Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Corner View - Valentine's Day Traditions


I am afraid that I am not much of a fan of America's modern day ways of celebrating St. Valentine's Day.  I don't think much of terrible over-priced restaurant "Valentine's Day Specials" menus, stiff, long-necked blood red roses with no smell that droop within 24 hours.  Or metallic plastic heart shaped balloons and giant red fuzzy teddy bears.  Good grief!!  I can't think of anything less romantic! 

I did like the Valentine's Day traditions of my childhood when we made Valentines out of pink and red construction paper and paper doilies and handed out little boxes of Sweetheart candies.

Photo from: here

So instead I will leave you with a sneak peak of pictures I took of Simon Rodia's Watts Towers last weekend.  Simon was an Italian immigrant who settled in a working class immigrant neighborhood in L.A. and for 30 years, built this marvel of "outsider art" out of reclaimed metal, refuse, seashells, broken tile and soda bottles.  It was his Valentine to the world.  I'll be posting more pictures of it next week.


How many hearts can you spot in this picture?




For more Corner Views, please check in with:  jane ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - kay -trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss cabrizette - isabelle - janis -kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - b -sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama -daan - ibb - pienduzz - kelleyn - ninjasammi - theresa - cherry b - juliette -shokoofeh - cole - grey lemon -lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna -dorit - conny - l´atelier - kamana -anne marie - rosamaría - victoria -tikjewit - juniper - annabel - andrea -valerie - merel soisses - mlle paradiscacahuete - wander chow - barbara -emily - tally - nadine - matilda - don -flowtops - susanna - tania - dana -ingrid - tzivia - mezza - lollipop - mari







  

11 comments:

  1. The image of Watts Towers does look like it is covered in candy hearts. xo

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  2. okay! jotting the name down for when i hit the US again, must see that in real life, although your picture promises already. can't wait.
    (agree on the commercial side of valentine's being terrificly horrid)

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  3. Aussi fou que l'amour, cet univers... Comme toi, je ne suis pas un "fervent" de cette fête, même si j'essaie de ne pas oublier de marquer ce jour (et suis aussi content de ne pas être "oublié" ;)).

    Et merci pour la promenade "sur le pont"... C'est beau de voir que certains univers se rejoignent !!

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  4. Modern day celebrations in the US are too canned, but the idea to celebrate should be applauded. Money just doesn't mix with real sentiment and Watts Tower is the real thing!
    Back to you soooon!

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  5. I absolutely agree with you! It's much more fun to spot hearts in our daily surroundings than to celebrate boring and expensive rituals! :)
    (I spotted two hearts...)

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  6. ton enveloppe est partie ... si tout va bien elle devrait arriver chez toi d'ici 8 jours

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  7. I agree with you ... and it looks like there could be a lot of tiny hearts on the pic, but I am sure about 2 :)

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  8. How fantastic! Can't wait to see more pictures of this. :-)

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  9. I would love it if I got the Watts tower as a Valentine! Hello...

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  10. Your valentine's day scene was perfection! These kind of celebrations have become so cliche.

    I prefer Simon's sculpture and your childhood contruction paper hearts :^)

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