I am in one of those alley access spaces in Los Angeles that is like the junkie sister to Japan's outdoor rooms. Space is not folded so tightly on itself here, nor so refinely detailed- but you can still get the feeling that outside is as domesticated as the inside and passing between is almost seamless. The (western expansionist) mentality to conquer or at least engineer nature has drawn the line very clearly in our collective mind between domesticated space and that which is not controlled. Japanese thinking does not differentiate the two so clearly.

Los Angeles does share the value of impermanence.

I like burry edges. LA usually achieves the lack of definition through inattention to space. We are spoiled by climate and abundance. I appreciate, I am at home, in the under done-ness of LA.

This place is in an alley off Temple, defined by 3 concrete frame brick infill walls, a taco truck closes the alley side, they have spread out a couple tables and chairs on the asphalt below. The sky is a saturated blue and there is no darkness. Christmas lights and power lines hang across the deck. I sit on an outdoor couch under a chandelier that is the full moon. Its a balmy night and the weather outside is just a little bit better than inside.