Silver, Art, Tea

Today: Silver

Walked along Melrose, from Harper almost to La Brea - checking out the little boutiques. East of Fairfax the cheaper shmatte shops pop up, as well as the vinyl collector shops, the skater stores, and the little eateries. Went into the Paris-based Metal Pointu's, where they carry beautiful pewter based jewellery, plated with silver or bronze. It's a very distinctive sculptural line, and the bracelets I tried on had a nice heft to them. They also carried some delicate pieces by the French line Clio Blue - including whimsical plastic bangles inlaid with sterling silver.

Yesterday: Art

Went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art yesterday (LACMA).
Saw the David Hockney exhibit. I really like his static realistic portraits from the late '70s/early '80s, but I'm not such a fan of his newer stuff. One of my favourites from the exhibition was his earlier "A Rake's Progress" - I'd link to it, but I can't find a decent example. Probably 'cause it's still under copyright.

I also saw most of the modern glass exhibit, "Material Matters". There's a discussion with the co-curator on their site.

There are currently five Klimt paintings on display - this was the first time I'd ever seen them "live". The unlimited reproductions do little justice to the originals. Especially the paintings of Adele Bloch-Bauer. The colour - the translucence - of her skin in the originals is stunning. And her expression is captivating. So beautiful and so strikingly different from the modern California ideal.

The same evening, my b/f alerted me to the fact that Ron Lauder had just purchased it for 135 million dollars. I can't fathom that kind of disposable income, but I can understand wanting the painting.

I ate at one of the museum cafes, "Pentimento", where they were advertising an afternoon tea. I was too late for the tea (which seemed worth returning for), but I had a delicious eggplant sandwich instead. They served surprisingly good coffee too.

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Day Before Yesterday: Tea

Previously, I had tea with a friend at The Tudor House - a tea room in Santa Monica. It was like a little bit of England on the west coast. Besides a lovely tea, they also offer a little store full of British edibles (or should I say curiosities?): salad cream, pickle spread, yorkshire puddings (frozen packs of 12), awesome Cadbury chocolates I've never seen, and best of all, Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisps!

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And of course, Saturday was our party!

Margaritas, yummy food (marcona almonds, anyone?), and super friends! And of course, everyong BTOB (brought their own beer), so now we have enough left over to have another party.

More soon.
I have worked on my novel since the last post, but not enough to impress you with.