So here I am, out in Los Angeles. Or, to be more exact, Newport Beach in Orange County. I'm here for a conference, otherwise I wouldn't come to this part of the country. LA is not really my kind of town. But I can always make the best of it.
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The flight out was great. I dozed part of the way, because I had barely five hours of sleep before getting up at 4:30 a.m. to leave for the airport. As I sat waiting to board, I heard the gate agent talking to another passenger. The words "own row." perked me up.
I went up to the counter and said to the guy, "Did I hear the words 'own row'?" He replied that I had heard correctly and then proceeded to reassign me. Oh, praise be to the airline gods.
Things got even better as I started to watch the movie, The Jane Austen Book Club. I think I remember hearing about this when it was released in theaters last fall, but never paid any attention to it. It had a great cast including Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Jimmy Smits, Emily Blunt (the nasty assistant from Devil Wears Prada), and Maria Bello, whom I loved in Coyote Ugly.
Well, what a delightful, touching film. It's one to own on DVD, that's for sure.
Once I got to my hotel, I decided to relax for awhile before driving the 45 miles back north to LA. I flipped on HBO and found another film just starting: A Good Year. It stars Russell Crowe, which is enough reason for me to turn it off. But for some reason, I let it go. Glad I did. It was another really nice film.
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After resting for a bit, I trekked back up to Los Angeles. It really is spread out. For me, the best way to experience a city is on foot, but this just isn't one of those towns.
I thought maybe I'd wander around West Hollywood, but frankly, there wasn't much to see. It's not like gay ghettos such as Chelsea in New York or Boystown in Chicago. With no good place to park anyway, I kept driving around, eventually making my way to Hollywood.
Driving through the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, I decided to park and take some pictures. The magnificent Pantages theater caught my eye.
With camera in hand, I headed to Pantages first. That's when plans changed rather impulsively. The marquee had a single word: Wicked.
Gee, a theater queen alone for the night, bored with nothing much to do. What's a gay boy to do but buy a ticket?
The show, of course, was great. I'd seen it before, so a second time out gave me the opportunity to focus in on things that I might have missed the first time...detail on sets and costumes included. The performances were good. John Rubenstein, who originated the role of Pippin on Broadway, played the Wizard. And JoAnn Worley, just off her run as Mrs. Tottendale in Drowsy on Broadway, just took over the role of Madame Morrible. She's very funny, but really not much of a singer. Nonetheless, the whole thing was just terrific.
The downside to the evening was the downpour I had to endure leaving the theater. Stupidly, I left my umbrella in the car, despite the forecast of torrential rains. Half soaked to the skin, I made my way to a bar for a drink before heading back to my hotel.
All told, I was up for about 24 hours. Thankfully, the conference didn't start until 1 p.m. on Sunday, so I was able to sleep in.
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I really don't like traveling alone.
The conference I'm attending is interesting, but by the time tonight's cocktail reception was done, I was done with shop talk and small talk. That ruled out going to dinner with nearly all the people here. But still, I didn't want to be alone. (I wouldn't have minded sharing a meal with the guy organizing the whole thing who I am 98% sure is a friend of Dorothy, but that didn't happen.)
So me, myself and I headed off to South Coast Plaza, which is an astoundingly large mall. After a bit of quiche and salad at a French cafe, I wandered through Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware, which are all pretty much right next to each other. Lots of fun things, but thankfully, I'm traveling by plane. So my wallet stayed in my pocket.
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The conference ends tomorrow at noon, but my flight isn't until 10:30 pm. (Can you say "red eye?") So I'll have a chunk of time to myself. I think I'll explore Newport Beach a bit and then maybe head back into LA for some photo taking, if it's not rainy. Maybe I'll hit Santa Monica too. With luck, I'll have some pics to share.
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