I slept through my first earthquake.

We had a 4.5 quake in LA, the first time I visit the town. It occured around 1AM, well after my bedtime.

Damn.

I was at a workshop/conference at UCLA during the week. Quite a pretty campus. Looking at the buildings, it looks like the campus heyday was about 40 years ago. Sure, there has been change, but the architecture of many buildings bears a certain late mid-20th Century essence about them. There's the industrial scientific confidence of the 50's space-age romanticism tempered by the awkward expressions of clunky 60's funk. Don't get me wrong, the place has its charms. The view of the hills on the other side of campus is stunning. I took a stroll around campus just after sunrise, the cool air made for a pleasant walk over the long shadows settling on the quad. About at the end of my walk, I came across this commemoration piece for Duke Ellington in front of the Music Dept. There ought to be more art installations like this.

Artifacts of appreciation are too rare.


After the first night of the conference, I stayed at a motel in Brentwood after being unceremoniously bumped from the hotel in which I had originally booked a room. It turned out for the best, I figured. The place was funky and quiet and was in a much nicer space than the place I had booked on Wilshire. The shower had a 'champagne' setting so that the streams of water were foamy and thick. Very classy, no? If Norma Jean were around, she would have said it was 'swellegant', a term coined in her film (and my favorite) The Seven Year Itch.


Also, some lovely Los Angelino cut a 1/2 foot gash on the side of my truck. Thank you very much, whoever you are (it's a very high scratch, so I am thinking semi-truck or Hummer). I'll keep you fondly in my heart for adding your special touch to the one thing of value I own.