LACMA

I had a day off today, one of the last I suppose till December. So to celebrate, I went to LACMA and visited the Japanese exhibit. The Pavilion there houses the museum's collection of Japanese works dating from around 3000 b.c. to the twentieth century. The exhibit has a lot of Buddhist and Shinto related art, plus ceramics and kimono/textile work.

One of my favorite things about the exhibit was the museum's print collection, traditional woodblock prints from the Edo period (1615-1868), the late 18th and 19th centuries and also more recent artwork including post modern pieces. There I discovered this amazing post-modern Japanese artist by the name of Haku Maki. My favorite print of his is this one - I just love it. AND I found it online for only $325.00 and man, wouldn't it look great in my apartment? There's something so simple and evocative about it. It's really hard for me to say exactly why I like it so much.

It's also interesting how in Japanese art, calligraphy is so intrinsically wrapped up in imagery. The Japanese had (have?) a profound love of poetry and incorporated so much of it in their artwork. Gotta love them for that. These ideograms incorporate a duality of meaning in both the use of language to enhance the visual metaphors and the artistic interpretation of form to enhance the language. A great example of mixed media.

Can anybody identify the following two artists/pictures?

Okay, like an idiot, I took pictures of my two favorite paintings from the Louvre but forgot to also take pictures of the name/artist. So...anybody have a clue who painted these?

New Job

Ah, the BBC. Lovely. I started my new gig three weeks ago and so far it's been a crazy, whirlwind experience.

And I'm exhausted.

Starting this job was like getting thrown in the ocean to learn how to swim. I suppose my head will pop up sometime in December and I’ll wonder where the three months went and where I am, exactly.

I was driving to work the other day along Fairfax and wondered whose life I’d taken over. Somehow the move to LA, new apartment, new job, none of it felt like I was in the right life…or movie – It felt more like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and I’m cast as Pod Person #497. Anyway, thanks to my work schedule, I haven’t had much time to linger on the disassociation I was feeling.

Los Angeles, for it’s part, welcomed me back the way it always does – without so much as a “hello, how are you”.

And the most enjoyable thing about my new job is I get to prove myself all over again. I’m getting the chance to establish just what a wonderfully funny, witty and humble person I am. God, that is so tiring. Seriously, I feel like I’ve started high school and everyone’s been together in all their classes since eighth grade and I’m the new, geeky kid who doesn’t have any friends. No, no – I mean to sit by myself at this lunch table munching on my PBJ while you guys drive off campus in your convertible to go grab hamburgers.

Sigh. At least the other kids are nice.

By the way, the two pics are Joe and Victoria. We share an office with Katy, Dancing with the Stars ultimate Story Producer. The other picture is of our bungalow aka star wagon aka double wide trailer. I think I might miss this place when I'm gone. Particularly, I'll miss Joe's one-sided conversations with his wife, the Co-EP of the show. They bicker like any married couple but what we hear is only Joe's side...sometimes I find the conversations so amusing, especially when all I hear is "We're going to be ready to show you a cut at noon. Can you bring me a bagel and cream cheese?" They crack me up.