They All Come to California

What does 10% of the world's billionaires have in common? They live in California. Though I am not elevating myself in that company, it is certainly good to know that people who can afford to live anywhere in this planet and possibly beyond have chosen to stay in this beautiful state.

But before the Google boys and the rest of the dot.com boom-ers expanded the Forbes list by a factor (maybe even more after the bust) there was the era of old school billionaires like J. Paul Getty, who warned you that "a billion is not like what it used to be." He is the patron of this relatively new museum carrying his name and his important art and antiquity collection.

Ching brought me to the Getty Center at the foot of Santa Monica Hills last weekend. It was such a treat on a sunny California "winter" day. Indoors I enjoyed the array of Impressionist paintings, including this sweet courtship scene from Renoir. But the true beauty of the museum is in its timeless architecture, beautiful landscape and the spectacular view from the hills. Competing with the paintings of Van Goh and Sisley is the panorama of down town Los Angeles all the way to the Pacific Ocean, with the ever-interesting 405 in the foreground. A busy highway of one straight line across the state. Bumper to bumper as usual, throngs of people on their purposeful way somewhere...

and they all come to California.