It’s My Birthday, and I’ll Whine If I Want To..

Not today, mind you, but it is this weekend. I am unashamed to admit that I am turning 65 years old. Not that I did much other than eat, sleep, and breathe to get here, but I guess the point is I can still do all three. Maybe not as fast or effectively as I could in my 20’s but I am fine with that. I would prefer the jaw and waistline I had then but don’t need to be the slightly unformed person I was. Although I know that sometimes this is a minority opinion, I like who I have become. So there.

Johnnie’s. Please reopen as a diner.

This weekend I took the bus over to the last few days of the Gary Baseman exhibit at the Old Johnnie’s Coffee Shop on Wilshire at Fairfax. Gary is a local hero who’s art I am a fan of, and Johnnie’s is a treasure- it missed the wrecking ball by thismuch when the decision was made to place the new Subway entrance equidistant to LACMA, The Academy museum (In the old May Company building) and the Petersen. It’s in pristine condition and I hope that someone reopens it. If you can dig up a copy of the 80’s thriller “Miracle Mile” they filmed quite a bit there.

LACMA

Then I went downtown, just for the heck of it.

I had worked downtown for over a decade at the August LA Times and was there for big transitions. I was there when Tribune took over and stayed until they showed my department the door. Which was thankfully before they moved the whole kit and kaboodle to El Segundo.

Times Mirror Square “The Square” to the inmates

(now for a rant)

They moved to El Segundo because one of the bright boys in Chicago decided they didn’t need the huge LAT building, so they would sell it and lease it back. This was stupid in my opinion because the property would have to be reassessed for tax purposes, and since the family had owned the land since the 1800’s that was going to be pricey for the new owners. So the new owners jacked up the rent and the paper’s new owner decided they did not need the symbolism of having a beautiful Art Deco building almost literally across the street from City Hall, with the Publisher’s office looking directly at them.

But whatever.

Some things don’t change..

Downtown has gentrified, but still looks like it’s in stasis or something. Gone along the part of Broadway I used to frequent are the bodegas selling candles and elixirs and ones that sold (more to the point) discount perfumes. Now I suppose we have perfumaniacalsdotcom but I loved going over there and picking up things- X-mas and b-day gifts (I gave my godchild both Bandit and Fracas from there, as well as vetiver to an over-applier.) All of them are gone and the storefronts are all shiny and polished.. and empty.

I came home to some drama. False Alarm though..

So I ended up taking the subway back to Beverly Hills. I would have gone to the Broad but it was just too darned hot to try to climb Bunker Hill. Which is what I have always said to people who insist that people will take the subway to the Music Center rather than driving. “Sure Jan. Like ladies in silks and jewels will climb that 12 story in three blocks hill, then reverse the procedure at 11;30 at night.”

Yeah.

So I didn’t do anything scent-wise. I may need to go back to N-M to investigate the new Guerlains but the SA’s weren’t exactly falling all over themselves to help me; the woman at the Loewe counter actually walked me over to them.

Gary Baseman at Johnnie’s

But I did come back to a small haul of Jeffrey Dame (and some drama..) and immediately spritzed Gardenia which I am thinking I need a FB of. His stuff is wonderful, affordable, and more importantly not a huge corporate entity. I don’t wear more than a pinprick on my chest if I am going to be out, but at home in the evening? I don’t have the interest in a silk peignoir or marabou mules but in my mind, smelling pretty is all about me, and that’s perfectly fine.

The Globe Lobby at The Times building.

As for B-Day plans, they’re up in the air. A BFF has Covid and doesn’t want to see anyone until she is sure she isn’t infectious. I may decide to go to the parade of cats at LACMA on Saturday. Then the concours on Sunday. Cats and Cars. Sound good to me.

How are you spending the first weekend of summer? Plans for Juneteenth? Dad’s day? Parades of cats? Let us know in the comments.

Images: my iPhone. Pexels, Wikimedia Commons