(If only I could have put the American flag emoji as my title, but I think it works for now)
Now that I’m working full-time, I find that as much as I hate being at work all of the time, I would prefer to work than be sitting around doing nothing. So when we had the day off on Friday, I rather wished that I was collecting those hours, but it did allow me some time to go do things without the Saturday rush that I’ve had to become accustomed to. It was pretty shocking considering that it was a holiday weekend that places were not as crowded as I’d expected them to be, but I also wasn’t complaining.
On Friday, I visited The Getty Museum with my friend, Cynthia. Unfortunately, The Getty Villa was booked, but my desire to visit a musem was finally fulfilled, and a free one at that. I guess it doesn’t count though if you’re paying $15 for parking, but had The Getty Villa been open for reservations, the parking placard could have carried over to their location so that’s good to know! I have to admit I felt pretty obnoxious and pretentious viewing the collections in the museum after having the opportunity to see some of the world’s best art in Europe, but I felt the architectural design of The Getty and their gardens definitely filled whatever voids I had. I mostly enjoyed just walking through the building and getting pretty pictures of everything outside-before it got hot, anyway. We grabbed some great pictures and then headed out for lunch and called it a day. Later that night, I was able to see Asif Kapadia’s Amy in theaters and it was an almost-ethereal experience. To give you a condensed review (because I could go on and on, but I know not many people want to read an analytical essay), it really expressed the most intimate parts of Amy’s life and provided a better understanding of the pressures of fame, the dangers of low self-esteem, the facets and signs of emotionally abusive relationships, and the bouts of addiction. If you want a full review/synopsis of the film, this article in The Guardian explains it really well. (Thanks, Justin!)
Yesterday was The Fourth of July which was surprisingly pretty relaxing. We grabbed lunch, which was obviously burgers and fries, chilled out for the middle of the day, and then headed to Santa Monica beach to watch fireworks. It was also only fitting that I grabbed an ice cream cone and some McDonald’s fries once we arrived because America. After we froze to death for an hour, the fireworks commenced and sadly, they were extremely far away. On the website for the infamous Marina Del Rey firework show, it says that the fireworks can be seen from Santa Monica and they were right-they can be seen. In hindsight, we probably should have just gone to Marina Del Rey for optimal pictures, video, sound, etc. but we had no problems with parking and we got to be on the beach at night which I’ve never done so that was an experience in itself. It was pretty cool as well to see fireworks going off in other parts farther along the beach; had I had one of those fancy space cameras, I probably could have captured a sick photo, but that was not the case. Also, on the way home there were fireworks over the freeway from various parts of town so I wouldn’t say the night was a total bust on that component, I just don’t have any good pictures. All in all, I’m just glad I was out with good company and got some good food. 🙂
The Getty Center
Santa Monica Pier
Lex in the City 