Sunday in NYC

We went to the museum of Natural History. I saw my first totem pole, and dinosaur bones. Crazy how faulty the imagination is. As much as I love my imagination the real deal is much nicer.



Jenny, Joel and I went to an antique market at a school. At the market I met an artist who makes jewelry from old New York City traffic lights. A few years back the old lights were swapped out for new LCD with plastic lenses. The artist was able to acquire the old lenses which are red, yellow and blue (the blue appears green when the light shines through it). She breaks the lenses and places them in a rock tumbler for two weeks. The colored glass comes out looking like sea glass. To get a glossy appearance she tumbles them a second time using a fine grit sand. Holes are drilled with a diamond bit under water and then a finding is added. It was a no-brainer that I should own a pair. I bought a shiny glass pair.


Every time I saw graffiti I would ask, "What does it mean? Can you read it?" Finally Jenny was able to translate this one. It says, Life is like an onion.

Interesting Company

Dogs wear shoes in NYC. We saw this pup at Shake Shack. The Shack Shack is a famous NYC eatery. They have good beer there.
We went to Blue Smoke for Joel's birthday. Yummylicious. The mac and cheese is made with cream. The Bar-b-que ribs were so good. I couldn't eat it all. But to be fair Randy makes awesome Kansas City ribs that melt in your mouth.

We are the Art

Half way through the line and J says, "Yeah we can leave." I said, "Do not let your ADD kick in now we are going to do this!" How many people can say that they contributed to an art work that is in the MOMA? I can! What a great memory.

Part 2 Of An Art-filled Day

A special Exhibition at the MOMA is Project 90:Song Dong. Artist Song Dong's installation titled "Waste Not" displays the complete contents of his mother's home. The small frame of her home was in the middle of the exhibition room while around it lay the complete contents she amassed over fifty years. J and I couldn't help wondering how she fit all those objects in her home.

Installers brought alike items together. All the spoons, all the tools, pans, linen, etc. were arranged together. I kept thinking that this created order didn't exist in her real life.

Song Dong's mother fell into depression after the death of his father. As a way to deal with her grief he convinced his mother to participate in the installation. The exhibition is a commentary on consumerism that people around the world can relate to. In a way it relates to Jean-Francois Millet's "The Gleaners." Millet's painting is tidy and pastoral, while "Waste Not" is has a gritty reality.

A flood of conflicting thoughts swam through my mind . . . What was the message of this work?
It is important to not be wasteful.
Life should not be governed by your possessions.
Sentimental value means more than monetary value.
Needs can be clouded by want.
Neediness can promote greediness.
Objects have energy.
Objects create energy.
New does not mean better.
Reusing and repurposing is not always responsible.
Acquiring things can give us a sense of liberation.
Being in need can be heavy.

The show was liberating and heavy.

I know people who are so fastidious and that go through objects so quickly. At the first sign of wear the object is tossed aside without emotional attachment. These people truly use their belongings. Their only sentimental investment rests in the objects newness. I know other people who have so much stuff that their homes are are more than curious collections, they are temporary holdings for landfills. I know a lot of personal possession horror stories.

This blog could be devoted solely to my obsessive thoughts about owning things. Objects and ownership is an ongoing dialog in my mind that I never try to quiet.
I wonder. Are there any poor people who live in good style? How do poor people create good ambiance? Do poor people care about good ambiance?

Once I met a woman who had a lot of money but she lived like a pauper. On her windowsill she grew geraniums in tin cans. They plants flowered profusely in the dusty house. I loved the charm of those tin can planters.

Anyway, wait till you see what else I bought in New York!

Day 2 Art for the Heart

I love the subway station mosaics.

Saturday was a big day. I spent most of it with J. He took me to the floral district. I was surprised to see the plants were reasonably priced! There were many beautiful Jasmins and succulents. The succulents made me think of the dude at Adrian Farmer's Market who creates cement troughs and fills them with delicate plants. The fancy succulents would look nice in one of his troughs. Here is the trough I bought for $25.00. I love it because it has three colors. The iron Frog Prince was a gift from Maripat.

By chance we passed a Vietnamese immigrant parade. I have been reading Stealing Buddah's Dinner so it was fun to hear the announcer say "ao dai" and know what it means.

We then headed to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Outside the museum there were artists selling their goods. One young lady was selling creatures made from woven palm leaves. She said she learned how to do it from her Chinese mother. I bought the cicada, of course.


On youtube there are several clips demonstrating how to fold palm leaves. The young lady (darn I wish I would have gotten my picture taken with her) said the cicada brings "good luck." I love thinking that her heart, soul, and good wishes are woven into the cicada.
I really was excited when I saw it because I have images I found on the web of bugs created in the same method, but made from brightly colored plastic drinking straws.

NYC Day 1 Part 3 a Sweet Finish

Mamma and her boys.

Aren't they cute? I love these girls.

For dessert we went to NYC's premier dessert bar ChickaLicious. The menu changes with the seasons and reflects the whims of the head chef/owner. The prices are rather shocking, but it is worth going once for the experience. We had a suggested wine with our dessert sampling. Of course presentation is everything.

NYC Day1 Part 2

We met up with J and had a beer in a pub that is below street level. J introduced me to Stella Beer. Stella means "Star," (what a coincidence). Over beer we discussed Mother Teresa's sainthood and her supposed three postmortem miracles. The question is: Can an appearance on toast really be considered a miracle?


For dinner we went to a Japanese Bar-B-Que. There was a grill right at our table. We ate wonderful pieces of beef. I loved the beef tongue. Htomi is a wonderful cook.




After dinner we headed for dessert.

The sky was full of crazy weird clouds that would be considered a rare sight anywhere on the planet.

Who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters!

On the way we saw shoes hanging over a wire. It felt just like home to me. Footnote: There are shoes on a wire outside my house. Jacob recently revealed that he knows whose shoes, and when they ended up on the line. I learned that they have been up there for 5 and a half years! Those are amazing shoes laces!

NYC Day 1

I got into NYC on the 26th. Joel made breakfast and we went out to see the city. We missed Central Park so we made sure to correct this omission. The park is lovely, the result of a brilliant plan by city planners, it is a wonderful gift to the citizens of NYC.









Along the edge of the park is the Tavern on the Green. The restaurant has a charming history, but let me break it down to the finer points.













It seems like a sweet girly place with sparkling glass, pink, with gold and floral accents.














The brick patio is surrounded by dense foliage with topiary sculpted into the shapes of King Kong (why? because Kong died in NYC), a swan, a horse, and a bear balancing a ball on his head. It is a lovely place full of charm.