i have finally managed to find a place to live in irvine, so i am beginning to settle. tonight i went on a fairly long exploratory bike ride, because orange county has an extensive network of bicycle trails that i plan to take full advantage of. i also plan to ride my bike to work every day, so i wanted to get a feel for that trip...its only about a 15 min ride.
irvine and orange county in general have been expectedly disappointing. irvine is really the antithesis of my own personal living environment preference, so the next year is going to be an interesting experience (or maybe just lame). it is a "successful" exemplar of a planned city, meaning the entire layout and placement of infrastructure, zones, and services were very intentional right from the start. romanticized suburban american culture in its full, realized form. corporate. sterile. faux sense of community. safest city in america (this was actually declared in the press, although it may simply be that they are the best at underreporting their crime statistics). cars cars cars. disgusting.
despite my feelings on this wasteland, i managed to find a few noteworthy moments on my bike ride...
the santa ana mountains to the northeast are impressive. that thick haze is more than simple atmospheric perspective...it is smog city out here. i think smog gets knocked more than it deserves. it is a literal lingering record of our lack of stewardship to the earth. for all the bashing it takes, there sure are a lot of SUVs out on the 405.
of course i did more handstands (i like to call this rigid, vertical version "The Nathan Lee Hemming"). my bike was a nice companion while taking these images.
nathan, this image is especially for you. i randomly stumbled upon this trail that was lined on either side by chain-link fences. it went from a city street at one end and, oddly, terminated after maybe 200 meters on a freeway. i could have rolled right out onto the freeway with my bike. anyway, this plant and several others have taken advantage of the path's derelict state and actually grown up THROUGH the asphalt (i know its hard to tell given the lighting situation, but it was paved with asphalt). plants can be so miraculous. how's that for New Nature?
to celebrate, i felt the need to leap over it.
this sign is so freaking loaded that i don't even know where to start. no tresspassing because it will disrupt the ecological research? right there? it could be fine, except this is presumably the re-creation of "nature." right next to that major city road. right in the middle of the suburbanite's utopia. this is not nature. and it is being disturbed. right now. i sure as hell hope that the mad scientists involved in this project are accounting for that.
i feel like a big thick line could be drawn diagonally across this image. what a stark contrast between the pastoral setting on top and its necessary, yet hidden drainage ditch. i don't think it was "supposed" to be viewed from this angle.
no real thesis to this image...i just know you want to see as many pictures of me as possible because, ya know, i'm one bitchin' narcissistic dude.
i will soon be updating with images of the new apartment. id like to get it in a decent state of order before i take those pictures.
it's harder to sleep on the right side when it's a twin-sized mattress
1 comment:
slick, good to hear you've found a home. its always humorous to see the forgotten spaces of planning, where one usually finds things of the most interest. i hope you are getting a sweet tan by now on the beach, or from some rad form of toxic substance floating around in LA.
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