opheliaswims

I spoke to a good friend today. He was on the path to healing from a relationship that had ended. He reminded me of a letter I wrote two years ago while I was in New York. I found it and here it is.

2005 new york. the last time i was in ny was 93-00, the time before that was ‘88. 1988 was the year my first marriage implodes. march 21, 1988 david told me the marriage was over and i knew he was in love with someone else. i was devastated. fast forward to last sunday. i was walking back from dinner with a friend, and as i walked towards my hotel, i looked around and realized i was on 45th, and on the street where m.butterfly played 17 years ago. it hit me, i started to walk straighter, taller, stronger. here i was, a full complete woman. i have a career, two great kids, a home, good friends, respect of my peers. i felt so powerful. 17 years ago i was nothing, i had nothing, my whole identity was based on someone else. i am whole. i have value.

I went over to my neighbor Daren’s house to pick him up to go to a french wholesaler to refresh our cheese and chocolate hoard. As I drove up the hill, I noticed smoke. I went to look for Daren, and said “hey, did you see the fire?” He said “what fire…” We went out onto the balcony of his house and there was the biggest fire on the hill above the Hollywood sign. It looked like a volcano. We sat on the balcony and watched seven water dropping helicopters swarm over the massive fire. It burned over 100 acres. We watched until the smoke turned white. Daren and i were commenting on the same thing, I said “it looks like a turner painting”. it was strange to comment on the beauty of the fire and yet be only a short mile away in the hills. both our houses sit in the canyons. one moment we are in awe of the fire and smoke and in the next we are thinking about our own homes and safety. it wasn’t long before we could smell the smoke. it reminded me of the smell of a campfire. Since our route to the warehouse was now blocked by firetrucks, we took the scenic route. Once we got to the warehouse, we were back to our normal ravenous selves and ate half the sample table of swiss emmenthal and duck liver pate.

(photos by Daren Salter)

Turner’s Slave Ship

I sent out Mister Pooh stickers to my flickr contacts, and now he is around the world. He will be in China soon too.
From Sweden:
Hello!
I hope you are well rested now! And that your client liked your collages! The Pooh stickers are now up on four different public spaces in Göteborg, and I have seen people watch them. I will be spending the next few months in three different small towns further north in Sweden. If you’d like me to I’d be happy to spread Pooh here as well! – Lisa

I joined a gym 16 months ago. After sitting at a desk and working long days, my butt got too big. I go 5-6 times a week. I take only the Spinning class because I love the really loud rave music. I lost 15 pounds by taking those classes. And by cutting out carbs. I love bread. Crusty baguettes. (sigh) Sweat is interesting, it drips down your body and dries. I feel like a giant Post-it© note. Not too sticky, but sticky enough. The endorphins are a high. Half way through the class, your whole body is pushing as hard as it can. When the class goes into cool-down, your mind goes into this zone of clarity. I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs. I have done 2 of the three.
And I have never enjoyed either of them. Spinning is my drug of choice.

©ophelia chong : bicycle in shanghai

I got a new cell phone, a nice Chocolate. Sleek, shiny, and damn,I am still trying to figure out all the buttons and “beeping” stuff on it. What wallpaper? What tone? Oh…and oh the contacts! I had my contact list moved over to the new phone, there was no way I was going to re-enter 120 contacts. My attention span is only long enough for making toast. I pet the phone and it purrs.

Purring. I purr when I come up with something that works. Art, design for a client, good hair day, perfect hot bath, fresh clean sheets, 100% egyptian cotton towels, or the perfect cup of coffee. I set my coffee maker to auto, so when I wake up there is hot coffee. Perfect. I sent out 100 slides for scanning, perfect. Purrfect.

Creating art is like breathing. I sit down, gather my materials and then creat a collage or slide art. The movement is fluid. This piece? Or this? It moves smoothly. Once its finished, I look at it and I feel so complete. Purr.

Before going for my Pinkberry© frozen yogurt, I went to the store next to it. I had a free 45 minutes on the meter, and being thrifty; I didn’t want to waste it. Home is a very cool furniture and accessory store. The owner came over to talk and his dog Astro came along with him. Astro is some sort of black lab mix. He has dandruff, but other than that, he’s really mellow and cute. The owner told me that he was a rescue dog.
I replied “Oh, I have three myself”. He replied that rescue dogs are so great because “they are so grateful”. I said “now, if only I could get a boyfriend like that….”

Mister Pooh is a character that I draw on occasion. He came about while I was waiting for something, I started to doodle and he appeared. Mister Pooh is a Pooh. He has a full rich life, he dates, he skateboards, he’s a spy, he’s been to outer space. You can see his adventures here Mister Pooh ,he is also on the Poopreport
He’s even a stuffed doll, made by Trinylak.

I had just planted two flats of flowers. Enough color to paint the yard. An hour later, the skies darkened, and a cold fast wind blew in. I could see the trees on the other side of the canyon sway back and forth. The bamboo bent close to the road and swept across. Loud thuds hit the roof. Hail the size of blueberries fell to the ground, instantly melting. I looked at the three eucalyptus trees in the yard, and thought, now is the time to finally fall. They held tight.

As I was watching this, life went on in the web world. Files came through, emails dinged, and the phone rang. I was surrounded by noise and fury.

Last night I sent out seven images to the New York Arts Magazine. They had found my images online, and had heard of my work via blogs and art sites. Lets see what happens there.

part deux by ophelia chong
in chinatown there is this cool toy store called Robocon. it’s filled with urban vinyl toys, comics, stickers, an art gallery and japanese snacks. we go there and search out the newest toys. i have the set of Smorkin Labbits. next to it is Ooga Booga. a funky book store fun by this really sweet art grad. around the corner are art galleries, one China Arts is run by Art Center grads.

now you scoot down alameda onto little tokyo. Fugetsu-Du, the oldest japanese confectionary store. open since 1903. you can get almost any flavor mochi there. Mochi is a Japanese confection, found usually in the shape of a small, round rice cake which can be eaten with condiments such as kinako (roastedsoy bean flour), manju (sweet red bean paste), soy sauce dip, and seaweed.there’s even a soda bar (circa 1950’s). during WWII, most of the businesses had to close down. the owners were sent to camps.

at the 99cent store, you can find plastic bins, chopsticks, origami paper, just about everything cute japanese. we but a lot here. we love the erasers in the shape of hamburgers and ice cream cones.

There is a gardening store next to Fugetsu-Do, it’s owned by a lovely japanese gentleman. he loves to show you the latest bamboo fountains, seeds, delicate bamboo fences. there is a copper water chain, that you hang from your gutter spout. the water travels down each copper bowl into the next until the water flows out gently onto the ground. it’s $300, and worth every copper penny.

Silverlake, the land of fun and Bears.
I live near Silverlake. My friend owns the Vista Theatre on Sunset Drive. It’s a historic theatre with an Egyptian theme. Victor dresses up as the lead character on opening days. We went to see The 300, and he was dressed as a Spartan. He was Jack Sparrow for the Pirates of the Caribbean. He took out every other row, so there is space galore. Matinees are only $5. After the movie you can wander over to Pink Berry on Vermont. The best frozen yogurt around. It’s the latest fad in LA. Wacko is on Hollywood Blvd. There is an art gallery in the back, they have featured Calef Brown, Mark Ryden, Owen Wilson and other great illustrators. They have hard to find books, and small niche magazines. If you need a haircut, there’s Rudys. $15 for a buzz cut, with a soundtrack filled with local bands. Secret Headquarters on Sunset Blvd. is the best comic book store ever. They have graphic novels, small press books, hand made comics, and a wall of the best comic books. They have a gallery in the back that feature local artists. There is a big leather library chair for those who just want to sit and read. Towne & Country next door is owned by a woman chef/baker. All the breads and treats are baked there, so you can bet you will get a really wonderful BLT there. Silverlake Conservatory is a music school, it was founded by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. My son Matt plays the electric bass there, and my daughter Rebecca is learning the drums. (Yes, I have spawned two.) Her teacher is Kareem, he’s over 6 feet tall with 3 foot long dreadlocks. We call him the Wookie. Everytime we are in Silverlake, I see someone I know. Los Angeles is a wonderful place, once youmake it yours.

oh, Bears. I met my first Bear in 1999. I was the CD of Outfest Film Festival. We were inclusive of everyone. One group was Bear LA. Bears are hairy gay men. Silverlake is home to Bears. And of course, artists, musicians, writers, lawyers, doctors, all walks of life.

March 22/07
It’s been a tough 3 weeks. A good tough, however it was long. Almost there. And I am looking forward to my trip to Beijing, Quindao and Shanghai. It’s all Asia this year. Back to Beijing in August, Hong Kong and Kota Kinabula for Christmas. Europe? Ha. I can go to Vegas for that.

Okay, today’s Los Angeles insider tips.

The Gym.
I go to a gym that has gyms all over Los Angeles, so anywhere I am; I can go and work out. I love Spinning. It’s a stationary bike that you ride along with an instructor, to a soundtrack of loud rave music. I see the same faces, we nod to each other and go to our favorite bikes. One hour of pure cardio, you can work off up to 900 calories. One guy I see all the time is the CFO at Disney. He’s very nice, and sweats. He usually gives a rundown of what will fail at the box office. In the weights area, I call it the Gorrilla Petting Zoo. Big guys with ripped tshirts and cell phones. One time, one of them cornered me and started to tell me that he can see Aliens in the gym. At first, I thought he worked for the INS. As he kept talking, it dawned on me that he was talking about little green men. His theory was that when a space ship crashed in the texas desert, the aliens made a deal with the US to trade technology for our bodies. I blame them for the black holes my cell phone service has. Anyhow, he could spot the half human half aliens in the gym. He nodded to the Petting Zoo. Before I could escape, he asked me if I knew tantric yoga. At that point I was half way down the stairs.
The gym is also home to the species known as Powder Puff Gurls. They are really cute and manage to keep their eye shadow on in the most intense Tae Bo classes. Then there’s Satan’s Little Bro. He carries his spoor like a badge of honor. If it was the Dark Ages, he wouldn’t stand out. However, in 2007 he would make a goat plead for mercy. I love the gym, enough to go 5-6 times a week. I am what you call The Regular. Same outfit, same water bottle, quick run up the stairs and “stealing base” slide into the counter to sign up for classes. Newsweek published an article this week on exercise. The more you do, the smarter you get, and younger you will stay. I believe it.

March 24/07
Growing Tomatoes

It’s an artform. You put your finger to the wind and feel the air. Is it ready? Will it rain so much that the plants will get black mold? When your green thumb starts to throb, you know it’s time to go to OSH. I like OSH. I remember when they had the guy from Home Improvement as their spokesperson, the hairy guy with the beard. Bears love him. One time they crowded the store when he was presenting the latest power tool. You haven’t seen Bear Mania until you have experienced 50 hairy burly men in lumber jack shirts all cooing over a very scared hairy actor.

Osh has reasonably cheap plants. I buy my genetically engineered tomato plants there. For my heirloom, I go to Sunset Nursery in Silverlake. Owned by a Japanese family, they have the best plants. I bought Gotomato, Purple, and Striped Tomato plants. Great prices. I even bought some for my neighbors. We like to trade our summer stock.

The peach tree in the back is huge. About 3 years ago, I was picking peaches and fell off the ladder. As I fell in slow motion, I thought “This isn’t going to be good”. As I laid there, two huge peaches fell on top of me. I made a mental note to get those later for a cobbler. I fractured my tibia and fibula. Five pins and a plate later I am fine. Full movement back. I also got 250 vicodins. I took a few and to this day, I don’t see all the fuss. And no, I don’t set off airport screeners.

There’s two fig trees, avocado, lemon and two orange trees. I plan on buying a cow. My fence is high enough that the neighbors won’t see. I just want to see if I can get away with having a cow (a real cow, not a snit fit, i have enough of those). I did have a chicken once. After a shoot, I got stuck with the chicken. It was for a Ninetendo commercial. I was the only one with a yard. So, this really cute chicken lived with me. One day, my cleaning lady asked me if she could have the chicken. By then it had a name, Chuck. I thought, well, maybe she can give it a better home. Chuck ended up as dinner.

Relaxation for me is to go out to the yard and pull weeds. It’s mindless fun. The best kind in the world.