I remember years ago visiting the Iliad Bookshop when it was on the corner of Vineland and Lankershim blvds in North Hollywood. It always has been a wonderful used bookstore. In looking for the link for their homepage I was reminded why they are named Iliad, not because of the great Greek story, but because they were located next door to Oddessy Video. So the name was a play on words. 
About 10 or 12 years ago they lost their lease and moved further east to Cahuenga and Chandler Blvds. A much larger space. I have often driven by here, why it took me so long to walk in, I don’t know. Probably because I’ve been seduced by online stores, as well as the Kindle and even the ability to check out ebooks from the library.
I finally rectified that mistake. I went in. First of all, the exterior is beyond wonderful, look at these books.
These are just a few of the murals on the outside of the building.
The interior is so gorgeous!!!!
Do you see the pile of books on the floor? While walking by, I saw a paperback by Josephine Tey, I have read a number of her books and really love them. The Daughter of Time is her most famous, debunking the story that King Richard III was an awful person. Anyway, she died in the early 1950’s, her books are still in print. But how fun to find one of them here, perfect for this weekend when I will be sitting next to a pool and don’t want to read on my Ipad.
Like all good bookstores, they have cats, I saw at least two. They do allow small dogs on leash into the store, but do ask that people give them a chance to corral the cats if need be.
There is a Disney section and a very large section about every aspect of the film world. From biographies, to manuals on filming or how to get into the business. Of course aside from a very large room dedicated to fiction, they have every other topic you can imagine. All very well laid out, it’s not just a jumble of books.
If I were still designing fabrics, I would have grabbed all three of these books. I actually already one book on fabric from the 50s, these are an incredible resource. They don’t have a lot of craft books, but boy did I luck out.
Look what I found on the $2 table! Yes, I love an excellent book on quilt history, this is one of them. What a great example of early 20th century Crazy quilt. My mother had plenty of art books, really good ones, to ship them back here from Israel would have been quite a chore. And to be honest, as much as I love art, I have more of an affinity to crafts these days.
These three will be part of a birthday gift for Eyal, so what if they are gently used, they are gorgeous books. They have quite a collection of beautiful childrens’ books, I will be back.
Outside on the sidewalk they have boxes of books for free. 
This book was published in 1978, which means that many of these Painted Ladies in San Francisco may not be standing anymore. Once again, for me, this book is an inspiration, in color and design.
Have I mentioned how much I love Los Angeles? So many treausres right in my backyard.
Leah
The office is still very sparse, they only recently moved in. I had heard of fireplaces in the offices. Here is one.How cool is this, with a wall between, these two are simply a two sided fireplace. Not functional anymore, but oh so beautiful.
Another room had this beautiful exposed brick one. There were a few employees, as well as a lovely Golden retriever, sorry I didn’t get his picture.One of the office doors, looking back out to the landing. These are strong massive wood and literally, go from floor to ceiling.
Another tall window, it may be a little hard to see how wavey the top pane of glass is. Glass isn’t a solid, it’s somewhere between solid and liquid and this 120 year old pane is getting the wave look old glass gets. This is because gravity is slowly dragging it down.Out on the landing, more wonderful details. Look at this firehose reel. Although it is no longer functional, they have kept these on display – once again, design and function working so well together. In the 1950’s one of the elevator operators was in the building late at night and fire did break out, she called the fire department and saved so much of this building.
More wonderful terra-cotta.
Another newel post, this time cast iron.
The floor, another beautiful element.
An angle only workers and visitors to the offices get to see.From one of the midlevel landings. This really is one of Los Angeles’ treasures. One of the big payoffs for these years of volunteering was the ability to see more details of the wonderful landmark.
Blacks were never denied burial here, you’d think they would be segregated out. The Tombstone is new, although Biddy was a pillar of the community, she didn’t have much of a gravestone until the 1980s. It is wonderful to see that a granddaughter, who lived to 100 is buried with her. I need to ask my son in law to do some Ancestry.com research for me, I’m pretty sure a lot of her family is still around. For more info on her, come on my historic downtown tour! Biddy was an incredible human being.
The Chinese were not allowed to be buried here, or in any other cemetery. They came as single men to work the railroads and stayed, the thought was that without women, they would leave. The discrimination in very interesting, especially since until Roosevelt in WWII, The Japanese weren’t treated the same way – oh they suffered from discrimiation, but not like the Chinese. So for $10 a head, the Chinese were allowed to be buried in the Potters Field, at some point they wised up and simply created their own cemetary. Sad story, turns out, that most were buried in a mass grave that was only uncovered when the Gold line was built in the 90s. So There is a memorial garden from 1880 dedicated to the Chinese and this new memeorial and graves for the bodies that were uncovered.
One of the groups that started using the old Potters Field as burial grounds, were The Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association. This is an ongoing organization that offers burial as well as support for people in the ‘Circus’ industry. Back in the day, circus workers or performers often didn’t have a permanent home, they traveled. So they created this organization that helped with burials. What is interesting is men are on one side of the road and women on the other. I have no idea why.
A current section, where burials are happening today. Aside from the fake flowers that don’t die, pinwheels are becoming a thing on graves. Also, looks like some of the families come and water their loved one’s graves.
There is a whole history just in this tombstone. The daughter died first, then the mother, then the father. I wonder if Geraldine is Laptha’s daughter. I hope she is still alive today, if not, maybe she chose to be buried with her husband, not in the family grave. Also notice, people have been putting photographs on tombstones for a long time. Note that Gerladine’s is in color.
I only took the close up of this beautiful African American woman with her lovely feather fan. The photos are of the person at their best, so although she looks young here, she may not have been.
There is a wonderful old gate, the rest is surrounded by a simple Chainlink fence.
As you can see, we are right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, one that is experiencing gentrification. Alongside the little old houses are now newer modern apartment buildings. 
The original chapel, still used today.
This is a nondenominational private cemetery, today, everyone is welcome. In the past the Chinese weren’t and Jews always had their own places of burial. I find it interesting that the Japanese weren’t excluded and today there is a large Japanese presence, often just mixed among other graves. There were plenty of these kinds of graves, babies that died. In more modern Memorial Parks, like Forest Lawn, the babies have their own section.
Because this was an early cemetery, many of the important families are buried here. William Workman was very influential in the Los Angeles area in the mid 19th century. He is buried on his homestead, but other family members were buried here.
Not sure exactly where Nancy fits in the genealogy, I love how exact they were with her age.
Two more important families, The Gilmores bought the land where Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax is today. They discovered oil, had a baseball team and although quiet today, are still and important business in the city.
This family plot is dear to me, The Lankershims and Van Nuys families, the ones who really developed the Valley. 
June gloom in all its glory! I got there early on Sunday morning because by then, some of the images are finished, or close to it.
There is a process of voting, I didn’t take part, I just walked around, enjoying the artwork.
This one is so delicate with fine details.
I am drawn to the ones that look like oil paintings. This guy here is really blending the chack. In some cases, they grind the chalk into powder, add water and paint.
Plenty of cartoon characters, especially the Japanese Manga style.
Probably my favorite, I just love the Art Nouveau style of drawing.
Very appropriate to have this car here since at the same time there is a classic car show.
I adore these old cars, so loved and well taken care of.
Give me more of that Fire engine red, even if the original would have been a simple black. Everyone this year seems to have stopped at the carhop to get food and drinks.
Love how this couple dressed for the occasion! 
It was very busy, a chalk festival, antique cars as well as Aliencon, I was expecting to see more people in costume. Very few were, I saw one couple in white capes and antennae on their heads. I guess most people are really serious about these aliens, it’s not another comic-con.
In honor of my friend Becky, a 1947 Teardrop trailer. She owns a much newer one, but not a lot has changed. A very tight compact way to travel. It has everything except the bathroom. 
The best part about this one? A handmade quilt!
On the lawn at the east side of the museum, activities for kids and a lot of families out on the grass. Parking is very easy, right across the street in the zoo parking lot, since it starts at 6, most zoo visitors are already gone.
All kind of food trucks set up shop.
This one is advertised as a French Fry truck, but most of the advertisements are for Vietnamese food. Go figure.
Me, I had a donut and fried chicken sandwich, because everyone needs a treat from time to time.
I bought a cute pair of sunglasses.
Most of the booths are just pop up canopies. But some are trucks or airstreams.
This is the most unique one, built on a flatbed.
How cool is this owl!!! Hand carved by someone in Reseda.
I love this owl. There is plenty of stained glass as well, made by another local artisan.
Yes, they sell those new age mystical things. But I kept paying attention to the details. Like the railing made out of pipes and pipe fitting.
On the back, sliding glass doors with 100-year-old stained glass from a church in Connecticut. Now sandwiched between thick glass. So it’s hard to see the details, but it does make for a good reflection back onto the grass and the people.
The big rides with the tower of the museum in the background.
A little storm-trooper, happy as can be.
The next night we were in a local park for a new series of weekend concerts. I hope this event, Noho Summer Nights, grows. The opening act was ok, good voice. Can I just say I am so sick and tired of everybody sharing all their issues, especially depression? Telling an audience out for a fun evening is simply a way of making you feel good while we get to feel bad. Shut up and sing.
Perseus with the head of the Gorgon, aka Medusa.
Fountains and water are a relief from the heat. Lucky for me, the day wasn’t too hot.
This time, a visit to the children’s garden, I hadn’t been here in a long time. It is quite expensive to bring kids here, but so worth it if you can.
Crows as art, they are a very common bird after all.
Then, a very fun encounter, years ago I heard an interview with Terry Eagan, since 2010 he has been restoring the FauxBois in the Japanese and Rose Gardens. He was so touched that someone actually heard that interview! He gave a long lecture about how it was the FauxBois that convinced Arabella Huntington to move to remote San Marino with her second husband Henry. (Her first husband was Henry’s uncle Collis, although she and Henry were the same age.)
Pantone color of the year, ultraviolet alongside ultra blue, as it is found in nature.
A vibrant red Japanese Maple glittering in the sun. Really, no photo can do it justice.
Color and texture in the desert garden.
Here in SoCal, May is the time to visit the rose garden. Once again, photos don’t do it justice. This is a small portion of it, human for scale. Other parts of the country will have the height of their blooms later in the summer. By then, this garden will be tired and be screaming for water, not producing many blooms.
Big Koi, or what we like to call, gefilte fish.
It’s been a while, but we are back to hiking! Yay. On a beautiful spring day with overcast skies – perfect.
Before we started out, I looked up and saw these powerline towers on the horizon.
The hike starts with a steep uphill path, they even recommend that if you are riding a horse, get off and walk the horse up. We saw no horses or cyclists on the path.
Look how lush and green everything is! Give it two or three more weeks and this will all be brown, or what we call – gold.
We gained elevation quickly and soon were looking down on one of the lakes in Descanso Gardens.
Because it was such a hazy morning, the visibility isn’t great. Downtown to the left and the mausoleum at Forrest Lawn to the right. It was just a week ago I was there view stained glass. What caught my eye here is the big orange tank, I don’t know if it’s a water tank or not, but it makes me think of my friend Becky who has a saying: orange, it’s everywhere.
The wildflowers are blooming!
Joel is hiking.
A lot more uphill walking and we are at the same level as the towers I saw from down below. We even ended up walking underneath them.
I’m not a geologist, but I’m sure someone could give a very interesting commentary about what is going on here.
Erosion has really affected the path. This year the power of water has really been brought home. First the massive mudslide in Montecito that killed over 20 people. Then just a few days ago an awful tragedy in Israel. A group of teens were out hiking and a flash flood overtook them, 10 kids are dead. So sad. 
Once the hike was over, we headed over to Honolulu Ave in nearby Montrose and walked around the Farmers Market, where of course, we found some very delicious tacos.
We met in the Church of the Flowers, the first structure that Dr. Eaton built here. It is based on an old Church in England.
Inside is this beautiful stain glass based on one that is in another church in England. It’s called Tree of Life and is about as traditional as one can get.
I don’t know what the elephant represents, but I do like him.
Fergus came in especially on Saturday to explain to us how stained glass is restored after 100 years.
Here is the restored panel in progress. These nails are horse-shoe nails, because they are flat they hold the glass in place without cracking it.
Scoring and cutting the glass.
Love this sign.
Then it was on to the Great Mausoleum. One thing I have to commend Dr. Eaton for, he wanted to bring art to LA back in the early 20th century. His idea of art was often replicas of the great art of Europe, so there are copies of Michaelangelo’s statues such as Moses and the Pieta. Not the same scale, not the same, but at a time when few people could travel and images weren’t prolific like they are today, it was a nice endeavor.
I just got a book about Gladding McBean and their decorative pottery. I don’t know if they made these or the local firm Tropico – that was latter acquired by them. I love the little details, which tells me this is ceramic and not carved into stone or concrete.
Like all museums, a lot of objects are in storage. This was brought out to share with the group. This is The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven. Made by a German Company, it part of a church in Buffalo NY which no longer stands.
The gold robes are beautiful, really look like gold, although I think it was just yellow glass and paint.
After my downtown tour, I had lunch here, yes the falafel was good. I’m sharing the image because in the 1980’s all the food stalls in Grand Central Market were made out of neon. Most of the newer stalls are following that tradition, I’m not sure if it is a requirement or not.
During the day, the diving beauty shines, but no as much as she would at night.
I don’t know if this installation lights up at night. Neon is a technology that became quite popular in the early 20th century in advertising. All of the signs in the exhibit have come from buildings that are no longer around. I’m glad there are people out there who are saving these artifacts.
The orange-red is the color you get with neon gas. 
The blue comes from Argon gas. Using phosphates is how you manipulate these two into other colors.
I had to take a selfie! I don’t quite understand these pop up museums that are just Instagram opportunities. The Neon Museum has a purpose, to educate and to share an art form that almost died.
It wasn’t easy getting this sequence on my camera! This is one of the fun things about neon, the stop action motion. This is a very funny advertisement for a bar.
Neon really is art, I do enjoy the creativity of the designers.
Bars, peep shows, and motels, don’t forget the motels! Eric (a fellow conservancy docent who leads some of the Neon Bus tours) was there and was telling me that he could tell back in 2017 that the economy was roaring back, because so many old motels are being torn down for modern development. The museum tries to get the signage, but that is not always possible.
There is a poster with images of motels around the country. This one caught my eye! The motel is no longer there, but look what I found a block away!
The Carlton Motor Lodge, another Art Deco motel. Btw, the word motel is the combination of the word motor and hotel, the first of these was in San Luis Obispo. Clearly, this one is using the words motor Lodge instead. I don’t know if the neon sign still works.
The blade sign is newer. I do like the Atomic Age star on the top. I hope this survives a while longer!