Across the Universe: THE REVEAL

Greetings, SundayLA Peeps:

Thanks for participating in the first SundayLA set of clues! Congrats to Jaymi (who also happens to be an amazing photographer) for guessing that this week I was in Little Tokyo. Also, a big shout-out to Yvonne B. via the SundayLA Facebook page for guessing the Ellison S. Onizuka memorial as the reason that there is a space shuttle memorial in the midst of Little Tokyo! Below you can find the geotags for the photos (in the captions), some fun facts about the area, the art and a digital walking tour that you can print out and follow on your own!

Photo 1: Scluptural fountain in the middle of Astronaut E. S. Onizuka Street in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Click here to see this exact location on a satellite map. 

Photo 2: Friendship Knot by Shinkichi Tajiri, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Click here to see this exact location on a satellite map.

Photo 3: A model of the lost Space Shuttle Challenger, in which Astronaut Onizuka launched on his second and final space mission. Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Click here to see this exact location on a satellite map.

History:


Photo 2: The Friendship Knot
At the entrance of Onizuka Street at San Pedro and 2nd Street, you'll see the Friendship Knot by Shinkichi Tajiri. Tajiri was born in Watts, California to 1st generation Japanese parents. He is known worldwide for his knot sculptures and has been classified by some as an "abstract surrealist". This particular sculpture was presented to the City of Los Angeles on August 5, 1981 as a bicentennial gift and intended as a symbol of unity between the Japanese and American cultures.


Photo 3: Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka/Challenger Memorial
Hawaiian-born astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka was the first Asian American in space, and flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist before perishing in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1984. Before being selected for NASA, Onizuka was on active duty in the US Air Force.


Here's a great digital guide for a walking tour through Little Tokyo.


And here is a link to a great Little Tokyo Visitor's Guide.


See you next Sunday in LA!

Across the Universe: Where in LA?

Photo Clue #1 of 3. Check back later for the answers and a link to this location on a satellite map!

Happy Sunday! Surely you are just rolling out of bed, wondering if it's actually worth it to get up and face the real world just for the sake of some caffeine. Only you can answer that for yourself, but I can tell you that I sure am glad I ventured out, because downtown when it rains is simply lovely (and thank goodness I ventured out yesterday morning and snapped the photos for today's blog, because lovely as the rain is, it makes most tasks at hand slightly more difficult).

Photo Clue #2 of 3. Check back later for the answers and a link to this location on a satellite map!

Photo Clue #3 of 3. Check back later for the answers and a link to this location on a satellite map!

The first photo clue above is a bit abstract and meant to set the mood (much like a Jane Austen novel but in far fewer words; homegirl took like 2 pages to describe some trees). I love the crystal clear reflection in the water and the angles in the stonework juxtaposed with the rays of the sun. The next two photo clues capture sculptures in the same area. See if you can tell me where these photos were taken, and if you know what the sculptures are!

HINT: The title of each week's blog post will always contain some sort of obscure clue as to the theme of the photographs. Think Jeopardy! clue meets blogger post titles. 

If you don't know, don't worry! Just enjoy the photos and I will post answers later today along with fun facts, links to the exact satellite map locations and some fun links if you want to visit the area.

GO LAKERS! :)

The First Sunday: Spaces of LA

7th street bridge over the LA river looking north-west towards downtown (click here to view this location on a map)

Welcome to sundayla.com!

The Backstory. (Being that we are in LA, everything has to have a backstory)...

Since I moved to downtown Los Angeles 6 years ago, I've developed a habit (surprisingly, not a stereoptypical drugs, booze or men kind of habit which might start any other LA story). Each weekend, when the glaring honesty of Saturday morning rears its usually-sunny head (and equally, if not delightfully more lovely, on mornings after rain), I drag my tired behind to some comforting breakfast spot for 2 cups of earl gray and some chow.

More often than not, rather than noticing hungover hipsters looking like they just stepped out of an Urban Outfitters catalogue (nothing wrong with that, for the record: I love UO), I instead notice a random object, the angle of a building or the way the light hits pavement. Though I walk these same streets relentlessly, somehow I never noticed this thing before.

Usually, I have a camera with me (I almost always carry one). But at the very least, I have my trusty iPhone. Always, I take photos. I'm a serial documentarian of my life's moments; whether capturing the inspiration of each day in words, film or pictures. For me, there's no such thing as a non-photo op.

Evolution of an Idea.

Today, that weekly, private inspiration evolved into an idea. Sitting at the base of a concrete sculpture in the middle of an even more concrete jungle at 8:53 am, drinking my earl gray, I looked up at a sculpture that I never really noticed before. That is one random-ass sculpture considering where I am right now. If I didn't know where I was, I'd have a hard time guessing, I thought.

Bingo.

And thus was born this blog.

How it Works.

Each Sunday, I will post photos of everyday beauty that I discover in the spaces of LA (not just Downtown) and together we will make it a fun little game. Post your guesses on where you think the photo was taken, and more specifically, what it actually is. I, in return, will post a follow-up revealing the correct answer and hopefully some fun info about the place. This way, we all get to learn something and be inspired. Even if just a little.

Let my photo-booth-turned-outward experiment begin!