A magical evening, literally
Remember this name: Jason Latimer. He’s ridiculously smart, preposterously cute, wildly charismatic, not yet 30 — and he’s currently the best magician in the world. He just won an international competition that’s basically the Olympics for magicians. He’s doing a show in February at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, which seats about 1900. And I got to see him on Saturday night, in a room that holds no more than 20 people: the Close-Up Room at the Magic Castle.
The Magic Castle is a private club for magicians and their friends and guests. I first heard about it 5 or 6 years ago and thought it would be beyond amazing to go, but I never thought I’d be able to, since I didn’t think I’d ever know anyone who belonged. (You have to audition in order to qualify for membership, and it’s apparently no small thing to get accepted, although you can also buy your way in as an associate member who supports the art of magic.) But I recently met a professional magician, and last week, knowing I was planning to spend the weekend in Los Angeles, he unexpectedly gifted me with his last 2009 guest pass.
I was allowed to bring up to 3 other people with me, so off I went on Saturday night with my friends David and Kim, dressed as the club requires in “elegant attire.” We dined, also as the club requires, on expensive but very tasty steakhouse-style food (think prime rib, creamed spinach, onion rings…) in a room wallpapered with flyers and playbills from the career of Dante the Magician. After we ate, we wandered through the building, which includes several theaters of featured performers as well as various members who just hang around doing magic in bars or at various tables tucked away in corners.
The Castle itself is an old Victorian house that’s been tricked out with all kinds of fun details, like a secret door that only opens to a password, a ghostly pianist who responds almost instantly to just about any request (although I apparently stumped her when I asked for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”), and a metric buttload of ornate moldings and mirrors and furniture and stained glass and magical memorabilia and and and. Just about everything was draped in holiday decor, too, to take it even further over the top.
Latimer was scheduled to do just three half-hour performances, but he did back-to-back shows for 4 hours straight to accommodate everyone in line. We waited more than an hour — and it was worth every minute, because he proceeded to blow our minds. He started with card tricks, including one where David was on stage as his assistant and still couldn’t see how he did it. Then he moved on to his cups-and-balls routine. You’ve seen something like it before on street corners, but this was the concept taken to the umpteenth degree, with CLEAR cups.
We walked out of that room convinced that we’d seen the next stage superstar. He’s going to be like David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, and the Amazing Johnathan all rolled into one, with a sprinkle of Red Bull on top.
He did this routine on the Late Late Show a few years ago. What we saw was essentially the same, though expanded, and with a little more patter and interactivity. Prepare to boggle as we did:
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (3)As without, so within
A few days ago, I wrote of my adventures in weight loss, “I’m doing this because I want to, not because I have to. Life isn’t, and shouldn’t be, all about trying to achieve some misery-inducing standard of perfection.” It’s time I said more about that. Unsurprisingly, I have a lot to say.
Let’s get the obvious part out of the way: Being model-stunning isn’t necessary for success, unless you’re an aspiring model, but given that people do tend to judge a book by its cover, it simply makes sense to make your cover look as good as possible, within the bounds of reason. (What’s reasonable? That’s up to you. As for me, let’s just say I was willing to endure Accutane to get rid of cystic acne, but no number of wrinkles will ever get me to inject botulism toxin into my forehead.)
The sad truth is that no matter how many times we say “Beauty comes from within,” we live in a culture that puts the highest value on being pretty on the outside. Study after study shows it. Attractive people get paid more, even in jobs where appearance is irrelevant. They enjoy what’s known as the “halo effect,” in which people around them assume that good looks indicate good character. And, of course, single people have more suitors if they also have the looks with which to lure them. Which means it’s too damn easy to fall into the trap of believing that the reason you didn’t get that promotion, that introduction, that engagement ring, is that you weren’t physically exquisite enough to deserve it.
That’s not what all this external self-improvement is about. Not for me, anyway.
What it comes down to for me is that I want to be the best possible — again, within reason — version of myself. When I look and feel good, I’m more confident. When I’m more confident, I stop feeling like I have to put up with BS. I can send nonsense packing and make room for something much better instead. It’s not about trying to achieve a particular “look,” it’s about making sure my outsides reflect who I’m trying to be inside: strong, centered, healthy, and happy.
Filed under progress, Uncategorized | Comments (2)The light returns
It will be the Winter Solstice in 12 hours and 22 minutes. After that, the days will start to get longer again. And not a moment too soon.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)The power of pleasure
Two challenging things are especially difficult at the holidays: being pleasurably social and losing weight. The first is hard because it’s all too easy to get caught up in a whirl of frantic, obligatory, and not terribly enjoyable festivities. The second is hard because, well, cookies. (Need I say more?) And yet somehow I’m managing to do both.
For the first, I’ve been forcing myself to get out of the house even when it’s dark and cold. I’ve had cocktails with friends, attended a gathering for people who like to travel, met other friends for brunch, enjoyed a private tai chi lesson, hit a couple of useful support groups, and most impressively (at least from the inside), gone out alone to several evening events full of strangers. My DSLR has served me well on several occasions as a security blanket; I’ve discovered that it’s a useful prop to hide behind in moments of social anxiety or introversion, yet I can still step out from behind it when I want to connect on more than a small-talk level. And the more I make an effort, the more I’m remembering that expanding my horizons — although it can sometimes be intimidating — is more fun than scary.
For the second, well, it’s all down to willpower, isn’t it? I’m counting calories, I’m paying attention to portion size, and to my intense delight, it’s taken me less than 6 weeks to get 2/3 of the way to my goal weight. It’s boring and frustrating sometimes. (Go ahead, try to figure out the caloric and nutritional stats for something you didn’t make from a recipe. It sometimes takes me longer to do that than to cook the dang stuff.) It also means passing up some of my favorite treats, at least for now. But I’ve also built in a little wiggle room so I don’t bust out in deprivation-and-resentment-driven rebellion. I can overdo it today if I make up for it tomorrow; it all averages out. I’m doing this because I want to, not because I have to. Life isn’t, and shouldn’t be, all about trying to achieve some misery-inducing standard of perfection.
Which is why last night I went to Street Food Friday at an art gallery, took a bunch of pictures, chatted with half a dozen people including the gallery owner and two of the food vendors, and ate an adorable little dark chocolate creme brulee with crushed candy cane melted on top before ordering a plate of vegetable curry.
And when I got home, I realized I’d felt absolutely grand about myself the whole time.
Tossed salad post 5
Because the world is wide and full of wonders.
- OMGWTFBBQ!!! If this photo doesn’t make you smile, you are not human and I fear you.
- My friend Julie has been my editor and my colleague, and now I’m making her my personal jewelry designer.
- The Presidio pet cemetery — one of San Francisco’s hidden charms — is safe from the construction going on around there.
- I am thrilled by the obsessiveness behind this steampunk computer.
- There’s a hummingbird zipping around my backyard even as I type this.
What’s delighting you today?
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