Writing (and driving) gone wild

Today I leave Los Angeles for Portland, Oregon.

As I do, I look forward to taking an as-yet determined path to my new home hundreds of miles north.

I don’t know how exactly I’ll get to Portland, though I’ve set a few ground rules. I won’t set a firm date to get there. Though the trip could easily take as little as a day and a half, I don’t want to constrain myself to any schedule, lest I miss the world I pass through (you can help me get there, too). I may backtrack. I may make detours. I may decide to linger in one spot staring at the sky for hours. I may rush. I may wander.

Which brings me to rule #2, perhaps the most exciting and most questionable part of my plans. To best experience the journey I plan to completely avoid freeways and even divided highways. Getting to Oregon from Southern California in January makes this a rather daunting task, particularly because I also plan to steer clear of the coast. As stunning as the coast is, I’ve seen much of it and hunger for a new path, at least this time [...]

R We There Yet? Re-evaluating Los Angeles's Transit Future

“Out of service,” the driver tells me as I step on the #4 in Downtown Los Angeles.

It is nearly 3 a.m. and Broadway’s indoor swap meets, electronic stores and jewelry shops sit darkened behind me. Shadowed by the marquee of an ancient movie house my face betrays concern, perhaps even desperation. I’ve [...]

What it's like - In Transit in L.A.

A brief note: if you haven’t looked around the site lately please take some time to look at my updated, categorized portfolio page. More updates to come soon.

[SinglePic not found]After an evening in Pasadena I board the Gold line at Fillmore Station. I complete a phone [...]

What’s Next and Marathon Love

New posts coming this week:

– Posts on production and consumption versus conservation;
– Environmental critiques of train travel;
– The ultimate (if not particularly green) multi-modal vacation;
– Dodger Stadium gets even less accessible;
– Privacy, chatting and (in)visibility.

To keep you sated, I’ve been meaning to post some of my photographs from my time handing out beer with the [...]

Undercutting the competition

As should be readily apparent, I haven’t posted to Lascher @ Large in some time. I’ve spent the past two months completing my master’s degree, a time during which I sacrificed this site to one last focus on academics. I’ve also taken some time to consider what my next career steps might be, to pitching [...]

Seen This Week: Feb. 23 – Mar 2

[Show as slideshow]

It has been a bit of one of those weekends for me — not to complain to strangers, though — I’ll let the images speak for themselves. Highlights include an afternoon on campus at USC, to a Saturday afternoon visit to the Bicycle [...]

Seen This Week: Paradise for $5

Most mornings, I stand near the corner of 3rd Street and Vermont with a crowd of strangers in front of a planter between a McDonald’s and a discount store. There, in the northern extremities of Koreatown, we wait for the Metro Rapid 754 (some riders are waiting for the DASH Wilshire Center/Koreatown instead). I’m often [...]

Adaptive Reuse: Parking Meters to Bike Racks

I’m in the midst of preparing some posts about the Expanding the Vision of Sustainable Mobility summit hosted this week by the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In doing so, I’m semi-procrastinating by skimming long-ago bookmarked blog entries and Web sites I set aside for reference in my master’s project exploring the possibility [...]