California dreamin'

Eddie ran his first (last?) marathon in Huntington Beach, CA, with his friend, Chris Aikin. I have to say...California in February beats NYC hands down in the weather category. It wasn't quite beach weather, but we didn't have to wear coats, which was wonderful!

Perfect marathon weather; not perfect beach vacation weather...(Those dots are surfers.)

 3:45:56! Yay!!!

I went to Santa Monica for the day to see my wonderful friend, Neda. Isn't she gorgeous?

We spent an afternoon at the Getty Museum. The campus was built since the last time I was in CA, and it's really impressive.

Bernini is my favorite sculptor:

And how cool is this mosaic made out of marble?

 The cactus garden:

We had a great vacation. It was nice to escape the bustle of the city for awhile. But it's always nice to come home...

Twice in one week!

Well, they didn't allow pictures at King Tut. They had artifacts from the tomb, but not the actual sarcophagus. The mummy has never left the Valley of the Kings, but there was an identical model created for the exhibit. His father, Akhenaten, was a monotheist, amazingly, and changed the religious practices of Egypt. Tutankhamun (who was born Tutankhaten - Aten was the god his father worshipped) changed everything back when he took over. The name change signified the change in gods as well. Tut - image; ankh - life; amun - god = image of the living god. Their art was beautiful and incredibly well made. Shabti with prayers carved into them. Tiny feathers carved into golden images. A statue of Nefertiti carved from granite that looked alive. Everything was so colorful and even after over three millennia, the colors are still bright. Wooden images and implements are intact, due to the incredibly dry climate. I'm really glad we went.

Today, I went to the Met. I spent some time with the 5 Vermeers, and then went to the area of modern art I had missed last time. There were some dizzying sculptures on display. This one was a concave metal sculpture, made out of hundreds of mirrors. The artwork reflects whatever is around it, depending on the angle at which you look. You can see me upside down taking the picture.

These two are just giant panels of color from opposite sides of the room. I couldn't get the entire thing from one side:

Kristin Sigurdadsdottir (I think I have that right) has a couple of works on special exhibit. This one is a series of doors and mirrors that spiral the room getting smaller (or larger, depending on your viewpoint). You can see my feet in the mirror.

A recent acquisition, this bust is made of bronze and marble. I've never seen anything like it. Her head wrapping is so colorful...

A view of the Belvedere Castle in Central Park at twilight

And finally, Shepard Fairey has been in my neighborhood. (I'm becoming quite the graffiti expert, thanks to Rafe and Hero!)

Happy New Year!

We've had lots of fun visitors in the last month. Mom, Edie, Ann, Rafe/Robin/Sibyl/Hero...I'm way behind on new entries, so I'll let the photos speak:

Ann's favorite burger joint:

The world's best cupcakes (Baked by Melissa):

Best Indian food in the City:

Our favorite pub (the Westside Tavern):

A little street shop on 23rd (See me?):

Christmas decoration:

Meatpacking District graffiti/art:

The HighLine:

How's this for a garbage dump? :)

 Friends we met after the play:

Times' Square (and the billboard for the play we saw that night):

The Majors (all but Seren) came to see us a couple of weeks ago. This was Sibyl's first visit. Skating in Central Park,

The windows at Bloomingdales all made from paper (you can see the buildings across the street reflected in the glass), a dragon/lizard:

 a kitten:

 a scene from outer space (I think) with what looks like a pterodactyl:

A coffee break:

Dinner out:

And a possible Space Invader (the other one got stolen from the wall during their visit):

Last week, I went to see the Botanical Garden Train Show, NY monuments made out of plants, twigs, leaves...

Idlewild Airport:

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

The Brooklyn Bridge:

The Flatiron Building:

Tonight, we're headed to the King Tut Exhibit...More pics to come!

Mom comes to the big city

Mom came to NY yesterday after a 13 hour travel ordeal. Her flight got delayed and diverted to Hartford CT, and she shared a car service with two very nice business people she met. (Mary traveled with Sherry and Harry!) She got to the apartment just in time for us to have a bite to eat and head to the opera. It was the first time I'd seen La Boheme. The only time I had ever been to the opera previously was compliments of Tommy Gormley who insisted his son fill this appalling gap in my cultural life. We saw Hansel and Gretel at the Dallas Opera. That was 20 years ago, so it's been awhile. La Boheme is a beautiful opera, and one that leaves you crying at the end. I was surprised at what a social event it's set up to be. Act I and II, 28 minute intermission. Act III, followed by a 33 minute intermission. Then Act IV. People wander around and find their friends, chatting briefly before going off to hunt up the next one. I have no idea how they find one another, as they seem surprised to stumble upon them...The performances were spectacular, but the sets were what really amazed me. I've never seen a production with anything like them. A rooftop garret, a multi-tiered city market, complete with marching band and donkey-driven cart, a winter scene with a house, monuments and giant trees, and finally, back to the garret.

Today, we're off shopping, to see The King's Speech, and who knows what else?