8 years ago, on the eve of my birthday, I somehow managed to get a large group of friends together and arranged for us to have a private tour of the museum gardens at the Getty Center. It was a beautiful day–lightly raining and a little chilly. We were all attentively listening to the docent give the tour of the gardens all the while the raindrops were pattering on all of our umbrellas. The garden plants and features were muted in a beautiful gray, but my favorite view was of the dark naked trees towering over passersby reflected on the wet floors as they held their umbrellas. In the background were the light-colored stone walls and floors of the museum against a stormy sky.

Understandably, when the tour was over everyone ended up leaving having had enough of the rain. I stayed for several hours after taking in as much art as I could and loving every time I walked past a window where the wooden floors basked in warm incandescent light contrasted with the bluish-grey cool scene outside. Eventually it came time for me to leave as well since the museum would be closing soon.

As I made my way down the hillside aboard the museum train that would take me back to the parking structure, I felt a little lonely and didn’t want to end my day back at my apartment alone. As I was driving back home the radio started playing When You Wish Upon a Star performed by Steve Tyrell with Chris Botti. At the time, there was one person I wanted to show up to the museum but ended up not going and this song made me think of that person. I wanted to go home even less and this being a Disney song got me thinking about heading to Disneyland, but they I had a better idea. How about Walt Disney Concert Hall? My favorite place in the whole world!

I made it to the concert hall and down and down I went until I parked on the seventh level beneath the hall. I went to the ticket counter looking for the cheapest seat I could find and as I was about to hand over my credit card for some seats way in the back, a woman interrupted me and offered me a spare ticket she had. I asked her if she was sure and I eventually took the ticket. It was at the very front of the orchestra section. I had no plans to be at Disney Hall about an hour ago, and here I was now on the eve of my birthday with a front row seat to see Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the LA Phil in a performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.