Diary of a Dilettante

Just in case you cared, here's a place where you can find out a little bit about everything that I know a little bit about.

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Location: Los Angeles, CA

I'm all over the place. Get it?

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Sunday, March 26

Naming Opportunity

 

We have been approved by the SOAR Animal Rescue organization to adopt the puppy soon-to-possibly-be-formerly-known-as-'Bandit'. Olive and I have spoken spoken extensively, but both of us are stumped as to what we might name our new family member. Can you help? Please post your ideas. Remember, Bandit is a boy, and half Dachshund, half Chihuahua.

Here's another photo so you can have a visual aid as you brainstorm names:

Friday, March 24

DJ Dabble: March Madness

 

Okay, so this is more of a mellow selection than in the past. Use it for your cool down at the gym, to help battle a bout of insomnia, or to sit and wallow in your depression. (That's what I do...)

Again, a track or two may not be available through iTunes and the Dabbler can burn and send if you'd like your own copy.

Enjoy!

1. The Blower's Daughter, Damien Rice (Sounds Eclectic 3 live version)
2. Counting Stars on the Ceiling, Stars
3. We Both Go Down Together, The Decemberists
4. Goodnight and Go, Imogen Heap
5. Into Your Arms, The Lemonheads
6. Blame it on the Tetons, Modest Mouse
7. Destiny, Zero 7
8. Thinking About You, Ivy
9. Useless (Kruder + Dorfmeister remix), Depeche Mode
10. Intergalactic Friends, Dandy Warhols/Beastie Boys mashup (not available through iTunes)
11. Killing Me Softly with His Song, The Fugees
12. Doll Parts, Hole
13. Where I Belong, Sia

Thursday, March 23

Wine of the Week

 

Two Hands Angels Share 2004 Shiraz

Get it while you can. At less than $30, with the scores this wine is getting it won't be around for very long.

Robert Parker says: "The 2004 Shiraz Angel’s Share is a hedonistic effort. A deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by a fruit-filled wine with a gorgeously complex nose of lead pencil shavings, charcoal, blackberries, and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, with admirable purity, balance, and the tell-tale opulence and voluptuous texture this estate’s wines all seem to possess, it should be enjoyed over the next 7-8 years.

This brilliant operation is a credit to the meticulous winemaking of Michael Twelftree and his staff!" 95 Points

The Dabbler says: I have been saving this for a special occasion, but I haven't had a Two Hands wine that hasn't been excellent, and I can't wait to open up this particular screw cap. Points TBD.

Find it in New York at Varietal Wines and Spirits, and in California at the Woodland Hills Wine Company.

Pet Adoption News!

 

Having always felt guilty for buying a pet from a dog breeder instead of rescuing, the Dabbler is thinking about adding to her family with a pound puppy.

It was Project Manager Olive's fourth birthday yesterday, and what could be a better gift for a little lady than a baby brother? An application has been submitted to SOAR Animal Rescue for this little Dachshund/Chihuahua mix they call Bandit.

If we are lucky to pass muster with the organization, I may ask your help in renaming the 8 week old pup. Or do you like Bandit? If he goes to another home, we will be heartbroken...

Sale Alert!

 

cisco brothers, a Los Angeles based furniture manufacturer that sells only to designers and retail outlets, is having a blow-out sale direct to the public. For those of you who are unfamiliar with cisco but have been to the Dabbler's abode, that suede chair in the living room is a cisco product.

In LA, you can find their wares at Empiric, Civilization and countless other home furnishing stores. In New York, they sell at ABC Home and Carpet, in Boston at Heartwood, and most likely they manufacture items for Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and stores of that ilk.

With prices up to 65% off, it's probably worth a look if you're in the market for a couch, ottoman, bed or chair. Skip the overrated, overpriced CA-Boom show in Santa Monica and head to South LA for some real bargains (though DON'T skip the CA-Boom home tour which features the lovely Weber residence).

ciscobrothers Showroom at the LA Design Center
5955 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90047
t 323-758-8006

Hours: Thursday, March 23rd and Friday, March 24th, 8AM to 5PM; Saturday, March 25th, 9AM to 5PM.

Monday, March 20

The Ivy Pinkerton Files

 

Airbrushed by the sea

A little while ago, I attended my niece’s bat mitzvah. It was an inspired affair, topped off with a teen-infused, Beatle band banquet and dance party. One of the attractions at the reception, aimed appropriately at thirteen year old attendees, was an airbrushed T-shirt stand. So kitschy, right?

But I wanted one, bad. Not just any one, but one featuring a flaming heart on the front and a statement that “I rocked out” at this particular great young lady’s Bat Mitzvah on the back.

Why did I so want this shirt? Truth be told, the teens convinced me. Despite all the awkwardness of hormonal changes and shape shifting, thirteen is one of the most delightful, albeit painful, time in ones life – full of potential, of becoming, but not knowing what the hell will happen next. As someone in my late twenties (wink, wink), I am as Edith Wharton said in the House of Mirth, past the point where “the warm fluidity of youth is chilled into its final shape”. And what better captures the teenage, fluid spirit than an airbrushed t-shirt?

Shortly thereafter, I found myself on a Dominican Republic beach trip with four close female friends. Among the crashing waves and the rowdy company it was the perfect venue to debut my inner teen.


At the sea, my airbrushed T-shirt and I were in perfect harmony.

--IP



Sunday, March 19

The Wandering Dabbler: Puerto Vallarta Edition

 

It had been some time since I had done any sort of leisure travel involving a pool and some sunshine. For some reason, I've been more compelled to arrange vacations around things involving culture, whether it be of the high-, culinary- or viti- variety (Europe, Japan, Sonoma, etc.). I guess this is appropriate considering seeing 'important' art, learning about the nuances of grape varietals, and eating fish next to the now closed-to-the-public Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo are all dilettantish activities. They are the experiences that make one a Jack (or Jill) of all trades and allow one to talk proudly about their vacation that involved 'learning' and 'experiences' rather than a 5 day margarita-induced alcoholic bender.

However, this week I learned a lot about the benefits of travelling to a place where there is essentially nothing to do, and no culture other than that offered by Senor Frog's Spring Break Foam Parties.



I had no expectations going into this, my only knowledge of the resort coming only from the distant memories of Charo and Captain Merrill Stubing docking here in the 1980s. So there was a lot to experience.

In no particular order, here are some things that the Dabbler found pleasant, learned, or took note of during her sojourn to 'PV', as the locals say:

--Staying at a timeshare condo, I was afforded the opportunity of occasionally preparing my own food. Hence, several trips to the nearby Mega supermarket were made, and, as in any country, you can learn a whole lot about a place by how it does its shopping, especially for necessities. In PV, the Mega was exactly as the name indicates. Huge. Products available here include not just food, but clothing, bicycles, appliances, sporting equipment, eyewear, over-the-counter Ciproflaxin and pretty much anything you can imagine. It seems that the closer to the 3rd world a country is, the larger their supermarkets are (and the less expensive the items sold there are). Which leads me to the conclusion that with Wal-Mart and big box stores taking over the U.S., we are surely slipping in status from first world to something less.

--One department more advanced in Mexico than U.S. is culture. Well, to be more specific...active yogurt culture(s). The Mexicans seem to really enjoy their dairy products, and the scope of yogurt offerings at the Mega was breathtaking. And as you all now know, the Dabbler loves nothing more than 'yogurt that tastes like yogurt', found here in abundance. Acidopholus is alive and well in PV.

--I didn't miss television. Though there was one in our room, we didn't turn it on all week. Of course, the fact that trusty Tivo was back in LA recording the season premiere of The Sopranos comforted me during my week of visual media dieting.

--I read. A lot. I read Barbara Ehrenreich's depressing but illuminating 'Nickeled and Dimed' (which offers further proof that the US is slipping from 1st world status to something else, just a tad lower); I read Vanity Fair, and pondered whether Teri Hatcher was noble in her admission of having been sexually abused as a child, or a typical publicity-seeking-Hollywood -monkey; when I ran out of gossip magazines, I resorted to the New York Times, which I read cover to cover, two days in a row!

--I ate. And I ate. And then ate some more. I continued to consume, thinking, hoping, that I would contract some sort of stomach ailment, the turista that Mexico is so well known for. I arrived in PV with Pepto Bismol and Immodium in hand. But, alas, Montezuma never took its revenge, so my liberal eating backfired just a little bit.

--I exercised. So the eating did not do the damage that it might otherwise have. The complex had a decent little workout room that enabled me to shed some of the cervezas and camarones (and yogurt) consumed over the week. So I'm not losing so much sleep over not having contracted diarrhea.

--Highly polluted Los Angeles is nothing compared to PV, where emmissions standards remain at perhaps the 1975 benchmark. I fear for the polar icecaps.

--I learned that when you ask a cab driver to take you to an authentic restaurant in PV, he takes you to the most remote and expensive place he can find, presumably getting some kind of kickback from the restaurant, or at the very least, a guaranteed fare back from some other similarly duped tourist finishing their meal just as you arrive.

--I found out that I am actually a full fledged adult as I gawked with astonishment and confusion as 20 year old co-eds on Spring Break drank 60 ounce frozen strawberry margaritas as they danced on the bar at Senor Frog's (visible from the boardwalk; I did NOT go inside). I just couldn't wrap my head around the appeal of such an activity. Come to think of it, such antics haven't ever really enticed me, so I guess I have been a full-fledged fuddy-duddy all my life. The Dabbler has never gone, will never go, Coyote Ugly.

--Tequila...I haven't indulged in the poison since 1989, at my sister's bachelorette festivities at the Golden Banana on Route 1 in Saugus. The smell of the drink makes me cringe, as do the spotty memories of Conan the stripper's stage show.

--Hence, I had some beer. I haven't ordered beer in a restaurant in aeons, not since I have become an aspiring oenophile. And the beer was tasty.

Not that one can't do shopping, eating, reading and drinking on other types of vacations, but a fun-in-the-sun week is definitely more conducive to such activities than a museum hopping, countryside touring or urban immersion kind of trip. Puerto Vallarta, rock on!

Wednesday, March 8

Tivo Travails: Real World Edition

 


So I pulled the plug on my season pass to MTV's mainstay, The Real World. How can you top the Dizzy Rooster, I ask? You can't. So Austin is the end of the series' stronghold on the Dabbler's remote control (though any 'Challenge'-style show featuring the likes of the Miz, Trishelle, Danny or Coral will certainly be grandfathered).

Also, a strange fascination with 'There and Back', the Ashley Parker Angel reality series, has developed -- though being in denial, the Dabbler only catches this particular program if happened upon by 'chance', and the former O-Towner will not be granted season pass status.

If anybody has insight into the following matter please pipe in: Ashley calls his bratty fiancee/mother of his child 'Tiff' but in Entertainment Weekly she was referred to as Lynn. What's up with that? And does it creep anybody else out that Ashley calls Tiff/Lynn's live-in mother 'mom'? Or is it just sweet? For a while I couldn't figure out if 'mom' was Ashley or Tiff/Lynn's parent.

The Garage Project: Almost Completed Edition!

 

It's still not finished but here are some photos as we enter the final stretch. First guests arrive on Saturday so we're down to the wire...















Friday, March 3

Sale Alert!

 

Furniture junkies and Mid-Century Modern enthusiasts will delight in the bonanza of a sale being held this Saturday (10 to 4) at the Modernica warehouse somewhere east of downtown Los Angeles. The store's ludicrously overpriced furniture has been slashed down to only slightly overpriced (the Case Study storage units, for instance, are made of inexpensive birch plywood, five dollar steel angles, and your standard furniture gliders; the retail mark-up must be somewhere in the 1000% range. At the sale, mark-up is probably about 300%).

The Dabbler was treated to a preview sale last night for mailing list members, and found relative bargains (again, considering how much Modernica usually charges). For the retail price of the Eames Case Study work table that was going to be the final purchase for the Garage Project, said table, an Eames fiberglass shell chair on casters (photo to right), and a George Nelson bubble lamp (photo to left) were all procured. All are in perfect or near perfect condition. Best of all, one can leave with purchased items in hand. It's like instant gratification eBay.

A word of warning: supposedly people line up an hour before the sale so they get first crack at the merchandise. However, it seemed like Case Study daybeds, bedframes, Eames shell chairs (with various bases), bubble lamps, storage units and other items were available in abundance, so camping out overnight is probably unnecessary. I would recommend a morning visit, however.

Sale details: Modernica Warehouse, 2135 7th Place, Los Angeles. Take the 101 South to the 7th Street exit. Take a right onto 7th Street, a left onto Santa Fe, and another left onto 7th place. Park anywhere. Bring your S.U.V. (though delivery is available for a fee).