Days 11-13 - LA!

After leaving San Diego, it was a blessedly quick drive into Los Angeles. A parking space was free right across the street from my friend Karen's place, and she took me in. I've already given some info about my time there, so I'll narrate the photos.

My second day in LA started at the Getty Museum. For those that've never been, here it is in tiny form.


I refuse to accept that this lighting wasn't planned to create this specific pairing of figure and shadow. I feel like I stole something getting it on my camera.


The many this facility was named for, Jean Paul Getty, was a billionaire in a time when being a millionaire seemed impossible. He was an oil tycoon that haggled with the kidnappers of his grandson, and he also appreciated works of art.


A panoramic view from one of the balconies.


This is the other main building on the complex. Pressed for time as we were, we didn't take in all the museum, but the place itself is amazing.


Labyrinths intrigue me. The concept of having a goal and not knowing for sure how to get there is very abstract, and yet that same concept can be rendered visually. And in cases such as this, rendered with pretty flowers.


Some guy.


The exhibit I just had to see was Manuscripts and Illuminations. Typecasting, perhaps, but it was a delight anyway.


The seasonal exhibit there was a triptych they recovered from western Europe, and hadn't been opened in centuries.


Karen, her boyfriend, her sister, and I went to El Capitan theatre to see Oz. Somehow Karen had acquired balcony tickets, front-row-center for us. I don't know how, and I don't need to know. I just loved those seats!


Most of the pics I took at the theatre didn't turn out well, but this one of the ceiling above the ticket booth came out alright.


Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House. I like the motifs, but I don't know that I could live with them. Some days, the desire to sacrifice humans is hard enough to resist without the architecture suggesting things.


In conclusion, LA has a depth and beauty that's positively shocking, so long as you know where to look and ignore everything else. This is made a lot easier when a dear friend grabs you by the ankle and drags you away from fluff it's perhaps more known for. Thank you so much, Karen!!


P.S.: The formatting on this particular update was a nightmare for some reason. Uploading multiple pictures sounds great, but in practice all it does is make things horribly messy. I think I've put this one update together three times before it's as legible as it currently is. Had to vent that.