ON MY BOOKSHELF // Cookbooks

A few weekends ago, Taylor and I had a garage sale with our friends Chris and Julie, and one of the areas in our apartment that needed major purging was our bookshelves.  However, as I started going through the shelves, I couldn't help but reminisce over some of my favorite books, the stories they told, or the things they taught me... it's impossible not to pick up a book and be changed by it in some way.

So, that gave me the idea to start a new series called "On My Bookshelf" to share a few books that I've really enjoyed over the years. For the first batch I thought I'd round up a few of my favorite cookbooks.

Click through if you'd like to read more information on these books!

OJAI Part 2 // Bart's Books

After Part 1 of our trip, we also stopped by Bart's Books, the largest independently owned outdoor bookstore in the U.S. This place is seriously huge and has books on just about anything you can imagine.  If I lived close by, I could totally see myself spending an entire day reading and discovering books while shaded by fruit trees and enjoying the beautiful Ojai weather.  Though there were so many books I wanted to buy, I narrowed my choice down to one and will be back Friday to share.

BUILDING STORIES // Coolest Book Ever

My sister in law Brenna gave me an amazon gift card for Christmas, and I couldn't wait to use it to buy a copy of Building Stories.  I was always a fan of Chris Ware's illustrations because of how architectural and diagrammatic they are.  He is a  master of pushing the boundaries of storytelling, time and space.  His latest work Building Stories takes all of that to an entirely new level and was a total delight to read.  The book comes as a set of 14 different works that can be read in any order that come together to tell one story.  When reading it, you can't help but marvel at how someone's brain could hold such intricate and complex details together to create such an ambitious project.  It has me totally inspired and ready to do more creative things!

I WOULD HAVE BEEN A JOURNALIST IN ANOTHER LIFE

Are you addicted to npr? I seriously can't get enough of it!

This year I got the sweetest and most thoughtful gifts and cards from people for my birthday. One of them was a a book called "This is NPR" from my brother in law, Ryan.

With all the ways that media technology has revamped the way we live, I still love radio! Granted, I'm a lot more old fashioned than people my age: no smart phone, no facebook, no twitter, no pintrest, and I was forced into google + but can someone tell me what that actually is?  I think radio is like reading a book vs. watching the movie about the book.  When you listen to a gifted storyteller describe a situation, you create images and connections with your own imagination.  And as powerful and necessary as video footage is- there is still something about the subconscious process of making what you hear and read your own, that makes these stories have such a lasting impact on you.  Don't get me wrong- I'm definitely not saying that I hate film or TV (quite the opposite)... I'm just saying that I don't think it replaces radio if that makes any sense.  

Anyway all this rambling really is just to say: Terry Gross, Ira Glass, Madeleine Brand, Jason Bently, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Patt Morrison, , Robert Siegel,  Steve Inskeep, Larry Mantle I love you people!  You make my day just that much more enjoyable.  Please never retire while I am still alive. I really appreciate it, thanks.:)

THE MOST POLLUTED CITY IN THE NATION?

The American Lung Association came out with their rankings of the top ten most polluted cities in the nation. For those of us in LA, it wasn't exactly a surprise to receive a shout out on this list, but I think what may have been depressingly surprising to me was that out of 10 cities, California not only made up half of these cities, it made the TOP five cities.

Ranked from 1-5: 

• Bakersfield 
• Hanford 
• Los Angeles 
• Visalia 
• Fresno 

Anyway, is that not totally weird? I just made the drive up from LA to SF last weekend for a wedding, and was busy snapping photos of the beautiful scenery from my car window.  It makes intuitive sense that LA is polluted, because you can't actually see the mountains behind the humongous cloud of smog and you can physically see cars and cars piled up for miles on end.  But as you get out towards central California, the first thing that comes to mind are the gorgeous mountains and farms and the crystal clear skies-pollution is not the first thing that comes to mind. The last two pictures taken near Modesto, which ranks #5 in short term particle pollution even has rolling hills with windmills!  Somehow windmills always seem synonymous with green energy and sustainable design.

In any case, it's definitely food for thought. In the various lists the American Lung Association has produced over the years, Southern and Central California has always been one of the worst polluted places across the board.  And it does raise concern-pollution actually causes 10% of our deaths here in LA.  Maybe this will finally convince Taylor to move us to New York! I'm half kidding because despite the depressing statistics, I really do love it in LA, but maybe this means that I will at the very least think twice about inwardly scoffing at the token lady with the SARS mask at I always see  at Ranch 99!

JONAH LEHRER//Conducive to Daydreaming

I first came across Jonah Lehrer when I heard him on a Fresh Air Interview.  He talked about his latest book Fostering Creativity, and discusses the scientific analysis of what goes on in the brain when engaging in creative work.  He makes a contrast between how relaxed and happy states of minds and daydreaming lead to those "ah ha!" moments and how sad and depressed states of mind give us more of the ability to stick with the tedious and laborious part of the creative process that is necessary to take those ingenious ideas and make them a reality.  I'm a total sucker for these kinds of discussions; when scientists take apart and analyze things that seem totally organic and subjective, and provide a framework to analyze it.  I think that's why I was drawn to architecture in the first place- a meeting place of sorts for the intersection of beauty and logic.  And, it turns out I'm not the only one- it online takes a brief moment of online searching to see his name splattered all over article headlines, blogs, youtube and perhaps most significantly, a recent episode of 30 Rock.

Anyway, I thought about his book today when I picking out blue paint samples at work because he talks about  how the color blue is conducive to daydreaming.  I thought that was interesting because Taylor and I are so different in our tastes and the things we like, however one thing we seem to agree on the is the color blue, and I wonder if it is because we are both total daydreamers.