Social Distancing in Littleton: Week Thirteen

Last week, I wrote about feeling sick, and needing a Covid Test. I was anxiously waiting for the results on Thursday, when I received a call from a very apologetic nurse, who told me that my first test had become contaminated, and that I needed to take the test again. She was very nice, and made a same-day appointment for me at a nearby facility.

Dan had to work, so I drove myself to the second test. I knew it would be unpleasant, but I wasn’t too scared. There was only one car in front of me, and I was tested within ten minutes of arriving. The nurse who tested me, seemed very nice….

And then she jammed the swab up my left nostril, causing so much pain that I immediately burst into tears. My nose started gushing blood, and she gave me a travel pack of Kleenex. I used every single tissue to stop the bleeding. She gave me a second package to-go, and I used most of them before arriving home. My nose was still leaking blood the next day.

I nearly gave up, but I was still concerned about Covid, so I let her finish with the right nostril. It hurt. A lot. She told me that if she doesn’t make people cry, she’s not doing it right. Can anyone verify? The nurse on the first test made me teary, but I wasn’t sobbing. I was crying and shaking the entire way home. It was horrible.

The next morning, the results came back negative.

I was relieved, and I definitely think that given the circumstances, the test was the responsible thing to do. That said, if a similar situation comes up in the future, I’d likely just quarantine for two weeks, and skip the test.

Here’s a few pictures of me: sick and pitiful.

In sad news, I learned that The Annenberg Space for Photography has fallen victim to Covid 19.

It couldn’t sustain the economic fall out. This one hit hard, as the Annenberg was one of my favorite art spaces in Los Angeles. It was a true treasure and a loss for the city. The museum always had thought-provoking exhibitions that left you with a new perspective. Here are links to two of my previous reviews of exhibitions at the Annenberg: Generation Wealth and Sink or Swim.

We discovered that we have a nest on the front of our house, below my step-daughter’s bedroom window. I spotted three babies, who seem nearly ready to fly. They are cute, but as soon as they’ve left the nest, we need to figure out a way to make it a less appealing spot for future families. We have bird shit all over our driveway.

I felt better by the weekend, and we were able to attend a BBQ with the neighbors. Great food and new friends! I felt safe being outside, and I can imagine that this type of party is going to be a frequent activity in the summer months. There is a block party planned for the last Saturday of the month. This is the first time I’ve lived in a neighborhood that has block parties. We’re bringing baked beans and a cake.

We watched The Hunt, a surprisingly funny, and creative horror/suspense movie starring Hilary Swank and Betty Gilpin. I don’t want to give anything away, but it has excellent story structure, and the themes are timely. Gilpin has some great one-liners.

Dan received a gift of Vosges Truffles. They were beautifully presented. The truffles had unique flavors, including curry.

A less fancy, but not less delicious treat was born, when Dan decided to put brandy butter on cinnamon rolls!

And some cat pictures. Here is Tom being extra cute with his mice. He likes to hide them in shoes or slippers, even if you happen to be wearing them at the time. He also fetches and on Sunday morning, I threw the pink mouse across the room about fifty times. He wouldn’t have stopped, but my arm was getting sore!

Generation Wealth

I definitely never took my hometown for granted, but moving to Oregon, made me realize just how spoiled I was living in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has so many museums and galleries putting on quality exhibitions. The Annenberg Space for Photography is one of my favorite art spaces in Southern California.

A few weeks ago, we had a very short, last-minute trip to Los Angeles and I saw an opportunity to see Generation Wealth, the latest exhibition at The Annenberg Space for Photography. Generation Wealth is famed photographer and filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield's exploration of our culture's obsession with wealth. Greenfield spent over twenty-five years examining wealth and our obsession with brands and image. Her exploration is not limited to the United States, she includes subjects from many other countries, including Russia and China.

The first part of the exhibition includes a thirty-minute introductory video. Although it's possible to skip this, I highly recommend the video. It provides a background for Greenfield's interest in the subject, including a mention of her documentary The Queen of Versailles, about David and Jackie Siegel's quest to build the biggest mansion in America. If you've not seen The Queen of Versailles, I highly recommend that you rent it. It was surprisingly heart-felt and relatable.

Greenfield explores a very complicated and emotional subject. No matter where you fall on the wealth spectrum, everyone is affected to some extent. Even if you're not purchasing spendy cars or handbags, you do have an opinion on brands, you're swayed by advertising, and you're concerned with image. It's easy to be judgmental, especially towards those with bigger budgets and bigger spending habits, but a majority of us still exhibit similar behavior, just perhaps on a smaller scale. The last part of the exhibition includes receipts from stores like Michael's Crafts, Target, and Petco; that give a strong impression of how it is so easy to overspend at stores that are not luxury brands. My take-away being, why is it okay to judge the person with the Channel handbag and not the person who builds a decked out craft room? Where are your spending sins? Maybe we should spend more time enjoying what we have, whether it's material or non-material things, and less time wanting or feeling envy.

Spending and image creating is like running on a treadmill: happiness is elusive. Greenfield looks at the psychology of spending, the momentary rush as you purchase a new object, but how quickly that excitement fades. Along with money, Greenfield examines body image and the obsession our culture has with both youth and perfection. Generation Wealth includes some very hard to view pictures of plastic surgery. We are a culture of dissatisfaction. What has to occur to shift the tide?

An answer might come Iceland, where Greenfield followed a banker who lost everything with the financial crisis. When he was working as a banker, he was stressed and worked so many hours that he was not able to spend time with his family. His career rebound was to go into fishing, a trade that had been in his family, and although his financial situation changed, he found that he was much happier. He commented that he felt that beyond his family, he was getting back to a greater sense of his community, spending time with his neighbors. On this same subject, Greenfield documented an extremely wealthy family in Russia. They live in a armed and gated mansion, secluded from neighbors. The wife mentioned feeling lonely. She is home, raising her toddler, but unlike her own childhood, she is without friends. Her daughter does not play with other children. It's almost like she is like she is a precious object in a museum. Although this woman being kept in a mansion is an extreme example, I feel that as a culture we are moving towards isolation, simply with the way we close ourselves off when spending time with our electronics. It's so depressing when you see couples or even whole families at restaurants, but they are all glued to their devices.

Speaking of the financial crisis, Greenfield had anticipated that she would see a shift in spending after the crash. Although many people did suffer by losing their homes and other financial misfortunes, the general culture attitude is to double-down on money and image. She saw an uptick in the way people put pressure on themselves to spend money to maintain the facade of wealth.

One of the more bizarre parts of the exhibition showed the way wealth is impacting China, including the popularity of etiquette classes. Chinese citizens pay upwards of twenty grand to learn western etiquette. In the introductory video, a glimpse into these classes is show and we learn the proper way to eat a banana. I'd be willing to bet that no one I know actually eats a banana this way, using a knife to slice a banana peel in a slick maneuver than is akin to skinning a fish, and then slicing the banana flesh into small pieces to be eaten with a fork. It's fussy! Maybe since I'm not upper class, I'm not privy to this fancy way of eating a banana!

I left Generation Wealth feeling hyper-aware of what I value and where I find personal happiness. On the way out, we found an interactive exhibit, where you get a receipt with a fortune. Nothing sums up the vibe of Generation Wealth better than this =

Lauren Greenfield's Generation Wealth is at The Annenberg Space for Photography until August 13, 2017. The exhibition is located in Century City, right across from the Westfield Shopping Center. I didn't even think about the irony of the proximity of the mall, until writing this, but I don't think that the stores are getting much business from anyone who has recently visited Generation Wealth. The good news is, the exhibition is free ( no excuse not to go) and the nearby parking is cheap!

The Annenberg Space for Photography - Sink or Swim

The Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City, is one of my favorite art spaces in Los Angeles. The curators always seem to have the most thought provoking and emotional exhibitions. Their latest offering, Sink or Swim: Designing for a Sea of Change, is no exception.

Sink or Swim is all about how architecture is working with climate change. The old way of thinking was to built urban areas that try to fight or suppress nature. Now, architects are designing with nature in mind and they are trying to figure out ways for people and nature to co-exist.

The exhibition uses examples from around the world to highlight the problems and solutions of people living in coastal regions. In Africa, there are areas where communities live on houses built on stilts over water and the children have school on a boat. The Netherlands are highlighted as a progressive country who have used current technology and ingenuity to build homes that are safe with the rising water. American disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Sandy are shown as examples of areas devastated by storms, but who have also learned from the disaster and who are reshaping their communities. One of the most striking images is of a Jersey shore boardwalk roller coaster swept into the ocean after Sandy.

I found the exhibit to be a moving and educational experience. In particular, I enjoyed the short documentary that had interviews with the photographers. This provided a background and context for the photographs, making for a deeper experience when I walked the gallery and viewed each picture more closely. I highly recommend watching the documentary first.

Sink or Swim runs through May 3rd. The space is small and it took us about an hour to walk through. The Annenberg Space for Photography is a fabulous place to visit and unbelievably, it's free! Go and enjoy this local gem.

Here are a few pictures taken outside of The Annenberg Space for Photography.