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lydamorehouseYesterday was a crazy busy, wonderful day.
We had breakfasts at the "second most avant garde restaurant in LA," according torachelmanija A place called Destroyer. Again, pictures are going to have to tell a better story when we are home on Thursday morning, but the food was very funky/cool, and yet surprisingly tasty. Worth the price tag? ....yes, but only as a once and awhile splurge.
From the restaurant, it was a very short walk to Maureen and Bob's. I was happy that Rachel nd Maureen got connected, since they are both awesome writers, living in the same neighborhood of LA.
All five of us went to the Museum of Jurassic Technology together.
How do I even describe this place?
I'll tell you what I THOUGHT it was going to be. I honestly expected that some rich creationist hired a bunch of museum types to create diorama "proving" that humans existed with dinosaurs. This was SO not that.
First of all, it seems like it's going to be a storefront, as it is wedged between a hot yoga place (not kidding) and a Thai restaurant. Instead, you walk into this seemingly quite classy reception area. It is very dark inside and it is a maze. We'd gotten hot on our walk over, so Rachel and Maureen, who had been there before, suggested we get some water in the tea room. As Mason and I are following them around twists and turns and up a grand staircase that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Mason says, "I have nightmares like this." For real. Me, too.
Meanwhile, I'm captivated by the architecture. Art deco lampshades--you know, those scalloped, tulip-shaped sconces--are everywhere, there is parquet flooring, the ceilings are arched and vaulted. It's gorgeous.
Then we start looking at the displays. One room is all about the need to preserve the art of... cat's cradles? And, you're reading these things, thinking, 'can this possibly be for real?' The more you explore, the less anything makes sense. There is an exhibit on artifacts found in... trailer parks??? But, all of it is done very seriously, very intentionally, with bits of research that initially sound 100% plausible. You've heard of "off gassing," you know it's a real phenomenon, and then there will be some part that has you head scratching and muttering, "but... That part can't be accurate, can it??" Bats can't use echolocation to move between molecules, I AM SURE OF THAT.... right?? Right???
Afterward, over gelato at a place down the street, Rachel laid out her going theory. The guy who was responsible for the museum was an artist, his wife had some connection to museums that I'm forgetting, but Rachel figures the whole museum is actually an art installation. It's a commentary or satire of the museum "experience."
This is the only thing that makes sense to me.
From there, we said goodbye to Maureen and Bob, and Rachel graciously drove Mason and I to the Long Beach Aquarium. This was a much more straight forward experience, but just as amazing. Mason had serious ocean squee. Rachel and I were right there with him.
Once again, we were the weirdos who literally sat in front of all the "wrong" tanks. A perfect example was in the area where everyone else was touching manta rays, we were on the floor by the bird exhibit watching flounders. We weren't even excited by the birds, but the random fish in the water--we were watching the flounders... Because they are legitimately cool and weird. Did you know, flounders start their life cycle like normal fish, with their eyes on either side of their head, but as the age their eyes migrate to one side and then they spend the rest of their lives swimming sideways? We must have spent easily 20 minutes watching them. Then there were jelly fish with bioluminescence, and crabs eating calms, penguins behaving strangely, and sea otters and sea lions and, and...
We were there for three and a half hours and, if we'd had our druthers, we'd STILL be there.
What a great experience. I caught a few pictures of Mason staring joyfully into the tanks. So, once again: worth it.
Today is UCLA!
We had breakfasts at the "second most avant garde restaurant in LA," according to
rachelmanija A place called Destroyer. Again, pictures are going to have to tell a better story when we are home on Thursday morning, but the food was very funky/cool, and yet surprisingly tasty. Worth the price tag? ....yes, but only as a once and awhile splurge.From the restaurant, it was a very short walk to Maureen and Bob's. I was happy that Rachel nd Maureen got connected, since they are both awesome writers, living in the same neighborhood of LA.
All five of us went to the Museum of Jurassic Technology together.
How do I even describe this place?
I'll tell you what I THOUGHT it was going to be. I honestly expected that some rich creationist hired a bunch of museum types to create diorama "proving" that humans existed with dinosaurs. This was SO not that.
First of all, it seems like it's going to be a storefront, as it is wedged between a hot yoga place (not kidding) and a Thai restaurant. Instead, you walk into this seemingly quite classy reception area. It is very dark inside and it is a maze. We'd gotten hot on our walk over, so Rachel and Maureen, who had been there before, suggested we get some water in the tea room. As Mason and I are following them around twists and turns and up a grand staircase that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Mason says, "I have nightmares like this." For real. Me, too.
Meanwhile, I'm captivated by the architecture. Art deco lampshades--you know, those scalloped, tulip-shaped sconces--are everywhere, there is parquet flooring, the ceilings are arched and vaulted. It's gorgeous.
Then we start looking at the displays. One room is all about the need to preserve the art of... cat's cradles? And, you're reading these things, thinking, 'can this possibly be for real?' The more you explore, the less anything makes sense. There is an exhibit on artifacts found in... trailer parks??? But, all of it is done very seriously, very intentionally, with bits of research that initially sound 100% plausible. You've heard of "off gassing," you know it's a real phenomenon, and then there will be some part that has you head scratching and muttering, "but... That part can't be accurate, can it??" Bats can't use echolocation to move between molecules, I AM SURE OF THAT.... right?? Right???
Afterward, over gelato at a place down the street, Rachel laid out her going theory. The guy who was responsible for the museum was an artist, his wife had some connection to museums that I'm forgetting, but Rachel figures the whole museum is actually an art installation. It's a commentary or satire of the museum "experience."
This is the only thing that makes sense to me.
From there, we said goodbye to Maureen and Bob, and Rachel graciously drove Mason and I to the Long Beach Aquarium. This was a much more straight forward experience, but just as amazing. Mason had serious ocean squee. Rachel and I were right there with him.
Once again, we were the weirdos who literally sat in front of all the "wrong" tanks. A perfect example was in the area where everyone else was touching manta rays, we were on the floor by the bird exhibit watching flounders. We weren't even excited by the birds, but the random fish in the water--we were watching the flounders... Because they are legitimately cool and weird. Did you know, flounders start their life cycle like normal fish, with their eyes on either side of their head, but as the age their eyes migrate to one side and then they spend the rest of their lives swimming sideways? We must have spent easily 20 minutes watching them. Then there were jelly fish with bioluminescence, and crabs eating calms, penguins behaving strangely, and sea otters and sea lions and, and...
We were there for three and a half hours and, if we'd had our druthers, we'd STILL be there.
What a great experience. I caught a few pictures of Mason staring joyfully into the tanks. So, once again: worth it.
Today is UCLA!