Tag Archives: shopping

Getting Out: Los Angeles

A word on Los Angeles: I thought I was going to hate it there. I have long held that Southern California is not a real place, and that the entire state is, in fact, a bold advertising campaign for In-N-Out Burger (see: Fig. A).

Okay, it really is as good as everyone claims. I regret stating otherwise and fully retract any statement made previously.

Okay, it really is as good as everyone claims. I regret stating otherwise and fully retract any statement made previously.

I spent five great days in the City of Angels a few weeks back, and I’ve got some suggestions for you for eating, drinking, shopping, and seeing. It’s by no means conclusive (how could it be?), but it’s representative and a little bit off the beaten path.

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Revisiting Terrariums: Breaking Bad

Oh, hell yes.

This is a thing you can buy with your money.

This is a thing you can buy with your money.

This is a Breaking Bad terrarium, so I’m not really sure what more you could reasonably expect from your life.

Getting Out: Cincinnati

Despite the fact that Kentucky is the South and Ohio is the Midwest, we share a lot of border. I’m talking a lot. Cincinnati is only about ninety minutes away from Louisville, so I go there sometimes, just for kicks.

I am usually morally opposed to going to Ohio, because what do they have that I don’t, other than IKEA and some pro sports teams? Admittedly, those are some pretty big things to not have, but I also discovered they have some OTHER stuff that I like/want.

There is some amazing art deco architecture and the like, some beautiful museums, great food, and all kinds of stuff like that. All in all, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting from the third largest city in Ohio. A lot of people gave me amazing suggestions, and I followed them accordingly.

The Delta Queen steamboat, and a view of the city at night.

The Delta Queen steamboat, and a view of the city at night.

Don’t take my word for it. Photos and a city guide after the jump. Continue reading

Places I’d Like to Move Into: Get Smart

As I mentioned last week, I was obsessed with Get Smart as a kid. For the uninitiated, this is a late 60s Mel Brooks spy comedy starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. Here’s a full episode I found on YouTube.

If you loved Inspector Gadget, you will adore this. Maxwell Smart, the titular character, had this amazing, colorful, very mod apartment in New York that really informed my sensibilities. While the time period in which this show is set is contemporaneous with Mad Men, it’s a lot more exuberant and expressive than you see on those sets, probably because it’s supposed to be a joke about the 60s. I dreamed of an apartment like this when I was little, and even though I now know I can’t have the exploding telephone or the bullet-proof invisible wall. Sigh.

And patriotic.

And patriotic, too.

The whole show is just an explosion of color blocking, sharp lines, fake eyelashes, and Cold War-era humor. It’s a big winner. Fun fact: Agent 99 and Max Smart get married in the fourth season and have kids, and she became the first working mother on television. Like I said: this show was hugely influential for me. Let’s move into the Smarts apartment after the jump.

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It has come to my attention…

…that it is Presidents’ Day. I haven’t paid any mind to arbitrary government ditch days since high school (when I stopped getting the day off), and discovered this when I tried to go to the bank and discovered that that was not in the cards for the day.

The next step, obviously, was to try and celebrate in some way, even though this is a completely fake holiday. I don’t own one of those barrister’s wigs (though I would like to!), so dressing up in period costume is strictly out this year. That leaves me with no choice: I must search Etsy for Thomas Jefferson-themed memorabilia (favorites, if I can call them that, included this, this, and this). It is something of a dream for me to one day own a bust of the man himself like my friend Will’s parents own one, and they dress him up for holidays. I am in favor of this in all its iterations, and really liked his Halloween costume last year (Abraham Lincoln).

Anyway, what I actually did was go to Zachary Taylor Cemetery. It’s near my house, and it’s probably Louisville’s only legitimate presidential tie (though the aforementioned 16th president is totally from Kentucky so don’t let any Illinois poseurs tell you otherwise). I got a pretty shot, so I thought I’d share it with you.

If you squint, you can see Ole Rough and Ready's mausoleum yonder.

If you squint, you can see Ole Rough and Ready’s mausoleum yonder.

The pictures I took AT the mausoleum were just creepy and not very illustrative, so let’s just pretend those didn’t happen.

Now that I did my nominal history stuff, I’m going to celebrate the true meaning of Presidents’ Day: shopping for a new juicer at Macy’s.

Fantasy Life Update: A Vase

One of my girlfriends got me this for Christmas:

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And trust me, I’ve tried. Poppies, peonies, plumeria. Nothing is as pretty as this vase. In my rich, rich fantasy life (in which I live in Erin’s house with my Great Pyrenees and have this hair), I eat any and all meals on Laura Zindel creations. For now, I guess my early-80s Pier One lotus bowls will be just fine, but a girl can dream, right?