Thorne's Amusements Part I

First Words*

Thorne's first word: Hi!
(I love that her first word is a social one that connects her to others. And she says it forcefully with crystal clear enunciation. It fits her personality too as she's happiest with lots of people around her. Though, I'm still confused how two mostly introverted people created such an extroverted socialite.)

Thorne's second word: Die.
(Her usual lead up to the word is da-da-da-da- DIE! She says each da clearly and succinctly and then shouts out "DIE!" She says it over and over once she gets started. I'm not sure what to make of this. I presume it's simply her interpretation of bye. It can be a bit disconcerting waking up to her yelling "DIE" in our general direction.)

*Thorne did say dada and mama before all other words.

Interpretive Dance

Frivolous

I just read on Dooce's blog that if you mix a Maltese with a Poodle you get a Maltpoo. But Maltpoo doesn't flow off the tongue and it suggests, to me anyway, a cross between a Maltezer and Poo -as in Maltezer poo. Gross.

I suggest they change the name to Pootese. Trips off the tongue and sounds like you're talking about a fat cherub or Puti.

Now I'll get back to thinking about something that matters.

More Walking

The Mummy Walks!

The Mummy

Thorne as a pugilistic Mummy!

It's Official

Thorne is walking. Not just a couple of steps here and there, but actual perambulations around the living room. Her response to our incredulity is to act like it's perfectly normal for a two feet high, 10 month old sprite to lurch across the living room like a miniature Frankenstein.

Video will be forthcoming.

How do you spell trouble? T-H-O-R-N-E.

ACORN

I am LOVING the ACORN controversy exposed by the dynamic duo of James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles. If you haven't seen the videos head over to Big Government and start watching from the bottom. These two have made the federal government move in a way a million petitioners could never do. AWESOME!

After watching those videos watch Jon Stewart slice and dice the mainstream media for their dereliction of duty.

Oh how I love watching Nemesis in action!

Most Wanted

Hilarious and highly creative.

My Daily Companion

Henry David Thoreau

"That government is best which governs least." If only more people agreed with this statement....a girl can dream though.

Norton Simon Museum

I've lived in Southern California for...(hold on, I'm counting on my fingers)...sixteen years (yikes!) and I've only been to the Norton Simon Museum twice. Once three years ago and then now. Why now? I blame Thorne. Ever since I gave birth to her, I crave culture, high culture. Living with Steve for the last nine years I've developed a great appreciation for modern and abstract art. Most art prior to the 20th Century was wasted on me. Compared to other museums, the Norton Simon doesn't have the best modern or abstract art collection, so I never visited it. But now, I want to gaze upon the masterpieces of the past, the distant past. Which is why I was ready for the Norton Simon. It's a small intimate museum with a collection of some delightful pieces, but not so many that you become overwhelmed by the process of viewing. Here are links to my favorites:

1. Doesn't this painting look like it's modern? Is it the crispness and color that make it feel that way? I would never have guessed it was painted in 1630.

2. I LOVE this portrait because it appears that the subject is really the ruff rather than the woman. Perhaps the artist thought it would be unseemly to paint a ruff without its owner and therefore needed a woman in the picture to make it palatable to 17th century sensibilities.

3. Van Gogh is simply awesome. His colors combined with his brush strokes make this painting burst with kinetic energy. I want to eat it.

4. One day while living in Honolulu, Hawaii I got it into my head that I wanted to read about art and artists, particularly those living in Paris. I don't know where this urge came from, but it led me to Modigliani. I don't know why I picked him as I'd never heard of him before. I retrieved one book from the library on Modigliani, devoured it, returned it and was sated. But it left a residue of like for the man's work and this is one of my favorites.

5. When my sister and I were much younger and a lot more naive (neither of which is relevant to the rest of this comment) we went on a grand European tour that included stops in Florence and Rome. I saw enough "Madonna and Bambino" paintings and sculptures to last a lifetime. One might say I was inoculated against them from overexposure. So my eyes mostly glaze over when I see them in any other museums. But this one, Beauregard Madonna, made me stop and take a second look. The expressions on both faces are arresting and feel modern despite being made in 1455. Instead of the usual beatific portrayals they look like real people. The Christ child especially looks like a shy kid not a putto, or as Sister Wendy would say of Raphael's version, a sumo wrestler (Now that's an image, Jesus as sumo wrestler).



We agreed to meet at the museum at 11am. But they didn't open until noon so we had to loiter elsewhere. Fortunately, the Culinary Cafe was open and only to willing to sell us some yummy chocolate croissants to help us pass the time.


Here's Thorne looking perplexed or perturbed at the two crazy ladies talking at her. She's clutching Mr. Blue Elephant her toy du jour. He's particularly savory which is why his ears, nose, and tail are rather soggy.

Another delightful day with charming company.

For the Record

For decades now, people associate Puritans with prudes. But the exact opposite is true. Puritans had a healthy regard for sex as long as it came after marriage. From Christian History:

Anglican treatises on marriage listed procreation as the primary purpose of marriage, followed by restraint and remedy of sin, and finally companionship. The Puritans reversed the order, putting mutual society, help, and comfort in first place. Daniel Rogers wrote, "Husbands and wives should be as two sweet friends, bred under one constellation, tempered by an influence from heaven whereof neither can give any reason, save mercy and providence first made them so, and then made their match; saying, see, God hath determined us out of this vast world for each other." In direct contrast to the medieval Catholic glorification of celibacy, the Puritans placed a very high value on marriage, sex, and family—as long as they occurred in that order!

It's a peeve of mine that Puritan has become a pejorative.

Eaton Canyon

What we (Karen, me, & Thorne) thought we were doing: A quick 30 minute hike through Eaton Canyon. Our friend had said we could hike up one side of the wash to a bridge, then hike back on the other side of the wash. A fifteen minute hike up and a fifteen minute hike back. Easy.

What we did do: Wandered off the main trail and realized we did so when we looped back to the main trail (we did this twice). I then did what I had feared doing ever since Thorne was born. While wearing Thorne in the Baby Bjorn, I tripped on a tree root and fell forward. Fortunately I missed squashing my baby like bug by a few inches. My right knee took the brunt of the fall and came out of it with only a scrape and a bruise. Did I mention that poison oak is prolific in this area? The maps and brochures all warned of this insidious plant and we had noticed it on either side of the trail. So, my next fear was that I had planted both me and Thorne straight into the noxious plant. How we missed it must have been an act of God. As you know from a previous post, the more one is exposed to poison oak the worse one's rash will become.

We continued our hike and reached the bridge area and a lovely stream of water. We then took what we thought was the trail back along the other side of the wash. We were walking along the river bed with me high stepping over rocks to avoid twisting an ankle or cracking Thorne's head on a rock. After the obvious trail shriveled we scrambled around looking for another. We followed some footsteps in the sand and that brought us to another semblance of a trail. We picked our way across the dry river floor for some time, but then finally admitted to ourselves that this couldn't possibly be the trail our friend was speaking of. So we hacked our way through some brush, scampered up the rocky bank and rejoined the previous trail. The beauty of our exploration through the riverbed was that it felt like we were off roading it, that it was us against nature but with the security of knowing a real trail was within easy access. I recommend Eaton Canyon if you want a rustic ramble with the potential of "safely" getting lost and the assurance of muddling your way back to civilization.

Total hiking time was 1 and 1/2 hours.

Eaton Cayon is located off the 210 at the Sierra Madre /Alta Dena exit. Take Alta Dena to the end and the entrance will be on your right.

Japanese Garden + Balboa Park

Tucked away behind a security fence and a guard presence is a peaceful Japanese garden occupying 6 1/2 acres. We were quizzed more thoroughly by the guard at the front gate, than we were by security at City Hall leaving us a little puzzled as to why all this security was needed just for a garden. Well it happens that this particular Japanese garden was designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana for the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. Ah, perhaps that's why it's called the "Garden of Water and Fragrance." Though the fragrance was more noisome than odiferous. According to the excellent and free guide book given out at the gift shop the purpose of having a Japanese garden next to a reclamation plant "was to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water in what is generally agreed to be a delicate environment: a Japanese Garden."

After following the tour laid out in the guide book, you come to the reclamation plant's administration building. The guide book says of this building that "if one uses his imagination, the building resembles a waterfall." Quite so. You can climb to a viewing platform that overlooks the process of reclaiming sewage water. The water reclaimed from this plant not only keeps the garden flourishing it also keeps Lake Balboa in existence.

Some of the more striking features of the garden are the Dry Garden (the middle picture above), the ginkgo grove, the coots and cranes inhabiting the lake, the wisteria arbor, the tea house, and the waterfall (the far left photo above). Also quite lovely was the Zig Zag bridge through a marsh covered with hundreds of irises. The guide book said the Japanese believed at one time that "if chased by evil spirits, you will be protected since evil spirits can only go in a straight line and will be unable to follow you around the corners of the bridge." Good to know. My only complaint with the design was the overabundance of azaleas and an insipid bush with pink flowers that is ubiquitous in SoCal gardens. Despite that minor flaw, the garden is worth a stroll. The entrance fee is $3, but call ahead to make sure they're really open. They say you can come by between Noon and 3:15pm M-TH, but that may not always be so.



Across the street from the Japanese Garden is Lake Balboa Recreational Park. A beautiful park that has cherry trees (or what look like cherry trees when in bloom) planted around the perimeter of the lake. It's only 1.3 miles around the lake and makes for a lovely stroll through scenery that at times reminded me of Gainsborough paintings.

The garden and park together make for a delightful afternoon outdoors. And once again Thorne behaved beautifully. I think she enjoys these outings as much as I do.

City Hall + Bottega Louie's

The trip to Los Angeles City Hall was a rip roaring success! We drove into downtown planning to park at Union Station and then take the Metro Red Line to our various destinations. I'd read online that parking was $10 for all day, but when we got there is was actually $14. That was too steep for me, so it was fortunate that Karen had seen a sign for a $5/a day lot right next door at the United States Post Office. The parking attendant was a toothless old black man with a cheeky grin and helpful attitude. The perfect start to our adventure.

We walked to City Hall from the Civic Center metro stop. After passing through security we were left alone to do as we pleased. Kind of strange to be allowed to wander about unattended in this hyper secure mode we now live in.

We rode up in ancient elevators switching at the 22nd floor to get the express elevator to the 26th floor. From there we took the stairs (though an elevator is available) to the 27th floor. Not a soul was about except us. And you get all of this for FREE! I highly recommend adding this destination to any tour of Los Angeles. Below is a view of the city skyline. The above picture is from the third floor Rotunda.


From there we walked down Broadway, passing the Grand Market and the Bradbury building, to get to the newly opened Bottega Louie restaurant. It's located at the corner of 7th /Grand conveniently close to the 7th street Metro station. I'd heard about Bottega Louie a couple months ago before it opened and wanted to check it out from the way it was described. Dark wood and gilt, but with high ceilings and clean white walls. A mix between modern and European bistro in my mind. The restaurant seats around 185 people so that gives you an idea of the size. I was planning on just eating in their cafe since Thorne was with us. As we were standing in the entry way deciding what to do the hostess approached us and asked if we'd like to be seated in the restaurant. Since the place was enormous and there was quite a din from all the talking, I thought even if Thorne got fussy no one would hear her. So we dined in. No one batted an eye that I was bringing a baby into such a fine dining area. Everyone was so personable and helpful. Looking back I wonder if they thought I was a food blogger since I was taking so many photos.

The food was tasty and they serve complimentary sparkling water. That little detail alone made me happy. We had a yummy salad soused in a balsamic vinaigrette giving it a dirty appearance, thus no photo. We split that and a club sandwich. I thought the mustard spread on the sandwich to be a touch salty, but otherwise a good standard club. After that we splurged on dessert and got the oh so fabulous, swoon inducing, let me sing a song about it, Peanut Butter and Chocolate terrine. Layers of chocolate then peanut butter and then more chocolate with a drizzle of caramel and chocolate sauce. SO GOOD! Even Thorne was drooling over the concoction.


This Wednesday I'm heading to the opera to hear Wagner's Die Valkyrie and we'll be dining at Bottega Louie's beforehand. I'm sure their dinner service will be as accommodating as their lunch service. All in all a delightful day!

Easter Darling

From the 2009 Spring Collection, a lovely yellow vintage number that recalls happy Easter memories from our own childhoods. Originally made in the 1970's for Steve's sister Miriam, the dress passed to other girl cousins before arriving to adorn the sweet Thorne.

He is Risen!

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." --Jesus the Christ (John 11:25,26)

I can say with Job (19:25) "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Thank you Jesus!