December 2018

Los Angeles, CA

Almost all of December was spent in California, living in my parents’ house and visiting my sister. My west coast month has become an annual tradition—this is the fifth year in a row I’ve done a trip like this, and the fourth time I’ve visited during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas—and I look forward to a month of pausing and reflecting.

Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles, CA

Best of the Month

My sister is my favorite person in the world, so it’s unsurprising that many of my best moments were with her. We ate our way through Los Angeles with gusto, sampling ramen and tacos and mapo galbi and matcha ice cream and so much more.

We also visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, which has been restored and maintained beautifully. LA has a wealth of weird, wonderful, and notable architecture; places like the Hollyhock House are worth a visit. On the day we went, the docent on duty decided to give us an impromptu guided tour, which really deepened our understanding and enjoyment of the place.

In the Bay Area, I was glad to be reunited with my bicycle Bikeminster Fuller, and I spent afternoons riding around our neighborhood and especially enjoyed cycling somewhere with bike lanes.

Walnut Creek, CA

Worst of the Month

The month was generally great, but towards the end of December I pulled a muscle in my back and it was SO PAINFUL. I ran regularly for months with no serious problems, so it was particularly frustrating to hurt myself doing basically nothing.

Los Angeles, CA

What I’m Loving

Reads: I was so glad to have access to the public library while I was in the US. I ended up reading two Masha Gessen books. The Future is History explores the rise of totalitarianism in Russia, and Where the Jews Aren’t explores the story of Birobidzhan, the Autonomous Jewish Oblast in Russia’s far east that was a haven for Yiddish-speaking Jews, until it wasn’t. I also revisited my youth and read detective novels by Ellery Queen and Robert B. Parker, which is always a pleasure.

Music: The main drawback of visiting the US in December is that I am constantly surrounded by terrible Christmas music, and I am a major grinch, so it’s a constant aural nightmare. However! There were musical bright spots. Hillary introduced me to the song Dang! by Mac Miller, and we heard Gallipoli by Beirut in a store—after Christmas, obviously.

Los Angeles, CA

Film/TV: Being home means I watch more TV and movies than usual. Two films in particular stood out (and would probably make a kickass double feature). Hillary and I saw Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! At the New Beverly in Los Angeles. The second feature on their program was horrific (misogynist, rapey, awful), but Pussycat was TERRIFIC. Then over the holidays, we saw The Favourite. I know this movie has been getting a lot of buzz, but I knew nothing about it going in, which made it more surprising, delightful, and bizarre than it might have been otherwise. Go see this movie!

Podcasts: I listen to fewer podcasts when I’m out of Istanbul, mostly because I spend less time cooking. The ones I managed to listen to, though, were terrific. I was moved by the two episodes from UnErased that showed up in my Radiolab feed: “Dr. Davidson and the Gay Cure,” and “Smid.” The series is about the history of gay conversion therapy, and the stories are complex and beautifully told.

I was also moved by the episode“Bittersweet” from Ear Hustle; the show’s incarcerated co-host Earlonne Woods had his sentence commuted by the governor of California, and this is the first episode recorded since his release from prison.

The episode “Onate’s Foot” from 99% Invisible dealt with the complex issues of identity and public memorials in New Mexico, and the way different communities react to problematic historical figures. A statue’s foot is amputated, and the story unfolds from there.

La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, CA

The Film Files

I haven’t developed any of the film I shot in California yet, except for one Holga roll I processed while I was home. I’m looking forward to seeing what magic will unfold when I finally get my pictures back.

Los Angeles, CA

Ephemera

This is the section for the small delights that don’t fit in the rest of my categories, so I’d like to take the opportunity to gush about the hand-cut sesame noodles I ate at Shan Dong Restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown. They were so mind-blowingly good that I am still dreaming about them.

Walnut Creek, CA

Upcoming

I want to squeeze in a few trips in January, though nothing is booked yet! I hope to go somewhere warmer than Istanbul, though snow seems to be calling me. We’ll see!