Memorial Day Peace

There is so much more to Memorial Day than just another day off at the beach ...

But as I WAS riding to the beach, I came upon this yard sale. It's so perfectly Venice, but also served as a lovely reminder that there are so many soldiers that we hope are also resting in peace. I have many conflicted thoughts about our military and the war actions put forth in our name, but underneath it all is the fact that families have lost loved ones forever.

This one's for them.

PEACE!!!

Spring Fling At The Beach

Last Saturday was the Venice Spring Fling and it was the perfect day to be at the beach. In fact, I had my first ocean swim of the season, though it was as quick one as the water still has a ways to go before it's actually warm. But it was great.

The Spring Fling was in full swing when I got there, with tourists and locals alike all taking in the bright sunshine, perfect breeze, food, music, hula hooping, art booths ... the kind of day that really shows off Venice at its best and most authentic.

Everyone was walking and biking or skating, catching up with old friends and making new ones. The Boardwalk was packed, and everyone seemed to be smiling and happy to be here.

I hung out at the Free Venice Beachhead booth for a while, and got to talk to lots of our good readers. It's always a pleasure to hear what people are interested in, mad at, happy about, and what stories they think need to happen in our local paper, so it's good when there are these events that allow the people behind the stories to connect.

A big deal in Venice right now is the battle over OPDs (Overnight parking permits) that pretty much no one I know wants. Venice is supposed to be FREE and open to everyone. Overnight parking passes that you have to pay for are for other, more uptight towns, not us. David Busch was there with petitions to sign against the OPD ordinance, and spreading his demand for MORE LOVE! Yes, please.

Meet Me At The Pub and The Untouchables kept the crowd moving when I was there ... moving and moshing. Live music at the beach, with the blue ocean and skies as the backdrop, is the best.

This was one of those days - again - that you really can't ask for more from. It's all there. It's all good.

Venice Openings Are Fun - From Hats to Art to Hair

This last Saturday was a grand old time in Venice, ringing in the new with a bunch of business and art openings. Once again, there was too much going on at once to properly get it all done, but we did our very best.

First up, I was delighted to celebrate with my guys at Nick Fouquet Hat. Co.,  creators and purveyors of the finest hats in the West.

They now have a gorgeous work/sales space in the house at 1629 Abbot Kinney Boulevard that they share with Kapital (fancy, spendy threads out of Japan), H.O.W.L. (cool jewelry) and M. Cohen (more cool jewelry). Mikey was serving up the drinks, and Nick was the charming host, and the place was packed when I headed out to the next stop with my bike posse.

It was so wonderful to see the beautiful photography work (and the big crowd there to see it!) of my dear friend, Paddy Wilkins, at Curio Studio and Collection on Sunset Avenue.

As owner, Anne Faith Nicholls said while introducing the show, "It's all about Venice," and she was right. Wilkins (who can be seen in pretty much every commercial on t.v. right now) lives in Venice, as do most of the models that appear in his gorgeous photos made on a vintage Polaroid 600SE.

It seemed that most of Venice was there as well, making the gallery extra steamy inside. That might have been helped along by the fact that the photos were fairly steamy themselves, with women in various stages of undress. As Wilkins describes in the press release:

In COLORFORM, Wilkins explores the senses with portraiture, focusing on anonymous women and the inherent beauty of both their bodies and what they cover them with. The subject's identities in the works give way to Wilkins’s focus on form, and the beautiful details captured in sheer fabrics, saturated hues, contrasting patterns and light translated through the medium of real film, without doctoring. In a world where we are manipulated by heavily altered images and impossible beauty, Paddy’s photos present a timeless, and unfiltered glimpse of woman. 

Yeah. You probably know some of these women, and part of the fun of the night was guessing who might be who. Curio is locally owned and artist operated, and always has excellent shows of innovative and profound artistry. Paddy Wilkins' Colorform will be showing until June 10th.

We then headed over to the opening of Trim's new location at 512 Rose, where it was all winding down by the time we pedaled over there. It appeared to have been a big success as all the party-goers were still standing around on the sidewalk having fun, as Venice Paparazzi was packing up the red carpet. They were handing out shirts that read, "Every man needs a little trim," so there might be your theme for the entire evening ...

 Plans were made, and the people dispersed out all over town, for points like The Townhouse, The Other Room, The Tasting Kitchen, and home ... whichever was your poison.

All in all, it was a great night, in a great town, with great and talented people making it even greater. Congratulations to Nick and Mikey and Paddy and Anne and Nik and Jaime, and everyone who went to their fun jamborees ... VeNICE!

Venice Home and Garden Tour 2013 - Simply Lovely

The 2013 Venice Home and Garden Tour lucked out and got one of the most gorgeous days ever to strut its stuff. This was the 20th Anniversary of the day that for many is a highlight of the entire year, and this year's tour focused on the Abbot Kinney (and adjacent) to celebrate.

There were only a few stops actually ON Abbot Kinney, but they were pretty cool. One house had a bamboo garden in back that was so serene and calming (due to the "water features") that you would never know all the AKB hubbub was going on right on the other side of the house. A real retreat.

There's always a lot of ground to cover on Garden Tour day, so you gotta move if you want to see it all. It's also wise to ride your bikes, way speedier and stealthier. I can't imagine driving from place to place, you'd waste half your time looking for parking. Some stops were way over on Vernon and others way over on Rialto, so you hoped the folks wore their comfy shoes too.

A cool thing about the Tour is that many of these places you fly by all the time, having no idea that these wonder spaces exist within. One sort of regular looking house on the outside might have an absolute dream garden behind it, and you'd never know from going by it every day. Unless you make friends with them - the best idea - or have that green Tour wristband once a year.

The highest rated green LEED house on Brooks was impressive in its use of recycled water with a mill wheel and gutter system going on, and lush vegetation all over. It drew crowds.

The rooftops were often as dramatic as the gardens below, and showed how to be very green -living again.

One house/artists' studio was right next door to where I just lived for a year. I never knew all this creation went on inside those walls. I'd almost never seen the owners, save for a quick "Good morning," as we came or went sometimes. Cool place, guys! Good art!

I liked that the Venice Heritage Museum had place markers along the Tour route, so that you could understand a little bit about the place you were traipsing around, if you were a new visitor, or a local that doesn't get out much. I was happy to see one honoring my friend, Bobby Brown. He would have loved this, saying he was "Jam packed and jelly tight!" (Whatever that meant). RIP, Friend.

I'm just touching on my favorites, because otherwise this would be five years long to read, and you should maintain your own sense of wonder until you get to discover some of these places for yourselves. I had a nice moment with a couple of strangers - to where I said, "I'm glad we had this moment" and they said, "Me too" - when the sun shone in just perfectly on us in this little hot tub nook in a gorgeous orange-hued cottage on Altair, and it was so beautiful when we all looked up, away from the throngs of people queuing through the homes, that it prompted that grateful, acknowledged moment. Sweet.

I love color.

There is a lot to look at over at Robin's Sculpture Garden, back on Abbot Kinney. There were photos and projects and camel topiary prototypes and mosaics and a spinning fortune wheel and all sorts of good stuff. Robin Murez told me how she'd recently been arrested for painting little waves on the streets that used to be canals around Venice. Arrested?! Yes, art is a crime still sometimes here. In this case, a felony. Dumb. I need to hear more, but we had an important engagement to get to ... called watching The Kentucky Derby.

"The most exciting two minutes in sports" always happens the same day as the Garden Tour, so the tradition tends to be stopping in at Hal's for a respite (Mint Julep, of course) in the middle of the Tour to watch the race. Someone at NBC must have been fired this year as there were no graphics on the screen down the home stretch, and in the loud bar, no one had any idea who won. National Buzzkill.

The Tour must go on, and after visiting a few cold and sterile bachelor-looking pads/boxes, we were treated to what wound up being my absolute favorites. Again, just cruising down Rialto, you would have no idea that behind the astro-turf looking fence walls would be a lush, resort-like paradise of a backyard.

You just wanted to sit here and relax all day ... and I could have, because my dear and darling friends, Harry and Russ, live here! Their place is so great, a renovated four-plex Craftsman that Russ surrounded with his own epic landscape work (Russ Cletta Design Studio).

We had some good laughs/Modelos here, (A lady who lunches type told Harry that she could tell it was a man's kitchen. He said, "Well, a gay man's, so I guess it's for both." I'm still laughing. With her.) and then zipped off to try and beat the clock to cram in as much as we could.

I think Harry and Russ's place was tied for my favorite with the one on Santa Clara listed as "Quirky Venice." It's so beautiful, with interesting things to look at at every turn. Artist Simon Maltby designed his own home and studio, and the creativity is everywhere, both in function and beauty. Like his swinging fireplace!

I love this place for its color and art and total uniqueness. It's all very airy and open, with a courtyard between front and back structures.

A sun room must be so pleasant to have breakfast in, with the plants under the glass floor at your very feet.

A door had palm leaves embedded in its panes of glass, making the whole place feel organic to and in its surroundings.

Inside the house, it was ultra-cinematic, with a hacienda feel that was both homey and deluxe at once. Of all the places we'd seen that day, this was the one I'd most want to actually LIVE in.

Maltby was kept very busy answering the many questions the Garden tourists had, as most, I'm sure, had never seen anything else like it. A true highlight.

There is a trend these days with stones and gravel for landscaping, and I'm not that into it. It feels cold and uncomfortable to me, even when you throw some color at it. I like to be barefoot outside, and these kinds of spaces aren't inviting for that. To me.

The clock was ticking, and we made it to Tour co-founder Jay Griffith's impressive gardens on California - another total retreat you had no idea was there -  and then sped on ...

... Alas, to no avail, as when the stroke of 5:00 pm hit, it was done. I saw a lady come out of a Tour stop on 6th and take down the sign. No nonsense, no begging. It was over. The house next door was a stop as well, but the sign was still up, so I poked my head inside. I saw this -

- and that's it, as a Docent on his bike was packing up and riding away. Wow. This stunning get-away behind a fence I've walked by hundreds of times! That is the magic of this wonderful every year day. You make discoveries each time that refill your gratitude and make you so happy to call Venice home. Now it's just up to me to go make friends with the folks behind the ones I missed ...

Congratulations to Barbara Bauman, the Garden Tour's indefatigable motor running it all, the Founders, Co-Chairs, Commmittee and Volunteers ... It was another smashing success, and an absolutely lovely day for everyone who partook in this important fundraiser for the Neighborhood Youth Association.

THANK YOU so very much for again showcasing the beauty of our community's places and people!

Venice Neighborhood Book Park

I was cruising around the other day, just happy to be right where I was, when I got even happier. Right on the corner of Altair and Andalusia is the Venice Neighborhood Book Park!

Like the "Little Free Library" movement popping up around the country, the VNBP is a little box that anyone can come by and leave or take a book to read. For free. Books for everyone! A friendly guy was just leaving when I rode up, and said, "I just left a whole bunch of new ones in there!" I already have a fat back log of books to read (and, ahem, write!) so I didn't take any on this day, but I sure have a bunch I can leave. If there's any room! It seems to be pretty popular, as the box was stuffed.

The box itself has little plastic dragons guarding it, and a rasta colored ONE LOVE sticker on the side. I love everything about it. These are the little surprises that you chance upon in Venice, and what keeps it special. The whole city could use dragons guarding it now, and the reminder that ONE LOVE is really all that matters.

OK, gotta get reading...

An Open Thank You Note To Venice and Minnesota

Please let me take this opportunity to spill my heart all over the place and THANK my two homes, Venice and Minnesota.

If you've ever met me you know that my Mom is a big deal to me. I've never met a better lady, ever. She had a heart attack in Minnesota while I was on the phone with her in Venice. I was beside myself. Minnesota friends went to her even before I could. Venice friends got me there overnight.

Minnesota friends picked me up at the airport, took me straight to the hospital, and gave me strength to handle seeing my Mom all hooked up to a million things. The way her face lit up when I walked in absolutely proves the power of love to heal. Venice/LA friends called and texted and let me know that we had thoughts and prayers going in my absence. People everywhere that I didn't even know attended Church told me about adding my Mom to their prayer chains. Facebook blew up with beautiful messages and offers of ANYTHING to help, from every place I know people internationally, especially Venice, especially Minnesota, particularly from the unusually close and timeless friends that were/are Richfield Spartans.

Minnesota friends brought me lunch, stole me away for a stiff drink, made a party for me when I got home late one night so I could see friends, and held me while I cried on their shoulders, both from fear and joy.

When I'd leave the ICU to check messages, every time there was new love and light shining on us from sunny Venice. This was extra needed when there were not one, but TWO April blizzards while I was back, which I was totally unprepared for, packing wise. I was the only person in Minnesota thrilled about it, since I'd missed Christmas back there this year, and tried to keep it to myself as they are OVER it.

As I became used to the awful lighting (and food) of the hospital, I started to feel sick and in pain myself. Stress piled up on my neck and shoulders, and I started to feel hypochondriac-ish. That's when my dear friends, Christine, Jane and Kate stepped in and took me out of the hospital to hear some music and get some fresh air for an hour at the MacPhail Center for Music, where Jane is the lead singer in her 10 year old rock band. Perhaps to Jane's embarrassment, her "Fairy Godmother" also needed to rock, and blow off some steam, even if for just a sorely needed hour out of the Heart Center. The 10 year olds gave me the uplift and spirit to go back to the hospital, stronger and more hopeful - both for my Mom, and the future, with kids as great as these coming up.

I would read Mom messages from my family of friends in both homes, and see her eyes regain that familiar twinkle every time. Just knowing that you have so much love lifts you up to feel like you can handle anything. And we did.

Mom had scary surgery on her beautiful heart. It went well, and the only reason they didn't have to admit me to the Psych Ward during that was because all of my people from all over had my back so lovingly well.  Every day Mom is getting a little better, though it's a whole new life now, and a lot of change is underway for her. I could only leave (real life still rolls on) because I saw first (and grateful) hand how very sweetly she is being taken care of, both by the lovely nurses and our friends.

I left Minnesota last night amid another blizzard. I was a sobbing wreck, and even the airport security guy was tender to me about it. That's Minnesota.

I awoke (after a long and crazy-delayed journey) back in Venice, to sunshine and profound feelings of gratitude. I came back to the news that my good friend, Bobby Brown (The World's Greatest Wino) had died. More than ever, I feel the truism that life is short, and you honestly have to do your best to have the best time you can, while you can. Venice friends - that I didn't even know KNEW about my Mom's ordeal - have stopped me every day, asking about her, and telling me to call if I need anything at all. People care. I went to the beach to inhale the fresh sea air, and close my eyes to give thanks ... for this life I've been given, for the abundant love I've been shown, and for the people and places I call home. Gratitude is glory!

As truly hard as that week was - it was also deeply beautiful. The humanity - that we were surrounded in like a huge embrace - was a lesson in how to be a friend. In how to live your life gratefully and positively. If you've ever thought I was sappy and gushing about that kind of stuff before ... well, now it's really on. For all time.

Thank you, dear friends and family of mine, wherever you live. From the bottom of the Gronners' completely full (and on the mend!) hearts.

Street Wisdom

Literally. This little pointer is paved right onto the street in front of my new place.

I like it when people take the time to share what they think in interesting ways. I'm gonna go out and learn from my fellow man/woman right now! And then add to it ... And then ... PLAY! (I also like that the person in red writing did what was asked and added to it - making it even better).

Happy Friday!