love summer.

In this edition of "love," we talk the joys of summer, many of which I experienced while my dad was in town this past weekend.

1. Love trying new vegan food. Sage--you always come out on top.

The perogies at Sage. God help me, they are delicious.

We also tried a new place in Highland Park--Cinnamon--although it's been around for awhile. Cinnamon is more of the old-school variety of veggie/vegan restaurants. My vegan posole came with a big heap of soy meat, which I don't care for. But the salads, the tostadas and the tamales were pretty good. Cinnamon will do in a pinch.

2. Love tomatoes.

A big pile o' heirloom tomatoes.

3. Love andirondack chairs. Check out these creations made of skateboards at the (new?) Caffe Vitta in Silverlake. Speaking of which, when did Uncle Jer's close? I always liked that place.

4. Love hikes in the Hollywood Hills. We referred to Charles Fleming's The Secret Stairs of Los Angeles, and explored a trail through Bronson Canyon.

Where do they lead?

Bougainvillea in orange and white tipped with pink. 

Spider web gates and heads perched on walls.

5. Love flowers, flowers everywhere.

A wall o' jasmine taller than me. Like living inside a scented candle.

6. Love taking Friday off and going to a museum.

So, I finally made it to the Kubrick exhibit at LACMA. I'm embarrassed it's take this long. The exhibit was inspiring--and overwhelming. A full history of his filmography, it was a tribute to Kubrick's obsessive research and attention to every detail of his film.

So many mementos and artifacts--where to even begin? I think my favorites were Saul Bass's poster designs for The Shining with Kubrick's comments on them and the correspondences between Stanley and Nabokov.

What was flabbergasting was that the most research Kubrick did was for a film about Napoleon that never made it to the screen.

Needless to say, it's time to catch up on the films I have yet to see: Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket and yes, A Clockwork Orange. The last two always scared the bejeezus out of me. I really want to watch Eyes Wide Shut again. And check out the documentary, Room 237.

7. Love tacos.

Stopped by the new Guisados in Echo Park. So good. Arguably the best tacos in the city, but that's not saying anything new. No chips and salsa, because this is the real deal. But you don't really need them, because the tacos are made with thick masa shells.

8. Love sci-fi movies.

One word: Cumberbatch.

Saw Star Trek: Into Darkness. Sigh. Where do I start with this? J.J. Abrams is the master of the cinematic adrenaline rush, but Lord, I wish he would learn what a story is--and then read a couple. And experiment with some character development. That would be nice.

The heir apparent to Spielberg he is not, despite his desperate plea. But what's fascinating to me is that today's generation of filmmakers (and tomorrow's) have a life experience that has solely been formed by movies and television. Take a filmmaker like Tarantino, who has the self-awareness to understand this and infuse his art with it, along with healthy doses of creativity, imagination and individuality. Abrams demonstrates none of this in his work. Plus, there isn't a shred of the intellect or emotional resonance of the TV series. He makes a nod to it in the very beginning--and then seems to dispense it--with a smirk.

He's a star. And don't you forget it.

But Into Darkness is all about Cumberbatch, who is mesmerizing, despite being given so little to work with. Yes, he looks like an otter--or more accurately--an eel in a wig. And there was a comment strain on Gawker where it was posed he is "human cilantro"--either you want Cumberbatch in every movie ever made, or you cannot fathom why he is allowed on screen. There is no in-between.

I am all for the Cumberbatch, in case you haven't noticed. And I love cilantro, too.

9. Love pizza.

Pre-Star Trek, I was excited to try the new Stella Barra next door to the Arclight. It is excellent! I'm a bit loathe to include any write-up of a chain restaurant on the blog, but I have to admit, the Lettuce Entertain You places do a pretty good job, and they seem to allow some individuality between their different spots. I had to try it, because I've heard so much about Stella Rossa in Santa Monica. But driving to Santa Monica is like driving to Vegas.

We had the vegan Pizza Rossa, which was wonderful. However, a gluten-free option would be cool.

The extra-thin Pizza Rossa.

10. Love the ocean.

I've never been a big beach person, but I would like to change that this year. I think I may have mentioned that in my last post, but it's worth repeating. We headed up to Point Mugu at the Ventura County line, which is a bit of a long (but incredibly beautiful) trek. First we stopped for lunch at Neptune's Net.

This is a "I Can't Believe I've Never Been to..." place. It's delightfully tacky and crowded with leathery-skinned, tattoo-ed, dirty-ponytailed bikers and surfers. The reasons I am not a beach person. Snobby, but deal with it.

The food is ok.

Overrated. I would opt for this place instead.

Sycamore Cove at Point Mugu State Park was awesome. We went on a Monday, so there were only a few people (and dogs) there. Peaceful. My own dog has never seen the ocean, so it was an exciting rite of passage. The waves freaked her out, and she kept running away. I kept pulling her back towards them, and we both got soaking wet. Then she rolled around in the sand. Rinse, repeat--until she got the hang of it.

Aside from the distance, I could see myself becoming a regular here.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday.

As always, thank you for reading! I'll be back with more this week. xoL