Monday, June 15, 2015 -- Antioch, Santa Monica

Santa Monica beach and Pier. In the hazy background, you may be able to make out a couple of large ships anchored in the ocean.

One bit of Santa Monica information learned during a class on humor this morning was that dogs aren't allowed into the off-leash dog parks without a Santa Monica dog tag (a fair amount of dissing Santa Monica for this occurred). A little quality time with Google showed that is apparently true, but only for the Airport Park. If you are from anywhere other than Santa Monica and want your canine companion to hang out with the local dogs, you can get a non-resident permit tag at Airport Park. (SMMC 4.04.170, Resolutions 10244, 10245).


The prof for the humor course this morning was Erin Aubrey Kaplan, a columnist, author, and teacher who focuses on African-American political, economic and cultural issues. Her take-away line for the class was "I'm laughing but it isn't funny," to sum up all of the situations that we find ourselves caught in where laughter, tough as it is, may be the best way out.

After classes today, we headed over to Santa Monica, to get a taste of a different beach city from Venice. We didn't have much time, so opted for a short walk through town, along the Third Avenue Promenade, and along the (crumbling) bluff above the beach. There were gouges like this in the cliffs all of the way along the pedestrian/bike trail that parallels the shore.

A silver gladiator poses with a child along the Third Avenue Promenade.

The dinosaur fountains on the Third Avenue Promenade still spill out water.

A sign in front of one of the fountains says that the landscaping is being replaced to save water. This might be one of those situations where it would be good to laugh at the irony, even though at some level it's not particularly funny.

Afternoon naps.

Statice growing along the bluff walk in Santa Monica/

Crowds and gulls at the Santa Monica beach near the Pier. While researching the factoid about dog parks, I came across another ordinance worth noting: Adults without children are not allowed on playgrounds in the city of Santa Monica. There are half-a-dozen state-of-the-art playgrounds for grown-ups along the boardwalk between Venice and Santa Monica, so perhaps this is not too onerous a provision. Not to mention the four or more miles of beach walks between the communities.

Along the bluff walk stand -- or lounge -- trees of great character.

Photo op with small white dog.

Eucalyptus tree, Santa Monica, on the bluff above the beach.

Flowers catching the evening sun.

Nearly time for the sun to set in the haze over the Santa Monica mountains.

Greek dinner for the evening.

Glittery things for sale on the Promenade, to brighten the night.

Iris in Santa Monica.

Southern California beach day

There is little that is more a part of the American dream than a day on a California beach, and the Santa Monica beach is the essence of that.


We left the car at the Washington Street parking lot in Venice, ate a quick lunch, and started on our way to the Santa Monica Pier. In about three hours, we covered seven miles encountering bodies and bizarrenesses, million-dollar homes and dozens of homeless, families and loners, dogs, pigeons and gulls (and a couple of snakes belonging to a performer).

Gulls and pigeons, clustered in the shade of a grove of palm trees.

A sampling:

Drought? What drought? One of several fountains that we saw in various places today; this one along the Venice Boardwalk.

Lots of places along the Boardwalk that will "assess" your "need" for medical marijuana. Jim thinks that they probably have someone on the premises to prescribe it for you, and then ideas about how you can acquire it.

Hats -- among the tamer clothing items for sale, designed to cover something rather than reveal it. These also seem mainly designed for style and to keep the sun off, without much in the way of messages.

The original "Muscle Beach" was a couple of miles north near Santa Monica, but today's Muscle Beach is at the heart of the Venice Beach and Boardwalk.

Two guys at Muscle Beach beginning some sort of competition.

Some people focused more on the tan than the toning.

Some had obscure messages.

One section of the beach had gymnastics equipment.

Looked like maybe this woman was renting out surfboards?

Not everyone was outfitted for sand and sun. Jim thought that this guy with suit, tie, and good camera was taking photos of tracks in the sand. That would have been more interesting than anything that I could see on the trash can.

The Santa Monica Pier.

The real draws -- the waves,

The wooden pier,

The boardwalk along the sand,

The palm trees and blue sky.

The people were endlessly colorful.

We wondered if these people actually lived in this multi-million dollar home -- they didn't seem to quite fit.

Not as many performers today as there sometimes are. This man was in a troupe of African acrobats; his balancing of the tourist gentleman was part of the come-on before the performance.

I am leaving out any number of interesting sights. Buddha does deserve a spot.

A tourist.

Bird of Paradise in its natural setting.

White roses and buds.
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Sunset from our hotel window (the manager proudly informed us that we have an excellent view of the Pacific Coast Highway, which is true, although I wouldn't have thought of it as a selling point. But we do have a view of the sunset as well.

Last, but not least, my new school -- this building at the south end of Culver City houses the entire Antioch University LA campus -- offices and classrooms. It's modern and shiny as a building; the people within seemed universally friendly, helpful, and most interesting.