Venice Beach Project

Last week was my Spring Break- and it was the busiest Spring Break I've ever had! I traveled to the insanely-different-from-NYC, LA. I had the pleasure of meeting a lot native creative thinkers! I visited JAKKS Pacific and CDI in Santa Monica, Maker Studios on Rodeo Dr, 6 Point Harness in Hollywood, Cartoon Network in Burbank, and Cookie Jar Entertainment in Burbank. I received amazing advice and words of wisdom from people in the animation business as well as the consumer products business. I met some incredibly gracious people who I hope to meet again some day!

As terrific as all of my 'interviewing/information gathering' went- this post is about my adventures in Venice Beach. After a crazy day of interviews and driving around (getting lost and stuck in traffic, although thank goodness for the carpool lane!) my father and I decided to visit the beach. I live on the beach essentially in NJ so I did not know what to expect. We drove along the coast hoping to find some place interesting to stop- we found Venice Beach. I am sure most people know all about the 'rif raf' as my father calls it. I was surprised at how similar it is to Seaside heights actually. Aside from that, it was the people who truly inspired me- specifically the homeless- I was so inspired that hours before we had to return our rental car I begged my father to lend some one dollar bills so I could ask the homeless (I use this term loosely because I am not sure HOW homeless these people are) if I could take pictures of them and the dogs (and cat) they live with. I think the result is pretty inspiring.

Dotty & Basil

Piggly Wiggly, Dotty & Basil

Sarah & Ladybug

Mike & Baldwin

Paul & Angelica the Cat

Aphgan & MaryJane

Josiah & Ronnin

Dog & (no name)

Scotty, Cody, Crooked-dog, & Ladybird

John & Mateo

Cesar Millan says that he believes the homeless take better care of their pets than some millionaires. These animals are with their 'pack' 24/7. Most of them were in good condition and their owners all seemed to love them very much. I truly hope they all love them for them and not because they use them in the hopes of getting money from tourists. From the ones I spoke to, I do not think this is the case. One man- John just above, threw my money back at me when he thought I was taking pictures of his dog to try and get it a better home! To me thats a man who loves his dog- and dog who loves his man.