The supply of gourds and weird squash is winding down.
I spent Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon with Steve and Celina where I got to enjoy Celina’s mouthwatering food as well as their always welcome company and we also went to the Camarillo Public Library which is a really wonderful spot…
…for books, so many comfortable chairs, and gorgeous tile work.
…and Gideon and Sam were over too, with the baaaby. AWWWW.
I stopped by Tom and Marsha’s on the way home to refill every available space in my body with Tom’s legendary After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup.
L&B&Z: “breads and spreads” (that didn’t make it into the picture including cheeses and dips) D: mashed potatoes and gravy, fried tofu A: quiche, salad, apple crumble C&P: parsnips L&E: sliced turkey, ham, and spiced crab apples R: potato and cheese tartlets L: pumpkin pie L&G: pear tart Me: stuffed squash, orange and fennel salad (that I forgot to put on the buffet and got passed around near the end(…))
For one performance a week, my favorite the early matinee, masks are required. It was deja vu all over again!
I joined Rick and his neighbor Jacky at the East West Players to watch a Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures. The story begins in 1853 with Commodore Perry’s arrival and the westernization of Japan, skipping over all the wars and ending on a optimistic note and the song “Next” with cast members dressed as Ohtani, Pokemon, “gyaru”, “bijinesuman” etc. The staging was super and the cast was very good too. I’m glad to have gone especially as I’d never seen this group that has been performing in LA for 60 years, and I didn’t even know about this venue.
Here’s a write-up of the theater from the EWP website:
East West Players’ current home is in the upper three levels of the Union Center for the Arts in the northwestern end of the Little Tokyo Historic District. The Union Center for the Arts was formerly the Union Church. It was completed in 1923 and served as the combined home of three Japanese American congregations.
With the onset of World War II, it was in front of this building that residents of the district joined the residents of Terminal Island, whose community had been razed 48 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1942, residents of the district were among the 10,000 people sent to the War Relocation Center in Manzanar. Only permitted a single suitcase to last them their internment, many district residents stored their personal belongings in the Union Church until they would be able to return to their homes after the war. However, most of those transported to the internment camps lost all of their property, and were unable to return to living in their old community after the war, scattering the former resident population throughout the city.
First off I went to the doctor about my achy hips. She sent me for x-rays and I have a referral for Physical Therapy. From the doctor’s office window above you can see the buildings from Westwood to Century City and below is a picture trying to highlight the Hollywood sign.
It was Rome’s idea, let’s pick up lunch at the Korean Market, H Mart, why H? We didn’t figure that out, but anyway it was a ton of fun. We got several pre-made treats and snacks in the market and then they had a small café with tables and chairs where we got fried rice and beverages.
The persimmon tree, deciduous in the Fall Foliage kind of way.
I took myself to a therapeutic Thai massage today, a new place about a 10 minute walk from home. I did feel very much better in the end but the overall experience hasn’t make me long for a repeat visit.
From the program: “The multitalented Joe Hisaishi has composed more than 100 film scores and is best known as the musical mind behind nearly all of famed Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki’s films with Studio Ghibli, earning him widespread recognition and admiration for his scores’ beloved and enduring status.”
Marsha had another commitment so she gave me her ticket to pass on, which I did, to Bonnie. We had a really good time!
Here’s the orchestra setting up for the first piece which was entirely strings. The second piece brought in some horns and woodwinds, and by the time it was Pictures at an Exhibition, the floor was full.
We had lunch at Akasha, a very nice Culver City restaurant and then we went to a museum I had never heard of(!) called Wende Museum of the Cold War. It was mostly full of gadgets including early facial recognition techniques and oddly, a theremin which the guide promised they were struggling to fix so the guests could try it.
Judy, me, Hilda, Luna, Maniya, Marzi, Victoria, Susan
We’re finishing our current book next week and we’re not 100% sure what’s going to happen next since our fearless leader Hilda is passing the mantel to the next person brave enough to take up the roll.
This is what’s left on Ann’s persimmon tree after 10+ people got all the persimmons they wanted for the last 5 weeks. Probably another 4 weeks to go. I had 11 persimmons on my tree of which the birds and squirrels got 5 and I and my tenants got 6.
I wanted to vote in person if the line wasn’t too long, or otherwise drop off my ballot at the voting place. Rome was with me, and the line was SO long, this is just 1/20th of it, one and a half hours according to a poll worker. So yes, I just dropped it off.
The election results left me feeling despairing-despondent-downhearted sad/mad and with all that, still, numb. So here are a few things I did to pass the time.
Lunch at El Cholo.
Tehran Market has closed their street entrance and are sending people to the back door with one of those emergency drop-down metal gates. I wonder why.
Grocery stores getting ready for The eating day.
Killer dinner and a so-fun old-fashioned Vacation Slideshow Party.
Alex, Carol, Hilda, Merlyn
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Remember Meriellen from Chicago? She’s here visiting Jo Ann and I got to join them all for dinner at Forma on Montana, our favorite Happy Hour.
Dia De Los Muertos And The LA Philharmonic and the LA Master Chorale. I was dreaming of this enormous spectacular joy-filled concert for days (right up until the election knocked the joy right outta me).
Before the show they had a cocktail party up in the garden.
The exhibits at The Skirball Cultural Center are particularly good right now. I went with Sharon and we enjoyed everything on offer and then had a Ladies Lunch in their café.
In the last few days I also got measured for my last set of Invisalign, had my teeth cleaned, got the car serviced, had a Persian Poetry zoom, had dinner with Muriel, went to Samy’s with Ingalill, and I don’t remember what else.
At my teeth cleaning the hygienist wanted to use the water gun cleaner but I’ve tried that process three times over the years and each time I got through it in total misery constantly choking and gasping for breath. So I asked her to please do it by hand. She told me emphatically how I’d just be doing myself a disservice. Please, I said again, will you do it by hand. Her answer: “Do you use a rotary phone?” I wish I had a picture of my silent face that I used in reply.
