Playing fetch in LA
August 22, 2008
In case you missed the sorbet today...here it is....But before that, here's a quick report on LA...LA was awesome!!!! We went to the Getty Museum. We saw Wicked, the play, at the Pantages Theatre and went backstage afterwards. We went to Malibu ("Get out of Malibu Lebowski -- we don't like your kind here"). We went to the beach. Played in the waves with a Boogie-board. We shopped the Outlets. We bought a Hugo Boss suit. Saw a seal in the ocean. We experienced Disneyland and California Adventure Park. We got sun-burned, sun-touched, sun-spanked. We experienced Universal Studios. We met with real film people and writers, and actors -- not the fake ones, REAL ones. We hung at the Chinese Theatre, and the Kodak Theatre (Where the Academy Awards takes place). We visited Marilyn Monroe's tomb. We drank very good wine. We tasted wine that was made with pineapples. We had drinks at the Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel. We pretended we were Pretty Woman -- "Big mistake!. BIG!" We played in the pool. We drove repeatedly on the 101, and the 405, and lived. We only needed bail money once, when the Louster punched Mickey. We bought Laphroaig single-malt, cask strength at Duty Free (God bless America). There. That's our trip in a nutshell.
Fetch
I’m throwing four plastic rings into the swimming pooland my daughter is diving down to get them – laughing
when she comes up with a colourful ring in her hand – asking
me to throw the rings again, and again, and again – rising
to the surface of the pool, splashing the surface, moving
from cool liquid to the clear blue – palm trees, heat and sun.
I’m sitting beside the pool, in the San Fernando Valley,
in West Hills, near Los Angeles. I'm wearing shorts and a housecoat,
drinking my third White Russian. It’s 101F at 11a.m. and
I’m actually playing fetch with my daughter, but she doesn’t seem
to mind. What the hell, I think, she seems to like it, and we don't have a dog.
4 Comments
1. Winifred Brewer had this to say: Aug 23, 2008 ~ 00:40 ~ #
Hi Thomas! Wow, we were @ the Getty last week too — was that YOU smelling the roses? One of the, perhaps insignificent, things I appreciate about the Getty is that it remains much like I imagine the architect to have left it. No ugly visual clutter of add-on signage that usually appears as soon as the designers clear out. Signs instructing us not to litter (there isn’t any), not to smoke or pick the flowers, “keep off”, “keep out”, etc. They trust us to do the right thing. I am glad that they choose an artist to design the garden. My husband Bill told me that he’d heard that the architect and the artist fought a lot. I like the contrast between the contemporary landscape elements and what is actually a quite old- fashioned flower garden complete with greying wooden trellishes. (I was the one pointing — “Oh, and my grandmother had this and this and this in her Connecticut garden.”) ANYWAY, I am so glad that you’re enjoying your southern California experience. Maybe next time you’ll make it out to the desert for a studio visit. (No roses but we have lots of dirt). Sincerely, Wini
2. thomas had this to say: Aug 23, 2008 ~ 09:01 ~ #
The Getty was amazing. You’re right about the integrity of it. Some artist held firm to a vision. The beautiful stone…the mass of the building(s)...sometimes I felt like I was inside a labyrinth. Thank you for drawing my memory back to the fact there were no signs. We started by getting off the train and immediately sitting down for a coffee…just looking around…relishing where we were, anticipating what we were about to see. I asked if they could make me an Americano and a skinny vanilla latte — “absolutely,” the guy said…and so it began. My daughter reacted to the building. She was drawn in. She had to see those big rocks in the water at the end of the central courtyard…She wanted to take her shoes off and go in the water. Do you think the Getty designers had that in mind? DO you think anybody would have minded? The buildings are art. To litter in this place would be horrible. I so want to go back!!!
Thomas
3. Elena Ray had this to say: Aug 26, 2008 ~ 18:36 ~ #
Hey T.
Glad you all had a good time in LaLa land-obviously you had a kid w/you-hit all the sites. Arn’t you glad kids need to keep their minds and bodies busy…I just spent a week up in the mountains with some elders…they just like to sit around and jawbone.
e.
PS
Tibet, Tibet-what’s that?
4. thomas had this to say: Aug 27, 2008 ~ 11:43 ~ #
Children demand that you be present. I love hanging out with my daughter for this very reason, and more, but you can’t be adrift when you are with a six- or seven-year old. They have questions. They want your attention. Hey, what’s she laughing about? What’s she looking at? Why is she sad? Speaking of Tibet, kids are like perfect little Buddhas. It’s about the moment. The present. Awareness of the “now.”