A Place of Substance...!?

The Los Angeles Times interviewed director Werner Herzog this weekend about his upcoming film, Rescue Dawn, and asked the German-born iconoclast why he has chosen to make Los Angeles his home:

"We lived for a while in San Francisco, but it was too chic and leisurely," Herzog explains. "New York is only a place to go if you're into finances. But we wanted a place of cultural substance. And if you look behind the stereotype of glitz and glamour, that is Los Angeles."

Herzog likes Los Angeles because, in his eyes, it is so un-chic, its treasures so unappreciated. "If you go to Florence, it has all surface beauty, but like Venice, it's simply a museum of Renaissance times. Los Angeles is raw, uncouth and bizarre, but it's a place of substance. It has more new horizons than any other place."

screamfest

i spent the day at magic mountain with the fouche girls and their visiting friend, gabby, from south africa. not only was it gabby's first time at magic mountain, but it was also her first time in america. i had volunteered myself earlier in the week to take the girls out for an excursion.

what was i thinking? i hate rollercoasters. i'm more of a disneyland girl. teacups, anyone? why would i torture myself by being on a ride that does this:
sheer terror upside down. all i could think about was "when is this ride over? please, please God, if you love me, i won't fall out this ride." what also didn't help, was a friend telling me the day before of the story of the girl from the previous week involved in the rollercoaster accident. i did go to magic mountain once when i was in high school, but i definitely don't remember the rollercoasters being this fast or this scary.it was a long hot day. and all that screaming can really wear you out. i can't remember the last time i just screamed my guts out solely because there was nothing else i could do to express the utter feeling of helplessness and extreme fear i was feeling inside. all that intense anxiety and adrenaline pumping wore me out after about the 2nd or 3rd ride.
ahh, i'm so thankful to be alive!

professional friend

today i was sitting with terry on his front porch and we had this conversation:

"so, i have you found any work yet?"

"nooo...i really need to work, though. i mean, i don't really want to, but i need to. if i had my choice, i would love to just visit and have lunch with people all day long. i wish there was some kind of job out there where i could work as a professional friend! that'd be pretty cool..."

"well, you know, that's what i tell people when they ask me what i do for a living. i tell them i'm a professional friend. that's what i do as a pastor."

"really?? huh! hmm..."

concrete jungle

i was driving home on the 10 freeway this afternoon, and i suddenly noticed how gray everything was. after being in the amazon for two weeks and seeing nothing but green, green, green everywhere, the stark contrast of seeing everything around me in gray was more than depressing. "how come i never noticed this about LA before?" i asked myself. i suppose the answer is obvious.

my beloved city doesn't seem so beloved anymore since leaving brazil.

afternoon delight

i went to visit heidi this afternoon. i was so excited because i hadn't seen her for almost two months - one month from being completely swallowed up at work, and the other month from being away in south america. as a "welcome home! you're back!" gesture, she offered me some dessert.

now, let me explain something to you. after being in brazil, i returned with the firm resolution to further improve my eating habits and refine my figure. i made this pretty clear to heidi and tyler, but politely said that i would accept a scoop of ice cream. however, after much persuasion and playful encouragement, i somehow ended up with this:

the amazing brownie was something hides had made and insisted that the whip cream was the creme de la creme. imagine my horror as i watched her generously mound the whip cream on top:


as much as i miss brazil, it is good to be back with friends.