I had always been fascinated with the story of the apartments: they were designed by great midcentury architect Rudolph Schindler for a family in the 1930s, so they could rent out the remaining units and have financial security. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I knew the identities of the family who currently resided within those walls. And as I discovered as I spent the day with filmmaker Joe DeMarie and his wife Madeleine Brand (who you may know from the public radio show that bears her name), they bought and lovingly restored the property for the very same reasons: to give their children a great place to grow up, and also ensure their future.

But it’s what happened between those two families, in a story that spans over 60 years, that’s absolutely amazing. Head over to Dwell to read my story “Self Preservation.” And thanks to Joe and Madeleine for their passion and dedication to keeping this little corner of Silver Lake history alive.

Top photo by Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao

1. Every neighborhood in LA should have some kind of sign like this.

2. That reminds me, I’ve been wanting to do this project where I take photos of people taking photos of themselves in front of the Hollywood sign.

3. Style Tip: If you want to look like a celebrity, put your hands in your pockets.

More photos.

There has been a lot of ink (pixels?) spilled lately on this idea that we’re so obsessed with Tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming the important moments of our lives that we’re not actually living them. NY Times technology reporter Nick Bilton recently wrote about fiddling with his iPhone to capture a gorgeous sunset, then realizing that he couldn’t simply appreciate the sunset without trying to share the experience with his social networks.

Bilton was so distressed by this that he made a 2012 resolution to go without his iPhone for at least 30 minutes a day, a goal that seems so ridiculously attainable I’m frightened for his well-being. He only has to be without his phone for 30 minutes? How about restricting iPhone use to only 30 minutes a day?

I don’t have as much trouble detaching from my phone (although I do take it everywhere), but I’ve been wrestling with this concept that documenting has to come at the expense of enjoying. When I see something incredible, I make a flash decision. I either flick my phone into camera mode or plunge into my purse for my camera, which is sometimes—often—already around my neck. (Sometimes I do both, camera in one hand, phone in the other.) If I’m walking, I definitely have to stop. I admit to dancing around trying to get the best angle. It changes the experience for sure. But do I miss it? Not at all. Having the photographic evidence of that memory is totally worth that second or two I spent deciding how to capture it. And yes, sharing is important, I guess. But I share mostly because I want to work through what the images mean to me. And writing a Tweet or posting it to my blog is how I do that. It’s like processing the moment.

I was trying to put this all in words for the last few weeks. But who would have guessed that Charles Eames said it more beautifully than I ever could have—50 years ago? When, I might add, it took a heck of a lot more time and effort to make a photograph.

You can see this illustrated quote, among others, at Eames Words, a show at the A+D Museum which has just been extended until February 20. Yesterday co-curator Andrew Byrom graciously gave de LaB a tour of the exhibition, and it’s absolutely fantastic. Of course, I took plenty of photos.

Lovely Golden Hour strolling on Sunset. I didn’t even mean to crop it that way, I swear.

More Street Walking.

My friend Jim Rota sent me this video for “The Red Line” by local hardcore/punk/metal band It’s Casual and as you might guess, I’m in love. The video features singer and guitarist Edward Solis riding a bus, a skateboard, and of course THE RED LINE, as he screams out those familiar number combinations—”THE 101! THE 405!”—over shots that prove “the freeways are not so nice.” And if you should have any doubt that this is indeed a pro-public transit song, just read the first two paragraphs of the band’s bio on their MySpace page:

It’s hard to digest the minutiae of society while traveling the freeways of Los Angeles in the comfort of a car at sixty miles per hour. Typically lined on both sides by cinder block walls, the L.A. freeways are mere pipelines of travel, often scurrying residents through neighborhoods of both low and high-income within mere minutes, barely offering a scant glimpse of what happens at the ends of those off-ramps.

But when It’s Casual vocalist/guitarist Edward Solis leaves his eastern Los Angeles-based residence to make his daily hour-long commute to Hollywood, he’s able to form an entirely new perspective. Solis, a rare, unlicensed Angelino, relies solely on public transportation to make his way around. The bus routes and train line on which he rides meander on surface streets, cutting across both decorative and distressed neighborhoods.

The resulting music is probably the most effective pro-transit message I’ve ever seen. It’s not some lovey-dovey ballad on the beauty of moving slowly through LA. It’s pretty much beating you into submission to STOP DRIVING NOW. I’ve often said that some of the fun of taking transit in LA is that it almost feels like a deviant act—like you’re buying into some counterculture, anti-establishment movement that’s protesting the current state of the city. This song fits that sentiment perfectly. It will be my new anthem as I proudly walk to the nearest Metro stop, which is, indeed “THE RED LINE!”

Remember those slow walks I was doing for my fellowship? I did one in my neighborhood today that I just had to share.

I like having rules for these walks. Today for some reason I challenged myself to take all vertical photos. Here’s a hibiscus.

The great pine arches of Lucile. It seriously feels like you’re marching into an English garden.

With the gargoyles across the street to match.

Glittery, slowly swaying palms.

Amber waves of grain. Actually pampas grass.

Gargantuan citrus. I think these are pomelos.

It seems like an overly obvious sign, no? I also like how this looks like the end of a dusty desert road.

I noticed lots of new street art in the neighborhood. Like this pole man.

It’s raining… fish?

It’s like an earthworm. With teeth.

Girl on a bike (but sadly with no face) at my new local bike shop.

So much color coordination going on here. An apartment building after my own heart.

Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood sign, palm trees, a 99-cent store, drivers, walkers, bikers and a helicopter… I think I just took the quintessential LA photo.

And for a finale, the glint of the Pacific Ocean from my street.

More photos.

Christmas never really ends in LA. It just relocates to the sidewalk for a few months.

More photos of post-holiday LA.

Last year on this day I posted my own version of a year-in-review with my 13 favorite stories of the year. (Why 13, everyone wanted to know? Was I superstitious? Unlucky? Honestly, it just worked out that way.) This year, I couldn’t help but do it again, but with a twist: I picked my favorites, but I’m also handing out specific awards in different categories (yes, giving prizes to myself—all in all, it was a pretty boring awards ceremony). So while you’re out this weekend drunk walking or choosing a parking spot or curing a hangover with a prairie oyster, please enjoy some of the best, worst, funniest, weirdest, most popular and least popular stories I wrote in 2011. Happy new year!

Most Fun to Research
Nike’s 23-Year Journey To Make McFly’s Shoes Real, Co.Design
When I got the assignment to cover the release party for Nike’s Air MAG shoes, inspired by the ones from Back to the Future, I think I traveled all the way to the Montalban Theater in a montage set to “Power of Love.” Here’s a franchise that was so beloved to me growing up—I even did a dance to the “Back in Time” song at the neighborhood talent show one year—and I got to attend this detail-perfect themed event to celebrate the films. But talking to Nike’s Tinker Hatfield unfolded another incredible story almost as unbelievable as time travel in a De Lorean, as Nike worked on the concepts for the original film and then spent the next two decades making the shoes a reality. AND—this was the kicker—all to benefit Michael J. Fox’s foundation to battle Parkinson’s disease. Now that’s the power of love. Here are some more photos from the party.

Least Fun to Research
How My iPhone Was Stolen on the Train, Gelatobaby
Um, yeah. But on the bright side, I imagine that I saved dozens of phones from similar “apple picking” incidents this holiday season. You’re welcome.

Best Anniversary Party
My LAX series of 10 stories celebrating 10 years in LA, Gelatobaby
If I had one piece of advice to writers—or any creatives for that fact—it’s to celebrate specific milestones in your own life. When I was on my vacation this summer (ah, my sweet, sweet vacation) I came up with the idea to somehow commemorate my ten years in LA, and by the time I was back home I had started writing the pieces. It was an assignment no one would have given me, and it gave me a fantastic reason to examine the place I lived and how it affected my work. I covered everything from weather to secret staircases but my very favorite piece is on how I gave up my car.

Favorite LA Thing to Write About
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Why We’re Pro-Carmageddon, GOOD
Besides the fact that I finally learned to spell “armageddon,” I had the absolute best time writing about the apocalyptic closing of the 405 freeway as a positive event for car-bound Angelenos. After I wrote this story I was asked to appear on the WYNC show The Takeaway, and—when people did, indeed stay off the streets for the weekend—I followed up with six more “-ageddons” I’d like to see.

Best Continuing Education
The Insider’s Guide to Art in Los Angeles, Details
The best kinds of stories are when you have to actually learn a whole bunch of stuff that you’ve always wanted to know, just to write the story. When I was assigned one of my first stories for Details on Pacific Standard Time, I was thrilled to jump in and try to make sense of this sprawling art-stravaganza about to descend upon LA. In the process, I got a seriously intense Los Angeles contemporary art education, thanks to some awesome interviews with the Getty’s Andrew Perchuk. This week I was on the KUSC show “Arts Alive” talking about my story and how PST has affected LA.

Best Per-Word Rate
GOOD Design is Growing: Announcing GOOD Ideas for Cities, GOOD
Not for the article itself, of course, but because I was writing about receiving an incredible $85,000 grant from ArtPlace for the GOOD Ideas for Cities program I co-founded three years ago. I can’t wait to take the event series to five cities, including my hometown of St. Louis, in 2012.

Best Stumbled-Upon Story
A Hidden Oasis Grows on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, GOOD
A perfect example of keeping your eyes open and your camera on, even when you’re out for a walk. I discovered this community garden on Hollywood Boulevard several years ago but it was only during a late-night, post-club visit that I realized it was a story just begging to be told. More on how I found it here, including photos I’ve taken of the garden throughout the years (before I even knew what it was). Street Journalism in action!

Best Stumbling
Enduring Spirit, Gelatobaby
Yes, I ran a marathon this year. Yes, I tweeted photos at every mile. Did I mention it rained the ENTIRE TIME? Did I mention that for the most part, I didn’t train AT ALL? Well, I hope you enjoy the story as I RISKED MY LIFE FOR IT.

Most Uplifting Subjects (I Believe the Children Are Our Future Award)
Middle School Students Tell LAUSD: No More Styrofoam!, GOOD
If you are ever feeling sorry for the state of the world, go visit the sixth graders at Thomas Starr King Middle School who not only got their school to stop using styrofoam trays at lunch, they raised money to buy reusable trays for every student who wanted one. After my story, the kids were featured on the local news, made dozens of videos, and worked with 826 LA to write about their experiences. Absolutely amazing.

Most Overwhelming Response
The Top 5 Things That Bother Me About This Headline, GOOD
When I pitched this little essay to GOOD for their Data Issue, it was mostly to vent about my own frustrations when writing “for the internet” compared to writing for print. But in the hands of guest editor Starlee Kine, it became a highly personal examination of my own transformation as a writer in the age of data—someone who, I realized, is almost addicted to page views and retweets. Ironically, the story was a traffic smash, and I’m still getting weekly emails and seeing it pop upon Twitter about it over six months later. Mostly, people thanking me for being honest about how hard it is to do what writers do.

Most Underwhelming Response
How Weeds Became a Marketing High For MIT’s Bike Wheel, Co.Design
After I noticed the Copenhagen Wheel in a recurring cameo role on Weeds, I jumped on this story, interviewing both the Wheel’s design team and the Weeds showrunner. I thought the incredible, slightly racy tale of how Weeds chose to include and work with the creators of this environmentally progressive bike concept would be a sure hit for cyclists and potheads everywhere. The story didn’t do that well, which I guess illustrates that data doesn’t always win. Or that potheads are an unreliable audience.

Most Beautiful Thing I Wrote About
An Almost Life-Sized Version of L.A. Made Entirely from Cardboard, Co.Design
Gosh, maybe one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, period.

Most Delicious Thing I Wrote About
Don’t Call it a Pop-Up: Felix Barron’s KTCHN 105, KCET Food
Best brunch in Los Angeles, with a unique experience that matches the food.

Best Service Journalism
The Best Way to See the Hollywood Sign, Gelatobaby
After a group of Beachwood Canyon residents decided they didn’t want tourists prowling their streets in search of the elusive Hollywood Sign, I wrote this story outlining several alternate routes that actually produce better views than if you’d parked in some snobby asshole’s driveway. A big part of what I hope to do with my writing is to help people navigate and understand LA better, and if I can do that at the expense of wealthy, closed-minded Angelenos, even better.

Proof that You Can Make Money Riding Buses
“Mass Transit”: A Dance Performance Inspired by Riding L.A.’s Buses, GOOD
What Happens When You Put a Coffee Table at a Bus Stop?, GOOD
Is LA’s Public Transit a Joke? This Comedian Sure Hopes So, GOOD
Take that, cars!

Most Hate Mail
Do You Double Space After Periods?, GOOD
I had no idea that taking a stand (along with many other writers) against double spacing after periods would net me the most emails I’ve ever received for a single story. The emails that I received also happened to contain the poorest grammar and spelling I’ve ever seen. And every email was dutifully double spaced, of course.

Happy new year!

While hiking on Christmas Day (IN THE SUNNY, 72° WEATHER) above Burbank we stumbled across this little tree all balled up for the holidays. We were so delighted to come across a festively dressed baby pine tucked into the canyon on the most perfect day possible. It added a Christmasy air to a day that, honestly, up until that point, felt more like mid-June. (BTW: Is there a name for this? Guerrilla Ornamenting?)

It reminded me more than a little of this Slim Aarons photo, which my friend Yosi just happened to post to Facebook the next day. I have never been anywhere for Christmas that wasn’t cold (or supposed to be cold) and I was a little nervous. But after spending this week in LA, I can’t help but feel a swelling of pride for the way we (meaning Angelenos) celebrate the holidays. Sitting in the sun, lounging by the pool, taking long hikes under ornament-blue skies. I didn’t miss the nipping at my nose.

More Christmas in LA.

It’s not often you’re delivered two life-changing experiences in the course of a year. In 2010 I was selected for the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship, an honor that irrevocably changed the course of my writing career. And less than 12 months later, I was thrilled to be selected for Engine29.org, where 28 fellows from the past decade were invited back to work on projects related to arts journalism. We gathered together in early November for our immersion period. And I’m excited to announce that our final projects have been officially launched.

My project, Moving Experience, with team members Joshua Samuel Brown and Michele Siegel, started with a premise: We would not use cars during the immersion period. We wanted to examine if, indeed, the way you arrived at a story changed the way that you reported it. Or, perhaps, if getting there was the story.

We rented bikes, we bought Metro passes. We took video from our helmets and lugged radio equipment on the bus. We tweeted constantly and we never put away our cameras. What I’m most proud of is a massive Google map that we created documenting the distance that each of us traveled that week and the method of transportation we took. We also embedded some of our tweets onto the map, which served as a compendium of our in-the-field realizations.

Each morning, I took long short walks through downtown. What do I mean by that? I’d walk for a long time, but I didn’t cover a lot of ground, walking only a few blocks in the course of an hour. I was practicing my noticing. I looked at anything that grabbed my attention. I took a lot of photos. I was trying to slow down as much as possible, to read the sidewalks, to talk to people, to find stories underfoot.

My team members also documented their processes. Michele, a producer on the great public radio show Studio 360, produced these beautiful audio slideshows featuring people we interviewed. Joshua, an incredible travel writer, wrote these epic travelogues interspersed with short films (and in a quite ironic twist, even managed to get a jaywalking ticket).

We quickly realized a series of five truths when it came to covering culture, especially in Los Angeles. Big stories were getting overlooked. Transportation was a huge issue. The word “art” meant different things in different neighborhoods. All of the truths pointed to one reality: Instead of reporting faster, we needed to report slower:

Could we take a page from the Slow Food movement and propose a type of “Slow Journalism” that would be embraced worldwide: an experiential, contextual approach to covering art? A return to the idea of covering a beat—by walking, riding or busing—in order to unearth the cultural stories that are more relevant and valuable to our audiences.

And so our team’s final project calls for a different methodology for reporting—a new way of working. A movement, if you will. We call it Street Journalism. And here is our manifesto:

We will cover a beat—a physical neighborhood, a cultural community, a single city block.

We will walk, bike or take public transit as we report. We will limit our trips in cars.

We will keep our eyes open, our cameras focused, and our Twitter streams active.

We will be flexible. We realize that getting there is half the story.

We will meet the locals. We will ask them what we should be covering in their neighborhoods.

We will remember that the best story leads come from people, not computers.

We will report stories which acknowledge that art is about place, and culture is about context.

If you’re a journalist, we’re hoping you can join the movement. You can read more about the Moving Experience project to get even more insight into our process. Then I hope you’ll get out there and try it yourself. Use the hashtag #streetjourno to tag your stories, your quotes, or just your realizations. Show us what you learn when you hit the streets, slow down and pay attention. Even though I thought I was writing this way, I see now that I was still moving too fast to discover the stories all around me. I know I’ll never think of my work the same way again.

A huge thanks to everyone who met with us to talk about our project. All their names and organizations are listed on the right hand side of the Moving Experience page.

All my photos from this year’s fellowship.