l.a. printer's fair

I've been interested in book and printing history since I started working in rare book libraries, and I love that the art of printing is still alive through modern artists' works. So I was pretty excited to discover that we moved to town just in time for the Los Angeles Printer's Fair held at the International Printing Museum in Carson last weekend. There were a number of vendors at the fair that day, many selling cards, handmade books, handmade papers, and other materials related to fine printing. The museum was also demonstrating some of its presses, including the Heidelberg Windmill (which was featured in the movie Seven Pounds). You can see a video of a Heidelberg Windmill in action here, although of course it's not the same as seeing it in person. The museum was selling a variety of old printing presses, and Jesse and I were disappointed that we weren't ready to buy yet (being that we live in a tiny apartment, and that we have no idea what we are doing). But it was fun to walk around and pick up business cards, many of which were works of art in themselves.

A highlight of the day for me was meeting Carolee Campbell of the Ninja Press. I have long admired her work, especially The Real World of Manuel Cordova, by Pulitzer-prize winning poet W.S. Merwin, which is letterpress-printed on handmade paper and features a vibrant river of color alongside the text. You can see a black and white photo of the book here. Carolee casually dropped into our conversation that she is married to Hector Elizondo...who knew?

As a side-note, Merwin's papers are held at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library where I worked before moving to California. I have Present Company, a book of his poetry, and I recommend it. Coincidentally, he'll be speaking at Pepperdine this fall, and I am very much looking forward to seeing him again.

new things

California is definitely different than anywhere I've lived before. Here are some new things we've experienced:

When we went to Malibu last weekend, we saw a veterinary clinic was offering "rattlesnake vaccines." Should we be scared?! Perhaps we should hold off on hiking until we are more educated?


The California wildfires are in the news, and while they aren't really that close to us, and we haven't seen ash in our area, it's very odd to see the billows of smoke. We saw them especially when we were driving on the freeway, and once this past weekend from the beach. It's very ominous and bizarre, and definitely a new experience. Pepperdine has been threatened by fires before, although where we live in Santa Monica is generally safe from them.


We've been exploring from the car a little lately, and recently drove down Hollywood Blvd. We got out of the car for about 45 minutes and walked by some of the famous sites. The Kodak Theatre was a little disappointing from the outside. (Do you know that between the red carpet and the actual theatre there is a big mall hallway??? So the actors have to walk by Clare's - or something - on their way to the Oscars? That just seems like it would be a little bit of let-down.) The stars in the sidewalk are a little more like what you would expect, but certainly no more exciting than you might expect.

BUT Grauman's Chinese Theatre was really fun. That's where celebrities have left their handprints and footprints and messages in the cement. I don't know why it's so fascinating to see the shapes and sizes of Matt Damon's (large) and Judy Garland's (teensy and adorable) shoes, but it is.

trip to malibu: fun, but ultimate failure

As if I don't get enough of the Pacific Coast Highway driving to and from work every day, Jesse and I decided to head up the coast two weekends ago to Malibu to check out the beaches. Verdict: they look much like the beaches in Santa Monica except that when you turn around you see trees and cliffs instead of city buildings. Well, that's worth something.

We went to Point Dume State Beach and headed up the bluffs for a great view. They say that this is a great place for whale-watching in November and March. After our little "hike," I was pretty hot and hopped right in the water. It was enjoyable for a little bit...nice waves, etc. But then a big one came, and like an amateur, I just stood there and screamed. I am not being dramatic here (except maybe a little): that wave smashed me to the ground, tossed me around, and spit me out on the shore. I almost lost my bathing suit, my hair was full of sand, and Jesse said I looked a little like a body that had been washed up to shore. Well, technically I was a body that had washed up to shore. It was only after I got back up to the beach chairs that I realized my knee was bleeding. It got pretty swollen that afternoon and looked awful.

I sat out the rest of the afternoon on the beach chairs, and watched everyone else playing in the waves, assuming, of course, that someone would have as hard a time as I had staying upright. But, nope, not even the little kids seemed the least bit phased by what I thought were pretty strong waves. I guess that is what happens when you grow up with the ocean as your playground.

Major upside of the day: we saw a school of dolphins AND a seal swim by. That almost made up for the wounded knee.

P.S. Over a week later, my knee still hurts. Is this what happens in your thirties?

Westward Beach, where we were

Another beach we saw from the bluffs, a little more secluded

Westward Beach again

restaurant review: cha cha chicken (and bonus: video store review)

I'm pretty excited to start exploring new restaurants as we get to know the LA area, so I hope to post occasional "reviews." This will probably not benefit many readers outside of the area (um, everyone?), but it'll be fun anyway. And then when you all come visit me, you'll already know where you want to eat. :) So here's number one...

Last night, Jesse and I wanted to try a new, inexpensive restaurant in the area. After looking through our Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles and browsing some websites, I finally searched Yelp.com for restaurants within one mile and with one dollar sign. Caribbean food restaurant Cha Cha Chicken was a clear front-runner, with over 200 reviews and 4 out of 5 stars. We walked down to the ocean boardwalk, and then north a few blocks to the little, orange, beachy (read: shack-like) restaurant. It was hopping, and we were just glad to get a table. Jesse got the original cha cha chicken, and I had jerk chicken enchiladas. Both were so tasty...we ate them in almost complete silence (except for oohs and ahhs). The restaurant is BYO too, which could be fun. We saw one table had a jug of sangria. Definitely recommended.

On the way home, we stopped at the video store at the end of our street for the first time, called "Vidiots." It definitely does not have a chain store look...there's a lot of neon and painted storefront windows. I don't think I expected anything too special, but it was definitely the best video store I've ever visited, with a multitude of films and creative organization for optimal browseability (the librarian in me loves this). They had a large section of movies organized by director (English and foreign), and a wide variety of random topical sections, for example: an entire endcap devoted to Jane Austen movies (there are a surprising number), sections for 30s and 40s comedies, beach movies, "vintage" directors, silent movies, noir, Shakespeare, spy movies, etc. The store was packed and had almost as many videos as DVDs. Again, definitely recommended.

we can live here?!

In the first 24 hours of our residency in Santa Monica, we:

visited Peet's Coffee for the first time (Jesse has since become a regular)

walked to the ocean boardwalk with Yuki

tried to envision our furniture in our apartment (never going to fit...)

checked out the little grocery store on the the other side of the park

made predictions that Jesse would go to the grocery store at least once a day (can confirm that this is true so far)

ate a delicious breakfast at the Farmer's Market (which also had bright and beautiful produce, some nice local pottery, good live music, and a ride-a-pony gig for kids)

went swimming in the ocean

walked to Venice Beach

And none of it required a car!

Boardwalk at the beach

Breakfast at the Santa Monica farmer's market

goodbye illinois, hello california

A little more than a week ago, we packed up our Jeep (dog and all), said goodbye to our little house, made a few last stops (including the library, of course), and struck out for California. It was 2pm by the time we finally got out of town, and we were pretty exhausted from the packing and cleaning that had taken place in just a few short days, so we didn't make it far that first day. We ended up driving all day the next day (almost 17 hours) and then finished up on the third day. Altogether, the trip took us 33.5 hours of driving. Poor Yuki was beside himself. He hates to miss anything in the car, so he basically never lies down, although we think he did a couple of times on that long day. By the end of the trip, I honestly think he wanted to get out of the car for the first time in his little doggie life.

We drove through St. Louis and Oklahoma into Texas, places we had been before. But once we hit New Mexico, it was new territory for us. A few places I would have liked to stop if I hadn't needed to get to California asap for the job: the cowboy museum, along the side of the road to take pictures of Western-style retro billboards (including one that said "Ride the Rabbit!" with a picture of a giant jackrabbit), a restaurant selling fried pies (probably better that we didn't stop there), a meteor crater, and most especially, Flagstaff. It looked so nice from the freeway, that I almost felt like forgetting about California and moving there instead. Then again, we were pretty sick of driving by that point. We almost didn't make it through the California desert since there were no gas stations. But we finally arrived in LA, got stuck in traffic (on a Saturday afternoon?? oh dear....), and then ended up in Santa Monica in the late afternoon. Less than an hour later, we were walking to the beach, breathing salty ocean air, and feeling pretty happy to have finally arrived.

University of Illinois campus

New Mexico

Arizona

California

Yuki peeking over the luggage to see out the front window. :)

welcome to "calibrarian"

I live in California, and I'm a librarian. Get it? :)