That same day I made my way to the Border's by my office after work. I made out like a bandit! I grabbed myself a handful of books including The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and book 1 from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley, just to name a few. I also grabbed a few children's books for my book drive. It felt so nice to browse through the children's section and see all the titles that I remembered as a child and new stuff that kid's are into nowadays. Of course I had to ask for assistance, asking one of the guys who worked there what was "in" in children's reading. I also got a few Golden Books. Talk about throwbacks.
Upon checking out I struck a conversation with Jonathan, the guy behind the counter. As he was scanning the children's books he thought I was a teacher. I shook my head and let him know about my book drive then about this blog. Somewhere in there I told him how my sister and I used to eat our Golden Books. "And look how you turned out!" , he chimes in. Exactly.
Jonathan contacted me and we eventually set up a time to meet up. He had checked out the blog and wanted to talk about the book he had been reading. So one Saturday afternoon after the last book club meeting I made my way to Pan Pacific Park on Beverly Blvd. and Gardner, parked myself on a wooden bench and waited until Jonathan found me among the screaming children in princess outfits.
"Funny thing happened. I was having the most interesting text message conversation with someone who I thought was you..." Turns out he'd added the wrong number into his phone. Nice. Once he was settled on the bench I had claimed as my own we proceeded with a bit of small talk. We look around and chuckle at the random kids. I wig out off the caffeine from my iced latte then my eyes zone in on the massive book Jonathan's been clutching. "Yeah, I had to lug this huge thing around with me on the way here." He had taken the bus over from Westlake, east of where we were, right by Downtown and Echo Park. Jonathan looked around. "I don't want to talk here. Can we go somewhere else?" Seeing as I was comfortably cross-legged I convinced him that this was as good a spot as any and he conceded. We dive right in.
Jonathan is reading "World Art" which covers various pieces from each art period. When asked why he decided to read this he simply answered, "I don't know. I guess I just like art. It's universal." The book was on sale for like $10 (plus he got to use his employee discount). His love for art is somewhat recent. He used to live in Pennsylvania. While there he visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the top museums in the country. Ever since that visit a couple years ago he's been inspired by art and thus his newfound love and admiration was born.
He flips through the pages and shows me how the book is laid out. Art pieces taking up about 3/4 of the page and then a description of the painting below it. He enjoys the Renaissance because that is when people started to put effort in art. He turns to those pages and points out the different details to me.
Jonathan was just getting into the Modern art sections of the 40s and 50s. "Modern art is intriguing because it's different." I share my feelings about modern art, how I love many things but can live without other pieces. I tell him about my trip to the Art Institute in Chicago, about the new Modern Art wing that I got to visit during opening weekend, about the wads of paper towels splattered with paint that I could care less about and about the modern furniture I could not get enough of. "You like the furniture?! That's the part of modern art I don't get!" Difference of opinion.
I purse my lips and squint my eyes. "Let me guess. Your least favourite art would have to be...impressionism." Jonathan's eyes widen. "How did you know?" I laugh under my breath. "Because it's one of my faves..."
We flipped through more pages and I notice he had drawn big black stars on the corners of certain pages to mark off the paintings he liked. One was Munch's "The Scream'. "I love this piece. I mean look at it...". His fingers begin to trace the lines and colours. "You compare this to these earlier religious portraits with the defined lines and then you have this...the evolution of art." He isn't a huge fan of religious paintings. "It's all pretty much the same." I chuckle some more because I've recently been on a religious art "kick". There's just something peaceful about them, I tell him but then digress. What can I say. I'm a lapsed Catholic but I enjoy the somber Biblical images. I turn to him and ask if he's watched "This American Life" and proceed to tell him about an episode about a guy in Utah who recreated scenes from the Bible and painted them. I told him how the guy looked for bearded men and, in an open field, had these random joe "models" pose for the crucifixion scene. I start to lift up my arms and position them on top of the wooden bench to show Jonathan how the men's arms were placed on the cross.
"So no nails were actually driven into their palms and wrists?", he chides. "Nope, not this time." I pressed a finger into my palm and told him how I used to want stigmata as a child...but that is a whole 'nother story.
Since he's so into art I ask if he has any pieces at home. "I was around the neighbourhood and saw a yard sale on Crescent Heights. I stopped because I noticed a painting of a man and a wife over a wash bowl. I was drawn to it because the man reminded me of my dad, practically a mirror image. I had to get it because it made me miss him. He's back east. So now I am the proud owner of this $20 painting. No matter how bad it is I keep studying it."
We go on to talk about museums around Los Angeles and I wondered which he's visited since he's been in LA. (He moved here around November). He's been to the LACMA (he's not a huge fan of it) and also the Getty where he saw the Annibale Carracci exhibit. He suddenly flipped to the book's appendix, index finger going through line by line. Finally his finger found what it was looking for and he flipped to a certain page. "Here...this was a Carracci piece I saw there."
We veer off the art discussion and I ask him about other books he's read and enjoyed. "I really love Catch Me If You Can. Man, that guy is my hero! I saw the movie first but liked the book better." Like many of the people I've interviewed Jonathan confesses that he doesn't read very often. He is, however, writing a book. "I started writing a book when I moved out to LA. Actually, I was just thinking up the concept in November then come January 1st, because I like dramatic beginnings, I proceeded to start outlining the story. I actually started writing it on June 24th.. I've just been very inspired to write this book since I've moved out here. I can't tell you much about it, for obvious reasons, but the book is LA inspired but not set in Los Angeles. It's set in the South. I'd like to have it finished by October 5th. That's my birthday."
We start talking about books he read as a kid. "You know, I can see them in my head but I can't quite think of the titles." There was a long pause as he started sifting through the folds in his memory. "Oh! Ok, there was a book called "Koala" and the cover had fur on it that I would pet all the time. My mom read this to me everyday." He also enjoyed "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", a Dr. Seuss book. He also remembers ordering books through those Scholastic programs in elementary school. "I ordered a few Goosebumps books but never really read them. I just liked the covers." Jonathan suddenly remembered this great program they had at his school. "Our teacher's would take us down to the cafeteria where a bunch of books would be laid out. We were allowed to look through everything then take one book home for free!"
Another series of books he remembers reading often were Todd Strasser's "Help I'm Trapped...". Jonathan explained the concept. A scientist makes this machine that a kid gets ahold of and this kid ends up switching places with someone else. In one book he's trapped in his teacher's boy while in another he'd trapped in a wrestler. I start to get intrigued and concerned about what happens to the person whose body this kid enters. "Do they switch places? Are they aware what is happening?" Jonathan doesn't quite remember but thinks it may be like what happens in Freaky Friday.
We did a bunch of talking so decided to stroll around and treat ourselves to popscicles while we explored the park. Jonathan remembers that his mother had taken all his childhood books and put them in a box on the curb. "I recall watching the garbage men picking up the box as I stared in awe some the window. I couldn't believe she threw them all out!" I flashback to wishing my mother didn't give away my collection of Babysitters Club and American Girl books. We look at the time and realize we can catch the next showing on (500) Days of Summer at the Grove "next door" so we conclude the interview and rush on over in time to grab more iced caffeine before the opening credits.
