Museums

Over the holiday break (which lasted approximately 11 days for me, not counting a few hours here and there of proof checks), I had the chance to check out three museum exhibitions that I've been wanting to see for a while.

The first I took care of while visiting family and friends in the South Bay and OC. "The Birth of Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury" at the Orange County Museum of Art was a nicely composed exhibition of midcentury modern furniture, paintings, objects and music. As I entered, the first room had Charles and Ray Eames' film, "Tops," projected onto the entire wall. The music was very hep. The next part of the exhibition gave some historical context. I really liked the signage and organization of this portion, which consisted of items and flat screens showing film clips, mounted on the wall with a cool blue band of paint behind them. The rest of the exhibit was heavy on the Eames' (rightfully so) and Julius Shulman's photography. (Note to self: Must see his exhibition at the Central Library before that closes on January 20)

The next two exhibitions I saw on New Year's Eve day: "© MURAKAMI" at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary and "Dali: Painting and Film" at LACMA. I really enjoyed both and it was interesting to see how Dali really made it possible for artists such as Takashi Murakami to create the kind of art that they do.

Initially, K & I didn't intend to see the Murakami exhibition, but we had some spare time before our 3pm Dali tickets and a little extra zip from our Intelligentsia buzz, so we went for it. I had seen some of Murakami's work in the "Ecstasy" exhibition a couple of years back, but this was definitely more an in-depth exploration of all aspects of his art. My favorite part was watching the Kaikai and Kiki movie preview. It was so adorable and weird that it made me feel very happy and young inside.

While we were able to take in the MOCA exhibition at a leisurely pace, we had no such luck at the Dali one, which is unfortunate because there was such a wealth of beautiful painting sand films that I could have stayed much longer. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes to get in, we were greeted with a slow-moving line that snaked along the wall of the first room. After waiting in that line for 10 minutes and moving only 10 feet, we decided to walk along the back of it, forsaking an up-close look at the first dozen paintings. After the bottleneck in the first room, it was smoother sailing and we were able to appreciate the rest of the exhibition up close. While I enjoyed the screenings of various Dali collaborations (in particular, Luis Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou"), the highlight for me was seeing the actual paintings. The colors that he used were so vivid, especially when he paired warm and cool colors, and that definitely gets lost when you just see a poster of one of his works. Actually, with many paintings, a book or poster print usually does not do it justice. For example, when I saw Tamara Lempicka's "Jeune fille en vert" at the 2004 Art Deco exhibition at the San Francisco Legion of Honor, I felt the same way.

In any event, I would recommend seeing all three of these exhibitions. Unfortunately, the OCMA and LACMA ones close this Sunday(!) Luckily, you still have until February for the MOCA one. If you go, be sure to add to this piece of impromptu public art:

Ooey Gooey

In addition to my little cupcake obsession, I've been sampling all sorts of yumminess at various bakeries. Today, I stopped at Milk for the first time and I'm almost sorry I did. Not that it was bad... it's just that I have to go the Art Store fairly often and Milk is located just off the same intersection (Beverly & Poinsettia.) Unfortunately, I can absolutely see myself picking up one of their "ooey gooey double chocolate" cookies every time I need to pick up some mat board or pencils. Those cookies are the most chocolatey and rich double chocolate cookies I have ever tasted. I was happily buzzing for hours. And at $1 a cookie, I can't wait to have another one.

In addition to those cookies, I also bought a slice of blue velvet cake for one of my coworkers and a square of chocolate croissant bread pudding for K. The reviews were very positive.

Milk is probably best known for its milk-derived goodies, like shakes, pudding and ice cream. Perhaps next time, I'll try something from their food menu (I hear their cobb and media noches are good) and wash it down with a chocolate malt...and, of course, grab some of those cookies.

Yelping

A quick note that I've started to Yelp. Click here for a link to my page and my first review.

I'm not sure how much I'll write (see how many postings I've written here), but people often come to me for advice on where to eat and hang out, so I thought that I would at least give it the old college try.

Speaking of college, now that I've told certain people key people at work, I can be more open about the fact that since September, I've been busting my butt in the Interior Design program at UCLA Extension. It's a lot of work, especially because of the intro design class I'm currently enrolled in. Even though I make my living doing graphic design, I never had formal design training (outside of a few courses here and there), so creating art without a computer is pretty intimidating to me (and time consuming!) However despite that, I love the program. I love my teachers, who are all so interesting and encouraging. I love my fellow classmates, who are more or less in the same boat as me (working and tired but very inspired.) And I love that I am becoming a better designer overall.

I like graphic design, but to me, the best kind of design envelops you. I've been obsessed with built environments since my undergrad days (hence the Urban Studies degree,) and my various work experiences in the architecture industry helped to enforce that. A couple of months ago, I decided to go beyond a mere appreciation of architecture and interior design and actually take the steps to be able to create the kind of spaces that inspire me and (hopefully) others.

I've got about three years of going to school plus working full-time ahead of me, but that really doesn't bother me. Three years of intense focus is nothing compared to thirty years of searching for a purpose.

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes...

Click here to check out
The Los Angeles Cupcake Meetup Group!

I just signed up for this and I can't wait for the next meetup. I've been a cupcake devotee since Sprinkles first opened their doors several years ago and try to try all the latest cupcakeries around. (I even read the cupcake blog, Cupcakes Take the Cake, at least every other day.)

I love cupcakes for their precious smallness, their yumminess & endless possibilities for cute design. I have this beautiful cake plate at home and the thought of placing perfect cupcakes on it makes me perfectly happy.

As for what cupcakes are my favorite, I'll save that for another time (hopefully accompanied with a pic of them on my cake plate.)

Cherry's Jubilee

While in Monterey this past weekend, K & I happened upon the annual Cherry's Jubilee classic car event. This was definitely a treat, probably more so for K, who couldn't stop snapping pics of his favorite cars. I was able to wrest the camera away from him to snap a couple of shots of my favorite car there:

The lines on this car are so gorgeous. I love the creamy color and the burnt orange. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. (Truth be told, on the safety side, I'm glad cars have all sorts of airbags, etc., nowadays. I just want them to be designed a little bit more elegantly)


I tried to do a search on this car, but came up with nothing on the name below:


Anyway, this reminded me of L.A.'s own treasure trove of classic cars: The Nethercutt Collection. If you love classic cars, especially pre-war ones, this is the place for you. K & I went there several months ago and he certainly got a kick at seeing all of the Packards (especially since he's a descendant.) To see the best cars and hear some unusual automated instruments, reserve a spot in the San Sylmar tour.

Art Deco

If you haven't visited my blog lately (as I haven't written much lately), you'll notice that it looks a little different. I got bored of the standard Blogger template I was using, so I put together this Art Deco-inspired background.

Art Deco is one of my favorite architectural styles and I spend a lot of time scoping out Art Deco buildings and objects. In fact, in addition to living in an Art Deco building, I lead an Art Deco walking tour of downtown L.A. for the L.A. Conservancy. My next tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 22 at 10 a.m. If you are interested in walking through downtown with me, visit the Conservancy's Web site and reserve a spot.

Art Deco exterior molding from my building.

Shark Obsession

Hello, my name is Annabel and I'm a shark-aholic...

Most people who know me know that I'm pretty obsessed with sharks. You know those little boys who go around spouting random facts about dinosaurs, insects or cars? I'm like that with sharks, except I'm a 30-year-old adult woman. I can identify most species of sharks, tell you what the Ampullae of Lorenzini are, locate primary feeding and spawning grounds, etc.

I go to aquariums with one primary objective... to see the shark tank. I've seen zebra and other carpet sharks in the petting tank, ragged tooth/sand tiger sharks (the scariest-looking shark, but fairly benign), a bull shark, numerous types of reef sharks, and some hammerheads. But next week, I get to see a (knock on wood) great white!!!!!

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has had several great whites in the past, but eventually they would have to return them to the ocean because the sharks get too big. They are usually housed in the Outer Bay exhibit, which is one of my favorite tanks in the world. I could spend hours in front of the glass there, watching the sharks, tuna and other large fish whizz around.

Last Monday, they introduced a young great white into the tank and will keep him there as long as things go smoothly (in other words, as long as he doesn't eat the other fish or get really depressed). Hopefully, he'll still be there when K & I go to visit. If so, I promise to post pictures.

I do have a feeling that this little viewing will have me wanting more. Perhaps, one day, I'll get to go on a tour of Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa and see this: