My Oyster

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

That's one of my favorite lines from the book I just finished on the flight from Seattle back to Washington.

The book was a birthday gift from David & David.  Dr. David asked me what I wanted for my birthday.  I said I would love for him to give me one of his favorite books.  He gave me this one.

I loved it.  It has become a very special gift now.

The novel is an international bestseller by Paulo Coelho.  It was first published in Brazil in 1988.  It's a very symbolic, kinda mystical, very spiritual story about pursuing your dreams.  Following your destiny - not being resigned to your fate.  It has been compared to The Little Prince and  Siddartha.  I guess not surprisingly - both are also favorites of mine.

I like stories of journeys - personal and geographic.   I find them very inspiring.  This one definitely was that.

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it..."

Seattle Art...

Today I took a little break from work and went to the Seattle Art Museum.  It was closed. 

I did go into an art gallery across the street that I had noticed on previous trips while on my early morning jogs.  I never had the time to go in.  Today I did.  I am really glad I did.  I spent quite some time talking to the gallery owner - Patricia Rovzar.  I saw several pieces i really liked.

This is "It's A Jungle Out There".  It's a sort of 3D hanging sculpture in copper, enamel, wood, mixed media.  The artist is Morgan Brig.

This next couple of pieces are by another Northwest artist, Thomas Anderson.  The materials he uses are often found or recycled metals, i.e. copper, aluminum, steel or brass. He applies specific chemical formulas and patinas to create a variety of color and texture, which become a "canvas" for the addition of other elements i.e. gold leaf, pastel, graphite, and varnishes.

 

These next couple also really caught my eye.  They are by Jerri Lisk.  She paints on aluminum.  I really like the simple but not crude figures.  I like that they are of trees.

Finally.  Patricia the curator pulled out this one out of the back.  She will be hanging several of this artist's, Michael Schlicting, pieces in a show starting this week.  I really liked it.

Maybe I need one of these for my new condo?

Seattle Presents...THE REBIRTH OF THE MIGHTY CUPCAKE...

You better believe it!  And how.  A co-worker helped me discover and turned me on to Cupcake Royale.

These are the BEST cupcakes I have ever had.  I am addicted to the Red Velvet cupcake.  It's soooo good.

There are good reasons why these Seattle cupcakes are so amazing.

They are committed to the principle that a cupcake has a shelf life of just one day.  So theirs are baked fresh daily - with no preservatives.  Not even oil or shortening.  They use the best possible, all-natural ingredients.  They are on to something.  They really are bringing the cupcake back.

I brought a bunch over to dinner tonight at Laura & Ken's house.  Every Wednesday they have some girls from the Pacific Northwest Ballet over for dinner.  When I am in town, I join them.  A few of them stayed with me at the beginning of the month when they were auditioning for the Washington Ballet.

Seattle "Hot Spot"...

When I am here in Seattle, I spend a good deal of time suffering in some of the country's worst and most congested traffic.  These are some snaps of my commute from work back to the hotel tonight.

 

Yes, I was moving so slow that I could take pictures while driving.

Because I stay at a hotel in downtown Seattle and work across Lake Washington, twice a day I get to drive through one of the country's worst traffic hot spots - The Evergreen Point Bridge on SR-520.

The AAA has ranked this bridge as one of the top 10 worst commuter hot spots in the U.S.  This floating bridge supports the majority of cross-lake traffic north of downtown Seattle at approximately 110,000 vehicles per day. It's one of the oldest floating bridges in the world and is approaching the end of its life time after over forty years of service.  I always get a little jittery driving across it.

I was happy to finally get back to my room.  The view tonight...

Back to Seattle...

and stayin' at the W.

That's the lobby of the W hotel in downtown Seattle.  I always stay here.  I like it.  I have been here so much that the staff not only recognize me when I check-in, but one of the staff recognized me at a coffee shop down the street.  He wasn't even working.  I hadn't even checked in yet this trip and hadn't been here for 3 weeks. 

Now that's an attentive staff!

The coffee shop down the street?  Seattle's Best Coffee.  Even though there is a Starbucks across the street, I go to this SBC.  It's another Seattle coffee institution.  It used to be known as Stewart Brothers Coffee, but changed its name in 1991 to Seattle's Best - both with the same acronym.  SBC.

 

Starbucks bought Seattle's Best Coffee back in 2003.  Ugh.

Maybe Money Can't Buy You Love, But...

...clearly, money can buy you art.

I went to the Getty Museum today.  Yowza.  It was overwhelming.  In the best sense.  I think this was the most amazing museum experience I have ever had - except for soaking up the Sistine Chapel with my mother and Daryl.

     

The museum has more money than God with the largest arts endowment in history (at over $3 billion).  It shows.  It has been somewhat controversial since its opening back in 1997.  It can basically outbid any museum for a piece of art it wants for its collection.  I think there are some issues with buying up stolen antiquities as well.  Oopsie.

Wrap all that art up in amazing architecture (Richard Meier) and stunning gardens. Then plop it down in the hills overlooking LA and the Pacific Ocean and you have an other-wordly experience.

    

I try to visit a museum any time I travel.  Its one of my favorite things to do.  Usually, I will focus on one gallery or two, because I find trying to "see it all" to be both exhausting and mind-numbing.  Not here.  I could not leave.  I eagerly dove into whatever was around the next corner - room after room.

I had never made it to the Getty on previous trips.  I will make it up the hill on every trip from now on.  It's worth it. 

"And I can't get away. To live and die in LA."

Who can resist a little Wang Chung?  Not me!

OK.  So that may be a wee bit of an exaggeration...but I did start my day today at the emergency room of an inner city hospital here in LA.

It seems I have yet another acute eye infection.  The nurse hotline for my health insurance said get to the hospital.  I did.  The closest one was Centinela Hospital in Inglewood.  Despite the connection to Tommy Lasorda (baseball coach) and the Lakers and Dodgers and even the 1984 Olympics, it probably would not have been my first choice.   A bit too edgy for me.

Let's see.  As I was entering, a prostitute was coming out.  There were people bleeding in the waiting room.  Drug addicts freaking out in the hallway.  A world away from my gay doctor's office in the heart of Dupont Circle.  I saw more blood and heard more shrieks than I needed for 7am in the morning.

The rest of the day was great.  My friend Joey picked me up and took me to brunch in Manhattan Beach.  I love that area.  Bungalow houses for $2.5m.  Eek.  We walked down to the pier to see the volleyball players and surfers.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  You can see my swollen eye in some of the pics.

Here we are at brunch.

It was sooo nice to see people on the beach and in the water.

After the beach, I ventured onto LA's infamous freeways and down to Orange County.  I needed to get to a Room & Board to check out furniture for the new condo.  With my one good eye.

I do like LA.  It's not pretty.  It's kinda dirty and spread out.  But I like it anyway.

All I wanna do is have some fun...

Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard.  Sheryl Crow song.   Doesn't he look like he is having fun?

Tonight after work, I drove to Santa Monica and its famous pier.  The pier, built many years ago (too lazy to research tonight) has rides and games on it.  Very fun.  Especially to pre-teen couples on Friday night dates.  They seemed to be everywhere on the Pier tonight.

More pics.

Interestingly, John Edwards was also in Santa Monica tonight.  He was raising money for his presidential run.

The "X" in LAX...

I arrived in LA tonight.  I am staying at an airport hotel for several days.  The airport code is LAX.  This is the view from my window.  Planes landing every few seconds.

Before the 1930s, airports used a two-letter abbreviation based on the weather station at the airports. So, at that time, LA served as the designation for Los Angeles International Airport. But, with the rapid growth in the aviation industry, the designations expanded to three letters, and LA became LAX. The letter X does not otherwise have any specific meaning in this identifier. The X probably indicates a blank letter or empty space in the code. People today now believe that the "X" stands for exchange as "LAX" is also used for the International Port of Los Angeles, located in San Pedro, CA.

LAX handles more "origin and destination" (i.e. not connecting) passengers than any other airport in the world.  Who knew?

I am hoping to explore LA more over the next several days.  It's one corner of the US that I really haven't gotten to know.  Yet.

The Crowning Glory...

That's me.  Getting a trim today after work.  Atul was there to photograph.  He must REALLY have a lot of time on his hands...

According to the Men's Hair Care Tips blog, "Unkept hair for instance can signal someone who is untidy and disorganized while properly maintained hair shows a person who is in control of life and who is organized and easy to work with."

I want to be easy to work with.  I want to be organized and in control of my life.  So I got a haircut.

And a wash.

And as if all that were not enough excitement... I was joined at the Salon by one of my oldest friends - Josh - from grad school in Seattle. 

He had flown in from LA just this afternoon for work.  I haven't seen him for years.  Oddly, I am flying out tomorrow - to LA.  We will catch up more there on the weekend.  Josh and I drove cross country together from Seattle to DC to start our careers - 15 years ago.  We have some very good memories.