Reading Log: January 2022

 The books that I finished reading in January 2022

January 2022 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"Back Story," Robert B.Parker

“Creative Spaces,” Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung

“Sage Living,” Anne Sage

"Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Interiors," Michelle Gringeri-Brown and Jim Brown

Full disclosure:

The last three on the list are books that I have in years past.  I have undertaken a project where I begin a radical deaccession of my collection and will be going through my collection to decide what to keep and what will go.

The reason being is that, hopefully, this will be the year that I move to smaller quarters and there won’t be room for all the stuff I now own.  The books I have accumulated over decades now occupy space in three bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room, and living room. There are also boxes in closets. (I guess I did not use the bathrooms due to questions of hygiene and humidity.)

As of this moment, the only one that I know that I will not part with is a 1961 edition of “The Wind in the Willows”, and maybe a few others signed by local authors - no one famous, but kind of a personal connection.

The remainder, some of which may be reread, will be up for grabs as I cull them.  I will be donating them to a prison library project or the local county library branch. 

My Favorite Season

Blue Jacaranda Blossoms: photo by Cliff Hutson

“Beautiful hands are as rare as jacaranda trees in bloom, 
in a city where pretty faces are as common as runs in dollar stockings.”
 - Raymond Chandler

Jacaranda Trees

It can be very difficult to discern seasons in Southern California. Temperatures can near triple digits in December as easily as they can in July. June days can be as cool as the ones in January. But, one “season” that is hard to miss is “Jacaranda season”. One of my favorite times of the year, due to its beauty of blue-violet flowered trees which line our streets and fill many public spaces - such as Pomona's Civic Center Plaza.

Jacaranda mimosifolia, also known as the “blue jacaranda,” usually blooms in late May or early June, and the blossoms last for a few weeks. The trumpet-shaped flowers are an inch or two long, and usually five-petaled. They look good on the trees. I also think that they look great as a carpet on the ground. But, many complain of the litter gumming up the soles of their shoes. I will admit that the sticky flowers can also be tough on a car’s finish. Gardening guides recommend that these trees be planted well away from swimming pools or other high-maintenance areas.

Jacarandas, ubiquitous as they are, are not native to California. The trees are indigenous to Northwestern Argentina and adjacent Bolivia into Brazil. Mature trees can reach 25 to 45 feet, in an oval canopy spread almost as wide as its height, with light green, fernlike, 10-12" long compound leaves with small oval leaflets.

Trivia lovers might be interested to know that a Jacaranda mimosifolia in Santa Ana is registered as a California Big Tree. It measures 58 feet high, with a trunk circumference of 98 inches and a crown spread of 73 feet. But, as I said, I think they look great in any size.

Pomona City Hall: photo by Cliff Hutson

Reading Log: April 2019

The books that I finished reading in April 2019

April 2019 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

“Speculative Everything,” Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby

“Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Architecture in California,” Adam Arenson 

“The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy,” Michale McCarththy 

“Pearls Takes a Wrong Turn,” Stephan Pastis

December 2015 Reading List

The books I finished reading in December 2015

December 2015 Reading: photo by Cliff Hutson

Notice the Ordinary

“Notice the Ordinary” is the second thing listed in a small book called Fifteen Things Charles and Ray Teach Us by Keith Yamashita. It is an essay about Charles and Ray Eames.  The author makes the observation that by photographing and cataloguing the ordinary - such as seashells, the side of a building, or a manhole cover - they show us that the ordinary can make “a wonderful cast of characters”. 

This fits in well with a quote that I often refer to:

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place…I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” ~Elliott Erwitt

So, in pursuing this line of thought, I have embarked upon a personal project I call "Photo 365 - 2015". The idea is to take and post a photograph everyday of the year. I have done similar projects before, but this time I intend to mess around and do stuff that I most likely would not have shared in the past. The idea is to break out of the shell in which I have normally cast myself.

The year started with some food photography, a carry over from last year's project, "Dining In". That went really in my opinion. Not only did my food photography improve, my cooking did as well. The idea behind an activity like this is that I am not sure where it is going to lead me. That is probably a good thing in this phase of my life.

House of Cards

Tower of Cards

Charles and Ray Eames created this popular picture-card deck. Each card depicts a different familiar object from the animal, mineral, or vegetable kingdoms; with an asterisk on the back. Six slots on each card allow the cards to be joined in many different ways.

House of Cards