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May 22, 2006
By:
I took pains to make it realistic, too. Since I don't wear my glasses when I work, my view of my neighbor's fence is mostly just a bright blur, occasionally broken up when a cat walks by. But for better or worse, that's it. The view from my window. —Kevin Drum 4:47 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (47)
Comments
Somehow the mundane can be strangely comforting. I sometimes like to take shots of parking lots or dull streets. When I lived in Argentina for 2 years those were the images I most longed for. Posted by: Saam Barrager on May 22, 2006 at 4:52 PM | PERMALINKI always had this vision of you living in the mtns, with sweeping vistas, and a floor to ceiling windows overlooking it all. All the personality one expects from Irvine. Posted by: exhuming mccarthy on May 22, 2006 at 5:02 PM | PERMALINKAt least your "view" isnt distracting... "I always had this vision of you living in the mtns, with sweeping vistas, and a floor to ceiling windows overlooking it all." Something like this view?: My view is of the helipad at CBS Television City. I get to see Dr. Phil land in his helicopter and the ocassional game of basketball by Tyra Banks and Queen Latifah. I'd take a blurry fence any day of the week. Posted by: enozinho on May 22, 2006 at 5:14 PM | PERMALINKKevin, how close are you to UCI (home of my favorite college team name, Anteaters)? Posted by: Vincent on May 22, 2006 at 5:17 PM | PERMALINKWhat a coincidence. I have a wooden fence outside my window as well. However, I work with my back to the window, contrary to the advice of a good friend of mine. She says I should face the window or it will throw off my feng shui, or some such nonsense. Posted by: Ken on May 22, 2006 at 5:22 PM | PERMALINKVincent: UCI is about three miles away from me. Posted by: Kevin Drum on May 22, 2006 at 5:28 PM | PERMALINKAnd why in god's earth would want to play along with Andrew Sullivan? After all you're one of those 5 column coasters, aren't you? You know, one of those depraved lefties who doubted George Bush's brilliance. Posted by: Samuel Knight on May 22, 2006 at 5:32 PM | PERMALINKCatch22: "Something like this view?" I believe I would be a different person altogether if that was my daily view! I probably would spend more time out of doors, for one thing. I think Sullivan is on to something, and I look forward to seeing his gallery. It reminds me of the human clock. Posted by: PTate in MN on May 22, 2006 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINKAren't you on Pacific Standard Time this time of year behind the Orange Curtain? So, it should be PST not PDT. Posted by: RCC on May 22, 2006 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINKhaving lived in Irvine isn't that the view from everywhere in Irvine? I live in Santa Ana now but that looks like the view from or in my case woodbridge. Posted by: dreggas on May 22, 2006 at 5:52 PM | PERMALINKhaving lived in Irvine isn't that the view from everywhere in Irvine? I live in Santa Ana now but that looks like the view from ( Insert planned community in Irvine here) or in my case woodbridge.
My impression, as a person who ofted drives THROUGH the LA-area, but almost never stays, is that on most days, there's a haze in the air, either fog or smog, such that the sky is never actually blue. The sun is out, but the sky is white, or often slightly orange-brown tinted. There are mountains there - you know they're there. But you can't see them. Posted by: Osama_Been_Forgotten on May 22, 2006 at 5:56 PM | PERMALINK[Quote]My impression, as a person who ofted drives THROUGH the LA-area, but almost never stays, is that on most days, there's a haze in the air, either fog or smog, such that the sky is never actually blue. The sun is out, but the sky is white, or often slightly orange-brown tinted. There are mountains there - you know they're there. But you can't see them.[/quote] Yep that's the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, see really the "orange curtain" isn't over OC it's over L.A. and you drive out from behind it when you get to OC, and out of the smog.* *that was tongue in cheek and just being a bit sarcastic. Really that veil of smog is everywhere just worse it seems in L.A. and the I.E. Posted by: Dreggas on May 22, 2006 at 5:59 PM | PERMALINKAnthrax Andrew Sullivan the Lord Haw Haw of war, war, war claimed recently that California is not even part of the real Red buffet America that he and his buddies like David Brooks know ass backwards. I'm up here in Menlo Park, CA, and the view from my window is: a courtyard with 4 silver birches, 2 massive sequioa trees, a Japanese redleaf maple, an Australian tree fern, miscellaneous bushes and flowers, and the occasional squirrel. Not bad really, for vaguely gazing around. Posted by: ExBrit on May 22, 2006 at 6:16 PM | PERMALINKSorry, but I can't send him a picture of what's outside my window. It's too obscene. My neighbor has a large poster of Andrew Sullivan performiong the mouth sex on George Bush in his pilot costume. Posted by: Pechorin on May 22, 2006 at 6:26 PM | PERMALINKOpen up that shade and let some light in! Posted by: shortstop on May 22, 2006 at 6:41 PM | PERMALINKThose of us lucky enough to live in unattached single family units have suburban idylls. Whenever I look out my kitchen window and see birds or the nearby hills, I know I am very lucky, although the smell and choking fumes from the nearby freeway indicate my 'luck' is mostly visual during rush hour. I have seen three birds of prey from my backyard: a juvenile hawk was sitting with other birds on the electric lines, a falcon flew out of my orange tree with another bird in his talons, and a large grey owl was sitting in my palm tree waiting for nightfall, when he flew away. Posted by: Powerpuff on May 22, 2006 at 6:44 PM | PERMALINKCatch 22, Powerpuff: I have seen three birds of prey from my backyard: a juvenile hawk was sitting with other birds on the electric lines, a falcon flew out of my orange tree with another bird in his talons, and a large grey owl was sitting in my palm tree waiting for nightfall, when he flew away. Cool! A couple of years ago, a female American kestrel took a liking to my urban windowboxes and brought her sparrow breakfasts there every day for a week. In between meals, she'd hang out there and watch me through the window. I was awfully sorry to see her move on. Posted by: shortstop on May 22, 2006 at 6:48 PM | PERMALINKAll Californian's should send in a picture of their fence! Posted by: Mocha Dem on May 22, 2006 at 6:56 PM | PERMALINKFor God's sake, Kevin: do some gardening! You live in Southern California, where almost anything will grow - even if you cut your choices down to low-water plants, you could improve your immediate surroundings by an order of magnitude with a few shade trees, and some color. That fence could be covered with passionflower, or some spectacular clematis, or climbing roses. You could have a table and chair out there, with a little wifi, and do all your blogging outside. It could make even a Bush presidency not a bad thing to live through. 'course, it all depends on Rep. Sensenbrenner not finding out about the guys your landscape contractor hired. Posted by: in search of tossed limes on May 22, 2006 at 7:33 PM | PERMALINKMy thoughts exactly. Jeepers Kevin, plant something! Bougainvillea, grapes, a row of bamboo, a little pocket garden. It would be good for you to go outdoors, get some sun, and take a break from blogging. Posted by: J Bean on May 22, 2006 at 8:19 PM | PERMALINKNot a huge fan of Bougainvillea. I used to live in a cottage court apartment in Santa Barbara, where the landscapers would come in and cut the bougainvillea like a hedge, which meant that all the colorful new growth was removed. You east coasters: think of badly pruned forsythia. I still remember one kind of jasmine in my neighborhood that turned its fragrance on like a switch at night, like they just opened a candy factory. And somebody upthread mentioned Australian tree fern. Spectacular. You people who can grow them and yet don't - well, it's just not fair! Posted by: in search of tossed limes on May 22, 2006 at 8:37 PM | PERMALINKLife sure sucks, here's my view: Sorry guys. Posted by: Dicksknee on May 22, 2006 at 8:42 PM | PERMALINKI need to defend my wife the gardener here. Actually, our backyard is chalk full of plants and flowers and trees and berries. However, the area directly outside my window is about five feet wide and was turned into a paved dog run by the former owners. There are a few potted plants out there, but that's all. But honest, the rest of the yard looks great. Posted by: Kevin Drum on May 22, 2006 at 8:47 PM | PERMALINKWish I had some pics of my place two residences ago. It was in the heart of Westfield, NJ (probably best known as cartoonist Charles Addams' hometown), a second-floor apartment across the street from a charming old train station (NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line to Newark, where you change trains to go to Manhattan on NJ Transit or PATH). Loved the convenience. I understand that in the early 1900s, D.W. Griffith shot a few of his pre-"Birth Of A Nation" two-reelers in Westfield, including several starring Mary Pickford. Have never seen any of them, alas. Posted by: Vincent on May 22, 2006 at 9:54 PM | PERMALINKI think the hollywood hills picture above was actually taken in Griffith Park. As for Kevin Drum's picture, I made a slight modification to bring it closer to reality. Check it out. Posted by: TLB on May 22, 2006 at 11:33 PM | PERMALINKnice to see that you opted to stain your fence. most don't - they then complain that their fence turned grey and then promptly try to cut its medicare benefits while simultaneously denying both that the fence is grey and that they could have prevented it in the first place. Posted by: skorloff on May 22, 2006 at 11:49 PM | PERMALINKWell, let's see the good part of the yard, then. Screw Andrew Sullivan! Posted by: In search of tossed lime (formerly peejay) on May 23, 2006 at 1:19 AM | PERMALINK...is that "Blogs for Bush" I see on the screen? Posted by: Gordon on May 23, 2006 at 5:04 AM | PERMALINKI don't know why, but that picture makes me feel sad. Posted by: bruce on May 23, 2006 at 9:30 AM | PERMALINKI haven't taken any pictures from my window at home, but I have a bunch of views from the building where I work here. Posted by: Tom Hilton on May 23, 2006 at 12:05 PM | PERMALINKMy view in Irvine is across the parking lots and rooftops of non-descript office buildings near the Taco Bell HQ. I do at least have a decent view of the planes coming in at John Wayne Airport... Posted by: Rick on May 23, 2006 at 3:40 PM | PERMALINKIt would be a better picture if you had one with a cat walking by. More realistic you know. Posted by: Kari on May 23, 2006 at 3:52 PM | PERMALINKHere is the view from my office window: link Posted by: otmar on May 23, 2006 at 4:32 PM | PERMALINKJust one more thing about Westfield: Many scenes of NBC's "Ed" were filmed there; in fact, you can see much of the downtown, including the Presbyterian Church and Rialto movie theater, in the opening credits. Posted by: Vincent on May 23, 2006 at 5:16 PM | PERMALINK手机铃声免费下载 
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