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I’ve been walking in this cemetery for decades, and there’s no more specific or reliable a time-teller than the bloom of the Bailey’s Acacia. From what I understand, these trees are reviled by native plant enthusiasts and allergy sufferers (I’ve heard them called the “Dreaded Bailey’s Acacia”), but I like them for their delicate fronded leaves and profusion of cascading neon-yellow flowers.

But what I love about them is that their accuracy and explosive prettiness happens so suddenly that it always makes me gasp a little: I swear it happens on Feb 1, and there they are, kind of shouting at me, “Hey, Diana, it’s FEBRUARY!”

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When I was growing up, I found myself somewhat regularly in downtown L.A., undoubtedly because of my dad’s political involvements, plus street fairs, events, and other (at that time, anyway) relatively obscure attractions that occasionally drew us there. I can’t remember how the introduction went, exactly, but by the time I was 8, I was in love with the Bonaventure hotel.

Exterior paneled glass elevators let you watch the city spill out before you as you rose, labyrinthine walkways threading themselves between floors, the weird mirrored impenetrability of it: it was a hulking mystery, and I was enchanted.

It’s so strange how long it took me—walking for years through and around the Hyatt to the Ferry Building Farmers market and exploring the […]

Dear Editor,

“Slow Burn” (New York Times Style Magazine, Sept 23, 2018), brought to mind Jay DeFeo’s monumental work The Rose, a piece that came to define her career, though it shouldn’t eclipse the rest of her compelling work. Installed at first in her apartment in the space of a bay window, it grew over time to consume an entire wall. As she labored over, scraped, and reworked it over the course of 8 years, the painting seemed to take on a life of its own, collapsing the boundaries between the artist, her physical environment, and her work. Since that time, The Rose has become its own kind of creation myth, one in which the fueling energy is obsession.

At last […]

When I was in the midst of research overwhelm trying to pick just a few Loire Valley chateaux to visit, Chateau de Chaumont made my list instantly, solely because each year they host the International Garden Festival, in which teams of international landscape designers create gardens based on a yearly theme. Sold!

As it happened, the temporary gardens were disappointing, but my experience of the chateau was enthralling. In my early investigations online, I was so excited about the garden festival that I completely failed to note the chateau’s commitment to truly international art on the estate. And oh, my god, though I did have high expectations for something special from the garden festival, I was bowled over by this might-have-been-fairly-standard tourist […]