Please Happy

From her and about her.

Hollywood Farmers Market.

Here’s another little Watts story. As you can tell, I have taken quite a liking to Rosa Gutierrez and her children.

Cruz Pineda.

Katie Bachler spent her Tuesdays this summer on East 107th street in Watts, observing nature with neighborhood kids.

The 28-year-old taught her students how to break open a peach pit to reveal the almond-like center, how to find natural beauty in their city street and how to document it in personal journals.

Bachler and friend Sarah Dougherty taught a weekly class to kids who live across from the famous Watts Towers. The natural history of Los Angeles was the subject. Bachler is a graduate of the Masters of Public Art Studies program at University of Southern California. But, it’s really the intersection of art and nature that inspires her and inspires her to teach.

“We came up with this curriculum about native plants in L.A.,” she said. “How nature’s in the city and you can find beauty everywhere.” Read more

End of North Spring Street, abutting Los Angeles Historic Park.

These guys are related to the ones in Chadds Ford. Shot this at the site of the Not a Cornfield project behind Farmlab/Metabolic Studios on Spring Street.

Went to a “salon” downtown at FarmLab today. Six people presented six minute slideshows on ideas ranging from macro/micro perspectives on art to the changing food culture (urban farming, neighboring countries’ and corporate influence) in Mongolia. We ate homemade lunch and sat family style, on couches and chairs watching the presenters.

Then, I found this in the space behind the space.

A friend wrote yesterday to ask about blogging. Should she do it? Who would read it? Why blog…?

My abridged response to her:

Blogging is so awesome. It’s way more time-consuming than I originally thought it would be. I think if you decide to start a blog, you have to realize that it’s going to be a daily commitment, like getting a dog. You have to feed it, take it on walks, cuddle it, think about what food to buy, where to find the most environmentally-sound toys, etc. It’s another full time job.

So go for it!

But, think about your audience. Who are you writing/shooting for and what is the point?

At first, I thought I was writing for potential employers. They’ll see my witty posts and captivating pics, and they’ll want to hire me (still waiting on that one). At times, I was writing to impress the man in my life (if I write a great post, he’ll love me more). Then, I thought I was writing for teachers (you guys did such a good job that I’m now A Blogger!). Now, I try to write for my family, my fiancé, my faraway friends, my future kids and myself. As my mentor Judy Muller said, it’s about noticing things. Then, noticing that you’re noticing.

When I forget that it’s about noticing, not not only do I get depressed that I’m not wildly famous, but my stuff gets self-conscious and boring.

I had to take a break when I got to grad school because I started trying to write about the “future of journalism.” I wanted to be Jay Rosen or Henry Jenkins. But, then I remembered that the stuff I love to write about is the stuff I notice. Like, the reindeer and snowflake ornaments hanging from the banister at my new favorite coffee shop or the light in my cats’ eyes or the little shoots of green growing out of a Los Angeles sidewalk. Beauty in the chaos.

And it became fun again.