My Century City Office Tower Holiday Decorations. What won’t they think of next.
The whole lobby was full of these painted white branches, with red and green leaves and several hundred red and white birds and twinkle lights all wired together into huge tree shapes and then, the important part, sprayed with red and silver glitter.
And draped from the center of the ceiling of the two story atrium? Acres of thick red bunting.
See the reflections. The buildings at the Japanese Gardens are interesting too and you can get a mini-tour of the water reclaimation facility and then you can finally answer the question ‘hey, what is that smell?’.
Then I went to see my mom and we had a lovely walk and then a quiet dinner with Mom’s friend.
On the way to Shira’s graduation party I became distracted by the La Jolla Glideport. I could feel it just watching – Lift Off!
These guys had just leapt off a cliff. You’d think the testosterone level would be pumpin’ but actually it is so quiet all you can hear is wind and it is such a solo effort it feels quite peaceful. Too bad about my compulsion for effects…
There were separate jumping off cliffs for hang-gliders and cliffs for the remote control planes. These guys were another story. They eagerly answered my questions and were utterly Fanatical about their planes.
This is a line-up for a race and despite the quiet there was plenty Plenty of ego invested in these bits of wood and plastic.
The whole Glideport is reserved for wind powered devices only, no combustion allowed. The planes were remote controlled though so there must be some concession to the concept of a totally wind powered operation.
La Jolla has set aside a beach and beach access for the harbor seals that rest there. It is very way cool. You can stand along that break wall and watch them sleep. I watched them sleep for a half hour. Every few minutes one of them would start the excruciating process of inch-worm moving and in 10 minutes would have maneuvered himself down the sand a few feet or up the rocks a bit (although they can swim at 15 miles per hour). It was compelling. Everyone standing there was a-gape and left only reluctantly.
On the beach. I learned this at the Long Beach Acquarium where I visited the following weekend. What we are looking at are Harbor Seals who look like sausages and move like inch worms. Sea Lions are the ones who sit up at the silly shows and balance balls on their noses and bark.
Marsha at her new favorite home-away-from-home. The home of the $50 Happy Hour. The Bel Air Hotel. Quotes from the valet and from the bartender: “oh, I’m sorry that iiiis too bad, you just missed Mel Gibson. Oh! and there goes Tom Cruise – see him, just over there… ahhhh, too bad you just missed him…”.
I was stopped at a stop sign on 26th from Sunset heading towards San Vicente, cast my eyes to the right and was taken with this very view. It was really too dark for pictures – this shot has a flash, but the whole neighborhood for blocks around had far more magnificent examples of these mind boggling trees. I’m going back!
On the Venice boardwalk. We walked from 2nd and Wilshire to Mom’s and back. Why am I pulling on my shirt?
Another Maxine extravaganza (hurray, those kids are Married! Those kids have Their Own Home in mind! Hurray!). Party Hearty!
….The kids are doing very well for which I bless the gods. In May/June my sister was in Hawaii for more than three weeks and during that time I was in charge of my mother. I checked in with her every day, took her when she needed to go shopping or to the bank or to the doctor or to the post office and to a social occasion or two and etc etc. I was very very glad when my sister got back. I’m still amusing myself endlessly with photography and am in ever growing awe, like how can more awe be even possible, of the magicians who created PhotoShop. And I’m still messing around with a dark and terrifying mystery, the unknowable and yea even unimaginable – Japanese.’
A practically native landscape seeing as by order of the landlord, No Watering.
Saturday afternoon – Maxine’s bridal shower for her daughter (getting all the names…)
A couple of the most adorable and photgenic cousins. That’s Hansen Dam down there and a big sky, panoramic view from Maxine’s back yard.
Darryl and Angela sent flowers! for my birthday. Wow!. Then we had a lovely walk to a cool restaurant where we ate a tasty meal, had a pleasurable walk back, and then ate delicious pastry.
I mentioned my age, ‘hard ten’, and Darryl asked in a slightly apprehensive yet un-quavering voice ‘ahhh are we on to the age themes game?… like G-r-a-n-d-m-a…?’. Maybe.
Having been messing around with the black and white setting on my camera and having forgotten to change back to color – I now have this opportunity to Colorize! A feature in PhotoShop I had yet to explore! Is there no end!
Saturday, besides on my Actual birthday (see flowers above), the kids treated me to Another birthday dinner. We walked, ate Chinese food, saw Undercover Brother and laughed A Lot, walked, ate Deli desserts and I had a generally all around Beautiful day. Like these Beautiful kids.
Friday night – at El Coyote for Roger’s Happy Birthday dinner. Of course Fred was late. Guest how late Fred was? Almost one hour late. ‘Oh, you know me, always late, ha ha ha.’
A Classic restaurant experience – but I think the color needs to be darker and richer – I’m going to work on this a bit…
The Bride and Groom’s Daughter and is she ever excited about being in a wedding!
Saturday night – Tom cooked Marsha’s favorite dinner for all of us to celebrate his birthday… Works for me.
(Put Sunday’s wedding pictures here…)
yeah yeah that balding gray head is mine. Wanna’ make sumthin’ of it?!? I rode my bike over and back, stopping off at Mom’s for a few hours of daughterly contributions. I hope I remember how pleasant and easy it was to do the bike ride. Good and good for you.
Can you guess? Of course, it’s Mel Weinstein’s family at his unveiling. They done ‘im proud.
Welcome to Celina’s mom, here for a long visit with her grandson. Gideon is making out like he doesn’t speak Spanish although his mother has been speaking Spanish to him since the day he was born. I am rather convinced there is some-sort-a scam going on but hey, how can you think that of such a cute, sweet little boy…
…so I just asked Robert and he said his kids do the same thing – they get shy about speaking Spanish with people they don’t know really well and they say ‘I don’t know how’ and ‘talk to me in English’. Interesting!
Early evening (sum-mer tiiiime, and the livin’ is e-asy…) in Sandy and Roger’s back yard.
Fine is Good – from an email of yesterday:
‘I’m on a summer campaign to physical fitness so I can enjoy a fall outing in relative good health. This means that I try at least to notice when I’m eating like a pig. Also I’ve done the Tai Chi Long Form every day (really, every Single day) since summer began. Not a Napoleonic campaign exactly, but something nonetheless.
We are in the dust of an office expansion. At first I was thinking oh this will be a piece of cake, much easier than the last move because then everyone had to move everything over one weekend and That was painful. This time we’ll be setting up new space in orderly and manageable chunks. Well, as it turns out, and as those who have ever remodeled their house will tell you and I simply ignored, being in the midst of things for what will end up being months on end is No Joy. The target date for the last bits is August 8…..
“The Italian Cultural Institute is proud to host an evening with Italian Author Beppe Severgnini, who will present his book, “Ciao, America” in the Sala Rossellini on Thursday, June 13th, 2002 at 7 pm.”
Nancy at the Italian Cultural Institute in Westwood. We went to one of those Writer On The Road Book Tour presentations. The author did take visible joy in pointing out that really, only the Americans arrived on time and for their sake we might as well start (a half hour past starting time) and we’ll just let the rest of the Italians find a seat as they show up. Italians can do this because they are gorgeous.
I bought this plant at Trader Joe’s a week ago with about four blooms on it. Tres Zen.
Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
This is the twenty-fourth year of the festival, by all objective standards an entertaining, influential, top-talent all weekend long extravaganza. (…And if you want to read interesting articles subscribe to the New Yorker.)
The program opened with the LA Multi-School Jazz Band. While they played I was walking up the hill from Franklin. Then came this singer, Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers Band. They were swing-y and great. Next up was the Charles Mingus 80th Birthday Tribute Big Band that was very good in that straight-away way.
Maxine and then Jeanne’s Husband(!) (let’s call him ‘Too Cute Ken’) and Jeanne.
Nnenna Freelon sang next and we were all crazy for her. She did mostly great renditions of Stevie Wonder tunes. I’d never heard of the next act (as I hadn’t heard of Nnenna Freelon either, or the Red Hot Skillet Lickers for that matter…) – Joe Lovano – but he was pretty unmemorable.
Groovin’ on a sunny afternoon.
This segment, they call it ‘dinner hour’, the previous segment being ‘afternoon’ and the last segment being ‘prime-time’, was wonderfully lively and a dance-hall delight. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Pete Fountain Rocked and then the two Latin entries – Arturo Sandoval’s group and next a Cuban band named Maraca Kicked. Maraca seemed to play the same song for 20 minutes but the sometimes three, sometimes four guys in front looked Stunning and danced like the salsa-fa-cation of Angels.
Maxine Cooks. I love to eat Maxine’s food and where Ever Maxine is she has brought lip-smacking good food. Someday I’ll squeeze it out of her – how DO you make those baked beans?
In the closing acts Wynton Marsalis and the gang he was playing with this time were really engaging. Etta James sang well I thought but didn’t seem to go to the bother of getting the crowd as much into it as prior years.
You can get tickets to sit up here for 15 bucks – groups buy several extra seats so they can spread out and connect with some serious party. Being Californians and all, half of everyone, in a mad desire to Beat The Traffic, were packing up and heading out while the last guy, Marcus Miller, played his set.
Sorrysorrysorry this made me laugh so I’m not telling who it is and guys, I promisepromisepromise to take an entirely sensible picture next time.
We did have a great day though, a yummy picnic, the match between the ever-so Malibu polo team against the ever-even-more-so Palasades polo team, lounging around on lounge chairs, a scenic hike, a live action really fabulous Shakespeare experience, an after party party. How is it possible to have so much fun in one day? Easy with the L*p.. family.
Also at Maxine’s. I got to play some lively games with these two girls (oh yeah, without the moms and without the grandmothers too, way Fun!)and no it does not bother me even one little bit that my friends are grandmothers. Grandmotherhood is, I am absolutly certain, one of the greater states of grace.
Darryl and Angela’s Tree. They made lovely gifts, prepared delicious food and hosted a happy day. The torch is passed.
Cheryl’s dad’s Big Birthday Fiesta. With my new hair, I fit right in, like a native.
Tommy’s Birthday Party. Tom, Kelly, Nicky, some kid, Ljubica, Marija, Marsha.
Original walls at San Juan Capistrano.
I love this outing – pick up the train at Union Station, clickity-clack along the scenic California coast, get off at Capistrano and enjoy walking around the totally delightful town, get cul-tra-fied at the mission, eat, drink and be merry and train it back without a moment’s aggravation.
Don’t miss it! Take anyone who hasn’t done it and you can be a champ.
Great Grams! ‘com’on people now, smile on your brother… you got to love one another right now, right now’.
We had a Big Hit afternoon at the Aquarium Of The Pacific in Long Beach. If you are anywhere near Long Beach you would be very well served to take advantage of this wonderful local opportunity. Go during the week during the late afternoon and avoid the rush of baby RV Sized baby strollers EVERYWHERE. Another reason to admire Retirement!
The jellyfish exhibit fills a large room and you will go around gasping. Guaranteed.
These are Sea Dragons, cousins of the Sea Horse. If you flash the picture (anyway forbidden in the Sea Dragon exhibit) all you get is glass-glare and without a flash most of what you get is blurr. You’ll have to check it out in person!
Lolling under the break wall. They have little cat faces, whiskered and with cat eyes that can slit up in the sun like a cat playing master of the universe or that can get round and black and questioning like what are you doing, exactly, in my world.
Bob and Desda put on a totally spectacular graduation event for Shira at a gorgeous classic hotel in the center of La Jolla village.
Check out Cynthia at work. Her colleagues are Patty and Heather. And you can meet The Man of the House who runs the place by clicking here: Izak at BeeControl.com
Mike Goldstein and Judy Siegel. Notice that far away look. These folks are in the middle of moving house. So why not watch the Superbowl for a break?
Lynn and Carole who, in the last 7 seconds of the game decided to watch – just in time to see the winning score.
I came to Carl and Lynn’s house looking forward to sharing an afternoon with the gang and without any particular expectations about the game.
Eventually as it became clear the favorites were not going to beat the spread, well, then it got good. All the better if the underdogs would not just beat the spread but Win. That was fun.
Alex and Glen Kane and Adam Siegel. oh yeah, ok, right… is this picture over yet?
