Good and Bad

The Good:

I doubt this handmade sign on the back of the truck gets him much business, but it made me smile. Things like this make LA likeable.



The Bad:


Now this makes LA very UNlikeable. Especially if you're 8 months pregnant. I know, it's my own darn fault. Bad timing.

Women's Lib?

I was driving to yoga this morning and there is this major intersection on my way to Hollywood right over the Hollywood Freeway. Thousands of thousands of people drive this route every day, as it is the ONLY way to get from The Valley to Hollywood. At this intersection are three giant billboards, one of which has rotating screens to advertise three shows at once. I usually ignore them because I am focusing on trying not to be killed by drugged up LA drivers on their cel phones. This morning I glanced up and saw ads for these these shows all at once. It was a T&A overload. Obviously the CW network owns these billboards. And right now there are TV shows which treat women as trophies, prizes, and

I asked myself, "What has happened?" Why is that generation of women so eager to be part of this objectification and exploitation? Is there no other way for these young women to feel appreciated? Is my generation as pathetic? Who is watching and supporting all this crap? I admit that I have been sucked into American Idol(talk about exploitation!), but at least it is in part about exploiting talent.

I had just been thinking how wonderful it is to finally have a woman running for president. What would our founding fathers have thought? Then I see that crap.

Beauty should be admired and celebrated. I see at least one tree every day that makes me stop in awe, and the beautiful effect of the golden sunshine on the lavender hills is breathtaking. And today I practiced yoga with the most beautiful pregnant women and one gorgeous 3 month old boy. I feel lucky that I see beauty in so many things, including beautiful young people. Not only am I fascinated with why there is such a fixation on the "women as trophies or objects" thing, but also with the idea that there is some kind of social psychology here. Is it an underlying fear that a society of powerful women is scary, and there is a subconscious need to keep them in the safely established gender roles? Or is this younger generation just so shallow? Both?

Living here, I am surrounded with such superficial poop all the time, and I have gotten so over it. But now I am thinking, "What if I have a girl? How am I going to keep her adjusted with all that around her?" It was hard enough for me growing up with 80s commercials for diet soda and suntan lotion and Elle MacPherson. All that is nothing compared to now. Is it going to get worse? What if I do have a daughter and she ends up wanting to be in an exploiting girl band? God, I can't even deal.

What do you think? Am I just being overly analytical?

Hollywood

Took these shots while fighting traffic down Hollywood Blvd. I was drawn to the last picture because it has a huge bilboard for a show about a homocidal maniac on what looks to be an old church which sits next to the Snow White Bar and Lounge. Bet you never knew of her side job.

Heat

What am I doing on this long holiday weekend?

Nothing.
Nothing but seeking out air conditioning and eating anything frozen and fruity.

It's HOT

Well, I am back from my time on the East Coast. And I apologize because all I am going to do is complain. Along with the post-vacation blahs, it is so hot here that I want to become unconscious or sleep until the temperature drops below 90 again. Don't know when that will be. Can't sleep, can't do anything which requires more than 4 minutes outside, and I am generally sleepy and cranky.
Being outside constantly in Maine was such a huge blessing. I appreciate it even more now. The only time I was indoors was to sleep and go to the bathroom. It's the way life should be.

Celebrity Sighting

Last night Mark, a few of his fun Family Guy pals, and I went to see Live Free or Die Hard. Yes, not my first choice. I am just not that aggressive into going to see movies. That, and there just isn't that many that I usually want to see. So, Mark, who is way more into seeing movies than I am, usually (drags) takes me to a movie he is very excited about.
It was a very fun, completely over the top movie, and the guys were so into it that it was even more fun. At the opening credits, Mark's friend Dom shouted, 'John McClane!!!'. And everyone in the theatre cheered and applauded. Geeks.
The very best part was after the movie in the lobby. We were just standing around waiting for the bathrooms, when Geena Davis walks into the bathroom. She looked awesome. I think she is 50 years old, and still looks like she is 30. So I followed her into the bathroom. Don't worry, I didn't knock on her stall for an autograph. She was with a friend and her friends kid. When they came out they met up with a guy and walked out. Don't know who the guy was.

It is so fun to live where the celebrities do.

LA Is Not That Bad

A little while ago my good friend Amy told me that I had better stop badmouthing LA or she may never want to visit. And I thought,"Oh, yeah. And I do so very much want my friends to come visit!" Seriously, you are welcome anytime. I have a real nice air mattress, and I make killer vegan oat-walnut pancakes.

So here is a list of the good things about LA and Burbank. (Burbank is not officially a part of the City of Los Angeles):

1. Beautiful weather, of course.

2. Flowers bloom year round.

3. You see many, many gorgeous models and famous actors.

4. Stunningly beautiful wilderness and hiking.

5. Griffith Park is right next door. The largest municipal park in the country. There is horseback riding, hidden flower gardens, and picnicking.

6. The Pacific Ocean.

7. Many wonderful restaurants to choose from with any type of food you could think of. Peruvian, Oaxacan, Ethiopian, Korean, Vietnamese, Greek, Armenian, Thai, Indian, Tibetan, Moroccan, etc.

8. Great comedy clubs: Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, the Improv, etc.

9. Transvestites.

10. Huge fancy theatres.

11. Short drive to Vegas, Big Sur, skiing, camping, & mountains.

12. Whatever you are into, anything at all, you will find a club or group dedicated to it.

13. Mulholland Drive.

14. You could go to tapings of The Price is Right, Ellen, or Jay Leno. Ellen and
Leno are walking distance from my apt. "Come on down!"

Well, That's off the top of my head.

I hope that makes you want to come visit!

LA Gripe Weekly

I took this shot while I was washing my boss's car at the Sunset Carwash in West Hollywood. There is this wall of ads that you get to look at while watching the car get hand wiped. At first I thought this ad was for an actress or headshots like most of the rest. Maybe an escort service.... maybe motorcycle repair....slutty boutique. Oh, of course, it's for real estate! Right! A woman who is trying to look younger than she should, straddling a motorcycle (huh?), with her hands in her crotch, and a come-hither look. I'm thinking,"Yeah I suddenly want to buy a house from her. I will trust her with hundreds of thousands of dollars... Must be how she has taken control of the bike..."
Seriously, you have no idea how living in a land where this is commonplace can affect you. It can be subtle, but it is pervasive and unrelenting. At first, I was under the spell. Now, I am happy to say, I am getting stronger. Burbank and West Hollywood seem to be the worst. I live in one and work in the other.

Painting

Saturday morning I drove to downtown Los Angeles to paint with a small group, including my new friends Jennifer and William, who are both excellent artists. It was an area where two major highways connect right next to the LA River/Gutter/Wash, and it was very loud, dirty, and cold. It was a fantastic spot for painting though. We then went to China town for lunch, where I had fish ball soup. I was afraid at first, but it was so yummy.
Here are pictures of the horrible no-reason-for-it traffic jam on the way, Chinatown, and the 8X10 painting I did.

Another thing LA does not have

Take a good look at the pictures on the left. They are from a trip to Walmart in Arizona. Perhaps there seems to be nothing special about them, but if you have been in LA for as long as I then you might know what it is. First of all, there is one Walmart that I know of within an hours drive. For one of the biggest and most population dense cities in the United States, this seems ridiculous. Our Arizona friends live in the middle of the desert, and they have two or three Walmarts they can drive to in fifteen minutes! In my dinky hometown of Meriden, there is a Walmart 5 minutes away. Now, I am no fan of Walmart. In fact, I find them offensive, but the absence of them makes LA seem even more strange to me.
Also, the aisles are so W I D E . The parking spaces are W I D E , and the parking lot is so huge. That would never exist here! I mean, real estate costs $1000 a square foot! Every shopping experience is an exercise in squeezing into miniscule parking spots, maneuvering around comatose Californians and mazes of displays set in the middle of already skinny aisles. What used to take me 15 minutes now takes twice as long because I spend half the time waiting for folks to get out of the way, or I am trying to get out of their way! We went to this Walmart in Arizona to experience wide aisles! It felt so luxurious!
I think I will have a weekly LA gripe blog, along with Cato and Clouseau updates.

What you can't get in LA

When Mark and I were in Arizona last weekend, our friends Marc and Marianna took us to the sugar-coated, fried and jelly filled dough mecca; New-Englanders' fond memory of caffeine buzz, belly-bomb breakfast days. Yes, Dunkin Donuts, the mother of all misspelled logos, glowing pink and orange, beckoning you with the warm gooey promise of a stomach ache accompanied by the special satisfaction given only by that unique texture of a Dunkin Donut. It was amazing to smell the Dunkin Donut coffee smell once again. What do they put in that "cream" that goes in the coffee?? It makes it smell pretty unique too. I'm not sure I want to know, but those aromas bring memories like nothing else.
Here are some pictures to capture the special Dunkin Donuts Day. Dave, the owner of this particular franchise, was more than happy to provide us with information on overnighting doughnuts to LA from Arizona. And we were told that he alone has a few clients who do so. My favorites are the chocolate frosted, boston creme, and the raspberry jelly, of course. I never thought I would eat doughnuts ever again, but knowing that there are NO Dunkin Donuts in Southern California made me had to have them. Mark and I brought home some extra doughnuts, and he brought them into work for his co-workers, most of whom are from New England. They were thrilled!