“She glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes.”
~
Frank Deford

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Amazing creativity

Today I went with a friend to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. They have a special exhibition on Benjamin Franklin that was really well-designed and interesting. He led an amazing life: printer, newspaperman, Poor Richard's Almanac, scientist, and diplomat. I think that he would enjoy living nowadays and seeing the progress of our generation.

Besides that show, the museum also had two other interesting exhibits: one on carved gemstones and another displaying American quilts. They were both outstanding! The skeleton hand below had each bone carved individually from a semi-precious stone called caledony. And the egg that looks like it's made of glass was actually carved from quartz. There's also a close up of a "crazy quilt"from 1900. The last photo is a detail of silver decoration on a Chinese ceremonial apron.

It's a small museum whose permanent collection is centered on the Pacific Rim, but it's worth a look if you're ever in Orange County.





Sunday, February 20, 2011

Blue skies

It rained for a few days this week, including yesterday (Saturday). Today the air was very clean and crisp (only 60F - down right cold in SoCal!) and the sky was a beautiful blue.

I went to LACMA again today to see the Fashioning Fashion exhibit one more time before it closes. From the 3rd floor landing of the BCAM building, I could see the snow-capped mountains of the San Gabriel range, just north of LA. I've included both a panorama and a close up view, which includes the Hollywood Sign and the Griffith Park Observatory. Enjoy this unique view of Los Angeles.







Monday, February 14, 2011

Up close and far away

Sunday work in the backyard - new growth, early flowers, and a beautiful swirly sky.






Sunday, February 6, 2011

Chinese New Year

I went to the Huntington Library & Gardens in San Marino (near Pasadena) today. They were celebrating the Chinese New Year and had lots of special performances and demonstrations throughout the gardens. Besides the puppet show and fan dancers and calligraphy, I think one of the most interesting demos was a man selling candy "lollipops" made out of sugar syrup in crazy fancy designs - dragons, fish, even profiles. The photos below show some of what I saw today. Enjoy.