Procrastination R Us

Well, I thought about working on my Museum Studies Master's dissertation today, but then that urge was overtaken, around noon, by the much stronger urge to nap. Now it's almost three in the afternoon, so it's probably time to knock off, work-wise, and that leaves just a bit of time to blog before supper. We don't really do the 9 to 5 around here, that's for sure. Well, Mr D does, and more, so I try to help out by keeping the household really balanced, and doing practically nothing. It all evens out I think.

So up top, there's a picture of me, doing my version of Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World, but without lying down in a scratchy, scratchy field of grass, or showing you how big my butt looks in jeans these days, or even how quick the security guards at The Getty Museum move when it looks like a middle-aged lady is going to lie down in their very posh ornamental reeds. None of that, please, so we've just gone with the kind of pensive profile shot that ought to be on the cover of The Economist or Vanity Fair or something.

Surely my priorities are skewed.

And I think I'd sleep a lot better if I procrastinated less.

Still, it's probably marginally better to do some blogging that's both procrastinatory® and dissertation-related, so herewith I present... The Getty.


Because it's way nicer to gawp at pictures of a stellar museum and its lovely gardens, than it is to wrestle one's way through essays on the post-modern museum, or discussions about the interpretation of objects and materiality. Or papers concerning authenticity and digital reproduzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzz.


See what I mean?



The Getty Museum just as noted for its stunning setting and marvelous building as it is for its collection. That's probably a good thing, since the museum's collection seems to be diminishing year by year, due to various court-mandated repatriations of many of The Getty's illegally obtained objects.

Every view, every vantage point, offers breathtaking vistas.

I loved how, from so many angles,
the near horizon simply dropped off into nothingness.

You'd never guess that one of the world's largest cities sprawls below,
because Los Angeles is only rarely visible.

Many views have a surreal quality, like a Magritte painting.

Clouds, air, space: framed.

The inside of the building feels light and airy,
and the structural elements appear weightless, floating.

So much of the building is about texture and contrasts,
and though the building is entirely white or grayish,
the play of light on the varied surfaces creates subtle, satisfying differences in tone.

And though I'm not much of a gardener,
I found the flowers utterly captivating.

Especially the truly wacky ones. Calling Dr. Seuss!

And this one made me think of the episode of Star Trek,
where Captain Kirk is cured by the Mahko root.

And no, I'm not a Trekkie.
You can thank Wikipedia for that little tidbit.

I was much more of a Man from U.N.C.L.E. girl.
Ilya Kuryakin? Mmmmm.