Halfway through my class today at the typically tranquil Vera Davis Center —
— the power went out. Luckily we were outside shooting on our battery-operated cameras, not in the midst of editing our masterpieces! The power never did come back on before the kids went home at 5:30, and according to the radio, the rest of the city was struggling as well. I tried to document the crazy wind gusts from behind the wheel, but not only was this physically difficult and irresponsible of me (stop and go, anyone? It seems to be a recurring problem!) but I kept getting distracted by the houses, plain concrete boxes though they were.
Here we are on Walgrove Avenue. Note dramatically bent palm tree!
I love the improvised courtyard stairwell here, and can’t help but think it was the result of a landlord’s zoning conundrum, or something. The vaguely Chinese gate/overhang combination is also lovely to me — whoever was making the decisions here made some strong but understated aesthetic choices. And, of course, you have the typically hilarious Los Angeles individualized address situation: Unit A? Apt 3? Why, no, thank you. Each of us is somewhere between 2350 and 2374.
Then I decided to pay attention to driving, in time to watch a Clear Channel digital billboard black out, and a series of traffic lights go dark, starting at Venice and Sepulveda. End times! (No accidents witnessed, however.)