I don’t know if you’ve noticed on Facebook or Twitter lately, but people have been complaining a lot about this heat wave in Los Angeles. Okay, so maybe not everyone you are socially connected to resides in Southern California but with any extreme weather, it’s all we know how to complain about.

But it’s really weird extreme weather! In addition to the soaring temperatures baking our city, we’re also getting double rainbows, random raindrops, thunder and lightening. Some people call it earthquake weather, other people are calling dibs on the apocalypse, but I just like to enjoy the colors in the sky.

This is what we saw on the drive home last night. The silhouettes of the palm trees are so iconic of Hollywood that I couldn’t resist. Also, I can’t tell if that’s grain from the low light picture or the layer of dirt on my windshield. Probably both.

It’s been quite an adventure watching the battle between the restaurants along Miracle Mile and the delicious food trucks that come by during lunch. This month, the building across the street has been taking the lame road by paying their staff to hog all the parking spots along Wilshire so only a couple trucks (the ones who are there early enough) are able to set up for the lunch crowd.

A friend told me about this daily ritual and this morning, I got to work early to check it out and capture some stuff on my phone for the video above. Pretty crazy!

I have a feeling that these trucks are fine with the most of the spots being taken up by junk cars; having less space available for food trucks also means less competition for them, so they’re still able to make a good amount of money from the lunch hour.

And for those restaurants across the street? They should be more worried about The Counter opening up in August. I’m not a huge fan of their burgers but holy crap, their apple pie milkshakes are amazing. This also means milkshakes are now less than a block away from me, every Monday through Friday. Uggggh, I should stock up on muumuus in preparation for the calorie festival that’s going to happen in my life in the next couple of months.

I thought it fitting that this dumpster was in front of a rather dilapidated and old house that was clearly being gutted. I’ve never seen this company before, but I’m curious to know the story behind the name.

Maybe “ghosts” is a euphemism for all the junk from our past that we accrue during our lifetime? I think I’m putting too much thought into this. But now I know who to call the next time I need my apartment cleaned out.

GET IT??

We woke up early this Sunday morning because the amazing Lisa was all set to run the 2010 LA marathon, which happened to run right by our apartment and we were assigned to cheer her on. I was really paranoid about missing her so I made sure we reached our spot bright and early.

It was strange to walk around the neighborhood with Hollywood Blvd all shut down. We weren’t alone, though, because some other onlookers had already showed up and the street was busy with bikers whizzing by. I guess you have to take advantage of open streets when it comes to riding your bike in LA.

Since I didn’t have the skills to make a huge sign, I decided to wear my Yeti hat from Halloween and a bright green sweatshirt in hopes that Lisa would be able to pick me out when she ran by. It was either this or the dinosaur head.

I realized we had gotten there super early because the only people going by were the wheelchair and hand cycle racers, who were AWESOME. I mean, I can’t even imagine running an entire marathon but the thought of cycling all those miles with your hands makes me want to cry. It was also nice to clap and cheer them on, because well…I mean. THEY’RE CYCLING WITH THEIR HANDS.

More and more people slowly showed up to show their support. Maybe I’m weird, but seeing groups and crowds of people coming together to rally for a single purpose makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. Unless they’re gathering outside of an abortion clinic with horrible signs about killing babies. Or if they’re that awful Westboro Baptist church. Then I just feel disgust. But anyways…

The sun was in my eyes, so  I decided to run across the street for a better view of the oncoming runners. B did not follow me as I thought. Look at that loner.

But then he did, despite pointing out that it would be impossible to cross back over once the race starts. Oops. My bad.

Finally, the Elite Men (male?) Runners came by! That was crazy! Look at those Kenyans!

Later, I realized that the winner, Wesley Korir, was one of them (which made sense…because they were first). Look!

WHOA. I could have totally sabotaged his race. The thought of the power made me feel delirious.

And then these non-Kenyan dudes ran by.

And then THIS AMAZING MINNIE MOUSE ran by. What!? I love it. I know a lot of people have fun at the marathon, but this man was not only having fun but also seriously running ahead of the race. I like that.

I don’t get this guy, though. Boxers and bare feet?! He wasn’t the only runner we saw without shoes, too. They must have hobbit feet.

And then the crowd came. We saw Chef Gordon Ramsay, B saw a lot of balls (seriously, guys, let’s take control of this when you run), a blind runner (guided by another guy), men in drag, and a teacher took a picture of me in my hat. A homeless guy on a bike came by and asked me where I bought it. I was like the star of the marathon. But where was Lisa?

THERE SHE IS! I thought I kept seeing her but they turned out to be random Asian women. Weird, I know. But I was scanning the crowd and then she came running towards us! It was awesome!! I was so proud of her and I had no idea how she saw us first. It was probably my Yeti hat. Yay!! I cheered her name super loud and then she disappeared into the race.

Seriously. I blinked and then she was gone. We clapped some more, saw some Elvises and then decided to head down the street. That’s when I checked Twitter and saw that a winner was already announced. Maybe next year, Lisa?

Then it rained oranges.

The End.

So the Jensen’s Melrose Theatre in East Hollywood isn’t quite forgotten, since it’s been occupied by the Ukranian Culture Center since the 1960′s and I was lucky to check out the inside during a Christmas craft extravaganza. There’s a lot of information about it online (which I think people just copy and pasted from this article) but it’s nice to know that an old 1920′s movie theater, complete with detailed facade, still exists in a part of town where you’d least expect an elaborate stage. The whole neighborhood around is a mix of Hispanic/Armenian families, independent storefronts and hipsters on fixed gear bikes.

I just love how architects and business owners back in the day would permanently affix  and incorporate their ownership on their buildings. I don’t see it so much as a display of ego, but the thought that their name and business were somehow going to be there at that location forever. I rarely see this around town anymore; if anything, the signage at the top of current office buildings changes often enough that putting permanent signage (engraved in stone) on that real estate would probably be a bad business move.

I walked by this self-proclaimed office along Industrial Street between warehouses downtown. Though it’s currently occupied by the Commercial Meat Co (or something like that), I love how its previous occupants still have some sort of a presence. I can’t figure out what the PPSC initials stand for, though. Google, you’ve failed me.

I’m glad these signs exist, though, because otherwise the original use of the space would be forgotten by the rest of the city.

BRB. I’m going to go carve my initials along my apartment building wall now.

I used to take a film photography class in high school, right before it all went digital (it = non professional photographers and all went = became cheap enough for amateurs to try it out) so I still have my hands on an old Nikon SLR that looks like it was straight from the ugly late 90′s. Oh wait, it was. We still go out and try to shoot photographs around town but the problem with film in the digital age (wow, do I sound like a douche or what when I say that?) is that I’m ten times lazier so actually getting the roll processed takes about two years. Yeah, I said it. TWO YEARS.

Here are photos that I took around downtown Los Angeles almost two summers ago. What a summer. Remember that time before Twitter and food trucks and hoover boards?

I’ve got another roll in my camera right now. Can’t wait to see what I find in 2012!

The city has been battered with some crazy rainstorms lately, which I find really exciting as it’s rare we get any interesting weather that allows me to put my weatherproof boots to full use. The only sad part is that I spend most of my day inside, far away from any windows so I miss out on all the heavy rain/hail action. I even asked my boss for a window and all he sent me was this.

I got to experience my own personal storm this morning when I noticed that the tangerines on my parent’s trees were ripe. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to pick some for a morning snack, forgetting that shaking a bunch of tree branches after a storm would be a bad idea. Conclusion: I got my hands on a bunch of adorable tangerines and became drenched with leftover raindrops from the leaves. Fun times!

The reward wasn’t that sweet either. My mom only juices these tangerines for a reason: they’re filled with seeds and are so [amazingly] sour. Oh well. So goes the story of my life.

A recent trip to Fosselman’s in Alhambra took us by this empty lot but what did I find, hidden behind the covered fence?

It was another old billboard, and this time, for a real estate/loan company, Mang & Co. I’m guessing it was a small business because I can’t find any other information about the name. (And by that, I mean Google.) Well, I did find a law firm in the UK but I have a feeling it’s not quite the same thing.

I just love the old type; it reminds me of the classic Coca-Cola ad. You can’t deny that they did things with style back then.

So several months ago, I embarked on a personal project where I’d document all the cool old buildings I’d find in our sprawling city but after a couple posts, I just got tired of it. I’m sometimes lazy. Leave me alone. But yesterday I re-discovered some more photographs I took and thought I should at least say something about them, right?

Now I can’t decide between continuing the posts over there or just moving them all here. INDECISIONS 2010!!

Anyway, one of my favorite things to find around the city are old ads and billboards painted on the side of buildings, whether they’re to advertising rooms in the hotel itself or whatever local business was around during the time.  At the top of this list is this huge ad along the side of an old dollar store along Western Ave in Koreatown. Sadly, it’s half painted up probably due to a lame beautification project (the building next door looks brand new), and the graffiti under it looks pretty cool, too.

But how fun are these ads for Hoffman’s Cash Grocery and Market? My favorite is the Ever-Ready Drug Co with its prompt “motor delivery”, which is an offer you’d hardly find around nowadays. Also, it’s fun to see the actual place mentioned in a random cookbook  published in 1915. I think the old pharmacy sign still exists on the actual building, but I’ve never managed to get a good picture of it, thanks to traffic.

And that MJB Coffee billboard (a company that still exists!)? I guess it was a statewide ad campaign. Check out another version from Oakland!

I don’t like to think I’m a simple girl, but there are some things that alone can make me all giddy and excited. Usually those things involve surprise presents and sugar–wait. That’s about it.

Today was just like any other Friday until I noticed some old lady walking down the street, sipping from a Del’s Frozen Lemonade truck. Could you believe it? I mean, I knew that Del’s had arrived in Southern California, but never did I hope to see the truck park right outside (well…more like three blocks away) from work.

YAY! Sweet, lemony, icy, sugary goodness.

(I would add “in my mouth” but then you guys would make all these gross penis jokes.)

AND THEN the guy in the hot dog food truck gave us cheese with our side order of Tater Tots for free, and my brain almost exploded with happiness.

The end.