i havent been to the 18th street coffeehouse in about 4.5 years, but it was the kind of place i sense would not change so much over time. it seemed frozen in its little sundrenched plot and the strains of patsy cline ambling across the tile floors and echoing against the cast iron ceiling must [...]

gray kiser has told me about a curious phenomenon he has noticed in mexico. apparently every single place of business has a single step at its front door, no ramps, no warnings, no mercy! being somewhat of an architecture buff i found it very interesting but could not recall noticing it during my brief visit [...]

it was not the time to be roving the streets of some distant city. sometimes the distance from home helps you feel alienated enough to make assumptions about who you are, who you want to be, how you want to be seen. this is not the case in a motel room, one as tiny as [...]

mani’s was all the things the cogs argue that los angeles is, too big, too many disparate functions, too many pretty empty faces. it is true, mani’s in santa monica was a big open room with little character, they did try to sell womens clothing in one corner and on the other side that kind [...]

Although I went to the bastard Mani’s in Santa Monica within days of moving to Los Angeles and I have a more vast compendium of memories to tap into for that location, I was no less smitten with the more cozy Fairfax location. Just the name of the road lights up in me a whole [...]

I am filled with preconceived notions and unfulfillable expectations. It is no place’s fault that they fall short. Certainly every place is loved by someone just like every person, no matter how objectionable I might find them, usually seems to stir themselves up a mate. I like things that many people would find uninteresting. One [...]

I understand the most recent edition of the _Taschen Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Design_ describes the interior of Velocity Cafe as a veritable taxonomy of postwar vinyl mobilier and oeuvres d’art plastique. The fact of its inclusion in this volume will most certainly ensure that cafe receives the patronage of thrift-store enthusiasts, nostalgic baby boomers, and [...]