Speeding through the rest so I can do my annual Thanksgiving post...

Day Two
With Dad, we walked to the bakery where we met with A, a former student of Dad's, and where, while the Aged Ps and A were talking, I spotted Philip Seymour Hoffman. We then spent the rest of the day hurrying around assembling the food for that evening's gathering of friends and family who had come to LA for the opening, with a brief pause to drive around and spot banners for the show. We didn't have to go far and took pictures of banners hanging on Sunset Boulevard. The Neighbors flew out from Iowa, Subcontinent, Parents of Subcontinent, Mom's entire family, and Aunt and Uncle J were among the assembled, which also included B´and E, E's mom, and B the Awesome and her brother and his best friend. I kicked off my weekend schmoozing with this exchange:
Brother: So who here works at the Getty?
Me: Just [B the Awesome]. And then my mother's the co-curator and the rest of us are her posse.
Best Friend: Her entourage.
Me: Yes.
Brother: I need an entourage.
Best Friend: We can be each other's entourage.
Me: I think the technical term is wing man.
Best Friend: Only when you're cruising.
You learn something every day.

Day Three
This was the night of the donor dinner, which was kicked off by B the Awesome and Mom taking the donors (and Brother of B the Awesome, and Dad, and me) through the exhibit and explaining a few things in each room. Not only was it incredibly beautiful and huge and well laid-out, it was amazing to finally see the results of eight years of almost constant work. At one point I turned to Dad and said, "I think you married a rock star," to which his reply was, "I knew that in 1974."
The dinner itself was quite impressive. I was seated at the fun table with the public affairs/donor relations guy, Lawyer Super Cool and his equally cool wife, and these people, the elder of whom informed me that I had a very warm and lively voice and that if Princeton boys weren't beating down my door there was something wrong with them and, gesturing at me up and down, "As they say in Latin, it speaks for itself."
So there you go.
Everyone was full of compliments for the show and Mom and B the Awesome (even before I introduced myself), which I cataloged and recited in the car on the way back to the apartment.

Day Four
The opening was incredible. Dad and I showed up with Mom at 5:30, and while she and B the Awesome and E went upstairs for the press conference, we sat and watched the staff kick into high gear and assemble the party areas, both outside and inside. By the time The Neighbors arrived, everything was ready.
Over the course of the evening, about 250 people came in and out, looking at the exhibit and admiring it, eating the food, and chatting with each other. One of the more exciting exchanges of the evening:
Mom, to Jodie Foster: I like your work.
Jodie Foster, to Mom: Well, I like your work.
Also I wore my new dress. It was a hit.

Day Five
We spent the day at the museum. Mom took friends through the exhibit for slightly more personal tours, and I sat in the great outdoors, read Moby Dick, and waved hello to the acting museum head, who knew me by name at this point. I also bought a t-shirt and a mug. Those were highly necessary purchases.
Eavesdropping on people we didn't know going through the exhibit was great. They had universally nice things to say about it, and the amount of time people spent pouring over the manuscripts was quite impressive.
I flew out on the red-eye and sat next to a woman with a stuffed dog. "I missed my two little pomeranians so much that I brought this one to keep me company."
"What are their names?"
"Ginger and Godiva."
Can I go back to California, please?