I'm feeling pretty cultured right now; in the last week I've been to an art exhibit, a musical, and a ballet.
I started with the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA. If you live in Los Angeles, you most likely know about it and are probably planning to go. It's pretty impossible not to know about it from their extensive campaign. I joined LACMA just so that I could gain easier admission as a member. Even with the huge buildup, I can't say I was disappointed. I've been a Tim Burton fan since I first saw The Nightmare Before Christmas at the age of 8. It was so bizarre seeing such an extensive exhibit dedicated to such a living and currently popular artist at such a scholarly (possibly the wrong word) institution - Tim Burton is the antithesis of a struggling artist who died unappreciated and impoverished only to be "discovered" posthumously, nor is he an artist of an ancient civilization - you know, the types of things I'd typically expect to see at LACMA. I bought a fun Tim Burton deck of cards (get excited for some rousing games in Asia, Alex!) and a fun neon colored pencil pack.
I then went to the opening of a new musical, TWIST, at the Pasadena Playhouse. Based on the name, I kept thinking I was going to see a musical about dancing in the 1950s... couldn't be further from the reality. The musical tells the Oliver Twist story set in 1920s New Orleans. Little "Twist" is a half white/half black orphan, and, well, you know the story. I have seen almost everything that the Playhouse has produced over the last four years, and saw numerous productions there while I was growing up. Never have I felt that a musical of theirs was so Broadway ready. Debbie Allen directed and choreographed so it just looked stunning. I couldn't believe those children dancers! They flipped and tapped and jumped! And that little Twist (apparently there are two little actors but we saw the main one) was just adorable and so charismatic. While I missed some of the old classic Oliver songs, I was completely in love with a few of the numbers in this production. I also enjoyed that the production did not hide that it was derived from another book/musical/etc. There were a few very fun little references to the original.
Finally, I went to the ballet with my great aunt Elisabeth. We saw a very classical production of Don Quixote by the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Though one of my favorite shows of all time (at least by reality tv standards) is So You Think You Can Dance, I don't really have the vocabulary to judge any dancing. Unless they had been falling all over themselves, I'm just not entirely sure that I would have spotted any imperfections of the dancers. Perhaps a true ballet critic would be able to comment, however, I thought this ballet was just stunning - particularly the prima ballerina. She did one thing I've never seen before and that was, completely gracefully, hold a position, with one leg on point. It felt kind of like listening to Annie Oakley hold that note forever in "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better." The ballerina just stayed put like that while the male dancer danced around her for what felt like an eternity and yet she never shook or strained! I won't say that ballet is my favorite form of performance art - so much of its story telling is basic. It says very little in a very long form. But my god is it often breathtakingly beautiful.
Sorry for the lack of pictures... I'll try not to do that very often!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Facing my fears...
I'm on a bit of a mini "pre-adventure" adventure in San Francisco! My mom had to come up here for work and lured me in with the enticing offer of distraction free days to get some work done and explore, and then some fun meals at night. I figured this would be the perfect plan to prepare for my adventure (especially the parts where I'm solo). SO, since the idea was to take myself somewhat out of my comfort zone I decided to do something I've never done before - eat at a restaurant by myself. I set out in the city to find a nice place for lunch to try this out. Now I know you might be thinking that a meal by myself us no big deal - and in many cases it wouldn't be and by many standards I have eaten alone hundreds of times - but this little endeavor had several rules:
1) eat at a sit down restaurant with table clothes where customers are served.
2) do not play with phone, read a book, etc.
3) do not sit at bar
4) dine for at least 30 minutes
I mean sure I have always enjoyed my alone time. In college I would spend hours sitting alone in cafes with my computer, I need a frequent alone downtimes to recharge, and I've even taken in the odd movie on my own (sidebar - I saw the first Harry Potter by myself in high school and remember being particularly proud of that achievement as well). However, I had never done the above criteria all at once and I was ready and determined to take this great leap.
Since our hotel is in San Francisco's Chinatown, I went out with the intention of the dim sum restaurant I was told was simply "the best." It was noon and so I figured slightly on the early side in lunch. Apparently not- San Francisco office hours are slightly different than the Hollywood lunch which promptly begins at 1 (who knew I'd face a slight bit of culture shock in my own STATE!?) The place was PACKED and the hostess told me at least a thirty minute wait. Long story short, I wandered the streets ending up down at the water in search of something that could entice me as much as the delicious smell of the dim sum restaurant to no avail, so I made my way back and was able to score a table just after 1.
Here are a few observations:
1) the hostess definitely gave me the sad eyes when I told her I just needed a table for one.
2) dim sum, although delicious, is not the best solo meal - your eyes can get bigger than your stomach REAL fast.
3) it's hard when you are alone not to be blatant about people watching. I couldn't take my eyes off the old Chinese woman eating slower than I ever would have guessed possible with (I'm guessing) her middle aged daughter who kept falling asleep at the table. Or the family with two preteen daughters decked out in more giants gear than one could find at the stadium.
4) I sat down, had two dishes in front of me, and was halfway through with one of them when I first looked at the time. I was feeling ally good about my 30 minute rule until I realized I'd only been there a whooping 7 minutes!
All in all it was a really good experience. I'm not ready to go eat out all the time like that but it is nice to know that I can. I found that after those first seven minutes I really started to settle in - slow down my eating, slow down the thoughts that I usually let race through my head, and just be.
Omg I want more right now. I think being deprived of dim sum until this year has lead to an unhealthy obsession. (shout out to Sidney for introducing me to this amazing meal!)
San Francisco at lunch hour. So cute that tables line the smaller streets (at least here in the financial district) making the city feel just bustle with life in the middle of the day.
Obligatory bridge photo. It was that or a trolley - have to prove I was here!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1) eat at a sit down restaurant with table clothes where customers are served.
2) do not play with phone, read a book, etc.
3) do not sit at bar
4) dine for at least 30 minutes
I mean sure I have always enjoyed my alone time. In college I would spend hours sitting alone in cafes with my computer, I need a frequent alone downtimes to recharge, and I've even taken in the odd movie on my own (sidebar - I saw the first Harry Potter by myself in high school and remember being particularly proud of that achievement as well). However, I had never done the above criteria all at once and I was ready and determined to take this great leap.
Since our hotel is in San Francisco's Chinatown, I went out with the intention of the dim sum restaurant I was told was simply "the best." It was noon and so I figured slightly on the early side in lunch. Apparently not- San Francisco office hours are slightly different than the Hollywood lunch which promptly begins at 1 (who knew I'd face a slight bit of culture shock in my own STATE!?) The place was PACKED and the hostess told me at least a thirty minute wait. Long story short, I wandered the streets ending up down at the water in search of something that could entice me as much as the delicious smell of the dim sum restaurant to no avail, so I made my way back and was able to score a table just after 1.
Here are a few observations:
1) the hostess definitely gave me the sad eyes when I told her I just needed a table for one.
2) dim sum, although delicious, is not the best solo meal - your eyes can get bigger than your stomach REAL fast.
3) it's hard when you are alone not to be blatant about people watching. I couldn't take my eyes off the old Chinese woman eating slower than I ever would have guessed possible with (I'm guessing) her middle aged daughter who kept falling asleep at the table. Or the family with two preteen daughters decked out in more giants gear than one could find at the stadium.
4) I sat down, had two dishes in front of me, and was halfway through with one of them when I first looked at the time. I was feeling ally good about my 30 minute rule until I realized I'd only been there a whooping 7 minutes!
All in all it was a really good experience. I'm not ready to go eat out all the time like that but it is nice to know that I can. I found that after those first seven minutes I really started to settle in - slow down my eating, slow down the thoughts that I usually let race through my head, and just be.
Omg I want more right now. I think being deprived of dim sum until this year has lead to an unhealthy obsession. (shout out to Sidney for introducing me to this amazing meal!)
San Francisco at lunch hour. So cute that tables line the smaller streets (at least here in the financial district) making the city feel just bustle with life in the middle of the day.
Obligatory bridge photo. It was that or a trolley - have to prove I was here!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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