In the San Gabriel Valley, you do not have to travel far in order to see the wonders of nature – Arcadia Arboretum, The Huntington Library, the Los Angeles Zoo, or Arroyo Seco in Altadena, just to name a few. You can just head over, take your camera, and shoot away. This is when you can get the best practice – shooting relatively still objects, understanding and adjusting to different types of lighting, and experimenting with angles and perception. In addition to that, you can embrace natural beauty. Luckily for me, I do not always have to hop in my car and drive to these areas. I can open the back door and step outside.
Before purchasing the house, Taro and I were impressed with the array of plants, flowers, and herbs that filled the backyard. Now it is our yard and garden, a place where we can hold BBQs and let Peanut roam around freely to explore. Each time we go out there, we discover more and more. First it was the cat nip bush; Peanut was just rolling, a little bit of heaven for him. Then, during the summer, we discovered we had two peach trees which, by the way, produced amazing, delicious, juicy fruit! Recently, two gigantic stalks emerged. Taro and I realized that thanks to our bionic squirrel friends, they planted sunflowers. The sunflowers are so tall – taller than me, which means they are over five feet in height!
So whenever I want to get in tune with nature or just practice shooting, I just step outside and enjoy.
I randomly took this picture of a blue jay which flew out of our bush. Low and behold, it is carrying a peanut. No worries, not my Peanut though!
To leave you with something that embraces nature (the English major is coming out here):
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves besides them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company;
I gazed -and gazed- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought;
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I think it is funny that whenever we meet people, they call me and Taro newlyweds. I mean, we are newlyweds, but the term is just so strange. I have known Taro for a while now – we lived together in three different apartments, bought a house together, and share ownership of Peanut…all before getting married! So newlyweds? Yes. New to each other? Far from it. A series of questions will then follow after the newlyweds statement: When did you get married? Is it different being married? And of course, then there are comments like, “It’s your first [fill in the blank] as a married couple!” So I guess this was our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, but really I don’t see anything different about it. It is just an excuse to get each other something and then enjoy the night. We don’t need a day to celebrate love, but it is nice to know that there is someone special to celebrate the day with.
Our Valentine’s Day was pretty low key; I booked a massage for Taro at The Massage Place – he desperately needed one to get the knots out of his back from work – for an hour and a half and when he was done, we had lunch at home – sandwiches, salad (leftover from Mozza), and clam chowder from Bristol Farm (My fave!). What did we do afterward? Nap. Massages are exhausting and Taro slept for three hours! I only napped for an hour and did a mixture of reading and watching the Olympics when I woke up.
So at 6:30 p.m., we headed off to the Metro Gold Line since it now goes all the way to Little Tokyo. Once we got there, I had to pick up imagawayaki from Mitsuri Cafe; these things are amazing, especially when they are freshly made. I always buy some and take them home because they are one of my favorite things. Then we walked over to KaGaYa, a shabu shabu restaurant, which we went to a few years ago and really enjoyed. Shin-Sen-Gumi does not compare when it comes down to shabu shabu and why we haven’t returned earlier to KaGaYa, I’m not sure, especially since I remember how delicious their meat was and how their banana dessert was something to be remembered. So we were excited to return and it did not fail our expectations. I ordered the special – live king crab – and Taro ordered beef (USDA prime rib) with a side of premium wagyu beef. Live king crab is amazing; to order the regular Alaskan king crab does not even compare. We dipped it just long enough to have it cook and savored each bite; the portions were actually generous considering it also came with clams and oysters. The beef was also delicious, but when it came to the wagyu beef, it was like butter. You have to just count to three when you swirl it in the broth and then, it just melts in your mouth. Taro and I left KaGaYa stuffed and we seriously cannot wait to go back.
After dinner, we headed over to Casey’s Irish Pub to watch Joe Romero, Taro’s friend from high school, do an anti-Valentine’s Day stand-up. I have only been to the Laugh Factory once, but this was nice and intimate, and also a treat because it was Taro’s personal friend. There were a lot of jokes made about dating and overall, it was a night filled with laughs, drinks, and more laughs.
It was a good Valentine’s Day – nothing outrageous, just a nice day. So Happy Valentine’s Day again, Taro, and here is to many, many more.
Dark because of the pub (I didn’t want to use the flash to blind him), but here is a picture of Joe Romero making the audience laugh:
The first time I visited SPACE in South Pasadena was to check out Annie Helm‘s exhibit. When we were renting in South Pasadena, we were fortunate to live next to Annie. She not only was a nice, friendly neighbor (we miss living next door to her), but she is a wonderfully creative artist. I was excited to see her works on display, although I was lucky enough to have seen some of them in her apartment – delicately placed on a side table, hanging on the wall – and even more fortunate to see and hear some of the works in progress. We actually bought one of her pieces titled “Love Letters,” which we have hanging up in our bedroom. The piece struck us – probably really an extension of how Taro and I feel about each other – and we really wanted to support our dear friend, Annie. So that is how I discovered SPACE, which is a quaint gallery, located in South Pasadena on Mission Street, that not only showcases modern works, but provides an array of workshops for children, teenagers, and adults.
So as I was sifting through my email, I stumbled upon one from SPACE announcing a two day ceramics workshop, somewhat geared towards Valentine’s Day. I have always enjoyed “artsy” things – stamps and card-making as a teen, scrapbooking – both traditional and digital – and card-making (again!) as an adult – but I never actually did pottery or any hands-on type of work. So I thought, two days…that’s not a bad way to try something and if it isn’t for me, it’s not a huge commitment. I sent Taro a text message, asked him if he was interested, and to my surprise, he said yes. I signed us both up and anticipated what I was going to create at the ceramics workshop.
The two day workshop was a new experience, but a pleasant, fun, and relaxing one. I loved that when I walked in the first day, there was a welcoming feel and vibe in the gallery. In addition, there were books, plates, bowls, shapes, utensils, and clay sprawled out for anybody’s use with a table next to it filled with wine, cheese, and other goodies. The workshop wasn’t a “this is how you make a ceramic piece” type of class with strict instructions and guidelines. Instead, it was an environment that welcomed creativity with Rebecca Tager, the instructor, assisting in every way possible. Want to make a cup? Knock yourself out. An abstract, organic piece? Why not?
So Taro and I were able to create anything we wanted. So what did we do? We had to do our own interpretation of Peanut and because the workshop gave us an avenue to run with our crazy obsession about our cat, we each made a piece dedicated to the nut. I had so much fun creating my Peanut vase; I went into my own little world, throwing, sculpting, shaping, and on the second day, painting the piece and adding more texture and depth to it.
I cannot wait to see the final product, but overall, I am so glad that Taro and I tried something new. His piece, in my opinion, is amazing, especially for someone who doesn’t always do the “artsy” stuff! I cannot wait to do this again and am looking forward to the next ceramics workshop that SPACE will be offering.
This is my piece, before I started painting it:
Halfway through painting my ceramic piece, Taro came and this is what his piece looked like. He was very focused on getting the colors of Peanut just right!
Some of the final products before glazing:
Our figures side by side. I love them both – maybe even love Taro’s interpretation of Peanut even more than my own.
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