Preserving the Trans Mountain Scenic Corridor and redesigning theWestside Master Plan under Smart Codes

Update: January 19, 2012
Below, view the embedded (hosted on Scribd) and linked document forward by Charlie that was originally sent by:

Shamori Rose Whitt, CNU-A (email)
Smart Growth Planner
Planning and Economic Development
City of El Paso
(915) 541-4477

Charlie Wakeem, President of the Coronado Neighborhood Association and Jim Tolbert (producer of the wonderful blog, elpasonaturally©), are great sources of information concerning El Paso and land development, especially about sustainable living with sensitivity to the environment and open spaces remaining near Transmountain and the Frankin Mountains State Park. Whether through a neighborhood association update, or social media,  each man communicates information. Recently, Charlie sent out an email promoting a new round of charrettes, which seek to gather citizen feedback on the proposed TxDoT Transmountain Scenic Corridor project. Charlie writes:

Preserving the Trans Mountain Scenic Corridor and redesigning the Westside Master Plan under Smart Codes.


Please commit to attending and participating in one or both of the Public Meetings. You may also personally interact with the Dover Kohl and City staff teams at the Design Studio.

Get the word out to anyone you know! Please ask them to commit to participating personally as well.

Northwest Masterplan Charrette:

1. Hands-On Session:
Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 5PM to 9PM,

Canutillo HS Auditorium;
6675 S. Desert Boulevard, 79932

2. Northwest Masterplan Work in Progress:


Saturday, January 28, 2012, 9AM to Noon,

Canutillo HS Auditorium;
6675 S. Desert Boulevard, 79932

3. Design Studio: (Open to the Public)

Monday, January 23 to Friday, January 27, 2012

Canutillo Independent School District--Board Room
7965 Artcraft Road, 79932

Hours of Design Studio:
Monday-Friday, 9AM to 7PM
El Paso Plan: Northwest Date Card

2012: the way

Perhaps it will be a banner (red) year. Or, perhaps this post represents the new year's resolution to create and publish blog posts on a regular basis. In any case, this post supports those working at the old El Paso Saddleblanket Building urbanart project. To view it, take the I-10 West Downtown exit and drive towards Oregon and West Wyoming Streets (google maps view).

There on the corner you can see this brief public arts project. If you cannot get there, I invite you to check out my Flickr set with images captured on December 26. Note that the building (as noted on the Flickr set page) was purchased by the City of El Paso in 2011, which will demolish it in February 2012. Currently, the city is considering various uses for this highly visible and rather important piece of land (as it sits atop I-10, at the NW edge of downtown proper) and on the edge of the museum/library complex and near to the historic San Francisco district. As for me, I'm just hoping it can again become a venue for outsider and emerging artists as it does today.


Pax in 2012 from Foxes Arroyo!

11-11-11

Originally posted in Heather Champ's ancient (ca. 2001) Mirror Project  (via waybackmachine.org), I offer this for 11-11-11, Veteran's Day. Thanks again to Heather for the project and permission to upload this image. Originally, the project was aimed at people taking their own pictures in a mirror. This posthumous image was one of two that I know were published on the website.


Stanley E. Drapes

Among the large collection of family photographs, is this one taken by my late father-in-law, Stanley E. Drapes. We have hundreds of photos dating from 1935, but this photo is one of our favorites.

The look on his face and the light from the window helps create a ghostly quality to the image. It helps show the apprehension of being young and in the service.

It is likely this picture was taken in 1940 in his hometown of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He placed the camera on his wife's, Lucille's, dressing table to steady it.

At the time, he was in Battery "D", 120th Field Artillery, 32nd Division, of the Wisconsin National Guard. The photograph was taken before he was sent to Louisiana for training.

Amusingly, his son Michael, dates pictures of his dad by the amount of hair he had. "This is a very unusual picture for me, as I only knew my dad as bald. In most of the pictures of him when he did have hair, he was wearing a hat." 

Stanley retired from the service in the 1960 and went on to work at White Sands Missile Range, settling the family permanently in El Paso, Texas. In 1991, he and Lucille celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary along with their four children, their spouses, six grandchildren and many friends. He passed away a little over two years later.

Recycle-redux-reshare

How To Build A Pallet Day Bed | Prudent Baby

Earlier this month, I replied and reposted an image and link from my Tumblr feed. I thought I would also repost it here with the memory the image prompted.

Too long ago to want to admit, the now defunct magazine, Metropolitan Home, started out as Apartment LIfe, which began in the late 60s. Colourful and practical, this bi-monthly then monthly magazine exemplified a general audience which followed the Whole Earth Catalog mantra/ethos of recycling, basic cooking skills, and general do-it-yourself articles for those (younger boomers at the time) feathering their nests. We loved and thoroughly dog-eared our copies of this magazine until the publisher dumped the practical of the late 70s recession era, and turned to the more over-the-top and luxe (read coke-fueled) envy of the go-go 80s and 90s.

The fun thing about the magazine was its ‘guest’ home images ala em>Architectural Digest. Of those, I remember the New York apartments of the now divorced Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher and Michael and Deanna Douglas (Jan. 1980).

Sadly, after the boxes of our old issues got soaked in a leaky storage shed, I bid them farewell around 1990 or so. LIke old LPs, we had hauled them from El Chuco to Santa Fe to San Angelo and back again to El Paso and it was sad for me to let them go.

That said, one of the articles that has stuck in my mind after all these years is the instructions for making a pallet day bed just like this one.  There were a number of pictures of different chairs and sofas, but the one with the caster wheels was my favorite.

Traveling

Last weekend we drove to Santa Fe for an overnight visit. We went not to shop, like many would do, but instead left El Paso to get out of town for a few hours. What makes Santa Fe so special are its hidden secrets, which surprise--you just need to know where to look. We don't know very many, but the ones we do know are worth every cent and time it takes to make the 4 1/2 hour drive. It is even worth navigating the "(un)safety zone" that runs from Belen through to south Albuquerque, the I-40/I-25 interchange, and northward towards La Bajada Hill. Back in the day, La Bajada was a steep, narrow, two lane road. Going, you needed a standard transmission vehicle just to get up the hill (we had a 1978 Audi Fox, 4-speed). Coming down you better have good brakes, especially in winter. It's tame now, and quite a boring ride. But the scenery is still gorgeous.

We entered town via Old Pecos Trail. It connects to old Santa Fe Trail,
and ends at the back of the La Fonda Hotel near the Loretto Chapel.

Usually, we go to Santa Fe to check on how the City Different fares these days, especially the parts of town we know well. These are comfortable places--downtown, with its tiny Plaza and Governor's Palace with the women of various Northern New Mexico pueblos selling their turquoise and low temp wood-fired red and black pots; crooked, narrow Guadalupe Street near our bed-and-breakfast; and, of course, Casa Solana, our old neighborhood where we lived for four and a half years, located just over a mile from the Guadalupe Inn where we always stay.

Gate, private home, San Francisco Ave., south of

Paseo de Peralta.

The bed and breakfast is owned and run by the siblings of an long-established Santa Fe family. It is adorable, quiet, and reasonably priced. In the morning, made-to-order breakfasts are always tasty and filling, and the conversations interesting and intelligent. It is a gem, tucked away from the over-the-top pricier hotels downtown. Unpretentious, local, simple, and kind. It is a marvel. Then again, that is the way the secrets of Santa Fe open themselves for you.

We drove around for a quick review of the downtown area; it was good to see Santa Cafe, Tia Sophia's, and Pasquale's were right where we left them, although many of the galleries were gone and replaced by new ones, which was expected. Dressman's was still on the Plaza, but the Ore House now has a new name. Copious strands of beads still bedeck the windows of Gloriana's Bead Shop, and Kaune's grocery still remains open for business. (We wondered if they still allow people to charge their monthly purchases, or if they now only accept debit and credit cards.)

Later, we wasted time driving down the dreaded Cerrillos Road (a mess and under construction) to peruse the tourist trap Jackalope. But first, we had lunch.

Building facade, San Francisco Avenue
south of Paseo de Peralta.

At Tomasita's, we waited 45 minutes for a table, but our timing could not have been better because those arriving a few minutes later via the Rail Runner from Albuquerque were informed that the wait time was now one hour. They muttered and complained openly, "You'd think things would have settled down by now," referring to the even more hectic Indian Market weekend craziness. We didn't care because we had all the time in the world. That evening, we sat at La Choza (the younger sibling The Shed) and waited the requisite 45 minutes there too. Both served excellent New Mexican food--I had stacked red enchiladas at La Choza and chiles rellenos at Tomasita's.

After breakfast Sunday morning, we had a nice long visit with our innkeeper, and then headed to town to walk around for a bit. We ended up having coffee at Starbucks on the Plaza. It was nice to sit in the dark cave of this corporate cup o'joe, read the New York Times, and connect our devices to wifi. Afterwards, we left downtown, and once more drove down the dread Road Cerrillos to check out the new location of Artisan's art supply store.

For decades, it was located on Canyon Road and was a great source for artist's supplies, but it was also very claustrophobic. Artisans has served the artists of Santa Fe for so long that on the register, a copy of a check, written and signed by Georgia O'Keefe, is proudly displayed. This bright and spacious location has enough space to display many sizes and shapes of easels, storage containers, all kinds of oil, acrylic, and watercolor paints, and their various brushes. It is a dream of a store. I bought a new storage plastic briefcase to hold my color pencils, and an interesting Micron-like pen with extra nibs and refills, sized .03mm.

OL Guadalupe, tile installation, private home, San

Francisco Avenue near Guadalupe Avenue.

Afterwards, we drove the Turquoise Trail (back route to Albuquerque and I-25) so we could see what was going on in Madrid. A mining ghost town, Madrid is a kind of last bastion of southwest hippiedom and free thinking/living. Its once greyed, tiny mining shacks look much better today than the last time I saw them. Its main drag was in full bloom--a veritable ren fair(e), complete with big dogs walking around without leashes, bikers parking their Harley's on the dusty shoulder, flowing skirts, waving banners. All exuded that kind of happy community that welcomes out-of-towners and their cash.

But, all too soon we were out the in door, driven past Golden, and onwards past Cedar Crest. We sailed down the road towards the interchange that threw us southward towards El Paso. Our 36-hour vacation was coming to a close.

I don't miss working in Santa Fe, but I do miss living there. I miss the climate, the vegetation, and the whole atmosphere of the place. Once we were migrants to the City Different, but now we are tourists again.

Commodities

bookshelf
Originally uploaded by chacal la chaise.

This morning, I received an interesting email about the selling of books. It seems that book buyers troll universities looking for those who may want to sell the advance or desk copies of books acquired during the school year. Good timing too as the gift-giving season is around the corner and who doesn't need extra money. Whether I would or not (because I'm not allowed to anyway), is not the reason for writing here. It's about seas of papers and shores where flotsam and jetsam end their days. While I may be scraping off the foam of the idea, I may be incorrect in some of these statements. And, if that's the case, then I apologize in advance. But I think I have it about right.

Until today, I was not aware people actually came around to buy books by the pound, and this got me thinking. In many ways, publishing is akin to the fashion industry in the way that the remainders, overruns, and shelf worn end their days—in landfills, second-hand seller databases and garages, and developing countries. The latter receives remaindered t-shirts, shoes, and pants. It is the former where books end their days. This brings up a weird confluence regarding the publishing industry and tax law. This, I suppose, can also apply to how the fashion industry operates too. Which also happens to vehicles, or any commodity for that matter. But vehicles are also parted out or chopped, while books and to a lesser extent, clothes are resold, redistributed, and recycled by the item. It all still adds up to the idea of books as commodity whether we like it or not.

Remaindered books, which are those that booksellers have left over (and at a decreasing rate as physical booksellers are rapidly disappearing,) cannot be donated to libraries or goodwill, and then written off as a charitable deduction. For example, a publisher cannot give away extra or damaged books, and then take the cost of those books as a deduction. This is because they already have COGS (cost of goods sold) factored into their bottom line that was accumulated from producing them in the first place. However, i can purchase books from them (presumably they can give them to me, too) and i can take a tax deduction if i give them to a charitable organization. This is because i don't have a cost of doing business associated with those books (and, as the libertarians would argue, we don't have a flat tax). We get to itemize deductions if we already jumped through the hoops and fallen into Shadow, the homeowner vortex with the much sought after interest deduction. Such a precious.

But what about the books? They become denuded and remaindered, their covers ripped off (paperbacks, for example) and the front matter struck with a magic marker.

Sounds like rape, doesn't it? These books are shipped from say, B&N or Target to the publisher who must then destroy them. If you've ever bought (or even received books in that condition, you've held contraband in your hands. It all seems so unseemly.

Yes, book publishing is a strange kind of enterprise. We are horrified at the thought of destroying books, but publishers have to do it because of taxes, balance sheets, assets, liabilities, and just plain doing business. Moreover many of those destroyed books end up that way because 1) the price rose and they need a new cover, and 2) they redesigned the cover art because they sold a few and now want to 'refresh' the item, and must now take back the old copies and bring in the new. For a long time now, books are neither a vessel for literature, art, knowledge, information, or dreams. They are simply a commodity with a shelf life, like milk and white bread. I would have added Kodachrome, but we all know what happened to that.

Lincoln Park murals: Pachuca

Lincoln Park murals: Pachuca
Originally uploaded by chacal la chaise.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a terrific car show and gathering beneath these I-10 flyovers at Lincoln Park. Sadly, I missed it, but yesterday I was able to capture a few quick shots of new Chican@ murals. Like Chicano Park in Los Angeles, the murals depict important people and events in Chicano history and feature visual topics pertaining to Aztlán, the Guadalupe, folk art/rascuache and social-political themes and history important to Latin@s as the Mexican Revolution, the murder of Latino journalist Ruben Salazar, President Kennedy, brown pride--topics pertaining to La Frontera's culture, art, and people.

In the Pachuca I see all the defiance, strength, and passion of a young woman--she wears a stripped down version of the zoot suit and carries a daggered sacred heart, while wrapped in the flags of her land, family, and culture. Strong, proud, brown, and armed with what signifies her strength. Ready to battle anything that comes her way or tries to harm her family and friends, this Pachuca stands tall.