Areas of Unrest

29 October 2000 - A Couple of Walks

QOTD: "Happiness is how, not a what: a talent, not an object." - Herman Hesse

Reading: Sam Sifton, A Field Guide to the Yettie

Listening to: Grace Slick, Software

This week's minor rant has to do with automatic teller machines. My bank has redesigned the screens on their ATMs, apparently to make them seem "friendly." One of the more obvious examples of this approach is the screen that asks you if you want another transaction. The choices, which used to be "yes" or "no," are now "sure" or "no thanks." As a person who has sporadically used ATMs in languages I know very little of, this strikes me as a bad idea. Actually, the whole concept of pretending that ATMs are anything other than machines, of trying to imbue them with some personality, seems misguided. But I can live with that if they are designed to be reasonably usable.

Anyway, what I really wanted to write about was yesterday's Volksmarch event in Pasadena. I should briefly mention that I also did last weekend's walk in Oceanside, which was pleasant since I always like walking along the ocean. There was a reporter from the San Diego Tribune there and he took my photo, but I doubt they used it since I'm from L.A. and not part of their target readership. I was also impressed by the free plastic pooper-scooper bag dispensers around the harbor - an excellent way to encourage people to clean up after their pets. Finally, being around the harbor and looking at the boats revived my fantasy of living aboard a boat. Not that I actually know anything about boats, but the idea has always appealed to me.

This week's walk was in Pasadena and was notable in other ways. We'd had our first real winter storm on Friday and that cleared away the smog. Coupled with coolish weather, that meant ideal climactic conditions for an 11 kilometer walk. The route went through the Caltech campus, which is remarkable for how undistinguished its architecture is, although I do like the Throop Memorial Garden. Continuing west, there were several old Craftsman-style houses (circa 1920) on Hudson and El Molino Avenues. That led to the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel, with its Picture Bridge, Japanese Garden, and amazingly luxe restrooms. The next part of the walk twisted through residential streets, including a couple of notable Greene and Greene houses; the R. R. Blacker House is particularly gawkworthy. Then, through a canyon, and back along more twisty residential streets. We got slightly lost at a couple of points, but managed to find our way well enough. The most amazing sight was the solar observatory used by George Ellery Hale. I've probably driven around this area a hundred times and had no idea this was there. As we continued back, we passed a lot of huge and elaborate houses, including the entrance to the Huntington Library and Gardens. The other woman I was walking with made a point of counting political signs on the lawns - which were more mixed than I'd have expected in old money Pasadena.

It was a particularly nice route and the instructions and map included a lot of historical notes, which not many of them do. But there was one downside. Namely, Pasadena and San Marino could use some of those free dispensers I saw in Oceanside. Here are all these beautiful houses and gardens - and the people who live in them are so sheltered that they don't bother to keep the sidewalks clean.

I took advantage of being in Pasadena to stop into Vroman's on my way home. Vroman's is a real bookstore, one of the largest independent bookstores in the Los Angeles area. (Dutton's in Brentwood and Book Soup in West Hollywood are its major competitors.) They had a few things I absolutely had to buy and I felt like getting out of there with just over a hundred dollars worth of books was a major accomplishment. I only managed to do that by ignoring entire sections of the store. One of the other great things there is that you can sign up to have them donate 1% of your purchases to any of several local charities. That's the sort of participation in the community that the big chains are never likely to take up.

Overall, it was a pleasant excursion, despite the awfulness that is the Pasadena Freeway. This is one of my least favorite roads in the world. It was the first freeway built and was designed for much slower speeds than prevail, so is improperly banked and has cars entering from a dead stop and so on. It is, however, far more direct to use the Pasadena Freeway and the Santa Monica Freeway, than to cut across the Valley, so I endure it. And find myself wishing that we had reasonable public transit, but that's another matter.

Today was far less ambitious, although I did tremendous amounts of essential household stuff. I've got yet another business trip tomorrow, so my errand running time is extremely limited. I am really looking forward to being able to write a list of things to do that doesn't include unpacking and packing.

Special Offer - Last Chance!:

Ever wonder about the music I say I'm listening to? Can't hear Snakefarm or Old Blind Dogs or Pierre Bensusan on your local radio station? Well, here's your chance. In the spirit of musical evangelism I've made a mix tape of music I referred to in my margin notes over the past year. I also happen to have another mix tape handy, mostly of World Beat stuff, that I'd made for another purpose. All you have to do is send me email with your address, telling me if you want the AOU41 tape or the Worlds of Unrest tape (or both) before the end of October 2000. (The links are to playlists.) Nothing is required in return, beyond your willingness to listen. If I decide this was a successful experiment, I'll make it an annual event.