The Ennis House

Winding up the road from Los Feliz Boulevard,

the Ennis House rises from the hillside like an ancient temple.

This sturdy concrete structure hunkers into the land like a spaceship.

Frank Lloyd Wright completed the house in 1924, and immediately considered it his favorite.

It was built for Charles Ennis, the owner of a downtown men's clothing store,

and Mayan art enthusiast.

Revered by architects,

it is arguably the best residential example of Mayan Revival architecture in the country.

This experimental concrete structure was significantly damaged in the '94 Northridge earthquake,

and was red tagged after torrential rains in '04.

In 20011, the house sold to billionaire Ron Burkle for less than 5 million dollars (!!!),

70% less than asking price.  Structural repairs were costly, but certainly a steal for one of the greatest houses in America.

Spring Blooms Under A Dramatic Sky

Sentimental Education

Henry James, an early and passionate admirer of Flaubert,

 considered the book a large step down from its famous predecessor.

 "Here the form and method are the same as in "Madame Bovary"; the studied skill, the science, the accumulation of material, are even more striking; but the book is in a single word a dead one. "Madame Bovary" was spontaneous and sincere; but to read its successor is,

 to the finer sense, like masticating ashes and sawdust.

 Sentimental Education is elaborately and massively dreary.

 That a novel should have a certain charm seems to us the most rudimentary of principles, and there is no more charm in this laborious monument to a treacherous ideal than there is interest in a heap of gravel."

I agree one hundred percent with Henry James.

Jon Stewart

Oh, Jon Stewart,

I'm going to miss you.

Antique Car Show

PS

Photos

Accidentally changed a setting in google + that has made all of my photos disappear.

Can not retrace my steps.  Don't even know how I happened upon it in the first place, but I did this morning, randomly, and foolishly checked a box that has obliterated my photos.

These simple, split second accidents drop me down a technological,

trouble shooting black hole.

It's a time suck and very frustrating.

And they occur more often than I like to admit.
 Ah, the infant stages of technology in which we live.

bougianvilla

Day Tripping

An ebay purchase,

hard to find vintage Brown Jordan chaise lounges to match my patio furniture in PS,

led to an unexpected Presidents Day road trip to Newport Beach.

My GPS tends to find me driving north or east.

South is a very uncommon direction.  

I embraced the adventure, and after a google search decided on 

Crystal Cove State Park for a 5 mile hike in the bluffs

followed by a stroll by the water and nap on the beach.

Sometimes the universe takes us on a circuitous route to give us exactly what we need.

Glorious day in nature with my camera.

I feel invigorated to face a new week.

Still Alice

Loved the script,

the film is even more poetic.

Gorgeous performances.

The stunning Julianne Moore is raw,

grounded, authentic.

Not an easy movie to watch.

In truth, disturbing and very scary.

One does not know what the future holds for loved ones or oneself.

Love

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand grimaced during the Golden Globes.

She seemed unable to hide her disdain for her uber-thin, and smooth skinned peers.

This interview makes me think I was dead on.

When Things Fall Apart

When things are shaky and nothing is working,

we might realize that we are on the verge of something.

 We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place,

 and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality.

Pema Chodron

Laura Linney

I hear someone complain about aging and I just feel almost violent, you know? I don't want to spend my life in my 40s feeling bad about being in my 40s, and then all of a sudden I'm 50, and I will have missed a whole decade! I think it's pretty damn good to age and I hope I always feel this way.

–Laura Linney, who turns 51 today

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

The Remains of the Day