Sketched over the summer, somewhere in Venice, CA

block hunter

Most of the concrete blocks I find occur all over town but so far this one has only been spotted in La Mesa. So it's herby named the "La Mesa Block".

Solana Beach Transit Station

The Solana Beach Transit Station is an award winning building by Rob Wellington Quigley. This is a really beautiful station that fits well with the character of Solana Beach. The Amtrack, Coaster and Metrolink all flow through this station. I didn't have time to thoroughly check out the place and grab a coffee or beer because it was a work-related visit but hopefully more photos and research will follow.

tijuana

The thought of an 'other' country, with other food, other language, other culture, just 20 minutes due south has always intrigued me. For a $5 trolley ride or a $5 parking fee Tijuana is available to any i.d. carrying U.S. Citizen. To get there you park and walk about 15 minutes to a surprisingly poorly identified but large concrete ramp. Steph and I had to keep asking people if we were going the right way. Maybe entering Mexico by car is much more festive because it sure wasn't on foot. You go up the concrete ramp and then over the I-5 on a pedestrian bridge where you get a nice lay of the border-checkpoint-land. The cars slowly creep towards the U.S. while Mexicans et. al. walk up and down the lanes soliciting goods and border guards search vehicles and confiscate Zanax and Churros. In TJ, the sidewalk scene is a total change from the mall we left our car at in the U.S. The TJ storefronts are close together with hand-painted signs, signs everywhere and merchandise spilling out onto the sidewalks. The Pacificos, Tecate and Corona beeers taste great for 99 cents on a sunny day on a Tijuana patio with hot salsa and fresh chips. After two of those the urge to start buying up chihauhas and inexpensive pharmaceuticals was strong but I fought it off. The walk back to the border and wait in the customs line was pretty uneventful except for the guards amusement looking at our passport photos. Steph looks like a baby-dyke and I look like a chinese exchange student. Of course, now we both look hot.

Tomorrow I run a 5K for T-day. Aside from fear of being trampled, fear of sweaty armpits, and fear of numbers, I think I'll do fine.

egg testing

Mulatto eggs laid by free-roaming chickens in Apple Valley, CA.

$3/dozen @ Hillcrest Farmer's Market

To the left is the egg from the happy free-roaming chicken that probably had a summer of love and was there for Roosterstock. To the right is an egg from a Ralph's grocery store cage-free chicken that never knew what happiness was. Notice the darker yolk of the egg on the left. It was also significantly better tasting.

(Next Post - Tijuana)

mixture

My favorite design store and the best in San Diego, Mixture, sponsored a children's art benefit for A Reason To Survive (ARTS) last night. ARTS is a San Diego based non-profit organization and together with Mixture they hosted their 4th Annual Children's Art Auction "Heart Strings, The Art of Music". The art was very impressive and the fact that they didn't have coasters for $1,500 - $9,000 showroom furniture was also impressive.

Which one...Eva, Michele or the Scavolini Kitchen?