Peace piece

Japanese Peace Bell in front of the Los Angeles Central Library...

Neutra Burrito Supreme

We went to the Silver Lake area a few weeks ago to check out the Neutra houses. Pretty cool stuff. Boosting up the neighborhood's worth with rows of houses with clean lines - Neutra's signature - and unassuming wood and glass design. The other day while exploring my neighborhood, I stopped by the Richard Riordon Library or the Central Library as I still call it. Wouldn't you know it, there was an exhibit on Richard Neutra's sketches.

The man was the da Vinci of architecture. He drew his own plans, climbed Aztec pyramids with Frida and Diego, and fought with the Austrian Brigade in WWI. He also supported Upton Sinclair's socialist bid for the presidency in the '30s. He drew plans for low-cost housing for migrant workers using raw materials such as fruit crates. The man was as interesting as his work...maybe even more so.

After finding all this out, we stumbled upon Mai's Organic Mexican food. The veggie burrito was yummy but the nagging question of Mai possibly being Vietnamese bugged me to the very last bite. Not that race should have anything to do with it. On Broadway, there's an Indian and Mexican restaurant. How random is that? Beans and tikka masala?

Checked out

If all goes well this year we'll fulfill our little dream of moving from Santa Ana to downtown Los Angeles. I'm a huge fan of libraries, and EzraPounded and I agree there's no better library in California than the Los Angeles Central Library. I know I'll spend hours reading in the stacks, lounging by the outdoor fountains, and checking out (get it? get it?) their exhibits, like the Richard Neutra sketches and drawings coming in May. It's great to hear stories like the one about Ray Bradbury writing Fahrenheit 451 on a rented typewriter at the Central Library.

Just as Fahrenheit 451's Faber went up against the book-burning firemen, a bicycle shop on First Street in San Jose called Faber's Cyclery is up against developers with their eyes on knocking the historic shop down. The business owner, Alex LaRiviere, has a dream of his own...a bicycle and beer museum with graffiti walls.

LaRiviere's sky-high pile of rusty bikes used to fascinate me. One summer home from college a couple friends from SoCal flew in for a visit. Instead of taking a straight shot on the 101 Freeway to my parents' house, I remember driving Alisa and Sunny through SJ's less-than-sparkling First Street and Monterey Road. Even with out-of-towners I couldn't resist a drive past the tangled bikes and other oddities along the aging corridor. I'm pretty sure they haven't been back to San Jose...