Venice, California

Street performer, Venice, CA

Bicycle acrobat, Venice, CA, as seen from Sidewalk Cafe

World's Greatest Wino, Venice, CA

Human statue, Venice, CA

Famous designer house, Venice, CA

Sidewalk Cafe, my favorite Venice eatery, Venice, CA

(see my Sept. 14, 2007 post below to see why).

Another Venice cyclist, Venice, CA

Purple flowers, Venice, CA

Seagull, Venice Pier, Venice, CA

I think this flower is a Bird of Paradise, Venice, CA

Venice (Venice Beach), California is one of my favorite places in one of my favorite cities, Los Angeles. It used to be a wildly independent frontier where eccentrics of all stripes peddled their peculiar talents for adoring tourists (and eager photographers like me). Now, I hear, you need a permit to be eccentric so the whole experience is sanitized compared to the way it was before the conservatives got a hold of it.

Nonetheless, a fiercely independent spirit maintains and I continue to be drawn back to it every time I'm in Los Angeles.