amy visits for a day

amy visits for a day
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

feeling more like saturday than black sunday, yesterday indulged my favorite fancies, not even sparing the extra hour for rest, and included a fiber festival, murakami at the moca, the santa monica beach at night and a lovely dinner with mike and his sister amy.

weaving & spinning fiber festival in torrance
the hurried exploration of festival goodness rationed my usually ridiculous consumption of all things fiber. i say ridiculous because i bought more roving when i haven't done that much spinning nor do i have the time to, but the touching and the looking enticed me. photos coming soon.

murakami at the moca
if you are interested in japanese buddhist iconography or pop culture through the brightly tinted lens and subversive cuteness of big-eyed cartoon characters with sharp teeth, you cannot miss the murakami exhibit. in spite of the crowded insanity of the opening weekend, i really enjoyed the show. although i have seen murakami's work in the context of group shows, i have not had the opportunity to reflect on and appreciate the references and the humor.

i liked the huge gotee'd buddha with one serene and one mad pointy teeth baring face sitting on a flattened elephant sculpture made of titanium and the room wall-papered with silk-screened faced flowers with flower paintings sometimes appearing to recede and sometimes appearing to bulge out of the walls. i thought the cutesy mushrooms with big eyes were sinister in the context of the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb. confused and disturbed was i to all of a sudden walk into a louis vuitton store selling bags with murakami-ized LV logos.

santa monica beach
we missed the sunset, but could still see a spectrum of colors in the sky over the ocean horizon and glow of the amusement park rides on the pier. only mildly chilly, we walked the long expanse of sand to smell the sea.

ammo
still a favorite even after a long time away, ammo did not disappoint. we started by sharing a market beet and avocado salad. my dish of spaghetti with bitter greens and proscuitto was simple yet delicious and light. mike had the farotto with beets in a pomegranate reduction which had complex sweet, salty and tangy flavors. amy loved her slightly sweet lasagna filled with grilled shitakes and fresh vegetables. we ended with a rustic apple tart with mascarpone and sundae with trio of coffee, chocolate & vanilla ice cream blanketed with caramel and chocolate sauces and sweet graham(?) chunks.

mike's quick rush to get a replacement air mattress from target (cats punctured the previous one) resulted in one twice the thickness. it looked so good, i was wanting to sleep on it myself.

...

a victim of the time change, i left work an hour early because i was following the computer clock, not realizing it had not been updated. doh! well, at least i had more time to catch up on some sewing in class where i made good progress on the pajama pants.