I Love Coronado

Spending three days with my friend Margot reminded me how great it is to have old friends. No matter the distance or time spent apart, you can always pick up where you left off...
I just returned from a three-day trip to Coronado and I must say, I loved it there. It felt like I was in another state outside of California. I took the train (for the first time) and was so impressed by the whole experience. We stayed with Margot's family at the Hotel Del, which is AMAZING. You should go to Coronado just to venture through it. Its history dates back to 1887 and is one of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California.

Between the train stations and the Hotel Del, I was in vintage-heaven. There are really neat 1920s wooden bench seats at Union Station that are just asking to be photographed!! Sounds crazy, but as I was walking up the train platform, I really got a feel of what it must have felt like to live in the 1920s-1930s. For a brief moment, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach that made me wonder if I ever hopped on a train to ride to a Victorian beach resort in a past life. I imagined the opening scenes from Anna Karenina (the movie -- not the book, hehe).

Coronado itself is delightful... it's like an upscale, small beach town. Orange Street is lined with little souvenir and surf shops and there is a plethora of Mexican and seafood restaurants. It's the perfect destination for people with children or a romantic getaway for adults. If you are hoping to spend most of your time at the beach while you are on vacation, forgetaboutit. We spent the least amount of time on the beach. In fact, the ocean seems like it's just scenery there. My biggest peeves were the Marine Layer (that clouds up the sky every day until noon or 1 PM) and sand fleas. Los Angeles county beaches are dirtier, but they do not have sand fleas.

West Coast beaches look pretty, but they leave a lot to be desired. I'm still an East Coast/Jersey Shore girl at heart.

This was rather interesting though... I was searching Google Maps at our hotel and came across this:

A closer look:
My first thought was Coronado knew Google Maps was coming to town, so they constructed this giant sand sculpture but after further Googling, I discovered that the GIANT letters are a permenant fixture. In fact, guys in bulldozers maintain the letters, which are about four feet high. Whoever started this even planted/rooted sea grasses on top of the letters to help preserve them and make them easier to read from the sky!! I just wish there was an observation deck somewhere to see all the letters and, more importantly, photograph them. ;)

I RECOMMEND:
For Breakfast: Beach-n-Diner, 1208 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA
For Dinner: Swaddee Thai Restaurant, 1001 C Ave, Coronado, CA
For Adults: Beach, boating/kayaking, a Romantic stay at the Hotel Del, shopping along Orange Street, Old Town, San Diego, and there are tons of activities in nearby San Diego.
For Kids: San Diego Zoo, Sea World or Legoland.

Link to the review I wrote about Swaddee.

View from the train heading back to L.A.

Can't wait for Summer!!

Things I am looking forward to:

JUNE
-Selling prints on Getty Images
-Secret 311 Concert :)
-The release of 311's new album Uplifter.
-311 hosting LOVELINE radio on Tuesday June 2nd
-Spending three days in Coronado with my friend Margot and her family
-Going to see The Wallflowers at House of Blues with Rick
-Midnight showing of Almost Famous with Adam
-Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale... yes, it's actually something I look forward to, haha.
-Chilling with my friend Kevin who will be in CA with his girlfriend

JULY
-A week down the Jersey Shore (feat. Rick on the East Coast!!)
-Being a part of APW Gallery's "Something Different" Group Exhibition in Long Island, NY. Opening night is July 17th!!
-KKP weekend full of antique/thrift shopping and Thai food
-Photoshoots, photoshoots, lots of photoshoots!!
-Taking my grandmother to an Elvis impersonator concert
-Making scrabble tile pendant necklaces with my grandmother
-Beating my mother at scrabble
-Helping Lindsay decorate her new apartment
-Seeing Justin's new apartment

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
-South of the Border roadtrip with my Mother
-What About Bob Trip with my best friend Andrea
-Hanging out and making silly videos with KKP at Princeton
-Spending my 25th birthday with family and friends back home
-Beach day trips with Lindsay
-Baking a 14-layer cake with Andrea
-Statue of Liberty field trip with my mom, Justin and Andrea (possibly Zac and Jess too!!)
-Spending as much time with family and friends as possible!! :)

M.I.A

Sorry I've been M.I.A!! March was a busy month. Justin, my friend from college, visited me for a week and we spent three days in San Francisco. We rented a car and took Route 1/the PCH up the coast to get there. It took 10 hours to get there (instead of 6 or 7 hours via Route 5), but it was worth it!! I wasn't too impressed with Pebble Beach but the drive along Big Sur was amazing. We hit up all of the typical San Fran locales... went to Alcatraz; drove down Lombard Street; found the REAL Full House House (1709 Broderick Street); Visited Alamo Square/Painted Ladies; walked 1/4 way across the Golden Gate Bridge; took photos from the Marin Headlands; went to Fisherman's Wharf; ate Thai food. All and all, a fun trip!! I also introduced Justin to Pinkberry and now he is an addict. We ate Pinkberry (sometimes for breakfast!!) at least 4 times that week.

Also in March, my favorite boss Dave Nagel landed a HUGE job for Best Buy. It was a four-day shoot with 11 models and an excellent crew!! We shot at 5th and Sunset studios whose in-house chef spoiled us with breakfast and lunch every day. Breakfast burritos; bacon and eggs; French toast and fresh fruit for breakfast. Pork tenderloin on Monday; grilled chicken on Tuesday; salmon on Wednesday and skirt steak on Thursday--always accompanied by salad, sides and dessert!! Did I mention there's a coffee bar?! Best studio to work in!! During the four days, my boss shot an impressive 11,759 photos!! I shot a lot of production stills and videos that will available after the ad campaign debuts this October. I have to admit, I am impressed with the quality of Canon's 5D Mark II video setting... but the fact that it's manual focus is a drag. I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with Kirk Weddle, my boss's longtime friend, who produced the shoot. (For those of you who may not know, Kirk shot Nirvana's infamous baby underwater album cover for their album "Nevermind." You can read the whole story here). Watching Kirk and Dave interact and hearing all of their crazy college stories was a blast!! Can't wait to work with both of them again... which luckily will be soon!!

I've been drawing a lot of cutesy comics lately which I am hoping to display on a personal website. I just created an awesome summery comic but it's still spring so you'll have to wait to see it!! I'd love for a website or magazine to want to buy my comics for their publication. I should really look into it but I have to find the right market for them first.

And that pretty much sums up March, other than consuming lots of delicious Ice Pan, babysitting, going on an ebay spending spree and having my Polaroid camera break... luckily two replacements are on their way!!

sunday is funday

i went biking with my friend hal this weekend and we shot a lot of great photos in venice beach. you can see some of them here. we also grabbed "breakfast" at 2 pm and swung on some swings. (i'm a BIG fan of swingsets). the highlight of day occurred around 9 pm when hal and i were riding bikes to his office to pick up a few things. as much as drivers in Santa Monica seem conscientious of bikers, i was hesitant to ride to hal's office because our bikes didn't have lights and it was dark outside... but hal assured me we would be safe.

moments later...

*while laying on the horn* an angry driver yells to hal: GET OUTTA THE ROOOAD!!!!!
the angry driver goes through the intersection and meets up with hal again, driving closely next to him yelling "YOU'RE IN THE ROAD!!!!"
hal's retort??? "YOU'RE DRIVING A CAR!!!!

HAHAHA, it may have been one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, but it was hysterical!! the driver would have retaliated but hal's un-insulting insult sort of befuddled him. the irony was that hal was riding IN A BIKE LANE!! this person was just crazy.

p.s. i tried Red Mango for lunch because i was eager to taste their frozen yogurt since they were established before pinkberry and are more natural and... yeee-uck. the pineapples were canned, not fresh, and the raspberries were mushy. i tried a sample of the green tea flavor but opted with original and boy was i was disappointed. from now on, i'm sticking to pinkberry when i want of overload of sugary artificial frozen yogurt that appears healthy. are you a "crackberry" baby too??? check out the comic i made based on my experience at the pinkberry in beverly hills...

polanerd adventure to the middle of nowhere

yesterday i went on a little polanerd outing with kim and chinako.

sanctuary adventist church
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

our first stop was a cute abandoned cottage in the middle of the nowhere lancaster, california. kim had driven past this place but never had the nerve to explore the interior alone. (i don't blame her).

left to rot
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

the cottage was a MESS. there was the usual evidence left behind by one too many drunken minors -- beer cans and bottles, smashed walls, bullet holes and broken tile. (just so you can get an idea of how dirty the place was...) but this house had a terrific blue room and hardwood floors... the perfect backdrop for kim's brilliant idea.

hole in the wall
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

we shot some photos then kim didn't waste any time tossing polaroids around the room, covering the floor with the "bad" shots she no longer wanted. chinako and i couldn't believe what she considered to be her "bad" shots... but apparently kim has very similar perfected versions of the photos she left behind. chinako and i hoarded a few we couldn't bare to leave behind.

we proceeded to shoot hundreds of photos around the house and took turns lying among the polaroids on the floor. although the floor was visibly dirty, it didn't seem so bad.

down the road from the cottage was some sort of compound. all of the buildings appeared to be abandoned but there were cars and dogs and seemingly normal outdoor table with a pitcher of water, iced tea, glasses, binoculars and a pillow. running 1/8 mile along one of the buildings was this creepy fence covered in skeletons of mythical creatures. skulls and bones were wired to the fence to create things like a devil and an angel. near the end of the fence was the "skeleton" of this alien creature

after i showed my boyfriend photos of the skull fence he said, "ohmygod jena, haven't you ever seen the texas chainsaw masacre?!"

summer heat
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

we drove further into lancaster county and stopped at a beautiful poppy field. i shot some awesome polaroids of chinako lying on a mexican blanket kim had burried in her trunk.

then we ventured further into the middle of nowhere to the infamous sanctuary adventist church AKA: the kill bill church. when we got there there were three guys taking photos with their camera phone of the church (which is a fully functioning establishment).

total fucking badasses
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

all and all, a wonderfully sucessful and fun trip. i shot 420 digital photos and 25 polaroids. of those, a selected set can be viewed here. check them out!! some of the photos taken that day can be purchased in my etsy shop: http://jenaardell.etsy.com/

thank goodness for TV (tapings, that is).

last monday i went to a craig ferguson taping to see zooey deschanel's band She & Him perform live. i befriended a nice woman from Connecticut who was accompanying her husband on a business trip. we chatted about the differences between east and west coast women while waiting in line and once we got inside the studio, we scored front row seating. :) she & him performed first, playing a song called "change is hard." zooey was adorable. she was wearing a ruffly cream-colored vintage dress. (their segment aired may 1st). then craig ferguson did intros to skits and interviewed kathy griffin (not really a fan) and a stand up comedian performed.

then i met up with rick and we ate thai food at a restaurant lindsay had given us a $50 gift certificate to for christmas. when we paid the bill with the gift card, the owner/waiter asked "you're the ones whose friend bought you the gift card from new jersey and were supposed to eat here on valentine's day but couldn't show, right??" and we were like, "yup, that's us." it was funny he remembered all of that!! haha.

on thursday rick i went to a taping of jimmy kimmel live to see STONE TEMPLE PILOTS~!! while standing in line, we ran into rose - a fellow 311 bber and hardcore fan whom we've met at numerous 311 (and zack hexum) shows. before the show started, another 311 friend named jared appeared!! i ALWAYS see him at 311 shows... he's been to every cali show i've attended. we watched jimmy kimmel's interview with puff daddy on the big screens behind the outdoor stage and then *drumroll* stone temple pilots took the stage!! they played interstate love song, silvergun superman, vaseline, sin, trippin' on a hole in a paper heart, wicked garden, big empty and, as an encore, plush. IT WAS AWESOME. here are some photos i took with rick's phone (because cameras weren't allowed):

me and rick:

look at all the camera phones in the air!! hehe:

jimmy kimmel:

jimmy kimmel:

me and rose:

me and jared:

clips of the performance will be posted on my youtube channel soon!!!!

lindsay's visit!!

saturday: lindsay arrived at 6:45 pm. rick and i picked her up at the airport then we went to santa monica and walked around the promenade. lindsay dropped $100 in about 20 minutes. (she's a bit of a shopaholic) she bought a cute dress though, hehe. i bought a kewl 80s-looking blue and black volcom sweater in urban outfitters for $9.99. SCORE!! we ate at the gaucho grill then headed to the pier and wandered around until our noses started running. then we headed back to the apartment and i gave lindsay a tour of our apartment and she got to meet the infamous miss gray (my cat). then we sang a belated happy birthday to lindsay and ate bday brownies i baked that morning and i gave lindsay her birthday presents. sunday: lindsay and i got up early and headed to hollywood. we drove up beachwood canyon and stopped at the hollywood sign. then we went to hollywood & highland and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. we took lots of photos. lindsay was wearing a summery blue bandanna-print tank top she purchased the night before and a random guy driving by on a bike said "nice shirt, but it would look better in red!" we assumed his comment was harmless, but in the back of our minds we thought, "oh crap, that could have been a gang reference." we shrugged it off until another guy passed us and said, "good color." so we ducked into a shop and lindsay bought a replacement shirt. then we walked around the open-air market; got our makeup done at napoleon; and ate lunch at pig n' whistle. we tried on wigs with all intentions of buying them, but then didn't buy them (which saved us over 85 bucks... mine would have been $35 and lindsay's would have been $50!!) then we headed to rodeo drive. while i was trying to decipher the fine print on the parking meter, a guy with a dog noticed my jersey plates and informed us we had just missed Bruce Springsteen coming out of Barney's. (i think it's funny people assume all new jerseyians like Bruce Springsteen). lindsay and i walked around and went in and out of shops. i found something for ricardo's birthday. when we got back to apartment, lindsay was ecstatic to see we had spinach and mozzarella raviolis from costco. we watched "the holiday" while eating dinner.
monday: woke up early again and headed to my favorite beach in malibu. stopped at the post office so i could mail a print to someone who purchased one from me on etsy. :) then we ran in a grocery store to buy some beach snacks and lindsay got starbucks. we sunbathed, took photos and chatted on the beach for 2 1/2 hours or so. then went back to the apartment, changed and got ready to go out. rick drove us to the santa monica promenade so lindsay could see the area during the day. we caught the sunset while freezing our toes off at the pier. then we ate at the cheesecake factory in beverly hills. when we got back to the apartment, we watched the hills and brutally made fun of everyone on the show.

tuesday: we got free jamba juice and dropped off lindsay's photos to be printed (98 of them, to be exact). then we took showers/got ready and headed to melrose. we saw Mischa Barton in wasteland -- one of my favorite shops there. i'm not particularly a fan of Mischa Barton but i'm glad lindsay got to see a celebrity and it was interesting (and a bit disturbing) to witness paparazzi stalking someone. they had their video camera lens pressed against the glass windows and waited outside to bombard her after she emerged from the store since they aren't allowed inside. Mischa was wearing a cute hippy-ish floral dress while trying on hideous fur vests but left the store wearing unflattering pink sweat pants (see the paprazzi's photos here). we bought a few things; ate lunch; then headed to CBS studios in studio city to watch the taping of "Secret Talents of the Stars." it's a reality show (already got canceled) that exposed secret talents of celebrities. John O'Hurley hosted accompanied by a celebrity judge panel (Debbie Reynolds, Brian McKnight and Gavine Polone). we got to see Sasha Cohen perform a contortionist act; Clint Black perform stand up comedy (he was so cute!!); George Takei sing a country song; and Mya perform a tap dance routine. we had prime seating among the wives and family of the mentioned celebrities and you should have seen the rocks on the womens' fingers!! holy goodness. lots of plastic surgery too. after the show, we made a special trip to pinkberry. if you're not fimiliar with pinkberry, there are only three flavors and it's waaaaay overrated. i sampled the green tea (awful sour taste) and opted for original, but i wasn't too crazy about that flavor either. lindsay got the coffee flavor with raspberries and loved it.

wednesday: we stopped at denny's before heading to the airport; took more photos (of course); then lindsay went home. :( all and all an awesome visit -- the weather was well-behaved; we packed as much as we could into each day; and we beat traffic every time!! and now we have lots of new photos and memories. :)

til 4 in da mornin'

yesterday was an interesting day...

i went to beverly hills for an interview for a personal assistant job for a website launch this weekend. didn't get the job (or else they would have called me) but all is well because the gig would have required driving and i hate gigs that require me to use my car/my gas. since i was in the area, i decided to visit my friend hal but en route to hal's office, my brain made me go into a thrift store. i wound up buying more ridiculous things i will use for future photo shoots including a vintage polka dotted mossimo canvas dress with side cutouts (it looks like a 1970s go-go clown dress); a pair of hot pink snakeskin (hope it's fake) pumps; and a pair of wooden platform clogs that i now wear around the house.

i tagged some images for hal and edited some photos hal took of me the night i wore a 70s dress and sat on his stove with a large knife. (needless to say, very interesting shots). we stayed in the office until 7:30 in order to avoid the peak traffic hours. hal wound up eating dinner with me and rick (rick cooked!! :) aw) and then hal and i embarked on a late night photo adventure.

we met with his creative genius friend sarah who got in touch with two strangers she found on myspace just an hour prior (a brother and sister) who wanted their photos taken. also involved were four of sarah's friends. we met the strangers at a starbucks and acted like we had a plan for a shoot when in reality we had no idea what we were about to do. everyone was in his/her car following us as we feverishly looked for a potential location to set up a guerilla-style photo shoot. after finding an abandoned building next to alley, we set up and took some photos with sarah's lighting equipment. everyone was really enthusiastic, even the bum who lives in the covered parking lot of the abandoned building. the brother and sister duo were fantastically friendly and fun and everybody quickly became friends.

hal and i scouted out our next location while sarah wrapped up her shoot. after scouring a car was for a working outlet (no luck), we found a construction site with exposed beams of steel or iron, staircases leading to nowhere and lots of equipment (hoses, electric cords, ladders, you name it). in order to get to this location we all had to climb over a chainlink fence and climb down a steep ladder into the foundation of the "building" ... with equipment. it was quite an experience. lots of interesting shots.

after freezing our toes off for who-knows-how-long (and sarah accidentally breaking one of her lights), we finally decided to call it a night and go to a local diner. sitting in the diner, lethargic with red noses and cold toes (and a few of us a little tipsy)... i felt like i was in college again. i didn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. it's comforting to meet people who are dedicated to making art happen and are even more wildly imaginitive than i am because it gives me a reason to do crazy things and makes me feel as though these things aren't that crazy.

photos to come on my flickr.

box office weekend

this weekend i worked in the box office for Art LA, a contemporary art fair in santa monica that represented sixty-four unique local, national and international galleries.

despite the long hours, it was fun playing box office with a group of eclectic locals (actually, very few were locals. the majority were transplants like myself).
the dynamics of a group of freelancers never ceases to amaze me. there are always type-cast personalities, but this time those personalities were even more specialized. i worked with quite a bunch of characters. the cast included:

the bossy, take charge, been-there/done-that/know-it-all, 20-something "stunt woman" and her nice boyfriend (also into stunts), a theatre geek all grown up.

the middle-aged worldly writer who was trying to absorb as much as she possibly could. although she has lived in the united states for however how long, she still pretends she hasn't grasped "american" ways and phrases.

the likable, well-dressed, high-energy actress who quickly becomes every body's best friend (but not in a negative, fake way).

the bohemian art child with a unique name, soft-spoken annunciation and hippy clothing (also very nice).

the poor-luck guy with an outdated haircut who always gets suckered into doing all the bitch work because he's too compliant to say "no" and very few people pay attention to what he mutters under his breath.

and then... me. the cynic who nominates herself the "normal one" as she quietly judges all of the other characters, honestly not caring what they must think of her.

despite the awful weather, the event brought in quite a number of celebrities. patricia heaton (who plays the wife in everybody loves raymond) promptly showed up at 11:30 AM on opening day.

saturday celebs included daniel stern who was modestly dressed in attire that resembled what he wore in home alone (he played marv). he was also the voice of the narrator in the wonder years... i had no idea!!

karolina kurkova showed with a three-man entourage of guys who could easily pass as roadies. (the one with long blond hair was cute though).

keenen ivory wayans bought tickets for himself and his "sweet valley twin" brittany daniel toward the end of the night.

james franco was on the VIP list and was rumored to be inside, but nobody saw him enter the building.

todd oldham came to my line on sunday. he was so modestly dressed (in a blue sweatshirt, corduroy-ish khakis and with a backpack on his back) i wasn't sure it was him until he spoke in that gentle, todd oldam voice. he was so very pleasant and down-to-earth.

i didn't start conversations with any of the celebrities but when adam raspler (311's manager!!) was buying a ticket, i had to go over and say something!!

matt dillon snatched a VIP ticket and darted across of the box office to the front door like a weasel who just stole an egg from a hen house.

my stunt-woman coworker gave dustin hoffman major attitude. she didn't even so much as glance up at him because by the end of the night her goal was to say as few words as possible and make the the minimal amount of contact with people. hoffman seemed amused by her attitude (those infamous, twinkling character lines appeared in the corners of his eyes). i sat in disbelief and just as he was about to leave, i offered him one of the Art LA canvas tote bags (since miss stunt wasn't about to hand him one). he came back for it but i think it he was just being friendly because i highly doubt he really wanted the tote bag... although they were a hot comondity!!

mexican food. uncle jessie. and an old chair.

i'm writing from hal's apartment. he's on his way to the studio to pick up a soft box so we can partake in a late night photo shoot. tonight was a lot of fun. hal, his roommate megan, his friend nick and i went out to eat at El Cholos in Santa Monica. my dinner wasn't quite what i expected. i ordered the Chicken Tostadita which was described as "An Array of Fresh Garden Vegetables, Avocado, and Grilled Chicken Breast, Served in a Crisp Flour Tortilla" and more or less was served a salad with four large chips. it was good though. on our way out i spotted John Stamos sitting with a young lady and another couple right by the front door. he's cute. kinda skinnier than i imagined and lots of facial hair. i gawked for a few moments while we waited for the valet to retrieve hal's car but i didn't bother him for a photo. that's right - i saw UNCLE JESSIE and didn't get a photo with him. that my friends is called will power.

after dinner, hal, nick and i rode to "top of the world" in hope of taking some awesome night shots. despite the fog, we managed to capture a few good shots. then we headed to the Santa Monica pier. windy roads plus a full stomach... not a good combination. i felt like i was going to vomit. luckily the feeling subsided in the restroom of Bubba Gumps. hal shot some good photos of nick in an alley near the pier and then we went on a mission to find an outdoor electrical outlet so we could use hal's strobes. on our way toward venice i spotted an awesome chair on the side of the road. better yet, it was near an outlet. but the backdrop sucked (minus the guy peeing from around the corner. he was uh, kewl). i took some good shots of hal and nick near an abandoned blockbuster (where we were thinking about dragging the chair). now here's the kewl part about hal... we pass a chair on the side of the road. i suggest we take it (it matches our new backdrop perfectly) and hal thinks it's a great idea. so we wedge the chair in hal's trunk that was already full of equipment. luckily the door of the truck was heavy enough to hold it in place and we didn't have far to drive.

UPDATE: we set up our backdrop with the chair and shot some REALLY AWESOME shots. all. night. long. (til 1:30 am). hal shot me in a pink 80s dress (that i scored at a goodwill for $8) and a tiara. i shot hal through a wine bottle. hal shot nick with a guitar. we had fun. i can't wait to see more of the results!! and of course i will post some shots.

now hal and i are scheming up our next plan... an 80s party to launch our photo business!! stay tuned. :)

madonna inn trip recap!!

who: LA + SF polaroid nerds (11 of us in total).

what: two days, 1 night of mind blowing photo making.

where: thee madonna inn.

when: nov. 17 - 18, 2007.

rooms: "pony room," "round room," "irish hills" and "just heaven."

highlights: seeing the inn all decked out for christmas!! unlocking new rooms as if we were advancing to the next level of a video game. kim making deva (our stellar pink-tie-wearing breakfast waiter) blush. the urinals. squished penny machines!! crashing a wedding party. romping in the stench of the SF boys ;) just teasin. the amazingly awesome pool!! (i wish i brought my suit, damnit!!) julia's vintage dress selection and gnarly strobe skills. lou's anti-cookie-crushing episode. getting reacquainted with mr. and mrs. brilliant. (yes, that's actually their last name). plastic babies. making new friends. the room decor!! holy goodness!! figuring out who was in which room/who had which key/which key unlocked which door. ::confusion:: the 3-ipod, pretzel-eating car ride with miss rutabega and lou o. everybody acting like kids in a polaroid candy store. needless to say, good times had by all.

see all the photos i took during the trip here. more to come, so stop by again soon.

always an adventure.

on saturday rick, tyler, andrea and i were planning on hiking in hollywood but we nixed the idea after we realized what little time would be left to explore andrea's heaven on earth, the griffith observatory. so we took took lots of photos in front of the hollywood sign and ate at the crazy chicken. i read online that you could park and hike to the observatory instead of driving to the LA zoo to take the shuttle. whoever posted that information said the hike would only take 15 minutes. this information would have been accurate had it not been pitch dark outside and had we seen the entrance to the path we SHOULD HAVE taken. also, we would have not hiked over 2 miles uphill on this road (our path is in red):

despite tyler and rick (mostly rick) complaining about my "bright" idea and telling me not to believe everything i read online, it was an adventure. andrea (who is used to my crazy ideas) appreciated the fact that we were not following the normal procedure. thank goodness we didn't hike in hollywood, otherwise we would have REALLY been exhausted. we were still pretty exhausted but the hairpin turns and buses and groups of cyclists with headlights on their bikes kept us on our toes.

when we FINALLY got to the observatory (all hot and sweaty), we had a good time seeing all of the exhibits, discovering our weight on other planets, taking lots of silly photos with Albert Einstein and looking at the moon through the GIANT telescope. and since it was the first saturday of the first quarter (who knew), the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers were gathered outside with their telescopes, showing us the moon and an interesting "stick man" star cluster.

and then it was time to attempt to get back to our car. at this point, the santa anas were in full-force, causing VERY strong winds so the plan was to see if a friendly shuttle driver wouldn't mind dumping us off at the bottom of the hill... but no luck. the shuttle driver wouldn't even let andrea finish her sentence. we asked someone in the parking lot if he wouldn't mind driving us. he told us he wasn't leaving yet, but to ask one of the park rangers. we explained our situation to a guy with a walkie-talkie who advised us to take another path down. the park ranger was equally as useless.

walkie talkie guy: do you guys have a flashlight???
us: no...
walkie talkie guy: well then, you should be alright. the moon could be your light.

he then proceeded to tell us there hasn't been any reports of mountain lion attacks in griffith park in a year. the observatory employees seemed concerned but didn't offer a solution. the park ranger gave us some BS excuse as to why he couldn't take us and the guy and the walkie talkie started to explain where the location of the mysterious alternative path. i muttered "assholes" under my breath and went outside to catch one of the few vehicles left in the parking lot. luckily i found couple who belonged to the Astronomers Club who were willing to drive us down in the back of their pickup. when we got to the most drastic hairpin turn (almost there!!), a ranger stopped us and told us the road was closed. so the Astronomer Club folks had to drop us off there, turn around and drive back up the hill. we were MORE than thankful to have gotten a ride to that point as we gladly walked the rest of the way (less than a half mile).

lesson learned: either take the shuttle or bring a flashlight... probably better off with the shuttle.

clothing optional?

so my mom and i found an awesome little beach in malibu where the seascape is something out of europe. you seriously feel like you are somewhere abroad. when we went during the week it was pretty secluded, but on sunday there were more people. we attempted to go to Point Dume, which we nicknamed "7-dollar-beach" because you had to pay to get in, no refunds, no re-admittance. nothing special there, just a giant rock protruding from the coast. so we headed back to our favorite little beach. it's an ideal location, but there is one little issue... the beach is a magnet for weirdo guys and for some reason (i guess because the beach is secluded), these men think they can take off all their clothes. and it is NOT a nude beach. and even when the weirdo guys are wearing bathing suits... it's still just as bad. as we were about to leave there was a man climbing up the stairs in front of us, wearing an ill-fitting bathing suit (not quite a speedo, not quite short shorts) whose hairy ass was staring us in the face. especially when he bent down to fix his sandals. so we waited until he got to the top before we headed up the stairs.

weirdo naked guys aside, a lot of friendly, talkative people (especially foreigners) flock to this beach, but i doubt i will ever go alone.

mon-thurs: GRAND CANYON!!!! :) :) :)

THE SALTON SEA

on sunday i went to the Salton Sea with the LA polanerd crew (rebecca, lou, drew, kim and bryan). i've wanted to visit the notoriously salty sea ever since i stumbled upon it during a late-night online tangent. the idea of exploring the surrounding desolate area chock full of abandoned buildings really appealed to me.

the Salton Sea is a result of what humans do best... neglect the environment by using shortcuts and insufficiently funding major projects so we are ill-prepared for environmental challenges. you would think environmental disasters due to poor upkeep, like the levies post-hurricane katrina would not still occur, but unfortunately we never learn. pertaining to the Salton Sea, man's biggest mistake occurred between 1905 - 1907 during which the colorado river flooded into the "Salton Sink," a major salt mining site, for TWO years. the result - the Salton Sea: the largest lake in california. today, the maximum depth of the Salton Sea measures 51 feet!!

once described as an "investor's dream," the Salton Sea was a hot spot for water skiers, fishermen and boaters in the 1920s. now high levels bacteria, pesticide runoff, raw sewage, excessively high salinity and algae blooms make the water inhabitable. (the water is more salty than the ocean!!) thousands of dead talapia, the only fish that survive long enough to die, wash up on the shores. the sea grows larger and larger, an average of 1.36 million acre-feet per year, thanks to agricultural run-off and the nasty, dirty New River.

what's the New River? why, it's the "single most polluted river in America."

"The New River is composed of waste from agricultural and chemical runoff from the farm industry irrigation in the U.S. (18.4%) and Mexico (51.2%), sewage from Mexicali (29%), and manufacturing plants operating in Mexico (1.4%). By the time the New River crosses the U.S./Mexico border near Calexico, California, the channel contains a stew of about 100 contaminants: volatile organic compounds, heavy metals (including selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury), and pesticides (including DDT) and PCBs. The waterway also holds the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of U.S. EPA and Cal/EPA standards by several hundredfold.[2] Fecal coliform bacteria are at levels of 100,000 to 16 million colonies per milliliter at the border checkpoint (possibly more, as this is the measuring capacity threshold), far above the U.S.-Mexico treaty limit of 240 colonies." ~wikipedia

soooo before we embarked on this little road trip, i researched the Salton Sea on wikipedia and flickr. all of the photos i saw were of the infamous abandoned North Shore Motel. i promised myself i wasn't going to over-shoot the motel since so many people have already covered that one spot... but during my Salton Sea adventure, i realized why so many people only have photos of that hotel - it's the first stop. and after stopping there, few want to continue to explore the Salton Sea coastline. to my surprise, there were fewer buildings in the area than i expected. i felt like i was walking around a desolate, post-apocalyptic scene from T.C. Boyle's "After the Plague." judging by the trash and graffiti left behind by past visitors, the majority of intrigued visitors fall into four categories: 1. drunk kids en route to or from coachella. 2. curious photographers (we found empty film boxes and polaroid cartridges). 3. skateboarders. 4. whatever animals eat the plethora of pigeons that roost in the abandoned buildings.

the temperature fluctuated between 95-102 degrees at the peak of the afternoon. that mixed with the smell of thousands of dead fish (and some dead birds too) was not-so-pleasant, but add hundreds of relentless flies and you have borderline-unbearable. it was so filthy that the shoes i wore that day are still being quarantined outside until i disinfect them. this may seem a bit like an overreaction, but after you sink ankle-deep into bacterial-laden barnacles and fish bones that have washed up from a sea of dead fish, you too would not want to track the Salton Sea into your home.

we hung around the motel for a long time, each going our seperate ways to find our shots and then meeting back in a small corner of shade and then going back for more, often using each other as "models." lou is an avid pola-portrait photographer so he was busy trying to get us to crouch down in a nasty corner or stand in a shady blue-tiled shower. my favorite part of the motel and yacht club were the abandoned swimming pools. there's just an unnatural appeal about being able to walk on the floor of an empty swimming pool.

after attempting to de-fly drew's vehicle, we headed to Bombay Beach, an interesting off-beat trailor community located near the "marina" of the Salton Sea. for me, this was the most interesting part of the trip. i loved the idea of this little sustainable community out in the middle of the desert. there was a tiny general store, a liquor store and a small garage of a fire station. i headed toward the homes while everyone else was shooting the marina area and i found some interesting things... including a solitary goat living in (under?) an abandoned-looking trailer with fenced-in yard. i would have loved to explore more, but i felt a bit uneasy walking around by myself. my friend hal has been itching to go to the Salton Sea so if and when he does (hopefully when it's a bit cooler outside), i would glady accompany him just to further explore Bombay Beach. i am really interested in the types of characters who live there and you could imagine my delight when i discovered THIS. a documentary about the people who live in Bombay Beach!!!! check out the trailer. the film is only playing in (small) select theatres on certain days and unfortunately i already missed the LA showings and i was all disappointed because i thought i was going to miss one of the upcoming screenings, but as luck would have it, i won't be missing it after all!! THANKGOODNESS. otherwise, i would have had to wait until its dvd release in late september. woo woo, i smell another polanerd get-together!!!! :D

after Bombay Beach, we kept on truckin until we passed an abandoned warehouse conveniently located on the side of the freeway. after over-exploring the motel/hotel/restaurant buildings on the North Shore, i was more interested in the LARGE hay stacks located OUTSIDE in front of the building, away from any disgusting debris. there were two wrecked cars and an old truck behind the warehouse - one car was severly pinned in a ditch. and of course, there were loads of graffiti and fluffy pink insulation littering the warehouse.

undoubtedly, the Salton Sea is an interesting place and i'm glad i got to experience it with the polacrew, because rick and my mother would have really hated it there (and i wouldn't blame them). after driving past Palm Springs, i am reconsidering my strong desire to visit there. i just really want to see all of the kewl 50s architecture. the large dinosaurs (you pass along the way) were a bit of a disappointment. i imagined them being out in the middle of nowhere, not behind a burger king and a gas station. inside the brontosaurus is a small junk shop (that doesn't believe in evolution). you can go inside the t-rex for $2-3... but we didn't. it would have be kewl... but really maybe not, since there isn't much of a view to look at once you are up there.

overall, it's really disappointing and alarming that man has single-handedly caused the environmental disaster known as the Salton Sea. the aftermath is eye-opening. after walking across dead fish carcasses and seeing a body of water THAT LARGE that is completely useless and contaminated, it really makes you fear how badly mankind is destroying our earth and our water supply. if the earth's water were proportioned down to fit in a gallon jug, the available fresh water would be equal to just over a tablespoon. that's a scary statistic. people need to stop being so apathetic to our WORLD'S environmental problems and realize that mother nature can't always magically repair herself. we need to repair our environment before it's too late and the damage we've done becomes irreversible. we need to demand that congress passes environmental laws that will deal with a situation NOW, not in the year 2010 or 2020. we need to conserve water and natural resources and raise children with that same mentality so that it becomes second nature. (i can go on and on, but i will step off of my soap box for now...)

check my flickr for photos.

facts and figures:
during the 1960s: the Salton Sea becomes increasingly salty.
1992 - 1996: a LARGE number of grebes (150,000) and pelicans (unknown how many) die as a result of the bacteria in the water.

INTERESTING ARTICLES ABOUT THE SALTON SEA:
article 1
article 2

SF POLAROID NERD OUT 2007.

this past weekend was a blast!! rebecca and i attended the san francisco Polaroid Nerd Out (a large gathering of polaroid photographers from flickr). it was my first time ever having been in san francisco. (pretty city, but too cold for me). 41 people from all over California/Oregon/Seattle joined forces at Delores park on Sunday. every one who showed up was extremely nice. a man from the east coast, who couldn't attend the Nerd Out, even made and sent polaroid buttons for all of the attendees.

so picture this: a large gang of prehistoric camera-wielding, creative people scattered about playground equipment, taking photos of each other for at least two or three hours. everybody havd an arsenal of cameras (rebecca and i packed five cameras a piece) and came fully stocked with film. (i believe lou shot NINE packs!!) definitely my kind of afternoon. i compared it to a high school reunion for only the kewl kids. i love the feeling (and comfort) of connecting with a group of strangers over a shared interest. it was like meeting up with a bunch of friends you've always wished you had. the whole experience was very reminiscent of how i felt attending 3-11 day in 2004 and 2006. just a bunch of people who are very different, yet very similar- traveling, meeting and reveling in their favorite hobby. it fills you with a lovely sense of belonging and warmth. here's how it went...

saturday:

drove to SF with rebecca. (loooong car ride... took about 6.5-7 hours). drove over the golden gate bridge. took photos. was in awe of the view of the city from the Headlands. crashed at Rebecca's friend laura's apartment. ate thai food with laura and company. rebecca went on a hot date. i went to bed early (shocking, i know) since i had gotten three hours of sleep the previous night.

sunday:

we got my nerd on at the polaroid nerd out!! as i mentioned, 41 polaroid photographers (98% of them from flickr) met up for two hours of photography fun, swinging, chatting and random shenanigans. rebecca and i befriended an awesome girl named arielle. after hundreds of photos were snapped, the crowd dispersed and rebecca and i left the park with a dozen or so flickrites. we walked a decent distance to catch the bus. lou and tod brilliant shot LOTS of random portraits while we were riding on the bus. everybody grabbed some food or jamba juice, then we all chilled outside the japanese gardens (waiting for more flickrites who chose to drive there). then we went up the observation tower in the bay bridge park. amazing view. we all took plenty of photos. eric (a nice guy who built his own holgaroid with a fisheye lens!!) let me use his fisheye lens on my digital camera to take some hilariously unflattering photos of everyone. (will post them on flickr soon).

after that, rebecca and i literally dragged ourselves back to laura's apartment. at which point we were sunburnt, sweaty, EXHAUSTED and in pain from our shoes. everyone had such a blast at the meet-up that some people had already uploaded photos from the event onto flickr!! rebecca and i ate a lot of pretzels and then went to alamo square with laura to see the painted ladies (aka: the full house houses). we took even more photos and ate at a vegetarian restaurant. the BRISK walks to and from bus stops solidified my decision that san francisco is too cold for me.

later we met back up with the remaining polaroid crew around 9:30 at greg's (polaroid jesus's) awesome warehouse apartment. where we saw greg's awesome bedroom ceiling that he painted, ate pizza, took EVEN MORE photos, experimented with light painting, partied, chatted, gossiped, ate pizza, took EVEN MOOOOORE photos. lou took lots of shots of me and rebecca. and watching drew in action as he light painted this photo was mesmerizing. around 3:30 am, we hitched a ride back to laura's apartment with drew and lou. (unfortunately drew's car had gotten broken into the night before so it was a breezy, music-less driving experience. poor drew).

monday:

six-or-so hour long ride back into LA from SF. few pit stops/photo stops along the way. ate lots of pretzels. stopped at a fruit stand and a cattle feed lot. (very sad!!) took some photos. saw pyramid lake. got back to the apartment around 6:00 pm. watched Valley Girl with rick while eating dinner. (awful movie but a REALLY bitchin soundtrack, fer sure!!)

and there you have it!! plans are already in the works for a Polaroid Nerd Out in NYC this october and the Seattle crew is itching to host a Nerd Out as well. rebecca and i plan on hanging out with the LA crew more often.

my photos from this extravaganza can be seen here.
other nerds' photos can be seen here.

AND THERE ARE WAAAAAY MORE PHOTOS TO COME.

NEW SET ON FLICKR!!!!

LOTS of NEW photos from the adventure with miss rutabegabunny on saturday... check them out.

broken glass
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

screen door
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

nails and hooks
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

end to end
Originally uploaded by jena ardell.

work and unwork.

wednesday: i met up with a local wedding/pregnancy/child photographer named aleasha. i was second shooter for a small shoot she did in a park. it was with two kids, very mellow and well-behaved given the circumstances, for a christmas card photo. (yes, people plan that far in advance. crazy). it was the first time meeting aleasha. she was extremely nice and pregnant, hehe. that's why she is looking for an assistant/2nd shooter/someone to whore out as a photographer while she is out of commission. so the day was more or less a test to see if she liked me and my work. i think it went well. i took a lot of images and innovatively saved the day when the mother of the children realized that her little girl was missing one of her tiny elastics for her pigtails. (hello, cabbage patch doll!! hehe). soooo hopefully she'll think i'm a keeper. :)

wednesday night: rick and i bought some toys for our spoiled kitty, miss gray, and she loves them!!!!!

thursday: i assisted a shoot for James Lemmo. it was a small test shoot with one model and three outfits, so i mainly acted as a stylist. the model was really down-to-earth and friendly and james was a really great guy to work for. before the model arrived, james shot a few photos of me outside and they came out REALLY nice.

i stayed for lunch and we talked about movies (he has directed and written a bunch)!! he also had some really great-sounding recomendations of foreign movies (my fave) that i've already queued on aldrin's netflix account. james said he could use me for some upcoming product shoots and i really look forward to working for him again. he's really to the point (he's from NY) and has a lot of knowledge about the film industry.

aldrin stopped by thursday night before his car meet, ate some fish and dropped off two movies that i put on his netflix (Delicatessen and Dark Habits films by two of my favorite directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Almodovar, respectively). :) Aldrin's a good guy... we just need to find him a girlfriend named Jen.

friday: unwork day. met with michael brannigan and david frey to discuss a new job position creating layout for their wedding albums. it's a tad low-paying to start but it's better than nothing and at least i'll be doing something dealing with photography. michael said the best way to learn about photography is to look at other people's photographs... and if that's the case, with the amount of time i spend on flickr, i'm already a pro!! hehehe. but he did bring up a good point about being exposed to all of those photos... while doing the layouts, i'll be able to see which photos the clients selected and i will get a good idea of what clients like/expect/want.

after that, i went to the home depot to introduce myself and charge a battery for a promotional demo scheduled for saturday. i also ran into target and bought some homer simpson magnets for rick.

friday night: went to the dodger game (dodgers vs. the angels) with rick, jonathan and his friends!!




it was my first time at a professional sporting event and it was pretty fun. we all had a good time!! dodgers won. :)

saturday: worked a six hour demo at home depot that basically consisted of me drilling a couple screws into a 2 x 4. only two people bought one of the powerdrill kits i was promoting and when they did purchase them, it was a major hassle because all of the sku numbers were wrong and we all realized that home depot didn't even have the 7 piece kit they were promoting!! they just had a 5-piece kit marked at the 7-piece kit price and i had to go to the register with the people who were buying them and explain why these people were adding tools to the kit for free to build the 7-piece kit. ugh, it was quite a headache. the highlights of my day included meeting the hispanic version of my friend barry; being blessed by a costumer; and witnessing an older man sitting on one of the patio chairs "hiding" on his wife by holding a box up to his face and seeing her walk right by him TWICE before he finally lowered the box and she "found" him. hehehe.