Yo yo yo! Hope y’all had a nice weekend. Clouds crept in and threatened to ruin our plans, but then the sun came out. Yay! We spent Saturday with a really cute birthday girl, followed by yummy sandwiches for dinner. Sunday we caught the ferry out to Catalina so I could finally finish my open water scuba certification. I’m legit now! HOLLA!

Ready for the photo dump?

Finally made it to Santa Ana to introduce the rest of the fam to Which Wich. Our picks:
Jess: TBLTA (Turkey/Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato/Avocado)
Curt: Italian Grinder
Pops: The Wicked (5 meats + 3 cheeses)
Momma: Monte Cristo (not deep fried, but still delicious)
Corrie: The Thanksgiving (turkey + cranberry sauce)

Ice Milk: Catalina’s take on soft serve. Different, but good.

There are a ton of divers out at Catalina pretty much every weekend. This was just one of many spots on our ferry back to Long Beach that was jam packed with dive bags.

- Jessica

Weekender photo dump. We went to check out the new Santa Monica Place on Saturday and had a delish meal at Zengo. Sunday we cruised down to Huntington Beach for my second cousin’s church dedication, lunch and sweet treats.

- Curt

SF based photographer Amiee Brodeur has some pretty rad shots. I’m totally diggin’ her site specific installations, particularly this dazzling set of mirrors on a brooding and deserted beach. These installation pieces appear to be the brainchild of Michael Barker and are forever immortalized by Aimee and her deft camera skillz. See more installations and other great stills after the jump:

- Curt

Spotted on Its Nice That

While Jess was out of town, I headed south to the OC for the weekend. June gloom never got the message that it’s August and it rudely shows up to our summer party every few days. Last Friday was no exception. Saturday morning was Dawn Patrol (5:30am) and surfing at the pier – or at least that was the intent. For someone who hasn’t surfed since he was eight, no dice. But it was still fun. My mom also passed along some more beautiful treasures from my late grandmother that went straight to the new shelves. I also made a little succulent arrangement for a friend’s birthday.

Cheers!

- Curt

I stumbled upon photographer Gabriel Adda’s work in the most recent issue of AKA, it’s a free online Uruguayan arts magazine that I have no business reading since my spanish is rudimentary at best. But I do know GBM has at least one regular South American reader and maybe he will appreciate this mag more than any of us monolinguists can. Regardless, there are still plenty of pretty pictures in AKA that need no words at all. Example: Mr. Adda’s amazing editorial of the modern day shipping harbor. You can read into all the metaphors of consumerism and globalization that come with this subject matter or, as I do, just appreciate the elegant compositions of the mundane. Check out the rest of the feature from AKA after the jump:

- Curt

We hit up the Renegade Craft Fair last Saturday before finishing up our DIY wall unit. Peep some cool finds from a bunch of awesome sellers after the jump:

Chandra Abel Designs

Tinted Mint

Nate Duval

Paper & Type

Park & Beach

Squid Ink Kollective

Leighelena

Erica Weiner Jewelry

Arcane Arts

Only a craft fair would bring these two into such close proximity.

Awesome little handmade art vending machine. 50 cents got you a little original piece of art the size of a postage stamp.

- Curt

I love this beautiful series of ephemeral double exposures featuring the bustling Beijing metropolis and silhouettes by photographer Jasper James.

- Curt

found on Kempt

Hidey ho there. It was too freakin’ hot at the Bear Cave this past weekend, so we fled to the beach for relief. We spent Saturday catchin’ some rays, eating mexican at our fave joint in Laguna, and then driving around tormenting ourselves looking at beautiful beach cottages.

We ended the week with pie. J made coconut meringue on account of “we need to use the eggs”. Good times.

- Curt

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and to blow your own hand off however you well please. Be it M80, firecracker, Roman Candle, cherry bomb or good ol’ fashioned TNT.

Did you know one of the most dangerous fireworks is actually the ever popular Sparkler? A typical sparkler can burn at temperatures up to 1,800 degrees – which is hot enough to melt gold let alone your face. But we really should be giving these little death sticks to our children – see why after the jump:

Looking through LIFE Magazine’s Google archives, I noticed an inordinate amount of photos of tiny children playing with fireworks. Maybe that’s the key to turing this country around. A lot of valuable life lessons can be gleaned through fireworks.

• Personal Responsibility: You blow your finger off or burn a hole through your hand - that’s your fault.
• Don’t be stupid: plain and simple.
• Prepare for the worst: always have a bucket of water near by for when you do light something on fire.
• Experiences are always better when shared: it’s no fun when you’re the only one there to make the ooo’s and ahhh’s.
• Geometry is valuable: it’s how you figure out where the firecracker that you just threw into the air is going to land.
• Never underestimate the little guy: spinning flowers anyone?
• Timing is everything: You gotta let the wick burn down a little bit in your hand and know when to throw that Cracklin’ Ball so it explodes in the air and not when it lands or in your hand.
• Respect Fire: It’s been burning mankind for eons.
• The more fun it is now, the bigger the mess will be in the morning – unless you’re in the Philippines and you pay some dudes to do the clean up for you.

So remember, tomorrow while you’re reveling in this summer holiday, be sure to give that baby a firework – it’s for America’s future.

- Curt

So it’s pretty much the weekend already, but here’s some pics from our holiday weekend in Colorado.

This is quite a photo dump, but how can you deny some pretty pictures.

My parents rented a car and drove to Vegas because the flights out on the Friday before Memorial Day were waaaay cheaper flying out of LAS instead of LAX or SNA. So what do you do at 1AM Friday morning in Vegas? McDonalds run…that’s how I roll.

While in Denver, in no particular order, we had a baby shower, went to the Coors Brewery, ate lots of ice cream, sushi, mac-n-cheese, ate one of the “Top 15 Burgers” in America, Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, visit to Bolder, played fetch, haircuts, backyard BBQ, put our feet in a river, REI, Snarf sandwiches, etc., etc.

- Curt