Today I took advantage of my new free time, and went to go see a movie during the afternoon. I also decided to try picking up my daughter from her preschool today via Metro Rail, both because she is a big train fan, and to see if it would be feasible to make the trip with my daughter without a car.
I started in east Hollywood (at the Sunset/Vermont station) about 11 AM, and took the Metro Red Line subway to the Hollywood/Highland station, which is about a block east of the Grauman's Chinese Theater. The theater was part of the redevelopment which created the Kodak Theater (the annual venue for the Academy Awards) and the Hollywood and Highland complex.
When I was growing up in Los Angeles, my first movie-going experience was at the Chinese Theater. My family went to see Star Wars in late 1977 because so many people were saying good things about it (and my brother and I kept bugging my parents enough that they finally gave in).
Back in those days, the ticket booth was located directly in front of the main entrance, and a red awning ran down the middle of the courtyard. Since the redevelopment, the ticket booth has been moved, and the courtyard returned to its original look circa 1927. When I first saw the courtyard after the redevelopment when our news bureau was covering the opening of the new shopping center, I was really struck by how different the courtyard looked, and wondered if the dimensions had been changed. It's funny how the mind remembers things in certain ways.
My family also saw the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeve at the Chinese. Right now, Superman Returns is playing there, and it was my first time seeing a movie there since the 1980s. As impressive as the lobby and restrooms and auditorium were, those things didn't make up for the $9 matinee price. My local movie theater, the Vista, looks almost as nice, and is still $5 for matinees. Also, the Chinese theater had a tour walk through the auditorium (they were quiet, but still) while the feature was in the title credits, for Pete's sake.
As for the movie, I had read some lukewarm reviews in the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, so I had lowered expectations. But the movie was far better in my opinion than the critics'. Bryan Singer's adaptation made us cheer for Superman in all the right places, but it also gave us reason to want Lois Lane's new family (fiancee and son) to be able to survive Superman's return from a long absence. And it echoed themes from the first two Christopher Reeve movies so poignantly.
After the movie ended around 2:30 pm, I hurried back to the Red Line station, and made my way downtown to 7th Metro, where I changed trains to the Blue Line, which heads south out of downtown to Long Beach. My destination was only a couple of stations down on the Blue Line, but I was in a hurry because I wanted to avoid the start of the evening commute. I didn't want to be in fully packed trains with my daughter and a stroller.
When I was driving my daughter to preschool every morning before work, we would drive down Flower Street through downtown, and regularly see the Metro Blue Line either coming or going down Flower, to the delight of my daughter. I have sometimes pulled over a minute or two to wait for the light rail cars to reach us.
My wife and I have taken our daughter on the Red Line a couple of times for weekend trips (to the Nisei Week parade and the Thai New Year celebration in Hollywood), but she has never been on the Blue Line. My sense was that today's trip was not so much fun for her, and possibly because she was tired out from a full day at preschool. The cars were not so full and everything went smoothly, but we probably won't be making the trip again except in some emergency.
For nearly ten years I have worked for the Los Angeles bureau of a major Asian news organization (I would mention the name, but my boss told me the company may sue if I publish anything in the future that states the name of the company). Friday was my last day.
The company wanted me to leave. I was told that my salary was too high. I think the company didn't like the fact that my two children were born while I was working at the company, and they and my wife were a drain on the company's generous health care benefits.
My boss told me that I was not suited in the long term for journalism. Most people who work in positions like mine stay at the job for two or three years, and move on to something else. Most are recent college graduates, and have fewer family obligations. They live and breathe the news on their off days and while at home, something I was doing less and less as my children were born.
I enjoyed my time working for the company. The daily business of working in the news is inherently interesting, and I had the chance to help cover some historic news events, like the 2000 presidential recount in Florida and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Career-wise, I no doubt stayed too long at the same position, though working for four bureau chiefs was a little like having four different versions of the job. And if I had developed more contacts and better working relationships, I should have been able to find another job related to the news industry.
Instead, I planned for most of the last few months to train to become paralegal. But after talking to a half dozen people working in the field, I finally decided I would not enjoy the work, or be able to handle the long hours with my family's needs. Right now, I am planning to learn to be a computer technician from my brother-in-law, who has a computer consulting company. Apparently he has some connections, and can get me a job somewhere. But it doesn't feel right somehow, probably because I don't think I am naturally computer-oriented.
I've gotten to like working in downtown Los Angeles, despite the traffic and fears of terrorism and natural disaster. It was convenient to be within walking distance of the post office and bank, dozens of restaurants, the Metro Red Line station, and the Central Library, as well as a short drive from my doctor's office and my daughter's preschool. There are lots of interesting things going on in the area, though I haven't been able to go to as many as I would like, especially in the last few years.
But now that I'm not in the daily business of journalism, I'm glad not to feel obligated to put work before family in case some disaster should happen. I have imagined that I would be fired from the job if, immediately after a major earthquake, I left to get my daughter from preschool and made sure my family was safe, instead of working to cover the event.
I never would have posted this before The Skunks of Los Feliz went on hiatus, but it's good that someone gets the word out. Thanks for all the updates on Los Feliz and Griffith Park goings-on, Skunks.
I received the following notice in the mail today:
***
The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and Friends of the Observatory
Invite you to the fourth in a series of community working meetings to explore solutions for visitor access issues associated with the reopening of Griffith Observatory.
Monday, July 17, 2006
6:30 pm to 8 pm
Friendship Auditorium
3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles CA 90027
We look forward to hearing your comments, concerns, and ideas.
Agenda:
1) status of Griffith Observatory renovation and expansion
2) review of the observatory visitor access management program elements
3) update on implementation of the visitor access program
4) preview of Griffith Observatory operations and next steps in visitor access planning
***
Hope to see you there!
UPDATE: News about the re-opening and other relevant information here.
Today I took advantage of my new free time, and went to go see a movie during the afternoon. I also decided to try picking up my daughter from her preschool today via Metro Rail, both because she is a big train fan, and to see if it would be feasible to make the trip with my daughter without a car.
After the movie ended around 2:30 pm, I hurried back to the Red Line station, and made my way downtown to 7th Metro, where I changed trains to the Blue Line, which heads south out of downtown to Long Beach. My destination was only a couple of stations down on the Blue Line, but I was in a hurry because I wanted to avoid the start of the evening commute. I didn't want to be in fully packed trains with my daughter and a stroller.
