MY TWO MOMS

I've got another summer sinus infection. Every time I'm sick and laying in bed feeling miserable I start missing my Mom. No matter how old you get, the thought of Mom coming in to bring you food and company and TLC is comforting. So in lieu of the fried matzo my Mom will never be able to make for me anymore, I comforted myself by digging into old Hi8 videotapes and watching some home movies from a lifetime ago. In the 5 and a half years since my Mom's passing, I think this is only the third time I've needed to watch videos again just to see her and hear her voice. It's a dicey thing to bring out the videos - usually seeing my Mom makes me feel good - but you just don't know is it going to make you too upset as well. I pulled out tapes from 1991 and 1992 - tapes that had my Mom and my second Mom, my Aunt Lisa, too. I think this is the first time I've seen any of these images since around the time frame they were first shot. It felt so good to see my Mom laughing and being her vivacious self. In the case of my Aunt's video, I had recorded her 75th birthday at her apartment in West Hollywood - virtually my second home. I was only 22 when I shot the video but for some reason I had the presence of mind to actually do a walk through the apartment documenting the rooms and the little knickknacks and photos on different tables. How wonderful it was to see all the details again. At one point I even captured my Aunt and Dad talking to each other in German (a very rare occurrence). So Mom and Aunt Lisa, today I think of you both strongly and am so glad to be able to see you again.

I just came across this photo of my Mom a couple weeks ago when I was looking through old photos. I just love it. She looks so beautiful and radiant and I love her smile.

A photo of me and my Aunt in her apartment I think around 1989. The look on my face says it all - how much I love her and how safe and loved I feel when I'm with her.

A PERFECT DAY

Practically everyday in L.A. is a blue sky day, but clouds, well they're harder to come by. But today little puffy clouds were sprawled across the Valley sky and the view was beautiful to say the least. Here is a Polaroid diptych taken in my back yard midday and my front yard at sunset.

A Perfect Day Polaroid Diptych by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 29, 2008 in Encino, CA

THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY

Ever since I bought my Sony T100 that uses a Memory Stick Duo card and I bought a Sandisk 4 gig SDHC card for my D40/D80 cameras, my life uploading images has been bothersome to say the least. The Sony card doesn't fit in my Lexar multi-card reader without first sticking into a separate Sony adapter. I'm constantly searching on my desk for the damn little adapter piece that manages to always get stuck in between papers, fall into my drawer, or worse, fall on the floor. In the case of my Sandisk SDHC card (the Ducati Edition from the Extreme line), the big selling point for me to buy the card was not only could it fit into my card reader but it also can fit in any USB port - theoretically making it twice as convenient to unload my images to a computer. But the rub is that my Lexar card reader (purchased at Walmart in January 2004 while on a road trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico) can't read the card. It has read other SDHC cards before so I don't know what the incompatibility issue is. So every time I want to use it, I have to turn my iMac around, unplug one of my USB devices, put the card in, turn the computer back, upload the images, turn the computer back around, take the card out, and turn my computer back to where it started. When you have to do this every single day it becomes really annoying. The idea behind the convenience of having the USB attachment on this Sandisk card isn't so you can't use it with your card reader, the idea is that if you find yourself at a computer that doesn't have a card reader, you can still upload images in a snap. But spinning my computer around day after day wasn't my idea of a snap. I couldn't take it anymore so I went to Fry's yesterday (the absolute worst place for customer service but the best place to find all your computer and electronics items under one roof) and bought a new card reader. Well finally I can breathe easier and upload images quickly and easily all from the same device! I selected a Sony 17 in 1 multi-card reader / writer because I figured it was probably the only reader that would let me use my tiny Memory Stick Duo card without having to use that damn adapter. It's also really nice and sleek and minimalist looking too. Even though Sony makes PC's, the design is very evocative of my nice aluminum iMac. I tried it out as soon as I got home and it works like a charm - the best part of all.

A VISITOR IN ONE'S OWN CITY

Sunday I went to Franklin Canyon Park for the first time. It's a huge wilderness spot in between the city (Beverly Hills) and the Valley located near where Coldwater Canyon meets Mulholland Drive (across the street from the Tree People). Had I not been there to partake in a Polaroid Nerd Out event, I never would have even known it was there. I was shocked by the sheer size of it -Franklin Canyon Park is really vast - 600 acres in all. Part of the parks history dates back to 1914 when William Mulholland constructed L.A.’s first reservoirs at the top of Franklin Canyon and one of these reservoirs is really the setting for the opening sequence of the "Andy Griffith Show" where Opie (Ron Howard) tosses a stone into the lake. I spent most of my time on Sunday at one area of the upper reservoir, but there's plenty left to explore when I return. A lot of the trails were pretty flat and not rocky so I may experiment with my mountain bike one day. And it was definitely a dog friendly park so I will have to bring Lucy The Boxador as well.

Polaroid photos (Polaroid 195 using expired Fuji FP-100C instant color film):

I think all these tall, feather like plants appearing in many of the shots are Common Reed (Phragmites). They were absolutely stunning up close.








With this shot, I wanted to see if the Fuji FP-100C could really capture all the different shades of green coming from so many different plants and trees. I think it did a very good job.



Sony T100 digital shots:
I think this may be a Redwood tree, it was really beautiful and kind of graceful. I enjoyed it's cool shade for quite some time.





Me (fairly thrashed after too many hours out in the 100 degree heat) holding my homemade sign.


All photos by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 24, 2008 in Beverly Hills, CA

Franklin Canyon Park
2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
(310) 858-7272

FAMILY TRUCK

John and Paul Thaden - father and son. The truck (a 1995 Ford F150 XLT) was originally owned by John's Dad, Clarence, who passed it down to his grandson Paul.

Photos by Lydia Marcus
Photographed July 26, 2008 in Encino, CA

TIME TRAVELER

Polaroid photo by Lydia Marcus
Photographed February 24, 2007 in Encino, CA

For behind the scenes info about the making of this photograph go see it on my Flickr page.

A HONEYDEW FOR ME AND YOU

On Sunday I had some fresh honeydew and just when I was about to throw out the rind I decided why not let Lucy have a lick at it. I put it on the floor of the kitchen and in mere seconds she had picked it up in her mouth and carried it into the living room - her favorite spot to eat any treat. She loved the honeydew (her first time tasting it) and I had a blast taking photos.

Lucy placing the honeydew "bowl" down on the carpet.

Digging in full snout.

Getting tired of eating standing up, Lucy takes a more relaxed approach.

Licking her chops at the tail end of the sugar rush.

This is my favorite photo - the look in her eyes says it all - honeydew hangover!

At this point, she just started looking guilty - either she thought she'd done a bad thing or perhaps the honeydew was just too much of a good thing.

Pure honeydew exhaustion - sugar low - Lucy MUST rest.

Lucy The Boxador photos by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 17, 2008

GETTY GREEN

Getty Center photo by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 15, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA

WHO IS TOUGHER?

OR

Halloween Polaroid photos by Lydia Marcus
Photographed October 31, 2006 in West Hollywood, CA

TESTAROSSA & TRASH

Testarossa & Trash photo by Lydia Marcus
Photographed May 13, 2008 in Beverly Hills, CA

ENCINO COMMONS: THE VALLEY'S MIRACLE MILE

A new sign reaching across the Plaza de Oro to the Encino Town Center. I like it!

Encino Commons photo by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 13, 2008 in Encino, CA

TIDE POOLIN'

Leo Carrillo beach in Malibu is consistently one of my favorite places to visit and photograph. I just love climbing around the rocks and investigating the tide pool. There are several ways to get there, but I usually take the 101 North to Malibu Canyon, head south over to Pacific Coast Highway, then West (a right turn) on PCH approximately 25 miles until you hit Leo Carrillo. From the Valley to Leo it's about a 45 minute to hour drive each way. The tide pool is just in front of the #3 lifeguard tower (and incidentally, dogs are allowed on leash from this tower and continuing west up the beach). I just google low tide Malibu to find out the best time to go there and check out the tide pool. Usually there's a several hour window about an hour before to an hour after low tide that's good. If you go after that, the waves usually are just hitting the rocks too hard and it can be dangerous to stand there. I always see tons of starfish (many different colors including orange, light blue, and purple), sea anemones (they are really fun to touch), mussels, crabs (little teeny black ones and bigger red ones), and even little fish swimming in the watery crags and crevices of the tide pool rocks. And I've even spotted dolphins and whales from this beach.



















After an outing at Leo Carrillo, I always stop at this little food shack called Malibu Seafood, located just before you find yourself back at Malibu Canyon. It's totally no frills - you order food inside, wait for your number to be called, and find an open bench to sit down. My fave meals there are swordfish with rice pilaf and salad (the ranch is really good), fish and chips, clam chowder, or a pot of steamed clams in a nice broth.








Leo Carrillo State Park / Malibu photos by Lydia Marcus

For additional images from this series go to my Flickr page

Leo Carrillo State Park: 35000 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA
Malibu Seafood: 25653 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265 (310) 456-3430