I am... in love! With Netflix, that is. It's quite a deal, really. $9.99 a month for unlimited movies, mailed to your house (so your lazy ass doesn't have to go to the overpriced video store and have to talk to the creepy, flirting, cross-eyed guy in the Bailey's Crossroads store). You watch it, return it in a nifty, postage-paid envelope, and the next movie in your "queue" shows up in a few days. It's brilliant, I tell you!
My first movie? Finding Neverland. I watched it tonight and cried, cried, and cried some more. And then I sobbed. Now, I don't want to give the impression that it's a horribly sad movie, it's not --- if you know me at all, you are quite aware that I cry at everything (for example, besides obvious cry-fests like Wuthering Heights and Love Story, I cry at Disney films, commercials, and most well-written books. My most recent tear-jerker was, of all movies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - which makes NO SENSE, because it's happy, strange, and NOT SAD. But my brain starts wandering to the old film and how equally magical the new film was and how fabulous it must have been to make and blah blah blah). Annnnnnnyway, Finding Neverland was WONDERFUL and magical, thoughtfully inspired, and beautifully acted. I hate the stupid Oscar voters sometimes - it seems that they ignore the sentimental films and go right for the weirdos. That's fine and all, but when something like this is so overlooked, it's hard to imagine if the Oscar voters HAVE HEARTS AT ALL.
Heh. Hehe. Sorry.
And the next film in my "queue" (hee! British terms are fun!) is Garden State --- a movie that I had planned on seeing and even bought its sundtrack. So I just have to walk my lazy ass to the mailbox and drop this one into its depths. Before long... ZACH BRAFF!
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Anomaly
So I discovered this neato site the other day on which I am now listed. As I browsed through the blogs of people at various metro stops, I wasn't too surprised at how political most of them were. I guess I am an anomaly in this town - I really don't care about making a point about politics. I don't really care about politics in general, really, and that mostly stems from the fact that I know so little about the inner workings of our system. Hell, I understand the Parliamentary system in the UK much better than that in my own country. I can't decide if that's a bad thing or not. Sure, I plan on making a name for myself - but as one of the youngest museum directors in town, not a political mastermind.
Maybe I need to find some old copies of this show.
Maybe I need to find some old copies of this show.
Friday, July 22, 2005
I've Got a Golden Ticket
Saw this last night:
Annnnnnnd...... it was pretty flippin' awesome. I absolutely loved it. As a fan of the book and the first movie, my expectations were set REALLY high for this film. Tim Burton is a master and created a different experience that in no way detracts from the first film that we know and love. The allegiance to the book is clear, and it is much stronger for that reason alone. And it's far less wordy than the first - you literally experience the film rather than just watch it. Gene Wilder was amazing, yes. But the delicious Johnny Depp obviously steals every scene in which he appears. He's wonderful.
I really don't understand why people keep comparing him to Michael Jackson, however. Perhaps they haven't seen the movie.
I got home from the theater, though, and I found myself humming songs from the first film.
This film does not replace the first. I love them both. I will own them both. And I still have to get around to seeing Finding Neverland, come to think of it.
Annnnnnnd...... it was pretty flippin' awesome. I absolutely loved it. As a fan of the book and the first movie, my expectations were set REALLY high for this film. Tim Burton is a master and created a different experience that in no way detracts from the first film that we know and love. The allegiance to the book is clear, and it is much stronger for that reason alone. And it's far less wordy than the first - you literally experience the film rather than just watch it. Gene Wilder was amazing, yes. But the delicious Johnny Depp obviously steals every scene in which he appears. He's wonderful.
I really don't understand why people keep comparing him to Michael Jackson, however. Perhaps they haven't seen the movie.
I got home from the theater, though, and I found myself humming songs from the first film.
This film does not replace the first. I love them both. I will own them both. And I still have to get around to seeing Finding Neverland, come to think of it.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
SEX!
After finishing the sixth Rowling creation and then The Final Solution, I felt myself yearning for something academic in nature. This obviously just reiterates my nerd status and history major background. So I grab a book of the shelf on my way out the door this morning. Which book? Sex With Kings, which explores the various roles played by mistresses and royal courtesans. Very well written.
But when I opened the book on the metro, and eventually glanced around, I noticed men staring. Really staring. Heh. Maybe it was the cover:
Perhaps. I'm also wearing a pleated gray skirt today, which might have warped their horny minds.
But when I opened the book on the metro, and eventually glanced around, I noticed men staring. Really staring. Heh. Maybe it was the cover:
Perhaps. I'm also wearing a pleated gray skirt today, which might have warped their horny minds. Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Ypsighetto - Where the Best Roommates Abound
After talking to Tonks for an hour today, I've decided that I am no longer allowed to complain about my roommates. Ever. Unless, of course, their antics are worse than those of her old roommate - which I doubt would ever be possible. I will share some of these stories with you now. I swear to you, I am not making these up. If you knew Davis at all (and his friends - the Dyer brothers, little Freeman, etc.), you understand.
So Tonks lived with this guy Davis, a friend of ours from high school, for three years while at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti (known from now on as "Ypsighetto"). Davis was, in a word, rambunctious. Davis always had people over, day and night. They would crash through the front door after a nice Sunday night at the bar and wake up Tonks - who always seemed to have an exam or lab the next morning at 8 a.m. But he was lovable, so it was okay. For the most part.
Tonks would come home from class for lunch - you know, food, a little relaxation, maybe a bit of TV. But no. She would walk into a completely darkened apartment to find fifteen people in the living room watching a Freddy Krueger marathon. This happened often. (I'm actually not sure that Davis has graduated yet - quite an accomplishment for a 1998 high school graduate).
Davis enjoyed turning the living room into a gymnasium using the couch as a trampoline. He would get a running start, vault off of the couch, and land with a thud in the middle of the room. This was how he cracked the ceiling of their neighbor below! Fantastic!
When Tonks and Missy (the third roommate) would come back from the bar all belligerent and whatnot, Davis would wait until one of them went into the bathroom. And he'd cut the circuit breaker. Being drunk in a dark bathroom must be super fun!
Or the time that Tonks got home from the library one night to find six people in the shower. Amazing! And that wasn't even the first time they flooded the place, which leaked down into their neighbor's apartment. Nope. Davis left the water running in the sink once before leaving the apartment (I think it's safe to assume that he wasn't going to class). Another flood!
Davis and his posse rigged a rope from their second story apartment to the ground, too. Because who needs a front door? Or security?
When they finally moved out, Kelly went upstairs to do a final cleaning of the place, and as she walked across the carpet, she noticed that she was leaving footprints. Yes, Davis and his friends thought that it would be hilarious to empty the contents of the fire extinguisher all over the room.
I've saved the best for last: Tonks would get ready in the morning and head to the kitchen before class to grab some food and a vitamin. She poured a nice glass of cold, fresh water from her Brita, popped the vitamin, and took a long drink of... vodka.
So yeah, I complain about my roommates (well, CreePaul, really). My apartment is always messy and there's always toothpaste globs and little hairs in the sink. But I've never unknowingly downed vodka for breakfast.
So Tonks lived with this guy Davis, a friend of ours from high school, for three years while at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti (known from now on as "Ypsighetto"). Davis was, in a word, rambunctious. Davis always had people over, day and night. They would crash through the front door after a nice Sunday night at the bar and wake up Tonks - who always seemed to have an exam or lab the next morning at 8 a.m. But he was lovable, so it was okay. For the most part.
Tonks would come home from class for lunch - you know, food, a little relaxation, maybe a bit of TV. But no. She would walk into a completely darkened apartment to find fifteen people in the living room watching a Freddy Krueger marathon. This happened often. (I'm actually not sure that Davis has graduated yet - quite an accomplishment for a 1998 high school graduate).
Davis enjoyed turning the living room into a gymnasium using the couch as a trampoline. He would get a running start, vault off of the couch, and land with a thud in the middle of the room. This was how he cracked the ceiling of their neighbor below! Fantastic!
When Tonks and Missy (the third roommate) would come back from the bar all belligerent and whatnot, Davis would wait until one of them went into the bathroom. And he'd cut the circuit breaker. Being drunk in a dark bathroom must be super fun!
Or the time that Tonks got home from the library one night to find six people in the shower. Amazing! And that wasn't even the first time they flooded the place, which leaked down into their neighbor's apartment. Nope. Davis left the water running in the sink once before leaving the apartment (I think it's safe to assume that he wasn't going to class). Another flood!
Davis and his posse rigged a rope from their second story apartment to the ground, too. Because who needs a front door? Or security?
When they finally moved out, Kelly went upstairs to do a final cleaning of the place, and as she walked across the carpet, she noticed that she was leaving footprints. Yes, Davis and his friends thought that it would be hilarious to empty the contents of the fire extinguisher all over the room.
I've saved the best for last: Tonks would get ready in the morning and head to the kitchen before class to grab some food and a vitamin. She poured a nice glass of cold, fresh water from her Brita, popped the vitamin, and took a long drink of... vodka.
So yeah, I complain about my roommates (well, CreePaul, really). My apartment is always messy and there's always toothpaste globs and little hairs in the sink. But I've never unknowingly downed vodka for breakfast.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Henna
It's already fading away. But I felt like a badass for almost three whole days! (Of course, how much of a badass can I be with a flower tattoo?) Luckily, the sunburn has faded as well.
Thanks to DJ Steve EP for the artwork and Gabester for the pic.
No spoilers, I promise!
Dear J.K. Rowling,
You are fabulous. I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was fantastic, and I only cried a teensy bit. Well, that's a lie - I cried like a five year old with a skinned knee - but whatever.
I correctly predicted who would die, but I did not even consider the character who emerged as the Half Blood Prince. Well done.
I do hope that parents are reading it along with their children, however, because it is considerably more advanced than the first five. That being said, I loved the romantic encounters and the many, many clues to Harry's destiny.
Please don't make me wait two years for the final book!
Love, Heather
You are fabulous. I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was fantastic, and I only cried a teensy bit. Well, that's a lie - I cried like a five year old with a skinned knee - but whatever.
I correctly predicted who would die, but I did not even consider the character who emerged as the Half Blood Prince. Well done.
I do hope that parents are reading it along with their children, however, because it is considerably more advanced than the first five. That being said, I loved the romantic encounters and the many, many clues to Harry's destiny.
Please don't make me wait two years for the final book!
Love, Heather
Sunday, July 17, 2005
What a Weekend!
This post should have been resplendent with beautiful pictures, but as I am an asshat and broke my camera somehow (I still have no clue how the screen got smashed in the x-ray machines at Reagan National Airport, but it did), there are NONE. So I will try to write descriptively, and you'll just have to imgaine...
A and I drove to Atlantic City after work on Thursday. Why? To see Weezer, of course! We got lost so many times though, that it's flat out ridiculous and way too embarassing to talk about here. The concert was in this beautiful hotel/casino, but the rooms there were $220/night, so we stayed at a nice place off the strip. We apparently got an upgrade, too: jacuzzi, fireplace, and king sized bed! The most hilarious/disgusting thing? Mirrors above the jacuzzi. Exactly.
The concert was good - I really, really like Weezer, and their live shows are excellent. We were definitely two of the oldest people there, though. This confused me a bit, as they've been around for something like ten years, right? I don't know. Humourously enough, after the show, we took these escalators to the main floor, and there were tons of parents waiting at the bottom to pick up their kids. So we barely waited for a cab. Heh. Regardless, it was a good show, and I'm glad we went, because the road trip there was super, super fun.
Jersey was, well... gross. We couldn't wait to get out of there. Yet, we chose the slowest possible escape route: the ferry. Good LORD, that took forever. A was getting so antsy I was afraid that she was going to throw herself overboard and swim to Delaware. She may have arrived before the freakin' ferry, honestly. It was SO SLOW.
From DE, the drive to Ocean City, MD was beautiful. We got to the condo aound noon and immediately headed to the beach. And we promptly got kicked off the beach after twenty minutes because the T-Rex lifeguard ran from blanket to blanket like a gay dinosaur warning that a huge thunderstorm was going to hit. We left. A storm did NOT hit, and we hung out at the condo pool instead. Once everyone arrived, we had fourteen people in a three bedroom condo. Believe it or not, there was very little drama, and I think that everyone had a great time!
Friday, our huge group headed to a bar called Fagan's Island (or something like that) and saw a cover band called The McFlys. Their specialty? 80s music. The McFlys! That's awesome! They were really fun. Gabe dancing with the 40-year-old woman was one of the best things that happened that night, as was the weirdo guy with fake teeth. Wait, that guy was pretty much just bizarre. Nevermind.
Saturday, we spent most of the day on the beach, where I proceeded to get a very lovely tan. Except for those few inches under my butt, where I forgot to put sunblock! Yay! Sitting down is fun! We went to an all-you-can-eat crab place for dinner, which was very good, and later, a few of us headed to the boardwalk. My friend Steve has a henna tattoo place in a prime location on the boardwalk, and I got a very lovely original design on my upper left back (HERE would be a great place for a photo, don't you think? Gah!). It looks cute, and will be gone in about a week - thank goodness, because I really don't have any desire to give my parents matching heart attacks.
We headed back Sunday around noon or so, and stopped at a restaurant called Big Pecker's for lunch. I swear, we are children (well, at least A and I are children - we laughed and thought that this was hilarious). A wasn't that impressed with their "bodacious burgers," however.
Going to work tomorrow is going to SUCK, but I'm tan now, so that makes up for it. Think I might fly to MI next weekend to see Pavel... We'll see.
A and I drove to Atlantic City after work on Thursday. Why? To see Weezer, of course! We got lost so many times though, that it's flat out ridiculous and way too embarassing to talk about here. The concert was in this beautiful hotel/casino, but the rooms there were $220/night, so we stayed at a nice place off the strip. We apparently got an upgrade, too: jacuzzi, fireplace, and king sized bed! The most hilarious/disgusting thing? Mirrors above the jacuzzi. Exactly.
The concert was good - I really, really like Weezer, and their live shows are excellent. We were definitely two of the oldest people there, though. This confused me a bit, as they've been around for something like ten years, right? I don't know. Humourously enough, after the show, we took these escalators to the main floor, and there were tons of parents waiting at the bottom to pick up their kids. So we barely waited for a cab. Heh. Regardless, it was a good show, and I'm glad we went, because the road trip there was super, super fun.
Jersey was, well... gross. We couldn't wait to get out of there. Yet, we chose the slowest possible escape route: the ferry. Good LORD, that took forever. A was getting so antsy I was afraid that she was going to throw herself overboard and swim to Delaware. She may have arrived before the freakin' ferry, honestly. It was SO SLOW.
From DE, the drive to Ocean City, MD was beautiful. We got to the condo aound noon and immediately headed to the beach. And we promptly got kicked off the beach after twenty minutes because the T-Rex lifeguard ran from blanket to blanket like a gay dinosaur warning that a huge thunderstorm was going to hit. We left. A storm did NOT hit, and we hung out at the condo pool instead. Once everyone arrived, we had fourteen people in a three bedroom condo. Believe it or not, there was very little drama, and I think that everyone had a great time!
Friday, our huge group headed to a bar called Fagan's Island (or something like that) and saw a cover band called The McFlys. Their specialty? 80s music. The McFlys! That's awesome! They were really fun. Gabe dancing with the 40-year-old woman was one of the best things that happened that night, as was the weirdo guy with fake teeth. Wait, that guy was pretty much just bizarre. Nevermind.
Saturday, we spent most of the day on the beach, where I proceeded to get a very lovely tan. Except for those few inches under my butt, where I forgot to put sunblock! Yay! Sitting down is fun! We went to an all-you-can-eat crab place for dinner, which was very good, and later, a few of us headed to the boardwalk. My friend Steve has a henna tattoo place in a prime location on the boardwalk, and I got a very lovely original design on my upper left back (HERE would be a great place for a photo, don't you think? Gah!). It looks cute, and will be gone in about a week - thank goodness, because I really don't have any desire to give my parents matching heart attacks.
We headed back Sunday around noon or so, and stopped at a restaurant called Big Pecker's for lunch. I swear, we are children (well, at least A and I are children - we laughed and thought that this was hilarious). A wasn't that impressed with their "bodacious burgers," however.
Going to work tomorrow is going to SUCK, but I'm tan now, so that makes up for it. Think I might fly to MI next weekend to see Pavel... We'll see.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
WHAT??!??!?!
Why. Is. This. Considered. Newsworthy?
Link to the most asinine story in months.
Stupid America.
Link to the most asinine story in months.
Stupid America.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Had a Fab Time in MI...
Any day I get to leave work early is a good day. Caught the flight to Det-roit (thanks to Tonks for that one) and I gotta say, Spirit Airlines kinda blows. It's not a long flight - an hour and twenty minutes, an hour and a half, tops. Somehow, they managed to make it over two. So that was fun. The Lady was waiting for both K-10 (whose flight arrived from London only an hour before mine) and I and we all went to dinner before K-10's psychotic mother came to pick her up. She's crazy, y'all. Just take my word for it.
Saturday, I went to see the baby, and discovered that the sweet LCD screen on my very expensive digital camera had been completely shattered sometime between DC and then. So that was neat. After a few minutes of pouting, I got over the fact that it's just an object and was only angry that I couldn't take any pics of my beautiful and perfect little niece.
Went to Somerset with K-10. Holy Shopping Mecca, Batman! That place was freaking ginormous. Felt a little out of place with my purse from H&M, as most people were carrying purses worth more than, let's say, my computer. I've never really bought into the whole designer bags thing, though I can understand why people do. I just lose/break/sit on/rip things way too easily to justify spending very much money (exhibit A: the digital camera; exhibit B: every pair of sunglasses I have ever owned).
Later, met Tonks at a party in the S-gate. Knew a few people. Mostly peeps who returned to the Gate after college, which makes little to no sense to me. I escaped, and there was no going back! One of these people was a guy who graduated 2 years ahead of us. He played hockey, he was gorgeous, etc. Isn't it fun when people who didn't really know you existed back in the day are now clamboring to talk to you? I mean, it's not like this happens to me every day. Me having a thing for hockey players may have had a little to do with why I let it happen - also, maybe because it was time to get a life and grow up. People change, after all. Anyhoo, we'll call him Pavel, after my favorite Canuck (well, used to be a Canuck).
Went to some bar in Wyandirt - Pier 500, or something. Very fun, not too crowded, good drinkees. And I got to dance! And do a little kissing. Fun! Back to Pavel's.
It was about 4 a.m. when I realized I wouldn't be going to sleep that night as my flight was scheduled to take off just after sunrise. Caught the 7:30 a.m. flight back to DC and slept. Good dreams...
Went to see Lawrence of Arabia with Gabe and Joshy later in the day up at the AFI theater in Silver Spring, MD. I'm so glad that I never watched it as my dad had always said that it's best on the big screen. He was not kidding - the vast shots of the desert were enough to make me cry (and we all know how difficult that is). It was just... wow. And as much as I love Gregory Peck and To Kill a Mockingbird, Peter O'Toole was SO robbed of the Oscar.
Anyway, it was definitely a weekend to remember. Now, when can I get back to MI to see Pavel...
Saturday, I went to see the baby, and discovered that the sweet LCD screen on my very expensive digital camera had been completely shattered sometime between DC and then. So that was neat. After a few minutes of pouting, I got over the fact that it's just an object and was only angry that I couldn't take any pics of my beautiful and perfect little niece.
Went to Somerset with K-10. Holy Shopping Mecca, Batman! That place was freaking ginormous. Felt a little out of place with my purse from H&M, as most people were carrying purses worth more than, let's say, my computer. I've never really bought into the whole designer bags thing, though I can understand why people do. I just lose/break/sit on/rip things way too easily to justify spending very much money (exhibit A: the digital camera; exhibit B: every pair of sunglasses I have ever owned).
Later, met Tonks at a party in the S-gate. Knew a few people. Mostly peeps who returned to the Gate after college, which makes little to no sense to me. I escaped, and there was no going back! One of these people was a guy who graduated 2 years ahead of us. He played hockey, he was gorgeous, etc. Isn't it fun when people who didn't really know you existed back in the day are now clamboring to talk to you? I mean, it's not like this happens to me every day. Me having a thing for hockey players may have had a little to do with why I let it happen - also, maybe because it was time to get a life and grow up. People change, after all. Anyhoo, we'll call him Pavel, after my favorite Canuck (well, used to be a Canuck).
Went to some bar in Wyandirt - Pier 500, or something. Very fun, not too crowded, good drinkees. And I got to dance! And do a little kissing. Fun! Back to Pavel's.
It was about 4 a.m. when I realized I wouldn't be going to sleep that night as my flight was scheduled to take off just after sunrise. Caught the 7:30 a.m. flight back to DC and slept. Good dreams...
Went to see Lawrence of Arabia with Gabe and Joshy later in the day up at the AFI theater in Silver Spring, MD. I'm so glad that I never watched it as my dad had always said that it's best on the big screen. He was not kidding - the vast shots of the desert were enough to make me cry (and we all know how difficult that is). It was just... wow. And as much as I love Gregory Peck and To Kill a Mockingbird, Peter O'Toole was SO robbed of the Oscar.
Anyway, it was definitely a weekend to remember. Now, when can I get back to MI to see Pavel...
Thursday, July 07, 2005
"We shall prevail and they shall not."
"We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks. We send our profound condolences to the victims and their families."All of our countries have suffered from the impact of terrorism. Those responsible have no respect for human life. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation, but all nations and on civilized people everywhere.
"We will not allow violence to change our societies or our values, nor will we allow it to stop the work of this summit. We will continue our deliberations in the interest of a better world.
"Here at the summit, the world's leaders are striving to combat world poverty and save and improve human life.
"The perpetrators of today's attacks are intent on destroying human life. The terrorists will not succeed. Today's bombings will not weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of our societies and to defeat those who impose their fanaticism and extremism on all of us.
"We shall prevail and they shall not."
-- Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Things to Do While in Michigan
K-10 is crossing the pond this Friday and returning to the States for the wedding from hell. I haven't seen her since New Year's, and this is unacceptable. Completely unrelated to that, my niece is now one month and five days old, and I haven't seen her in a whole month! Thirdly (thirdly? Is that even correct?), Spirit Airlines had a flight for $103. THEREFORE, on July 8, I will be flitting off to southeastern Michigan for a quick weekend of babies, K-10s, and Michigan humidity. There are many things that I will need to accomplish whilst (heh) I am there, and I've made a list of things that I hope to do:
1. (tie) See my niece. Take lots of pictures.
1. (tie) See K-10. Be crazy together.
3. Go to Meijer, the most fabulous place in history, without a shopping agenda. Stay for hours. And get a frozen Coke from the Purple Cow.
4. Buy many things from the 'Intimate Apparel' department at Marshall Fields as they have the best stuff and there are no Marshall Fields near the DC metro area.
5. Get ice cream at Stroh's in Wyandotte.
6. Drive dad's car.
7. Go to Mexican Gardens for the Three Taco Dinner (they don't have a website, and I would never expect them to even think about having one, so here's a review).
8. Get to Ann Arbor, if possible.
I think that it can all be done. Maybe not Ann Arbor, but that's okay. I'll try to get there in the fall for a football game or something.
1. (tie) See my niece. Take lots of pictures.
1. (tie) See K-10. Be crazy together.
3. Go to Meijer, the most fabulous place in history, without a shopping agenda. Stay for hours. And get a frozen Coke from the Purple Cow.
4. Buy many things from the 'Intimate Apparel' department at Marshall Fields as they have the best stuff and there are no Marshall Fields near the DC metro area.
5. Get ice cream at Stroh's in Wyandotte.
6. Drive dad's car.
7. Go to Mexican Gardens for the Three Taco Dinner (they don't have a website, and I would never expect them to even think about having one, so here's a review).
8. Get to Ann Arbor, if possible.
I think that it can all be done. Maybe not Ann Arbor, but that's okay. I'll try to get there in the fall for a football game or something.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Sunday, July 03, 2005
The National Gallery
I've lived in DC for three years now, and I know that I don't take advantage of what the city has to offer. There are so many museums and annual events, it can seem overwhelming. But the parents wanted to go to the National Gallery of Art, somewhere I had yet to visit (ridiculous, I KNOW).
As a child, I was practically raised in parks and museums. We went to the Exhibit Museum of Natural History at UM at least once a month - where I ended up working for three years in undergrad - and the Detroit Institute of Arts a few times a year. There are things at the DIA that I will never forget - the wrought-iron spiral staircase, the Diego Rivera mural, and most especially my favorite painting: Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley. It is quite a morbid painting for a little girl to adore - a man is attacked by a shark while swimming in the Havana harbor. His foot has been bitten off, the men on the ship are trying desperately to save him, and you're not sure if he survives. I think that my dad would try to save it for last to surprise me, thinking that I had forgotten about it. But I knew - and can still picture - exactly where it hangs in the gallery.
So today, walking through the National Gallery, I turned the corner and saw the exact same painting - a little larger than the Detroit piece - hanging on the wall.
Here's a link to the piece at the National Gallery, and here's the piece at the DIA. They differ just slightly. I know that artists often painted several versions of a piece - this is just one of those instances. The Van Gogh self portrait at the National Gallery has a similar version hanging at the DIA. Obviously not the same, but similar enough to strike a chord in one's memory.
I love that I can go visit my favorite painting any time I want!
As a child, I was practically raised in parks and museums. We went to the Exhibit Museum of Natural History at UM at least once a month - where I ended up working for three years in undergrad - and the Detroit Institute of Arts a few times a year. There are things at the DIA that I will never forget - the wrought-iron spiral staircase, the Diego Rivera mural, and most especially my favorite painting: Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley. It is quite a morbid painting for a little girl to adore - a man is attacked by a shark while swimming in the Havana harbor. His foot has been bitten off, the men on the ship are trying desperately to save him, and you're not sure if he survives. I think that my dad would try to save it for last to surprise me, thinking that I had forgotten about it. But I knew - and can still picture - exactly where it hangs in the gallery.
So today, walking through the National Gallery, I turned the corner and saw the exact same painting - a little larger than the Detroit piece - hanging on the wall.
Here's a link to the piece at the National Gallery, and here's the piece at the DIA. They differ just slightly. I know that artists often painted several versions of a piece - this is just one of those instances. The Van Gogh self portrait at the National Gallery has a similar version hanging at the DIA. Obviously not the same, but similar enough to strike a chord in one's memory.
I love that I can go visit my favorite painting any time I want!
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Things I'm Looking Forward to This Summer
... in no particular order, of course:
1. Daylight until 9 pm
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Screen on the Green
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Trip to Ocean City, MD
6. Parents Visiting
7. My Birthday (quarter of a century!) It's August 18. I didn't see you write that down.
8. 4th of July Fireworks
9. Shopping at Eastern Market and coffee at Murky
10. Sun!
1. Daylight until 9 pm
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Screen on the Green
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Trip to Ocean City, MD
6. Parents Visiting
7. My Birthday (quarter of a century!) It's August 18. I didn't see you write that down.
8. 4th of July Fireworks
9. Shopping at Eastern Market and coffee at Murky
10. Sun!
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