alittlecameo

Notes from the Getty Center

May 3, 2011

Needing some tranquil “think space” after a most interesting discussion with Peter the meditation teacher, I headed in the direction of the Getty Center, a gallery/museum perched in the hills that comes highly recommended by friends and guidebooks.

Here are some notes I made during my visit there.

First impressions

“Feeling a little underwhelmed @ The Getty. It’s very stark, bakingly hot with all the marble. Gardens are fairly sparse. Maybe I’ll find something more agreeable inside.”

Feeling the heat

“Shade is hard to come across here. People on tours carry stone-coloured parasols to keep the sun off as they hear about the architectural and garden design. A design that makes them require portable shade.”

Wanting to come up with my own emoticon

**>> which translates to wink, wink, nudge, nudge

On the art

Getty water feature — A beautiful water feature tries to offset the baking hot

“A Hare in the Forest, Hans Hoffman – such tiny detail. Spider’s web, creatures peering, hidden, like Animalia. A constant discovery + the colours ping! V. lifelike.”

“The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with Saint John the Baptist, Fra Bartolemmo (Bacciodella Porta) – Love the halos, the transparent sash of St John, the palm and golden hue in the background. Mary is beautiful, but v. pale while. Joseph looks old, swarthy and Italian. He looks like he’s resting on a baseball. Discarded pomegranate at their feet seems wasteful.”

“Giant Redwood, Santa Cruz, Carleton Watkins photograph from 1880’s – The giant redwood screws out of the earth like a drill bit, it’s bushing top depicting the remnant materials it collected on its way through the crust.”

Getty views — Great view for miles and miles

Whilst my first impressions weren’t overly enthusiastic, I warmed to the place (maybe the beating sun had something to do with that!). Parts of it were still underwhelming, like the Gods of Angkor temporary exhibit. Judging from all the flagpole banners flying around LA, I had expected a mammoth exhibit, like when the Salvador Dali exhibition was on in Melbourne. Instead, it was one small room with a few statues and a couple of information boards about the Angkor period in Cambodia. Completely underwhelming and uninspirational, although I have been to Cambodia and visited the ruins, so it wasn’t new to me.

I did spend some time sitting in the Central Garden reading and pondering, so that was nice, and the views are pretty darn incredible. However, for me, one visit to the Getty is enough.

Riding the ferris wheel

May 2, 2011

I have to admit to having more adventurous tastes in show rides than the Ferris Wheel, but it was befitting of the spontaneous trip to Santa Monica with Michele.

Our original plan of doing one of those bus tours (specifically one targeted at the tragic side of Hollywood) fell by the wayside when there weren’t enough people for the tour to run. We vacillated over the Getty Center and then decided to trip down the 10 freeway to Santa Monica and see the beach.

As we know, I’m not a beachy person, but Santa Monica had the added bonus of the pier with the show rides to draw me in.

I made a wrong turn coming off the freeway, turning right instead of left, which meant that we started driving towards Malibu on Pacific Highway. It was quite pretty, but there was no way of doing a u-turn or even making a right turn for quite a-ways because of the cliffs that rose steeply up from the highway.

Peek through the struts — Peeking through the Ferris Wheel struts

When we finally got back to the pier, we weren’t disappointed. It was a beautiful clear 31ºC day and the beach and pier were busy enough, but certainly not crowded.

As we made our way up the steps to the pier, I marvelled at the age of the wooden steps. They were grooved and hollowed out from so much traffic over the years. I pressed my feet into the depressions which would turn into puddles on a rainy day. There is something in me that loves to see worn timber like this. I can think back to two specific experiences where it made an impression on me. One in Fray Bentos, Uruguay at the tinned meat factory, and the other time on a spiral staircase leading up to the belfry at the cathedral in Mexico City’s Zocalo. (Yes, this is now the third blog entry in six years that relates a story about well-worn boards, so there is clearly a fascination with this little detail)

The boards of the pier weren’t as smooth as I expected. They were rough, like rough-hewn timber with grooves running from side to side and had shiny silver dumps (bolts) fastening them down to the supports. They were really beautiful. The lurid show rides looked out of place perched upon these old boards, but they also added height and colour to the skyline.

Colourful Santa Monica pier — A giant octopus is growing out of my head

Seeing the Ferris Wheel circling above us, we decided we had to go for a ride on it and eventually found our way to the ticket booth which is cleverly hidden in the middle of all the rides so you can be tempted to buy tokens for more than one ride. We shared our gondola (is that what you would call a Ferris Wheel carriage?) with an English girl as there was a strict rule that there were no single riders.

The Ferris Wheel circled fast, not giving us much time to take photos of the amazing views it afforded of the beach, the pier and the distant mountains. At any rate, it was definitely worth the $5 fare to be child-like, snap-happy tourists and gave a different perspective to the beach.

Birthday mail & celebrations already

May 1, 2011

Birthday cards — Early well wishing birthday cards

I was so excited to find birthday mail even though it’s still a week away.

Given that not many people back home actually have my address, it was so lovely to receive a card from my aunt. That at least balanced out the two birthday postcards I have received from companies I’m a customer of being New Look Skin Center and Farmers Insurance Group. At least the New Look Skin Center included a $10 discount voucher.

I was also extremely surprised when J and I went around to Ricardo, Astra and Jolena’s place for dinner and all of a sudden Jolena turned all the lights out and then Astra came out of the kitchen with a cake and candles. The fact that the fan blew the candles out before it made it to the table and there was a short break in the proceedings as the fan was turned off and they were relit didn’t take anything away from that magical moment.

I can’t remember the last time I sat in a darkened room with just the candles on the cake in front of me for light and having soft lit shining faces sing happy birthday to me. That was really special and I was so touched by the gesture from these lovely new friends of mine in LA. That and the chocolate caked baked especially for me by Jolena was the perfect birthday gift to a person who continually escapes her birthday celebrations.

A great volunteer experience

April 30, 2011

What are you reading? wall — What are you reading?

Awhile back, whilst on a search for new friends in LA, I decided to volunteer at the Festival of Books.

Today dawned my first of two shifts at the LA Times Festival of Books and although I’m not so concerned with making friends now as I’m about to embark on a great American roadtrip, I came away from the day after having talked to a number of Americans and having a great time.

Wearing my wide-brimmed hat I’d bought in Venice Beach, I opted for an outdoor volunteering role (in spite of the suddenly 30ºC heat) and found myself being line monitor for a number of book signings with authors I’d never heard of before. My job description said I had to ensure that the lines were orderly, people were happy and that they only had three books for signing. I also had to hand out little post-it notes for the people who wanted their books inscribed with their names. Just so’s the authors could spell it correctly.

I was kind of surprised to note that the other volunteers in my area avoided people. They avoided speaking to them and they avoided being in places where they might be asked a question from a guest at the festival, like behind the signing booths, or sitting under a tree. I put myself out there. I made, or in some situations, tried to make, conversation with people in the lines. Not only was I helping their time in the line move along faster, but I was staving off the boredom I would feel if I didn’t have conversations with people. I also used this opportunity for my own good, and found tips and suggestions from people for my roadtrip.

Most of the people I spoke with were probably of the RV crowd, and they were excited to share their thoughts on various destinations across America. I used the Sharpies and post-its to take notes. I heard about national parks and cities and various routes. It was great research.

When the authors and book signings had thinned out a bit, I stood near the stack of programs and maps to help people out. Most were looking for the children’s area. I wasn’t just going to sit about. I had volunteered because I wanted to meet people. I want to note a few of the characters I met:

The guy who asked me what my native language was then wore a surprised look when I said “English”. He thought I was Asian as he’d taught a number of Chinese, Malaysian and Korean students. This is the first time someone has told me I look Asian. I think this guy just looked stupid.
The ebayers. This type of festival goer can be easily picked by their trolleys and canvas bags laden with books. They are professionals and linger all day to get all the signatures. They are typically older- say in their fifties – are plain looking, overweight and have ruddy faces.
The young guy wearing a black CAA cap (Creative Artists Agency – a major Hollywood agency) perched on his black hair, a green t-shirt and jeans that gaped to show the elastic of his underwear when he sat down. He also hung around the signing area for a good portion of the day. He struck up conversations with others in the line about whether they’d read the book and then spoke at length to one of the more popular authors who said to call him after he’d read a couple of books.
The volunteer from Christian College with short blonde hair and tattoos circling her forearms who looked like someone from home. Her and her friend hardly said boo.
The volunteer author escort with shaking hands who barrelled up to me and said at rapid-fire, heightened-stress pace “I have the mystery panel here, where are they supposed to go?” I pointed him in the direction of my bookworm supervisor because I had no idea what he was talking about. I had equated mystery with potluck, and so I thought it was like some kind of mystery hotel deal, you don’t know who you’re seeing until you get there. In reality, it was a panel of mystery authors. I think the yellow t-shirt I was wearing reflected onto my hair making it look blonde.

After my shift finished I wandered through the festival, still being stopped and asked where the nearest restrooms were and the children’s area. I got to sit in on hearing a woman demonstrate how to bind books, pick up a free postcard, buy a stack of discounted Lonely Planet guidebooks and enter a competition to have a private screening of a Focus Features film. It was really fun. And I get to go back tomorrow.

Making up for being a bad friend

April 29, 2011

I’ve been in LA for three months and hadn’t yet caught up with my friend who I met when she was on exchange in my hometown 15 years ago. That’s poor form.

I guess a number of things conspired against it, like my car woes and her late stage pregnancy. So now that her baby is birthed and Esmeralda is fixed, we finally arranged a meet up.

It was a nice 30 mile drive out to her place on the Foothills Freeway 210. This is a much nicer freeway than the 10 freeway. As the name suggests, it traverses the foothills of the mountains and it quite pretty. On the way back in the evening it afforded incredible views of the city lights and downtown.

Meeting my friend’s new baby was lovely. When I visited her about 11 months ago, I had no idea that I’d be back to see her so soon and that by that time she’d have another child. It must be quite some time since I’ve seen a newborn because I couldn’t believe how tiny he was. As I held him while he struggled against sleep, his head warmed up the crook of my arm. That’s a nice feeling. For all my friends who know about how I feel about me and babies, I tell you I’m not getting clucky!

My friend and I talked about how it is that we’ve kept up our friendship that started way back in 1996, and the fact that we have seen each other four times since then, once when she returned to Australia and now that I have visited her in LA three times. Whilst Facebook makes it easy to stay in touch, actually visiting really cements the friendship beyond the electronic. I never regret travelling to meet up with my friends living overseas, be it Los Angeles, London, Buenos Aires or whether it’s even just closer to home in some far-flung place in Australia. There is something special about the memories you create with them in their current cities, and it adds to the relationship because you understand their life there.

I hope that I will continue to do this for the rest of my life, because a little bit of effort goes a long way. Perhaps I should be looking to book a flight to see my friend Shanghai Slipper.

Dining out, vegan style

April 28, 2011

Sage cafe in Echo Park — Our felafel bowls

In between errands and vintage shopping, Michele and I found our way to Sage Vegan Bistro on West Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park.

Michele had expressed her desire for a nice vegan lunch and after a quick search on the very helpful Yelp website, we found one that had good reviews and was conveniently located in between locations.

I have to admit that, like hippies, vegans kind of scare me. All the reasons I would give would label me hypocritical, the food equivalent of racist, intolerant and other such negative phrases, so I won’t go into details, suffice to say that I would not choose to go into a vegan restaurant if it was purely up to me. Vegetarian yes, vegan no.

Sage came as a big surprise to me. It was a lovely old converted building with enough of the old exposed bricks to add character without being cliched. The corner location and double height ceiling meant that light streamed in and made the place seem airy (not airy fairy I might add). Brown wood tables were organised in neat lines and there wasn’t anything kitschy, divey or cliched about the place. In fact, it was my kind of cafe.

Just beating the lunch rush, we had the pick of the tables and I was pleased to see others in the cafe who broke the mold of what I see as a vegan. Our waitress with the matching blue nails and dress was lovely and very helpful. The menu was diverse and had great choices that weren’t off the planet but were fresh and modern. Neither Michele nor I could go past the felafel bowl, and it was exactly what I needed as an antidote to all the Mexican food I’ve been eating lately.

So I’ve chalked up my first LA vegan experience and am glad Michele wanted to go vegan for lunch because otherwise, my pompous, ignorant self would have missed out on discovering the kind of cafe I could become a regular at.

Hanging out at an American university

April 27, 2011

USC lecture theatre — In the lecture theatre

I’m volunteering at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend and part of the deal included an orientation.

I have to admit to being reminded during the two hour session that I have an attention span shorter than a gnat. It was a little boring. On the upside, I got to sit in a real life American lecture theatre (same same but different to Australia) and pretend that I was a university student in the US.

Cinema studies — Big building named after a person

We then went on a tour of the University of Southern California campus near Downtown LA to see where things were going to be located so we could point the 150,000 visitors in the right direction. As we wandered the campus I drank in all the details: the buildings all named after large donors to the university; that USC is a private university whereas UCLA is a public university; the beautiful brick buildings; the lawns and common areas; the statues; the plaques; the students congregating in plazas; the beach cruisers parked out front of buildings. It was all so fascinating and it made me want to be a student again.

The most surprising thing though, was the obelisk. There is an obelisk on campus. That just seemed out of place and a little OTT.

Last minute Grand Canyon

April 26, 2011

After a long time humming and harring about what to do for my birthday, I finally booked an adventure.

You see, ever since I spent my 25th birthday straddling the equator in Ecuador, I have vowed to go away and do something exciting for my birthday. I used to expect others to make my birthday special for me, but after adopting this new philosophy I found that the only person my birthday is special for is me, and that it’s up to me to drive the celebrations.

So my birthdays have involved parasailing on the Gold Coast in Australia, kiteboarding in the Philippines, cycling around Rottnest Island in Western Australia, climbing the Sydney Harbour bridge, visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia and swinging in a hammock in Puerto Escondido in Mexico. Sometimes these trips have been alone, and some have been with friends or family, but they all involved me taking responsibility for enjoying myself on my birthday without the need for birthday wishes or gifts.

I had been looking at stacks of Grand Canyon rafting tour websites, trying to find the best deal and best adventure. I would have loved to do a week-long trip but my travel budget couldn’t quite extend that far, so I settled on a shorter 3 day trip. I was worried that I wasn’t going to find one that would have availability over my birthday in a week and a half’s time because these trips are usually booked way in advance, but the first company I called, Arizona River Runners, had an opening and they were super nice on the phone.

So now I’m booked on a tour that includes a flight to the canyon rim, a ranch stay, a helicopter flight to the canyon floor, a whitewater rafting and camping trip and a jet boat across Lake Mead. I’m pretty darn excited.

A kitchen isn’t complete without an apron

April 25, 2011

Being hostess — Vintage apron, dress and necklace. Brand new pavlova.

Entertaining at Easter was the perfect excuse to get about in my new vintage apron.

J and I had decided to put on a lunch for a bunch of friends and given that she is vegetarian, I said I’d cook the roast while she prepared the vegetables.

Roast lamb in the oven

Going to Gelson’s, there were only two sizes to choose from, a half leg and then a full leg. The full leg weighed 7.55lb (which is about 3.5kg). I have never cooked a leg of lamb on the bone before so I was a little nervous to attack such a big piece, but I did a lot of research on the net as to how long I should cook it for and at what temperature. Converting weight and temperature is not my favourite thing, but eventually I figured that I should cook it at 325°F for 2 and a half hours. I think the winning element was resting it for around 20 minutes. It came out perfectly. Tender, easy to carve (also something I’d also never done before was carve off the bone) and totally delicious.

J cooked some traditional American Easter recipes from her grandmother which were fab and went down a treat. She made baked beans, scalloped corn and cornbread. Yum, and a little touch of the US in what was a mostly Australian affair.

We also introduced our two American guests to the delights of pavlova and chocolate ripple cake which was courtesy of the chocolate ripple biscuits sent in my care package.

Since Jolena was over, J organised an Easter egg hunt in the “backyard”. Now I’m not sure our backyard can really be called anything but a carpark, but still, it had some great hiding spots and she had fun finding them (as did I).

Me and J celebrating a great day

It was a lovely Easter with old friends and new, and J and I had so much fun entertaining.

Love from the Easter Bunny

April 24, 2011

Easter egg stash — Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

When I left Australia at the very beginning of February, there were already Easter eggs for sale in the supermarket.

Three months later, Easter has arrived and I almost missed it. I expected Americans (who love a celebration and love to eat junk food and are typically more religious than Australians) to really get behind Easter. I expected to see a mad assortment of eggs, bunnies and Easter paraphernalia. I expected to be absolutely bombarded with Easter consumerism. I didn’t and I wasn’t.

At home I would be able to find a whole aisle at a supermarket or department store dedicated to Easter. That and dozens of hot cross buns tempting me. Here, it was a struggle to find anything much other than tiny little eggs or the stuff required to make an Easter basket. In one place I saw Lindt bunnies for sale, but that was the largest chocolate Easter bunny I could find.

Only small sections of aisles or a table at my local supermarket offered up any kind of Easter merchandise. While it was kind of nice to avoid all the Easter consumerism fanfare and the temptation to buy chocolate for anyone and everyone that I possibly know and take hot cross buns to work to feed my colleagues, it also didn’t feel the same. It didn’t feel particularly celebratory, like “here’s some time off for you to spend with your family and friends and get out and about in your country”. I guess the fact that Easter Monday is not a public holiday here changes things a bit.

BUT the Easter Bunny did find his way to my place to leave some eggs, including some Reese’s peanut butter filled chocolate eggs, and he left the chocolate in the shape of a cross on the shelf at Rite-Aid.

a little cameo

Author: alittlecameo