Rowland Heights, CA/What do you like?

© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: What do you mean? In what respect? I like to be healthy. I just had prostate cancer. I would like to be closer to my grandkids, my daughter and my son. They live in Portland. Well, I like to work on puzzles. I love Sudoku. You know Sudoku? I do one a day. Before, I used to do more a day. I used to do a lot of crossword puzzles but now I forget things. I'm 69, you know? But I should do crossword puzzles because there are two sides of the brain...the mathematical side and the language side.

Question: Where do you plan to be or be doing in 5 and then 10 years from now?

Los Angeles, CA (Del Rey)/Let's talk about 2010.

© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: I don't know. Well, I leave next week to go to Salvador! My grandchildren are there. I go every year for Christmas. I like! Muy importante. I like to cook with my family. I like my dogs. I like it. Everything, I like it. I don't like the cold.

Question: What do you like?

Los Angeles, CA (Lincoln Heights)/What do you think is going to happen in 2012?

© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: I hope it gets better for the year 2012. That's just my opinion. I hope things get better by 2012. People have struggled this year. Well, when my mom was a little girl, they said the world was going to end. There would be a big disaster or a big earthquake, but who knows?

Well, I've noticed that people are more friendly now that we have a black president. Well, the president...well, I like him. I don't care what other people say. I like him and Michelle and the kids. Color doesn't bother me. I don't care if you're black, purple, green...as long as you're nice.

Question: You're asking about 2012? Well, let's talk about 2010.

Los Angeles, CA (Del Rey)/Do you live near where you grew up? If so, why did you stay and if not, why did you move away?

© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: I grew up in San Diego til 14. Then I moved to LA. The reason why we moved here was for my dad's job. He repairs airplanes at Santa Monica Airport. The beginning--no I wasn't cool with it, but once I got here there was nothing I can do. Now, I'm OK right here. This is cool. I miss my family in San Diego. I got a lot of family out there.

I ask if he will be going home for Christmas.

No, I have to work but my mom and my brother are here. My aunts, cousins and uncles are in San Diego. Christmas will be my mom, my brother and I. It's good. It's good to take care of mom.

Question: What do you think is going to happen in 2012?

Los Angeles, CA (Downtown Arts District)/Do you have any tattoos and if not, why?

This Saturday, I went to the first of a series of planned quarterly open studio tours in the downtown arts district. It's always so interesting seeing where and how artists work and it was in a really interesting area of downtown, with coffee shops, huge warehouses, graffiti walls, artist studios, vintage stores etc. that I never knew of... I'll definitely be back for more exploring.

Meet Jeremy Quinn, an artist I met in the Rise Industries studio.


© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: I don't have any tattoos and the only reason is that I haven't thought of something that I want permanently on my body. Michelle, my wife, recently got a tattoo and seeing that one, I kind of want to just pick something and go with it, because it looks so good. The thing I used to want was a scarab beetle with wings, but I wanted to go to Egypt and find one carved in stone and I haven't been to Egypt, so that kind of died. The think I've currently been interested in is the spacecraft thing (Jeremy had shown me some prints that he had made recently using spacecraft images.) or something like that, maybe Pioneer.

Question: Do you live near where you grow up? If so, why did you stay and if not, why did you move away?

Los Angeles, CA (Getty Center)/How long will it be before we eliminate war and why do you think that?

The Getty Center gardens are definitely my favorite place to spend an afternoon in Los Angeles.


© Jasmin Chang 2009

Answer: I think it's never because war is inevitable. Someone is always going to be pissed off at someone else. There's always conflict in this country, never conflict resolution. Not in our lifetime.

Question: Do you have any tattoos and if not, why?

I ask him if he has any tattoos and he shows me his tattoo inspired by September 11, which says in Latin, "If you want peace, prepare for war."