#19 - Spend a Day in LA.

I've been to LA many times before, but all of my trips have been as an uber-tourist, passing through, for professional events, and once for birthday trip that included a night out in Hollywood, which I hated.

Hated is a bit strong, so to clarify, I had a great time catching up with the friends who took me out for my birthday and included me in their plans, but that section of Hollywood was not my scene.  We couldn't decide where to eat and needed a reservation to go literally anywhere, which, having lived in the third biggest city in this country already, was completely bizarre to me.  Since it took so long to get from my friend's place to Hollywood, we just stopped and got Subway instead.  Then, my friends' had family and friends at a birthday party at Hemingway's, which was a visually cool place, but made no sense to me whatsoever.  There was no line outside, just a crowd of people, and a woman in a large, fur hat (in 60-degree, slightly rainy weather) pointed at who she wanted to let in every now and then.  Eventually someone convinced her that we were part of the party already inside, but then she didn't want to let me in because the party was mostly people of Persian descent, and she didn't seem to believe that they'd brought me along.  It was obnoxious.  Inside, it was decorated like someone's personal library.  A really tall ceiling, walls lined with bookshelves, and chairs spaced around for lounging.  But then there was a DJ.  A really awesome DJ named DJ So Super Sam.  We kept trying to dance, but there wasn't really a dance floor.  And everyone sitting in chairs seemed super annoyed if you bumped into them, even though it was really just terrible chair placement, and they were so low it was hard to see them in the crowd.  At one point my friend got bumped and spilled a little water on someone sitting in a chair.  She apologized profusely and explained that it was only water, and the girl was like, "SO?!" and was super pissed and rude.  Oh, and the drinks...  Once we got in, my friend took me straight to the bar to buy me a birthday drink and to apologize for picking a place that made us wait so long.  I asked for a Jameson on the rocks.  She ordered a double because she felt bad we'd waited so long to get in.  The bartender looks at us, leans forward, and says, "You know that's $24, right?"  TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS.  My friend looks at me and says, "Is that normal?" And I said, "No.  That is not normal."  And she said, "Well, it is for LA.  Yeah, that's fine."  I didn't order another drink the entire time.  Then her cousin whose party it was had a table and bottle service.  She kept telling us to help ourselves but then this other guy with them got super weird about it, like just picked up the bottles, held them, and wouldn't speak to us except to explain that they'd ordered that vodka to drink.  Like we were some kind of party crashers just there for the free booze.  Eventually we did make some space to dance and have fun, but all of the work it took to get there was so unnecessary.  Why would going out ever be so serious?  It's supposed to be fun.

Each visit I've had to LA has allowed me a little taste of real LA life, some of which I liked, but I still always left with an overwhelming dislike of LA: the traffic, the hurry, the rudeness, the traffic, the sprawl, the shallowness, the pretentiousness, the seriousness, the traffic...  I know so many lovey people who like LA though, so I put it on the list this year to take a day trip and really do some exploring of the cool stuff that I know is there.  Plus, I really love LA radio stations.

I found myself up in LA for FYF Fest, and on Sunday, there weren't any artists I really wanted to see until 6:30pm.  So my fest-mates Sarah Molitoris and Shaun Spalding and I did a little exploring, enough that it would certainly qualify as a day in LA.

Just as I was arriving in LA for the fest, I thought to myself how "See the Hollywood sign" should be on my list next year because it seems silly that I never had.  Within 30 minutes, I was arriving in Hollywood where Shaun's friend Andrew Kamphey graciously hosted me so that I could afford to make it to the two-day fest at the very end of summer when my student funds were at quite a low.  As I walked to my parked car to head to the fest, the Hollywood sign beamed down at me, perfectly visible from Andrew's street.  Well, check that one off the life list but no points awarded here.

Sunday morning I got up, prepped for the fest, ran some errands because I'd broken our washing machine at home the day before, and then took a driving tour of Hollywood, including a drive up the hills to the observatory, which has a great view of the Hollywood sign.  I took a lot of inadequate selfies before deciding I was satisfied.

I then met Andrew, Sarah, and Shaun for brunch at Andrew's brilliant suggestion of Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.  I thought I took a picture of my food, but I guess I was too hungry and didn't actually push the button.  It was quite delicious and provided just the stomach full of protein, fat, and waffle that we needed for a long afternoon/evening of rocking out.

Whenever you are
we're already then.

#spacecave

As we were leaving, I mentioned how I wanted to stop at 826LA: The Time Travel Mart because ever since I started volunteering at 826Chi, I have wanted to visit all of the 826 locations.  I was introduced to 826 at 826 Valencia: The Pirate Store.  I then learned there was an 826 in Ann Arbor.  It drove me nuts trying to think about what store's existence had always driven me crazy only to look it up and say to myself, "Duh.  The Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair store."  For years I'd wondered if there were truly enough robots in Ann Arbor to necessitate a whole store for supplies and repairs.  I then started volunteering at 826Chi: The Boring Store (which is DEFINITELY not a super secret agent store).  Sarah & Shaun were down, so we headed to the Echo Park location and were magically transported through time.  My favorite part was when I introduced myself to the store volunteer, explained I'd volunteered at 826Chi, asked him how long he'd been volunteering with 826, and he very seriously responded, "Since the beginning of time."  Visiting additional 826 locations will definitely be on my list for next year.  Sarah and I both registered for orientation at 826LA.  I'm not sure it'll work out for me living in San Diego, but I love 826 so much, I'm willing to give it a shot.  I highly recommend volunteering for this organization!  It's just so fun, creative, and full of fun, creative people.

Since it was around 3:30pm, we decided to head to the fest.  I parked near USC's campus, and walked the long way around to the fest entrance, passing the back entrance to the National History Museum.  There was a huge aquatic skeleton hanging in the back vestibule, so I doubled back and asked the volunteer standing on the path to the museum how much a day pass for a student was.  She said usually it was $9 but since they closed in an hour, it was half off.  I was like, um... $4.50 to go see some dinosaurs?  YES.  I did a quick tour and missed the special exhibit because of my dinosaur fascination that may fight or feed my dinosaur fear, but it was a pretty impressive collection and well worth a visit.

Listening to Battles

When I had texted Sarah about my unplanned stop, she said they'd wound up wandering through the Rose Garden.  We all wound up heading to the fest around 5pm.  Over the 2 days I saw Run the Jewels, Kanye West, Bad Bad Not Good, Battles, Belle & Sebastian, Flume, a wee little bit of D'Angelo. and a few others.  It was a decent fest, but I still can't figure out why they started so late on Sunday, only a couple bands playing in the afternoon, and then some heavy hitters not going on until after 10pm.  I had to make the drive back to San Diego, which is why I only caught a little bit of D'Angelo.  The highlight was probably running into my old Chitown buddy Gabby Merrihue during Flume and having a bit of time to catch up with her, which we should totally do again soon.

Overall, it was a great 36 hours or so in LA.  The city finally impressed me.  I will definitely try to take another couple day trips before I move away from San Diego.  Suggestions about places to go are welcome :)

Some DJ

#87 - Visit 3 New Museums

Museum #1: Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)

When I wrote this list item, I intended to make some visits to Balboa Park, which is just a mile from where I live.  I can even bike, or walk, there.  I probably would more often if my neighborhood didn't rest on a steep hill, Balboa Park didn't rest on a gradual hill, or there were some sort of bridge in between.

Instead of strolling the mile away, I flew across the country to Boston.  Well, really, I flew across the country to Boston to celebrate Patriot's Day and to watch the Boston marathon.  But since the list founder Alan Fortunate resides in Boston, we had to cross a couple additional things off my list.

Sadly, we stayed out too late the first night in town, and I had trouble rallying the next day.  However, the day after that, Al took me to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA).  We both are apparently fans of contemporary art because of its ability to incite one of two reactions: 1) "Wow, this is really innovative, beautiful, and thought provoking," and 2) "What."  We saw both on our Sunday afternoon, just-before-closing visit.

Sonic Arboretum

My favorite "Wow, this is really innovative, beautiful and thought provoking" piece was titled Sonic Arboretum.  It is a collaboration between sculptor Ian Schneller and violinist Andrew Bird who plays an original composition.  The room is filled with colorful phonographs, large and small, some spinning, playing "Echolocations: Canyon."  Just walking into the installation I felt a warm, vibrating energy.  I woke up and smiled.

Vegan Arm

My favorite "What." piece was titled "Housewife."  It was made of a stripped manikin frame and pieces of an old timey vaccuum cleaner.  It made me done one of those close-lipped, through the nose kind of breath giggle.

I also really liked Vegan Arm, which was part of a collection with a whole morality myth story.  I don't know which category I'd put it in, which made me like it even more.  Even the description couldn't decide: "For Hancock, Vegan Arm possesses a ritualisitic -- almost miraculous -- quality.  The arm can be interpreted as holding the bucking in front of viewers as if fishing for souls, or offering the liquid to viewers, like holy water at an altar."  Awesome.

If I lived in Boston, I'd probably be a member of the ICA.  What a quirky place full of beautiful things.

Museum #2: San Diego Firehouse Museum

My second museum visit did happen in San Diego but it happened by surprise.  I was half-way through working an event for my second job when I thought, "Oh, this event is in an museum!"  I mean, I knew I was working an event in a museum, but I forgot that I had a list item called "visit 3 new museums."  I'm counting it as a visit because it was so tiny that I managed to hit every room.

The event was a wedding full of happy, friendly people at the San Diego Firehouse Museum.  It was a sweet, unique venue full of interesting firehouse artifacts, including old timey engines.

"Have an escape plan."

We never take photos of the event as that would violate the privacy of the guests' celebration, but I did snap a few in the back room, where no one was, just to document the visit for my blog.

I also captured the creepy children's room, where children can practice escaping from a fire from a very deconstructed house.

Museum #3: San Diego Museum of Art

I've been hearing for awhile now about this great event at the San Diego Museum of Art called "Culture and Cocktails" that happens every few months at museum in the aforementioned Balboa Park I had planned to visit when I originally added this list item.

While out at Mother's (again) after another day of Vavi beach volleyball, we were talking about upcoming San Diego events.  I mentioned wanting to go to Culture and Cocktails but that I never bothered to look up the dates.  My teammate Mark Mora then told me that it was that week and they were going.  Since tickets were $20 and membership starts at $45, which includes entry to all events. I just joined as a member in hopes that it was actually a decent museum and I'd want to go there more often.  I suppose that was a silly spontaneous decision, but at the very least, there were a lot worse places to throw my money at.

The bummer is that we had championships that night at work, and I'd promised to work them.  The good thing is that I was now a member, so even if I showed up late, I didn't feel like I'd wasted money on a $20 ticket when I could only go to half of the event.  I changed at work and headed to the park.

The event was quite a scene.  People were done up and drinking heavily.  I thought a few of my lady friends were going to the event, but none of them ended up going for various reasons.  Luckily, Mark Mora and Mitch Barnes let me tag along with them and their friends.

The theme for this event was "Coney Island" because of the current special exhibit, which was all kinds of art focused around Coney Island.  There were circus-type performers, Coney Island decorations, a Coney Island-themed drink with cotton candy melted into each one that was made to order, and Coney-Island themed photo booths, where this happened.

#nevergiveup

That was the highlight of the night for me and probably for everyone else who saw it projected on the wall in the main room.

A few of us actually did explore the exhibit until we were ushered out for closing.  It was really captivating, and I may go back to have more time with it.

I will definitely go back to see the other exhibits.  When I entered, the museum seemed tiny and the collection small, but as I wandered later in the evening, I realized there were much larger galleries tucked away through hallways that were choked with drunk people who were not interested in art.

Despite the crowds, it was a fun event, and I look forward to the next Culture and Cocktails on November 5!

BONUS!  Museum #4: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

I was in Los Angeles for FYF Fest, and on Sunday, there wasn't a ton going on during the day.  My buddies and I did brunch at Roscoe's, hit up the Time Travel Mart (826LA), and then made plans to meet at the fest.  But as I was walking to the fest from my car, I longingly glanced at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the giant skeleton hanging in the lobby of the back entrance.  I asked the gate monitor how much entry for a student was, and she told me that since they closed in the hour it was half off, so it was $4.50.  $4.50!  Sold!

 I wandered the museum for the hour, mostly hanging with the dinosaur bones.  Even though I have often had dinosaur-themed nightmares, I find them fascinating.  It was quite a collection, possibly the largest I had ever seen.

Bummer that the butterfly pavilion was closed because of the festival.

I couldn't tell you if the museum as a whole is "worth it," but if you're a student, it's half off, or you're way into dinosaurs, I highly recommend it.

BONUS #2!  San Diego Air and Space Museum

Thanks to Yelp! I got to visit a fifth new museum this year.  Each year, Yelp San Diego hosts a big Halloween party for Yelp Eliters, and this year they brought it back to the San Diego Air and Space Museum.  While we didn't do a ton of learning, we did wander through the exhibits and saw a lot of things that used to fly.  It was a really cool space for an event, especially an event with a ton of free, really great food and drinks and tons of creative people in costumes.  (Friend me on Yelp! http://captainfun.yelp.com)