eco-warrior

recycling?  check.
public transportation?  check.
used clothes? check.

only things left to do are insulate the home, get some double-pane windows, eat a plant-based diet and put up those solar panels.

accidental prosyletization victim

yeah, i know, most victims of prosyletization are accidental.  "i was just out gardening when these people kept wanting to give me a magazine" is a common one.  another more train-worthy accidental victimization is the spontaneous preacher (i'll probably have more on that in a future post).

however, the particular victim above (in the handicapped seat) kinda, sorta asked for it.  he originally thought the lady on the right was asking for his seat and she may well have intended to, but his pre-emptive knee-jerk response was to complain about his bum leg.  my sense was people weren't buying his story and the fact that he pulled up his backpack and showed all his medications he's supposedly taking tells me he's done this before and gotten the same reaction.  little did dr feelgood realize he would get an earful of religion.  i didn't hear much, but she did start with telling dr feelgood how the "watchtower" he was reading was full of lies.  she proceeded to read from her own scripture, carefully hand-crafted in black marker.

not content to talk to just one person (prosyletisers never are), another accidental victim (already a victim of some limb-reducing ailment that left him wheelchair-bound) gets caught in the crosshairs below, after some other kind soul gives up his handicapped seat to bring mercy upon dr feelgood.

she seemed less enthusiastic about particular encounter.  maybe sitting takes you further away from god.

trash porn, pt 10

so, i found this sign strewn by one of the silver line stops.  i'm guessing this was one of the non-living casualties of this unfortunate incident.

if you're too lazy to follow the link, a guy going 80mph went into a bus-only lane.  when the bus stopped to pick-up/drop-off, the driver swerved to avoid the bus, jumped the curb to where all the passengers were waiting and critically injured 5 people.  he failed a sobriety test.

yeah, taking care of that situation is definitely more important than cleaning up debris, but it's been a month now.  hopefully, they don't need to keep the sign as evidence.  i think many a homeless person has tamper(tinkl)ed with it.

freddie freeloader's aunt

"he know i don't use no dove soap*.  when he done, it look like five people done used my soap.  he knew i been drinkin.  why he gotta use my last clean towel?!  he come, use my soap, my water, eat my food.  can't even bring his own damn food.  he know i been drinkin, he bring a full plate of restaurant food all up in here.  don't bring none for me."

epilog
"she did something fucked up and cleared all my food stamps."

* -- thanks, steve nash and shaquille o'neal.

driving me crazy

i've mentioned before that i don't always take public transportation, just most days.  the reason is nothing does as good a job of bringing out my inner misanthrope as driving.  slow pedestrians crossing when the flashing hand has a number less than 3 next to it, the lead car in the left-turn bay looking at the green arrow like it's the guiding symbol of the new world mantra and, the most amusing, people who angrily pass you at high-speed in a one-lane so that they can hit their brakes even harder when they get to the red light all just kinda make me shake my head.

sure, people do dumb stuff on the train, but it's a rarity that anything they do will actually change up when you get to your destination.  when driving, it's relentless.  i know, chances are you won't be slowed down by more than a minute or two all told and you will arrive sooner than with the train in most instances, but it's always frustrating when you feel like you're giving 110% to make things work out right and everyone's workin against you.  so, if you like to slow to a crawl after you've cut someone off aggressively on the freeway, can't figure out alternation when merging, travel in the slow lane on the 110 north of downtown or don't check your blind spot when changing lanes, a thousand curses upon you.

you might be wondering, "la mta diary author, haven't you ever done any of those things while driving?"  to that i answer, yes, yes, a million times yes and that is precisely my point.  when you feel safe from the world, you're much more likely to be a dick than if somebody's watchin you or somebody fuck you up if the count be wrong.

reality vs idealism

it may surprise my non-angeleno readers that metro would even need to consider locking turnstiles or that it's even newsworthy that they're going to.  it's probably even more surprising just how recent the turnstile installation was (2009) and how poorly it was performing a year later.  personally, i think the money could have been spent much more effectively (snacks for the bus drivers to put them in a better mood, for instance).

another thing that is quite surprising is that from 1963 to 1990, l.a. county had no rail service.  to inspire people back into taking trains, fare enforcement was squarely in the background to encourage a sense of freedom.  well, sort of.  if you get caught without proof of valid payment, you can be fined $250.  but try collecting that from, say, the blind blue-line beggar

initial harp sighting

transit oriented devolvopment

there's a lot that has been said of this building, "alta lofts."  its tragic fate at the hands of "livable places" may well have been a result of economic meltdown, though mismanagement can't be fully dismissed.  i never could figure out why they wanted to put a mothership of a penthouse on the thing.

alta lofts looking almost parthenonian

all that really matters is it's doing so poorly, they can't keep the nighttime up-lights on.  it's a shame.  it's close to the gold line (why i could get this terrible moving picture of it), affordable and near "revival," the best furniture store in town as far as my money's concerned.  nothing would make me happier than to see some genuine foot traffic around thrift store alley.  in addition to "revival," there's a goodwill and st. vincent's within a block.  when i visit these stores, however, alta lofts just feels like a fortress with private security guarding the gated garage and no pedestrian traffic in or out at all.

no comment

i know the title says "no comment," but here's my comment.  i had a totally different motivation for taking this picture, but my favorite part is that i captured a funyun looking like a joint.