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LACMA, Staycations, Tim Burton exhibit, Travel

First Stay-cation

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Last week I put out the concept of “staycations” to the kids (well, they’re really teens). If you read that post then you know how that went over. A few boundaries were added to the definition of a staycation after that scene. And I have veto power too. So we’ll see how we do over the summer.

Our first staycation was to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to see the new Tim Burton exhibit. I’ll cut to the chase, it was a great presentation. The only down side was we couldn’t take photos inside. So we resigned ourselves to only take pictures of the outside stuff.

The inside area was crowded, too many articles bunched together in that small space. It was better once we went into the next room. Once inside the larger section I felt like snatching the large camera this girl took out of her suitcase of a purse. She actually diverted a museum ‘guard’ so she could take a photo of  Edward Scissorhands- the full costume sans Johnny Dep. She did this three times before getting busted, but they didn’t throw her out…too bad, I was ready to do a fist pump in the air and say “YEAH.”

My favorite things were the storyboards with a video following the scenes. Storyboards of all his movies were on display. There’s also a blacklight room which is kinda creepy when you open the curtains, but then kind of cool. The entire visit was about an hour and I could have stayed another 20 minutes since I love to read everything posted adjacent to the art. Both kids loved the exhibit and we waved goodbye to the TB men.The last day of the exhibit is on Halloween-imagine the fun on that day.

 Before heading to the other three sections of the museum: Ahmanson, Art of the Americas, and Japanese exhibits we headed across the street to have lunch. There were six rolling food trucks to pick from and I think we hit on the best, especially if you are vegan or vegetarian. The father and son duo who worked the truck-Veg It Up! had some great R & B music coming from their truck and they were parked in the shade, so the decision was easy. Great sweet potato fries and mint julep iced tea here too.

 After a great lunch we headed back to see the Pablo Picasso’s and the one Monet I could find. The “Elizabeth Taylor in Iran” was good, but all too short. That was another couple of hours. Then we hit the art room and the big kids took off to draw and paint. There were more teens and adults in there than young children.

We left close to four o’clock and bypassed the clogged 405 and hit PCH 1. It was clear sailing for miles. Now anyone who has driven through Santa Monica and Malibu know that this can be a staycation of its own. A cloudless aqua sky lay above the horizon of blue gray ocean for miles and miles. I had to agree with the kids, this was a pretty good first staycation. We look forward to the next.

Encouragement, Faith, Wisdom, Writing

Is it procrastination or something deeper?

Mona Alvarado Frazier

     This feeling of malaise has come over me today. Maybe that’s too strong of a word since I don’t feel any physical discomfort or illness but another definition of malaise is uncomfortable. It’s kind of that and a cross with ennui. 


     I’m embarrassed to say I missed Sunday services although I woke up in plenty of time. Took another cup of coffee and vitamins too just to try to perk myself up. Another two hours drug by. While I stared out of my patio window I noticed the wind swirling through the birches and mimosa in the backyard and heard my wind chimes singing. The sky was a blanket of gray. Our dog looked at me and cocked his head sideways. I glanced at his leash near his igloo dog house and he jumped up and twirled around. He caught my sideway glance. I grabbed the leash and headed out, imminent rain or not. 


     Once out on our walk the puzzle of malaise/ennui floated around my head. Why am I feeling this way. What’s happening. Am I depressed?  Last month’s flu back? What is it. My thoughts screeched to a stop and I remembered the concept of ‘drilling down,’ a business word-well in least in my last career. It means to take summary information (feeling of malaise/ennui, but not illness) and sorting out the details to the last one that makes sense to you. It kind of like a self assessment. 


     The words to my questions started popping up. Am I procrastinating on something? That sounds kind of like the feeling. What am I procrastinating on? Oh, yeah. I did do the first five exercises of the One Pass Manuscript in longhand then typed them out, then I printed out all 290 pages of MS, then I assembled them in stacks of three, got out my spiral notebook, two pens and placed all on the dining room table. That took two days (in between life). On the third day, yesterday, I did nothing. Oh, I passed the waiting pile on my way to and from the kitchen six times that day. On the seventh pass I rearranged the piles. 


     Okay, so there it is. I’m procrastinating. The drill down begins again. Why am I procrastinating? I snatch a thought: You’re scared, you’re afraid the MS is no good. Why am I thinking like that? I drill further. You feel you won’t fulfill your own critical expectations. You’re self critical, you know that. You’re doubting yourself. Yes that is closer to the feeling. Then I try to make sense of that feeling. I know, consciously, that if I doubt myself that means I don’t have faith. And this is the part of the story where I have to explain ‘faith.’ 


     I became a Christian almost four years ago. I’ve had a few instances where I hear the Lord’s words clear as a bell ringing and sometimes like a soft whisper. One day when I was in services I heard a distinct voice say this twice,”tell my daughters they are precious and valuable.” I looked around, then sat down and wrote that on my bulletin. I have one daughter and He used the word in plural, so that meant more than one female. Soon after I crossed paths with someone who invited me to a writer’s group and I began to take writing seriously. That sentence became a scene in the MS and a sub-theme in the story I began to write.


     I’m sharing this story because I discovered that the malaise I felt was because I doubted my ability to tell these words in a novel. I doubted because I didn’t rely on faith. If the Lord told me to do something I want to do it to the best of my ability. It doesn’t have to be the best in the US, best in California, just my personal best. If He has led me this far (crossing paths with other writers, authors, teachers, new friends) then He will lead me the rest of the way, but I have to let Him lead. I can have these feelings, but I can’t give into the feelings for too long. 


      It began to drizzle lightly, small sporadic droplets. That smell of wet asphalt and grass rose from the walkway and mixed with the scent released by the jasmine vines that my dog got into. I headed home, with the path ahead, clear.