Journal entry for November 28, 2001

Today's summary: L.A. trip, Day Two. Bergamot Station and Santa Monica.

Tuesday. This is my big art gallery cruising day. First of all I went to Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica, which is an industrial-ish complex containing many galleries. I scoped out most of the galleries there, talked to people there, and found several that seem like good leads... particularly a place called Sculpture to Wear, if I do continue with this idea of making wearable pins.

I'm thinking that maybe I can make a shadowboxed, fully dangerous version of a specimen, and then along with it can be a pin which is the same "species", but not as dangerous. Possibly also with a matching beaded or wire-wrapped necklace, and the pin could be a pendant or worn separately. I need more time to explore this, but that's the idea so far.

At Bergamot Station I picked up an L.A.-area gallery guide, so after leaving, I cruised through several other local galleries, picked up postcards and business cards, took notes, and so on. All VERY good.

Diana had warned me that I might want to come back before rush hour starts, but I still had a few hours left before then... so, I went to the famous pier in Santa Monica and visited the Pacific. At last! Never seen that before, either... It's a relatively urbanized area but I was still happy to be there and to walk around in the cold cold water. I took a container of sand -- when I get home, I'll keep some and dump the rest into the Atlantic next time I go to Chincoteague. I also collected shells and some interesting little rocks. One of the rocks was shaped like a cartoon face, with holes for the eyes and mouth. I'll try to scan it in ASAP so I can add a picture of it here.

On the pier itself are several restaraunts, an arcade, gift shops, police station... and even a ferris wheel and rollercoaster, all over the water. Apparently the famous old wood coaster that used to go way out over the water and back again was destroyed in a storm a few years back, so... everything from that point onward had been rebuilt, and the coaster was replaced with a new steel one. The amusement park part was closed since it was a weekday, so I didn't get to go on the coaster.

But! I'm sure I'll have my fill of roller coasters when I go to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia on Saturday, right before leaving for home. They have several famous coasters there. Muahaahhahh. I have to find somebody to go with though.

The pier is also full of homeless, strange, and/or creepy people. But with the police station right there, it wasn't a big deal, and there were lots of families with little kids. A real tourist trap.

I went down to the beach again briefly after exploring the pier, then headed back to Diana's. Traffic wasn't too horrid, although it was slow enough for me to take pictures of downtown L.A. from the car. Heh.