I spent Thursday morning lounging around and reading Geek Love, a book I’d unsuccessfully tried to mooch on BookMooch for going on three months (I honestly don’t know why I keep trying, every experience I’ve had with that site makes me loathe it and humanity more) and eventually broke down and purchased after bringing terror down on a Barnes & Noble bathroom one afternoon. Around noon, when my camera battery was fully charged, I walked the three miles to Balboa Park to see what I could see. The first area that I wandered around was the artists’ gallery, where visitors can observe craftspeople at work, purchase their work, and occasionally also take classes in the trade. I didn’t see many artists at work, and the area was mostly quiet save for the classical guitarist sitting in the middle of the venue.
After I had seen what there was to see in the artists’ gallery, I walked to the cactus and rose garden areas of the park. I actually expected to prefer the rose gardens, but was struck by the variety of cactus species and the way they were arranged; the cacti were in a more natural arrangement which gave the area a power that the bricked-off roses did not have. Equally amazing was how quickly the power and beauty of the area was sapped when some douchebag decided to bring a boombox and blast Bon Jovi. Go ride your steel horse into traffic, cowboy.
I was really saddened and disappointed to see that people had taken it upon themselves to carve their names into the cacti, to rip up the dedication plates on the benches in the rose pavillion and to tag the hell out of the benches and pavillion itself. What did they get out of it, besides ruining something nice for other people? When I mentioned this to my dad later, he said that one of his recurring fantasies is to just appear out of nowhere with a baseball bat when people like this are tagging, break their legs, and disappear into the night; a different sort of batman. I am pretty much my father’s daughter. I wandered around the park proper for a while, people-watching. The botanical gardens were closed, which was a little disappointing, as I’ve enjoyed that area in the past.
After a time, I went into the Timken Museum of Art, and while I shouldn’t complain about a free museum, I’m going to do so regardless. The staff loomed unpleasantly at every room entrance, and it’s hard to focus on art when you can feel eyeballs boring holes into your back. What’s worse, though, and any decent curator should know this, is that very reflective paintings were displayed high on the walls near the light source, rendering them impossible to see. What, exactly, is the point of having a museum where you cannot actually see the works of art? After the disappointment of the Timken, I washed the taste out of my mouth with one of the pay museums–the Museum of Man, which was currently running three exhibits: one on ancient South American Indian civilizations, one on the evolution of man, and one on the Egyptians and mummification, all of which are right up my alley. 
This is Gigantopithecus, the largest known primate. No, they did not have a stuffed Bigfoot inside the museum. Here they showed a series of related primates: 
Here I just wanted to take a picture of some caveman wang: 
Not all robot feet look like that. This display is discriminatory against robots, I feel. Also, my feet are much daintier than any of those. Then I got to play dig site, which didn’t really have any relevance to anything else in the museum, but what the hell:
After I’d finished with the Museum of Man, it was just about time to walk back and meet my dad for dinner. We ended up going to El Indio, which is one of my favorite Mexican places ever even though I get the totally gringo trailer park of taste California burrito (carne asada, cheese, and french fries all wrapped in a flour tortilla. Yeah, you read that correctly.) and a mysterious beverage called ‘BANG!’. After dinner, we walked down the street and bought some gelato, and I brought up the idea of going to school for makeup special effects. I did not expect my dad to be supportive of the idea at ALL as he’s always discouraged me when I looked at ‘arty’ careers, so I was floored when he said he thought that sort of career would be a perfect fit for me and that I should definitely go for it. So far I’m still looking at schools, but it’s nice to feel like I’ve got a path in front of me and that I’m not in it alone.
Who doesn’t love a mouthful of Bang? It’s what the Mastronauts drink!
Girl, you like to drink some Bang! and that’s all right!
Encountering douchenozzles aside, you got some BEAUTIFUL shots.
Thank you! 🙂
AMAZING pics of the flora and fauna. I just totally DIG that sort of stuff and can’t get enough of it.
As for caveman wang, so cool to know they weren’t circumcised back then. 😛
Thank you! 🙂
I think it’s important to know about the wangs of our anscestors so we can project to what the wangs of the future will be like.
‘Wangs of the Future’ might be a good band name.
“Future Wang”
Ooooh, how about the double-entendre ‘Projected Wang’?
Really great pictures! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for having a peek! 🙂 Now that I’ve got a little time, I’m going to go back and look through all of your Ireland stuff, I’m really excited to see it!
what kind of camera do you use?
It’s a canon powershot sd780.
If you end up at Tom Savini’s school, i’m moving back east and hiding/living in your backpack. fair warning.
I adoooooooooore Tom Savini so I am considering it even though I loathe PA (sorry, but it’s true!).
Trust me, with me living in your backpack, you will learn to adore it. C’mon, we’ll roadtrip to Centralia and eat cheesesteaks dressed up as monsters. AWESOME.
But we could do that ANYWAY and not live in PA. We could do it in Hollywood. Or in Washington, since the program I am rapidly zeroing in on is Dick Smith’s distance learning course.
And you could make friends with my dad. C’moooonnnn.
Now, have you even considered if your dad WANTS to be friends with me?
Huh. Have you found feedback anywhere about that course? Idk, distance learning prosthetics seems kinda sketch… =/ (Of course, if it’s legit, hello summer class.)
It’s produced an assload of Oscar winners and the man himself is widely respected but I’m not flinging down my money today. 🙂
That fourth cactus means business…
Had you a shooting partner, would that sign have stopped you from getting a photo with giganto?
If I had a shooting partner, I would have climbed into that display without hesitation.
But they said PLEASE!
He does look like he’s all set up to put his arm around people…
Those magenta flowers!!! I want to lick them, it’s such a delicious color!
They are used as ground cover in some areas of San Diego, it is so beautiful and striking when you see a house sitting on a carpet of purple flowers.
Oh those roses look absolutely beautiful!
And that California Burrito may in fact be the death of me. Its so wrong and yet… and yet…!
One might expect to feel the sting of shame when eating a California Burrito, but no. It contains such deliciousness that even shame is overwhelmed.
That’s how it would be in MY museum, anyhow.
And an excellent museum it would be, sir.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEE GEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finished it on the flight home, it was really good!
Love the cacti/flower pics. I’m either Getting Old or starting to appreciate nature & all that crap…
It’s probably a newfound appreciation for nature, we can’t be getting old!
…OFF OF MY LAWN, YOU DAMN KIDS!
Yay
San Diego! I started my silversmithing in the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society, when I was a young’un.
Also love the cactus garden! I go there pretty much every time I visit SD.
Also Gelato Vero! Weird rooftop ambience.
Re: Yay
Oh wow, I didn’t know you started jewelryworking at such a young age!
Re: Yay
I was 14 I think. I did their lapidary program from 12-13 and at 14 I was allowed to graduate to silver. It was an amazing deal, classes cost like…. $1.75, everything included. Of course that was when silver was 4 bucks an ounce!
Re: Yay
That’s really cool! So you were pretty experienced before you went off to college, then?
Re: Yay
Well, somewhat. They were super old school in their techniques and very low tech – they didn’t even have a flex-shaft (pornographic name for a rotary tool) and they used propane, which takes for-freekin-ever to heat up an object (as opposed to acetylene – FIRE!).
That said, without the rotary tool I learned a lot of patience because I had to sand and shape everything by hand. Now I have a flexshaft and my life is much easier in the studio.
They were also super traditional in their designs – nothing fancy coming out here. If they saw what I did they would probably be confused. They were old. Like ancient.
Re: Yay
Does your mom know you have a pornographic rotary tool in your workshop? 😉
Also, when will I get to see wedding photos? I am quite excited to see them and I’m suuuuuure you have nothing better to do than to post those for the non-attending masses. 🙂
Re: Yay
I want to see them too! I am waiting for them from the photographer.
Don’t worry, I will make the best ones quite public.
Daaaammn, girl, those cacti photos are gorgeous!
And I so want that burrito and a BANG right now.
Thank you!