Driving The Sculpture: Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance

Automobiles are an expression of the individual who buys or drives them. We represent ourselves with our cars, just as we represent ourselves with the clothes we wear. The automobile has become an accessory to our lives–a functional accessory, but an accessory nonetheless. A car is an extension of one’s personal taste of one’s style and image. When people go to special events such as the Palo Alto Concurs d’Elegance to show off their cars, it’s all part of the same set. So cars are more than a conveyance to go from one place to another. They are a key part of our taste and its expression. If you love cars–their upholstery, their ornaments, the wooden steering wheel and their shapes–as objects of art, you can’t help but be intrigued or stimulated. 

Many of the cars presented here inspired me at the 2013 Palo Alto Concours. In some way the new car designs are not as appealing when compared to some of the great old cars from the twenties, thirties, fifties or sixties. However, each car in its own way makes a statement. Whether it’s a shiny new or vintage sports car or an old truck, automobiles represent an element of your total style. 

One of the criteria for beautiful cars or design in general is that they never look dated. Some of the cars at the PA Concours look and work as well today as they did at the time they were made. They don’t look like old, outdated cars. They look like something that makes you think, Wow, where can I get that emotive feel now? The truly great designs are designed for longevity. Good design is about staying power as well as about being current. 

Ferraris and Parisian music of the twenties were some of the highlights from Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance. A friendship with Randy Steyer, president of Ferrari pacific region was enough to have me join the Ferrari Club USA.  

Hiking Purisima Open Space Reserve: Recharging The Brain Through Physical Exercise

Many of us know the sense of physical and emotional well being that comes from an intense workout, a long run or playing a team sport such as rowing. But what if such activities also made us smarter?

That’s the finding of Dr. John Ratey, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science Of Exercise And The Brain, continues to have a major impact upon organizations and academic institutions worldwide. According to the author physical activity “provides physical, social and intellectual stimulation which creates a positive challenge or stress to the brain, which in turn causes the brain to adapt, resulting in healthy cognitive development.”

According to Dr. Ratey, exercise helps us in three specific ways to promote learning.

First, it works the brain systems for attention, motivation and the ability to resist impulses or frustration while improving our memory.

Second, exercise prepares our neurons to be in the optimal circumstance for growth. We don’t learn anything unless our brain cells grow.

Third, is neurogenesis. Exercise produces brand new brain cells–more than anything else we know.

“The benefits are physical and emotional, in terms of promoting confidence, health and happiness,” writes Dr. Ratey. “The phrase ‘run the brain’ now has a new and exciting connotation.” Get out there.

11 Years Ago We Had Wedding Number 2 Near Our Summer Home: Still Madly In Love

Bollywood–Hollywood Christian–Hindu weddings are fun. Still madly in love.

A Sunny June In San Francisco

The true, happy self isn't centered on the demands of ego but on higher values: love, truth, creativity and compassion. Because our true self is connected to the source of awareness, at a deeper level of the mind, our true self is at peace. There is no hole to fill with the endless pursuit of pleasure and distraction. Life is aligned with increasing one's consciousness and growing from the inside.

 

The Most Important Assignment Is Never Handed In: Tomorrow Thinking

In today's world, memorization of facts and figures is no longer considered a central facet of a balanced education. While an encyclopedic memory may help at Jeopardy, we believe it's our mission as parents to raise our son in a way that he possess strength of character and confidence to effectively navigate change while managing cultural ambiguity. In preparing our son for this changing world in which character and creativity are equally important as knowledge and discipline, we are open to engaging and connecting with parents in an increasingly globalized world, regardless of the path our children choose in the future. We are always looking to make tomorrow better. 

Explore. Investigate. Create. All images from Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena.

Fatherhood

Boys need the company of men–men who will guide, instruct, esteem, respect and understand them. When asked about the happiest experience of their lives, boys often say it was the time they made something with their fathers. Mothers matter, too–but sometimes there’s no substitute for Dad.

Out Of This World: Los Angeles Without A Map

Los Angeles is awash in wit, kitsch, horror, cartoons and the ultra chic rebel yell–it's a city with a future and a remote control past. Residents of Los Angeles are a remarkable bunch. It is a strange place, but far more relaxing than you might expect. If you suddenly find yourself here talking to Hollywood royalty you’ll find Los Angeles is a warm, generous place filled with talent, opportunity and remarkable insight. If you fly into Burbank or LAX and take the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Hollywood Hills and then to Pasadena–you’ll see the charm that is Los Angeles. Mulholland Drive is the spine that connects the valley to the rest of the city. When you are on Mulholland you can see both sides of Los Angeles. It is serpentine; all at once it locates you as nothing else. Los Angeles does not feel like anywhere else on earth and this is good. Pulsating daily into the airwaves the dream is alive in the entertainment capital of the universe. Now go out and watch a movie at a nearby cinematheque.

Garden Of Flowing Fragrance: The Huntington

Angeleons often boast of being able to visit the mountains and the beach in a single day. In fact, when you are in LA, you can also explore a jungle and a desert too–thanks to the expansive Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens in San Marino. With 120 landscaped acres and more than a dozen themed gardens, the center's grounds are a must see attraction, but there's a lot more. It takes a few days to roam on site which includes: the Beaux-Arts style Huntington Art Gallery (former residence of the center's founders, railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington and his wife, Arabella). The Huntington ground are also home to Virgina Steele Scott Galleries of American Art that houses more than 6 million rare film scripts, books, photos and art including John James Audubon's The Birds Of America.