment stores,

I went for a drive.

 A past time from my youth,

often suggested by my father.

Money was tight, but gas was cheap

and there was always some place within 30 minutes worth exploring.

My parents would pack us into the car and onto the backstreets of the Garden State we would go.

After college, my job in research at MTV afforded me the opportunity to travel domestically.
I would take advantage of having a rental car and go for drives
exploring neighborhoods I'd seen in movies,
or read about in travel magazines.
It was on those business trips I first discovered Highland Park, Illinois,
Tucson, Taos, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
I vividly remember the first time I drove the winding streets in the Hollywood Hills.
Pre GPS, I wandered directionless.
  Getting lost was part of the adventure, and I wondered about those who resided in this magical neighborhood.

Today, I drove 20 miles north of Atlanta to Marietta.

Initially selected as the hub for the new Western and Atlantic Railroad, business boomed in the late 1880s.  However, in 1840, political wrangling stopped construction, and in 1842, the railroad's new management decided to move the hub from Marietta to an area that would become Atlanta. 

Downtown was easy to find due to the large central square decked with flags and reenactment soldiers for the holiday.

I had a fresh fish tacos for dinner at a local restaurant

and snapped a few photos of the fountain.
The streets off the square were lined with large homes with wrap around porches
and empty wicker chairs.  A perfect invitation for ice tea and Southern gossip.

Americana

Americana, Atlanta Style

Fourth of July

LIFE WITHOUT LIBERTY IS LIKE BODY WITHOUT SPIRIT

Kahlil Gibran

 

Georgia Clouds

Production

On location way past midnight.