day 60: The combination of dry hot air and lots of wind helped a huge fire to spread through Griffith Park in the hills today. We were out in Pasadena right at sunset when Ben noticed the reflection of the smoke in this building.

day 59: Ben and I headed down to Manhattan Beach after work to take in the last of the gorgeous weather today. While shooting I got an opportunity to try out one of the tricks I’ve been trying to master: the fill flash. What do you do when you want to capture a great sunset without blowing out the sky, while still exposing the subject? Fill flash. Am I good at it? No. But I’m learning. Aside from the shadow on my arm I think this was a good effort. Especially considering it was using the wimpy pop-up flash on my camera. Practice practice…

day 58: We headed out to Silverlake this morning to watch the sustainable shorts at the silverlake film festival. Some of them were good, some of them were… well… much less than good. But it was a beautiful day and at least they got us thinking (even if for some it was thinking “what does this have to do with sustainability?”). There are more films running all week if you’re looking for something to do in LA.

day 57: Today was the last day of my cake decorating class series. Our final project was to bake, fill, frost, assemble, and decorate a three-tiered wedding cake. I’m pretty proud of my little cake. I think next time maybe fresh flowers instead of buttercream… anyone need a wedding cake?

day 56: Ben and I went walking along Main Street in Venice after work today. I had time to take a couple of shots before the sun went down.

day 55: I work indoors and the windows don’t open. I can look outside but I can never breathe the fresh air. I am sometimes amazed at how nice it is outside when I leave. Today was a beautiful day for lunch in the park.

day 54: I am going to be honest here. I don’t know where “the valley” is. I’m not an “angeleno” (and I hate that term by the way). Not being from LA I can’t really see the big difference between its sprawling mass and what everyone disdainfully calls “the valley”. It’s all the same to me. Nevertheless I went up over the hills this evening into something that looked like a valley…. I’m not sure if it was the valley or not. And I found it to be pretty scenic. Maybe I should move and give all you angelenos a little more space.

day 53: Yesterday I continued to be terribly uncomfortably sick. My only movement all day was from the bed to the couch in front of the tv where I alternated between watching HGTV and napping. After not eating for 36 hours, I decided that I should probably try to nibble on something for dinner. Ben gathered up some of my favorites (mmm mashed potatoes) and even though I only ate a little, they made me feel much better. I feel quite lucky to have someone to take care of me.

day 52: Last night Ben and I went to a panel discussion on “great streets” urban planning and landscape strategies for LA. Unfortunately I got unexpectedly ill and we had to leave early. I have been in bed ever since. Hopefully I will be better soon… because being sick really stinks.