MY FAVORITE MURDER, ART IN LA, AND BECOMING A SIM

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS: OCTOBER 29–NOVEMBER 4, 2018!
It’s Halloween week. I DIY my own Sims 4 costume, visit a range of art exhibitions covering Ancient Egypt to Adrian Piper. Plus, a haircut, another cookbook shoot, and unpacking the new place. (Happy Birthday, Dad!)

Enjoy!

The pumpkins have survived the night!

A spooky foggy October morning.

I’m a pumpkin

Came home from the Villa to work from home the rest of the day, Sufi became my office-mate. Yes, still lots to unpack in here. Just kind of living with the clutter.

Alex “working”

Pottery studio: I glazed some pieces, and trimmed one, and managed to throw four fairly similar cups (one really thick one hahah).

We had picked up these little ghost lights back at the Halloween store weeks ago, and finally decided where to hang them.

So cute

The ghost lights are on, the pumpkins are lit, and my cauldron from Disneyland is bubbling.

The pieces I brought home with me from pottery the night before. I…actually like my cups! The taller skinny one has some issues, but the black ones…I like! Wow! (I have a photo of them glazed before firing last week)

Tuesday, I pack up my final pumpkin I picked up the week before. It’s coming to work with me.

Took the lunch hour to quiiickly carve some pumpkins.

Which is mine?

From this timer photo, learned I had a bruise on my knee

Our weird little pumpkin family.

Afternoon at the California Science Center to see the King Tut exhibition and listen to the audio guide.

This past year has been the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. This exhibition features 150 artifacts (60 that have never been outside of Egypt till this show). The Getty has been working in King Tut’s tomb over the last few years, studying some brown spots on the surface of wall paintings. So we were here to learn a bit more about Tutankhamun.

This NatGeo article has some info if you want to learn more about the tomb’s discovery and who Tut was. (Turns out he wasn’t a very important king, as he reigned for only 9 years as a child for most of it). What made him so famous was the discovery of this tomb holding precious artifacts that reveal the death tradition and artistic mastery of that period in Egyptian history. Much of the other tombs in the Valley of the Dead were looted, or already emptied and sold (hello museums around the world that still have some of these objects today). (Looting is complicated and still a problem today, especially in times of conflict when illegally selling off cultural items can be a way to make money in a time of instability). (This is all my non-expert way of simplifying what happens)

OKAY anyways, that was all a side note. I did take a lot of pics because WOW everything is so incredibly detailed and well preserved and awesome.

These wooden food-shaped containers would have held actual food meant to feed the hungry spirit of Tut who would be going on a long journey in the afterlife.

The materials wahhhhh the glass!

Tut walked with a limp (he had a few health issues related to genetic disorders, including a club foot) and so there were hundreds of walking sticks and canes found in his tomb. This one featured a captured person who would be appear to be choked as Tut held the cane to walk. Nice…

Horus being cool as heck

Fashionable sandals everywhere

Ushabti, funerary figurines that were placed in tombs that could be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife. They were like minions, who the deceased could ask to get things done.

Toe caps, finger caps, and many of the decorative gold elements that wrapped the mummified body of Tut.

The exhibition mentions that the “Crook and Flail” are depicted in so many artworks from Ancient Egypt, but only three ‘lifesize’ ones have been found, including this one in Tut’s tomb.

On the crook and flail: “The crook was known as the heka in Egyptian. It originated from the staff (known as an awet) that shepherds used to protect their sheep. The crook represented his role as a shepherd in caring for the people of Egypt. The flail was known as the nekhakha in Egyptian. It was a rod with three strands of beads attached to the top. Although historians cannot agree exactly what this was used for, there are two primary interpretations of its origin. The first is that it was a weapon used to defend a flock of sheep. In this interpretation, the flail represented the pharaoh’s responsibility to establish the order (through punishment, if necessary) that was essential to sustaining society. The second interpretation is that the flail was used as an agricultural tool to thresh grain. In this interpretation, the flail represented the pharaoh’s role in providing for the people of Egypt and protecting land that could grow food for the people. Together, the crook and flail were used to represent the two most important roles of the pharaoh.”

A few of the amulets wrapped in the linen around the mummy of Tut. There were so many other sparkly and amazing things. Thanks for letting me nerd out for a second here.

Got home and put on my fuzzy comfy socks.

Had the idea to make an “easy” Halloween costume, a Sims plumbob. Of course this DIY took me about 4 hours to do…but it was a fun journey for sure.

The first one was so heavy it couldn’t stand.

Second attempt, sits a bit better!

Old and new

Hours later, we have two finished ones that work!

Wednesday! Happy Halloween! I considered wearing it to work but decided against it in case it was too fragile.

Work day here we go.

Went to see the Renaissance Nude, a recently opened exhibition at work. The show is meant to expand what we think of as the idealized nude in the Renaissance. It addresses the conflict between artists wanting to depict the nude form as an aspiration and the reaction of everyday Christians of the time, who thought a nude body could be disturbing and arousing (a big no-no).

The Fall of the damned, by Dieric Bouts. A painting I’ve never seen before but that I love OH so much.

St. Sebastian and a relic (maybe a piece of wood)?

Seeing a bronze like this with a mustache…and eyebrows?!? “Humanists fostered the taste for the antique in the visual arts, stimulating interest in Greek and Roman mythology as well as literary subjects, inspiring artists to create some of their most original work.” Kind of reminds me of Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused, no?

Smol baby

Aristotle and Phyllis. From the wall label: “According to medieval texts, when the Greek philosopher Aristotle castigated his pupil, Alexander the Great, for spending too much time with his lover Phyllis, she sought revenge. Arousing Aristotle’s sexual interest, she demanded in exchange for her favors a jaunt around the philosopher’s garden while riding on his back, ensuring his humiliation try arranging for Alexander to witness the spectacle. By showing both figures nude, Baldung (the artist) emphasized Phyllis’s aggressive sexuality.” Cuzzzz you know, women are always at fault.

Ft. Tristan’s face. “Christian art often represented the bloodied figures of the persecuted Christ and saints, the bodies of the deceased and dying, and the emaciated anatomies of devout ascetics who express their faith through the denial of physical needs. By the fifteenth century, artists sought to underscore the visceral realities of death by crucifixion, scourging, and other tortures. Pious Christians derived meaning and, ultimately, comfort from engagement with the frank terms of Christ’s corporeal sacrifice. Artists also devoted attention to other abject bodies. Both the commitment to close observation and the rediscovery of ancient works such as the violent, emotionally charged Laocoön inspired the representation of complex psychological states. By the 1520s Italian artists such as Rosso Fiorentino and Pontormo, reacting to the idealized and heroic art of Raphael and Michelangelo, took inspiration from northern European artists who had long excelled at representing bodies in death, in decay, and outside conventional notions of beauty.”

Who can resist a cute ass Halloween cookie?

Halloween evening!

Walked around to peep the decor and take photos as a Sim because why noooot.

It’s looking pretty lovely out here.

Sims always stuck against a wall with a full bladder.

Beautiful sky

Blurry photo as Sims together.

Off we go! We took the metro as Sims and I can say…A+ riding public transportation on Halloween.

My Favorite Murder live show! You can hear the ep that was recorded that night here.

His hair is growing so fast!

Thursday, Tristan and I are at the Villa for work again.

Beautiful Villa day.

Teeth had to come out of the pumpkin

Doggos never far away

My herbs are coming to life!!!

Getting a haircut today, so some before hair pics.

It is done

Cuter in Snow

A nice blurry french dip photo from Cole’s.

Home! Better photo of my hair (yes, I changed my shirt hah, I’m going out baby)

It’s November 2 and we walked into the Grove to pick up a gift and it was fully Christmas. So weird.

Made a cupcake decision to bring to Rob’s birthday dinner.

Some German food and German beer (served in large never-ending quantities). SO good.

Saturday morning run ended in an embarrassing trip and fall (and roll)

It’s my dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday, dad.

Went out for sushi, and impressed with my mom using chopsticks with her left hand.

❤ Familia

Relaxing with my mom afterwards.

Dad helps Zach and me hang a painting on his birthday, so giving.

Better photo of the cups I got back at pottery this week. I’m just shocked I actually like them.

Short hair little bun

Time for me to get off my butt and clear out the dining room space so we can have friends over later for a game night.

Progress!

Also took the opportunity to clean out Glenn’s cage and take some cute ass photos of him.

PROGRESSSSS. Not sure I love the tiny mirror on the wall, but everything is okay for now.

Sufi enjoying the scented candle.

Zach made hot wings, rosemary chicken wings, and some chili.

We squeezed in a game of Fabled Fruit and a round of Machi Koro.

Sunday morning had some time with my hard drives and getting organized.

Then off to another amwa cookbook shoot. So excited for these. We almost have enough to fill our book. We pictured all the recipes to fit together under the theme of “off menu” and “potluck” so the dishes should all be really achievable to make and are comforting in the way that only home cooking can be sometimes.

Balancing play and work.

After shooting, Zach and I went for an early dinner. Craving some spicy Korean tofu soup.

Portrait of us at dinner.

After we ate we wandered down Wilshire in Koreatown. On the hunt for some coffee or boba.

Found our drinks

Ah, the clear weekend freeways

Went to the Hammer to see the Adrian Piper show.

From the site: “Piper’s groundbreaking, transformative work has profoundly shaped the form and content of Conceptual art since the 1960s, exerting an incalculable influence on artists working today. Her investigations into the political, social, and spiritual potential of Conceptual art frequently address gender, race, and xenophobia through incisive humor and wit, and draw on her long-standing involvement with philosophy and yoga.”

Her work is painful, smart, funny…all wrapped in one.

“She makes visible the ways in which we are held in place by other people and their perceptions, and how their perceptions lead to the politics and philosophies that make up our world.” Hyperallergic

If you’ve never been to the Hammer, go! It’s not too big, the shows are always thoughtful, and the atmosphere isn’t as chaotic as some big museums. Plus, it is always free.

The sun setting so early now that we had the time change.

$2 per 12 minutes? Hmm. That is some asshole design.

Sunset drive home

Trying out a new coffee grinder

DO I TRIM THE HAIR OMG SO TALL

Ending the night with a face mask

An episode of Sugar Rush on Netflix

And some spicy instant noodles.

Thanks for reading!

Just wanted to mention that this current week has been hard in LA and a devastating one for the families and victims of the Thousand Oaks shooting and the Woosley and Hill fires. Here’s how to help the victims of the fire and the firefighters.

I hope you are happy, safe and healthy wherever you are in the world. Much love friends.