Talkin' Turkey

The E of S Ds is headed to Turkey! For a glorious week in May, we'll be a whirling dervish of Anatolian adventures.

Breaking with routine, we're taking a rather haphazard approach to planning and banking on the "book as you go, it'll be cheaper" rumors to be true. However, the E of S Ds needed to sate the OCD gene just a little, and made arrangements for the first few days. After landing in Istanbul, we're immediately hopping a plane to Kayseri, in the fairy-tale chimney region of Cappadocia. Easily one of the Top Three destinations in the world for this gal. For two nights, this will be our home.

And we will definitely be doing this:



16 Days to Departure

Googling

Every month or so, I Google myself to see what I'm up to on the internet. (C'mon, you do it, too.)

Apparently people actually look at and borrow my photos. Thanks to the Procellariiformes people for actually crediting me! They grabbed a shot of a Thalassarche melanophrys I took in Antarctica (that's a black-browed albatross for the ornithologically-challenged).

Last row, last photo.

Departure Eve

For my last full day in L.A., Mike and Celeste collectively had the brilliant idea for me to rent a car since, as we all know, it is very near impossible to navigate the city without one unless you're in to taking three buses and a mile walk to get to your destination. And then another three buses and a train ride to get to your next. For $32, I scored a shiny new Subaru Outback. That's less than round-trip cab fare from C's house to, well, anywhere.

I had planned to check out the Watts Towers, but mid-day traffic jams and unease about getting lost in Compton by myself nixed that idea. Instead, I turned off the 110 onto the 10 to hit up my secret #1 want-to-see place on this visit: the Six Feet Under house.





What I didn't realize was that the house sits on the corner of a busy street, so I circled a few times before parking kitty corner to get the best stalker view. Yep, I'm officially one of those people. People actually live there, so I wasn't about to get out and start walking around their lawn, no matter how much I wanted to go spy the awesome coach house. I'd never cut it as an investigative reporter.

On the way back to Echo Park, I decided to get myself a little lost to see if I could find my way again. I went by Dodger Stadium and Elysian Park, where the giant palm trunks lining the park road look like brontosaurus legs; toured Silverlake and Los Feliz; and finally stopped at The Coffee Table for amazing mashed potatoes.

In the evening, Celeste, Tasha, and I went to Cinespace for the premiere screening of a sorta-pilot TV show featuring our friend Nora. Afterwards, we migrated next door to Star Shoes where C's friend was DJing while studying for a gameshow I am now set to get on, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? I succeeded in stumping the Yalie several times over. What's up Ivy League??!! While the music played, a painter was busy creating an ever-transforming scene on a light box. Blink, and it was gone.



A few Manhattans later, I was getting very loud so we retreated to the front of the bar since everyone was very, very serious about the art/music performance in the DJ room. Camera antics ensued. We excused ourselves and headed to Cafe 101 for some diner grub to sober up.

L.A. Story

Monday, I went on a solo adventure. C had work and I had cabin fever, an even more apropos term since her place is nestled in a mini-forest and looks like a treehouse.


no, that's not her actual house



First stop was the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA to check out the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibit. So far as I know, it's the first comprehensive "retrospective" of early feminist art. I'd seen a lot of the pieces either in books or postcards or flyers. One piece was straight from the Art Institute of Chicago. I was impressed with the depth and breadth of the exhibit, but I just wasn't as WOWED by the content anymore. Maybe it's because I've seen so many of these that I'm over-saturated and under-whelmed? Or that these once revolutionary themes have since been adopted, adapted, re-interpreted, and simply played out over and over in contemporary artwork? Or have I just become a lazy, apathetic feminist? The exhibit takes up like 2/3 of the entire space, so gallery burn-out may also have been a factor. For working in museums, I have an embarrassing low tolerance for them. If art was food, this was a 24-course tasting menu, when I was in the mood for tapas. If I had more time, I would go back.



I also didn't really get the title. My slang-ridden vocab immediately thinks of, "Yo, that show was WACK. Lame. Played out." Or else comic action, like onomatopoeia. I know I'm missing some reference. Was that an acronym from the 60s/70s?

There are/were some amazing panels and lectures with the show, including Angela Davis (!) and a discussion on visual culture, race, and globalization. I would have been really amped to go to some of those.

I also discovered a Francesca Woodman catalog in the giftshop... for a mere 75 bucks. Flipping through the book, which is amazingly detailed and is basically her whole life in 250 pages, I saw with clear eyes how much of my college work (and countless others, I'm sure) was a sad attempt to mimic hers, which, as much as I adore her photos and always will because of the time in my life that I discovered them, they're still the work of a college student. Like hearing Bikini Kill for the first time when you're 14, then listening again ten years later and still loving the truth and passion and energy, but realizing the structure of the music is actually rather plain. Yeah. Still want that shit, though.

Anyway. I digress.

Oh, but let me digress a little bit more. The exhibit occupying the remaining 1/3 of the museum space was really, really interesting: Critical Space by Andrea Zittel. She talks about the "social construction of needs" incorporating architecture, design, fashion, environment, sustainability, and efficiency. I thought the pieces were smart and had a sense of humor while tackling head-on a lot of "big" issues, without being so overt about it. Juxtaposed with the Wack! exhibit, where nothing is subtle, it's a very austere, almost serene space.


from the MOCA site

MOCA was very conveniently located in Little Toyko, next door to the Japanese American Museum and across the street from the shopping plaza. Bliss! I showed impressive restraint, however, and bought nothing save for the most gigantic smoothie I've ever had for $4.50.



From there, I wandered up 1st Street, towards downtown, which I didn't realize at the time. (I took a cab down to MOCA because time was running short, so I didn't have the greatest sense of where I was.) When I think L.A., I never think downtown. Apparently no one else does either, since it was pretty empty save for the business folk and homeless people. Saw City Hall, the Courthouse, Civic Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, some other theater, and the Disney Music Hall designed by Frank Gehry. Spent some time hanging about the Lipchitz sculpture fountain outside Chandler Pavilion, which must be on some must-see list for Japanese tourists.



As usual, my camera was just an extension of my head, and when it wasn't attached I must have had a really dopey, dreamy look on my face because people kept talking to me. One guy jokingly asked if I wanted to carry his suitcase since I looked so comfy lugging my giant-ass tote bag, while another chipper fella — who looked like someone I know, so I guess I was staring at him — asked if I got any good shots, then left saying, "My, it's a beautiful day." What?? Where am I?? Who knew L.A. was friendly. Granted it really WAS a nice day. Sunshine trumps urban ennui.





Just when I was feeling that uncomfortable, stressful kind of lost, and about a minute from dropping another $20 on a cab, Mike Mo called and came to the rescue. We went for tasty Mexican eats and beers. Then I came home, talked to my boy, watched Saw, and went to sleep.

Good day! I said it last time, and I'll say it again: I kind of miss L.A. Still not for me, though.

California Love

Rest of the story to come, I promise. For now, photos!

City of Angels / City of Sin

I'm in Los Angeles, visiting my HLP Celeste. I've been here almost a week, going home tomorrow. Already. How do "vacations"* do that, seem so epic with no end in sight at first, then like that you're leaving in twenty-four hours and scrambling to get to the lingering items on your to-see list?

(*Given that I got no job, I feel bad calling this a vacation, since I guess I've been vacationing for four months.)

On my first full day here, I went to the Huntington Botanic Gardens with Celeste's assistant Lindsey (Lyndxe). You know me and gardens. It was free day, which meant every man, woman, child, grandparent, tourist, and their brothers were there. We managed to see and photograph the jungle and desert gardens before complete annoyance set in.


I like how painterly this photo turned out

Gardening was followed by grilled-cheese gluttony at the Brite Spot diner, which was followed by seeing Man Man at The Roxy.

On Saturday, we took a little field trip to Las Vegas. I've never been, so I was amped to check out the neon spectacle. We stayed in Old Skool Vegas, on Fremont Street, a few miles away from the over-the-top theme park strip of Las Vegas Blvd. Fremont Street has an amazing array of like classic 40s and 50s neon signs of showgirls and cowboys and mermaids. Walk in the opposite direction, and you hit the Clark County Detention Center and Courthouse, and about a dozen bail bond joints. Ahhh, Vegas.



I didn't gamble a cent, or see any titties or Celine Dion, but I still had a blast. Hit the buffet a few times. Made like a tourist and bought a custom-airbrushed tank top with my name on it. I miscalculated sizes, so it's teeny like a total hoochie shirt. Very appropriate.



We had the unfortunate luck of coming to town on the weekend of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was literally racing right outside our windows starting at 6 am. The streets were converted to a race track, so you had to climb across an overpass to cross the street. Balls.

Time for coffee now. I'll update the rest later.