Top Shots: Jan. 27

This week's pictures center mostly on research related to my major project this season. I'm pushing into it directly and spent the last week finding spaces in the physical settings of the story, planning some tricky elements of the plot, and getting a feel for characters in their world. Here are some of the results.

A storefront across from the central location of my story, which you can see reflected in the window. Also, an emblematic representation of some gentrification at work.

A bridge over University Ave. that pops up in a couple scenes. From the top, you can look west toward the heart of downtown San Diego and east to the mountains beyond the city.

Art on a shop that's speaks to the neighborhood and the city itself.

A calm moment on the 163 Freeway. A couple hours later, it was knotted up like a clogged pipe.

Maybe someday...

I shot this picture on a college tour this summer at CalArts that I took with my oldest child and it keeps surfacing in connection with my main character. Can't wait to figure out how that's working, as it's not always clear why my connections get made in the first place.

Some paper planning I did. I'm no visual artist, but sometimes I draw spaces to understand them outside my head.

And speaking of my oldest, my daughter turned 16 at the end of the week. She's special, this one, and it was fun to shut down work and spend a couple days celebrating the occasion. (Also, a sneak cameo from my wife in the background.)