NOT IN THE SCRABBLE DICTIONARY

 

We rent a mid-size SUV when we go to Costa Rica. Although the roads have improved a lot over the years, it's never a bad idea to have all wheel drive. However, when we arrived at the agency hours late, they didn't have what we booked. They offered an "upgrade", this behemoth. I didn't like it. I mean, the thing had mood lighting on the inside that changed when you played music. The name is like all those mysterious Chinese products you see on Amazon. Someone puts a bunch of Roman consonants and vowels in a box, shakes it, and sets out any short string that is pronounceable in a European language. I half-expected someone to say "bless you!" after I said the name.                     

STL DPB In Los Angeles: At The Getty

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A couple of shots from our too-brief run through the Getty Center on Saturday. One of the things I like about LA is its cultural and ethnic variety. Sure, New York has plenty of that but the flavors are different here. Just from an eyeball survey there are a lot more East Asian people and fewer South Asian people. NY has a big Hispanic population but LA's is far larger. You hear Spanish at every turn. In the picture above, a young woman reads a Chinese newspaper on a terrace at the Getty. Below, the passageway to the area where she was sitting. The place is bursting with architectural oh wows.

I got some good pictures from the air flying out here and edited a half dozen yesterday. They are in the set for this trip I started on Flickr. Click here.

You can be cursed by a black swan, if you like, on Downtown St. Louis 365 today.