Go West Project - Tommy

On the count of three,
jump.

Smile.

Point to the sign.

Just one more.

Tommy was growing weary of starring in his mother's Instagram feed.

He couldn't walk in a park, eat a meal, or open a present

without the experience plastered online for the world to see.

Tommy's mother started a blog when he was a baby.

He has been photographed longer than his oldest memories.

Recently,  he started to hide behind his hands, pout instead or smile,

but his mother told him people paid her money for this images.

He was her brand, whatever that meant.

Without these photographs she wouldn't have an award winning blog or a coffee table book.

Would he prefer not to have video games, or weekly gelato?

So even though he didn't want to,

he smiled and stood still

and let her take his picture in front of The Hollywood Sign.

Interlopers Looking At The Sign

Every year more and more tourists,
in search of The Hollywood Sign,

clog the winding streets in hills where I live.

Areas with accessible parking and killer views have become pit stops
 on sight-seeing road trips.

 People haphazardly park along the slopping curb,

climb out of their cars, stretch their legs

and snap selfies in front of the iconic backdrop. 

The interlopers form a hub of international activity

on an otherwise quiet trek through the neighborhood.  

First Gentleman

ROLE MODEL

HRC

Hillary Rodham Clinton has more experience than any other Presidential nominee.

First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State.

Yet her experience is viewed by many as a liability.

She's part of the establishment, and therefore won't bring about change.

It's hard for me to separate the criticism from her gender.

A man would not be denounced for his accomplishments.

The spin is to taint her performance.

Create scandal where there isn't any.

I wholeheartedly believe if her experience was lesser than,

she'd be condemned for not being up for the task.

One must have thick skin to shatter the glass ceiling.

She is slammer for that too.

  Is she perfect?

No

Is anyone?

No

Is she qualified?

Absolutely.

Do I believe she wants to unite this country and aid it's growth, domestically and internationally?

I do.

Do I believe she wants to keep us safe.

I do.

Do I believe she has the diplomacy, and relationships to do so?

I do.

Would I feel this way even if her opponent was a mature, intellectual worthy candidate?

I would.

Go get 'em HRC.

Make history not because you're the  first female POTUS,

but because you're an exceptional one. 

Barck Obama Makes Me Swoon

From the floor of the DNC

where he will reign for the last time as our President.

he spoke these words:

"We are not a fragile or frightful people.

Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order. We don’t look to be ruled.

Our power comes from those immortal declarations

first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago;

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal;

that together, We, the People, can form a more perfect union.

That’s who we are.

That’s our birthright – the capacity to shape our own destiny.

That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent.

It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot,

and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma,

and workers to organize and fight for better wages.

America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us.

It’s always been about what can be achieved by us,

together, through the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating,

but ultimately enduring work of self-government."

I LOVE this man.

He makes me proud to be an American

during one of the most challenging times in our country's history.

A time when an egotistical, immoral reality start who is ill-equipped for the job

is the Republican nominee.

A time when gun violence is rampant due to the ease in which one can buy a gun in this country.

It is insane that it is harder to buy Sudafed than an assault rifle.

A time when racism and civil unrest

are mirroring the turbulent '60s.

Thankfully, the counterpoint is a moral, graceful, intellectual President.

I don't know if Hillary can rise to Obama's standards since I think he is in a league of his own,

but I know she is in striking distance.

Trump isn't even on the same playing field.

Pixies

I feel in every girl

there lives a spirit,

a wild pixie,

that if let go, 

would run and dance in grassy fields

until the end of the world.

And when that girls grows up,

that pixie hides,

but it's always there,

peaking out behind old eyes

and reading glasses

laughing, waiting, 

to one day dance again.

atticus

Go West Project - Amber

Amber and several of her friends are turning 40 this summer.

Back in December, they decided to celebrate this milestone with box seats at The Hollywood Bowl.

Coordinating everyone's schedules and agreeing on who to see was harder than they expected,

but after multiple emails there was a consensus: Sting and Peter Gabriel.

Earlier that day, a narcissistic coworker had gotten the best of Amber's spirits. 

Her mood was further challenged by traffic and a $45 Uber ride.

Elle's advice, to just let it ago, was well-meaning, but if she heard another zen quip from her friend,

she might just have to punch her.

A glass of champagne took the edge off and Amber found herself relaxing for the first time that day.

She felt special as the guard escorted them to their box.

The seat next to her remained empty until after the rock stars claimed the stage.  

A wisp of a woman in a black cotton dress and dark statement glasses slipped in.

  She made eye contact with Amber, who immediately looked away,

when she realized the familiar face belonged to Courtney Cox. 

The Hollywood Bowl

Peter Gabriel's SO was part of the soundtrack from my first summer living in Manhattan.

When I heard him sing the familiar lyrics at the Hollywood Bowl

his voice cut through thirty years like a hot knife slicing an ice cream cake.

I was transported to a train on a muggy summer afternoon returning to the city

after a weekend in Avalon.  

Drowsy from too much sun and too little sleep,

the outside world was shut out by his vocals pumping through the headset of my Walkman.

I wore my post college independence like a coveted designer power suit.
The world was waiting for me to explore it.

Gabriel shared the stage with Sting whose music spans decades from my past, 

thus the memories he stirred were less specific, but piercing all the same.

It was a phenomenal show enhanced by excellent seats, and a glowing moonrise.

Hitchcockian Nights

North by Northwest, a mid-century masterpiece,

is an ideal movie to see on a big blow up screen 

on a lawn under the Santa Monica Mountains.

On any given summer weekend in LA a half dozen movies are playing in pop-up outdoor theaters.

Parks and rooftops are the modern American drive in.

Food truck fare, sangria bars, and elaborate picnics have replaced concession stands.

The conditions have evolved, but the thrill,

when the sky darkens, and the movie begins to roll,

is exactly the same.

Books

Can't keep up with how much I've been reading,

especially the unpublished manuscripts.

These are the ones I recall.

Decaying Roses along Sunset

Kim West

A visit to Kim West's studio in Boyle Heights,

resulted in a purchase from her 101 Series.

"This series is based on compulsively taken photos while driving the 101

between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara,

at a time when endings were imminent.

They --

the palms and the photos, and the work they inspire --

are residual proofs of love and friendship.

There is softness and some comfort in these landscapes,

in their unbound, sometimes blurred, undefinable edges."

The Lazy Photographer

Go West Project - Rose

At five, Rose is obsessed with reading.

She pulls books off the shelves which she's never read before

to challenge her reading and comprehension skills.

She's often found in the kitchen baking, and sampling her confections.

She's articulate, witty and wise.

The camera loves her effervescence, as do I.

BBQ + Fireworks = The Fourth of July

We, the people, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights;

that our destinies are bound together;

that a freedom which asks only,

what’s in it for me,

a freedom without a commitment to others,

a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism,

is unworthy of our founding ideals,

and those who died in their defense.

Barack Obama

We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barack_obama.html

We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barack_obama.html

The Lazy Photographer - Silver Lake