From April 2010 to April 2011 I made a project of picking up coins I found on the ground. I collected these coins in a jar. Here's what I found.
CENTS... AMOUNT
1..... 319
5.... 11
10...... 42
25..... 14
100....... 1
In total I found and picked up $12.44 off the ground. Bill collected coins a few years ago. He got close to $25 and found somewhere around a 1,000 pennies? Not bad. On the last day of my project I found 80 cents. It was a thoughtful send-off from the ground. Speaking of the ground, I'm currently enjoying not staring at it everywhere I walk. Oh to look at the sky! Or the person I am walking next to!
The 100 cents in the chart above is a 1 dollar coin, in case you missed it. Metro stations in Los Angeles will return one dollar coins at machines rather than paper money. I'm thinking one of those machines was part of this coin's journey. I found that coin on the ground at LAX when I was flying back to PA after interviewing for my current job. I took it as an auspicious sign.
Showing posts with label los angeles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label los angeles. Show all posts
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Pillow Fight
I haven't seen anyone with pillows yet," said Bill as we walked along a city street toward Pershing Square. Temperatures reached the 90s this week in LA but today was cooler, with temperatures only getting into the high 60s.
"Me neither," I said, while we waited at a traffic light, "they must already be at Pershing Square."
We continued walking and were relieved to see a few people with pillows as we entered the park.
Today was international pillow fight day as developed by the urban playground movement. I'd never heard of this group before, but I definitely like the idea of gathering a bunch of people in an urban space for a pillow fight. Apparently no permit was required from the city!
The pillow fighters were mostly gathered in the northern part of the square and there had to be a few hundred people attending. A decent number of younger people were taking part in this fight which was billed as an all ages event. Those kids! They were hitting hard as anyone! And they looked like they were having a great time.
The center of the pillow fight was something of a vortex of pillow fighters. People rapidly hitting anyone in reaching distance with a pillow. A woman on some guy's shoulders hitting people! Toward the outer edges were more subdued pillow fighters. Bill and I entered and stayed in this region of the fight. Turns out its really fun hitting strangers with pillows. Everyone was smiling. More than hitting people I really liked when people hit me! That doesn't surprise me and I'm not sure why. Probably it felt like I was being included or accepted by people? The need to be accepted, it follows me even to a pillow fight! Bill said he had the same experience.
While pillow fighting with Bill and strangers, I saw a woman dressed as a Derby Doll - someone who participates in the roller derby league. Working up my nerve I said..
"Hey! Are you a Derby Doll?"
"Yes I am," said the woman pointing to where it said Derby Dolls on her shirt.
I told her how I went to a Derby Dolls game a few weeks ago and she told me about how there's a game tonight and on April 16. I said I'd go to one of them.
After a bit more pillow fighting and gazing at the feathers which fell like snow from peoples' exploded pillows, Bill and I headed home. Definitely the most memorable time I've had in Pershing Square so far.
"Me neither," I said, while we waited at a traffic light, "they must already be at Pershing Square."
We continued walking and were relieved to see a few people with pillows as we entered the park.
Today was international pillow fight day as developed by the urban playground movement. I'd never heard of this group before, but I definitely like the idea of gathering a bunch of people in an urban space for a pillow fight. Apparently no permit was required from the city!
The pillow fighters were mostly gathered in the northern part of the square and there had to be a few hundred people attending. A decent number of younger people were taking part in this fight which was billed as an all ages event. Those kids! They were hitting hard as anyone! And they looked like they were having a great time.
The center of the pillow fight was something of a vortex of pillow fighters. People rapidly hitting anyone in reaching distance with a pillow. A woman on some guy's shoulders hitting people! Toward the outer edges were more subdued pillow fighters. Bill and I entered and stayed in this region of the fight. Turns out its really fun hitting strangers with pillows. Everyone was smiling. More than hitting people I really liked when people hit me! That doesn't surprise me and I'm not sure why. Probably it felt like I was being included or accepted by people? The need to be accepted, it follows me even to a pillow fight! Bill said he had the same experience.
While pillow fighting with Bill and strangers, I saw a woman dressed as a Derby Doll - someone who participates in the roller derby league. Working up my nerve I said..
"Hey! Are you a Derby Doll?"
"Yes I am," said the woman pointing to where it said Derby Dolls on her shirt.
I told her how I went to a Derby Dolls game a few weeks ago and she told me about how there's a game tonight and on April 16. I said I'd go to one of them.
After a bit more pillow fighting and gazing at the feathers which fell like snow from peoples' exploded pillows, Bill and I headed home. Definitely the most memorable time I've had in Pershing Square so far.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Photo Contest
My awesome friend Kirstin suggested I post one of the many chicken street art photos I've taken to a photo contest of street art offered through Good - a magazine. I decided that was a fabulous idea. After hemming and hawing I decided to go with a photo taken of some chickens being engulfed by an octopus along Echo Park Lake in LA. After submitting the photo, I stressed a few times wondering, was my photo good enough!? will it be posted!?
A few days ago I decided to stop worrying about it and decided that my photo probably wasn't going to be posted. Oh how I like being wrong sometimes! Today I received an email with a link to the approved photos! Mine is one of them! You can find my photo at this link:
http://www.good.is/post/submissions-crowdsourced-exhibit-street-art-worldwide/
And you can even vote for it! Not that I'm too concerned about winning. The fun part is how my enthusiasm for life rose, or shot right up, after seeing one of my photos posted somewhere other than facebook or flicker.
A few days ago I decided to stop worrying about it and decided that my photo probably wasn't going to be posted. Oh how I like being wrong sometimes! Today I received an email with a link to the approved photos! Mine is one of them! You can find my photo at this link:
http://www.good.is/post/submissions-crowdsourced-exhibit-street-art-worldwide/
And you can even vote for it! Not that I'm too concerned about winning. The fun part is how my enthusiasm for life rose, or shot right up, after seeing one of my photos posted somewhere other than facebook or flicker.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Lemon trees
Sunday morning and raining.
I went to a hockey game last night with Bill, Kirstin, and Aaron. We met before the game at a bar in the Figueroa Hotel, a Moroccan-themed bar. Sounds kitchy but it works. The coolest bars in LA seem to not have signs out front and require some walking down halls and stairs, coupled with wonderings about whether you're going the right way, to reach.
Most of the seating at this bar is at table along a pool. Space heaters are set up by every other table. The easterner in me, I'm from Pennsylvania, loathes utilizing a space heater when temperatures must be in the high 50s. Once our heater had been turned on I felt much comfier!
Aaron and Kirstin joined Bill and I once we had been sitting by the pool for 15 minutes or so. They almost always get to the place we are meeting after us, a trademark I am beginning to grow familiar with. Talk turned to the bar's scenery once they had joined us.
"It's like an entire ecosystem," I said, "I've seen at least five birds while sitting here."
"There's a lemon tree over the table," said Kirstin.
Alas there was a lemon tree, so groovy! Someone must be using them. I refrained from taking any, it seemed un-classy, apparently this bar has held a part in numerous movies.
I went to a hockey game last night with Bill, Kirstin, and Aaron. We met before the game at a bar in the Figueroa Hotel, a Moroccan-themed bar. Sounds kitchy but it works. The coolest bars in LA seem to not have signs out front and require some walking down halls and stairs, coupled with wonderings about whether you're going the right way, to reach.
Most of the seating at this bar is at table along a pool. Space heaters are set up by every other table. The easterner in me, I'm from Pennsylvania, loathes utilizing a space heater when temperatures must be in the high 50s. Once our heater had been turned on I felt much comfier!
Aaron and Kirstin joined Bill and I once we had been sitting by the pool for 15 minutes or so. They almost always get to the place we are meeting after us, a trademark I am beginning to grow familiar with. Talk turned to the bar's scenery once they had joined us.
"It's like an entire ecosystem," I said, "I've seen at least five birds while sitting here."
"There's a lemon tree over the table," said Kirstin.
Alas there was a lemon tree, so groovy! Someone must be using them. I refrained from taking any, it seemed un-classy, apparently this bar has held a part in numerous movies.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Chicken art, part 2
Creating oddly shaped maps is much more interesting than sticking with a plain old rectangle.
As I mentioned in my last post, there is an artist called cache who creates art murals in LA that many times contain chickens.
The murals are rather bright and cheery and the chickens are cute. Sometimes these chickens can be found carrying signs, I agree with the slogan on every sign I've seen.
Yesterday I went out with my camera and visited some of these chicken mural sites. It was fun! I felt like I was getting to know the city better. At one mural I saw a little kid stop his dad so he could gape at the chickens. Priceless.
The chicken murals, or at least some of them, change over time. Some of the pictures I took don't match up with what can be found in google maps. This element of surprise added a bit more fun to visiting these murals.
After taking these photos and recording where they were taken, I made the map below - it's projected and everything! The purple stars reference places where a chicken mural resides. The stars do not reference what mural is found at that location, for the sake of a little mystery.
In at least some of these murals more than one artist, besides cache, contributed artwork - I think. I'm going to focus on the chickens rather than the artist. Once I locate and visit five more places that contain chicken artwork, I'm going to add these locations to a map and create a new chicken graphic.
Cluckcluck
As I mentioned in my last post, there is an artist called cache who creates art murals in LA that many times contain chickens.
The murals are rather bright and cheery and the chickens are cute. Sometimes these chickens can be found carrying signs, I agree with the slogan on every sign I've seen.
Yesterday I went out with my camera and visited some of these chicken mural sites. It was fun! I felt like I was getting to know the city better. At one mural I saw a little kid stop his dad so he could gape at the chickens. Priceless.
The chicken murals, or at least some of them, change over time. Some of the pictures I took don't match up with what can be found in google maps. This element of surprise added a bit more fun to visiting these murals.
After taking these photos and recording where they were taken, I made the map below - it's projected and everything! The purple stars reference places where a chicken mural resides. The stars do not reference what mural is found at that location, for the sake of a little mystery.
In at least some of these murals more than one artist, besides cache, contributed artwork - I think. I'm going to focus on the chickens rather than the artist. Once I locate and visit five more places that contain chicken artwork, I'm going to add these locations to a map and create a new chicken graphic.
Cluckcluck
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Chicken art
While walking around Angelino Heights one Saturday morning in November I came across a bug car with two chicken heads spray painted on it. I was struck by its beauteous, clean design so I whipped out my camera, stepped out on the street (I was safe!), and took a few pictures of it. Some time later I was talking with Bill about this graffiti and he mentioned that he heard from our friends that no one, and no one meaning not many people, knows who creates the chicken graffiti but that it is found mainly throughout the Echo Park and Silver Lake neighborhoods of LA.
"Hmm, it sounds like something I need to keep an eye out for," I said, and quickly forgot about the chicken art until recently.
In the past week or two while driving on Sunset Blvd I have spotted some chicken murals and they made me really happy. Internet searching today told me the artist's tag? name is Cache.
Where is all this leading?
A new, awesome map project of course! Stay tuned until Sunday.
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