Aviva went to a lecture on acrylic techniques at an art supply store in Culver City; while she was there I went to my favorite news stand at Robertson and Pico, then to Sawtelle, which is the second and smaller Japanese area. I bought a few toys.

Card with picture of Buddha figure I purchased

A small motorized T-34 tank

An inflatable beetle

Card for the shop

I drove back to pick up Aviva and got a package of Ilford inkjet photo paper to try out (a store that had the samples so I could check out the paper quality, what a concept). Then we drove over near the Pacific Design Center to try out the sample glasses that Retrospecs made for me – the temples need to be longer and the glass area smaller, so they’re going to modify the sample and I’ll try them again next weekend – hopefully I’ll be ordering new glasses then!

Then we drove back to the valley and saw Woody Allen’s new film, “Whatever Works.” This is a funny movie; one of the funniest lines is where a gay character says, “God is gay.” The person he’s talking with explains that God made all the beautiful things around us, and the first character says, “He’s a designer.” The general theme of the movie is that love is important and transcends our expectations.

We walked across Ventura Blvd. and tried Itzik Hagadol Grill for dinner. It turns out this is an Israeli restaurant that isn’t kosher so its open on Shabbat. And its great! So much food, I stuffed myself and so did Aviva and we had at least another meal left over. Wonderful flavors. Make sure you order the all-you-can-eat salad – its not what you expect, its an amazing treat.

Their business card is in three languages!

And then we picked up Basil and drove home.