Month: August 2007

When having to be a grown up blows….

I had such a great weekend. I really did. I was in NM last weekend, so Saturday was about running errands, taking a nap and reconnecting with that cute boy I share a home with. Sunday we loaded up and headed for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

I love having artsy days. I don’t do them enough, honestly, and I always come out inspired.

I grew up in a sort of small town as the child of VERY small minded and small town parents. Albuquerque in the 70’s wasn’t exactly brimming with wide ranging cultural opportunities. It’s improved, some, but even today it’s tough. So I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that growing up, I never went to an art museum.

The first art museum I ever went to was the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I was 29. Sad huh?

I still remember it vividly. They were having a Monet and Manet exhibit, juxtaposing the two artists who painted in the same era. I was literally *blown away* to stand in front of an actual Monet painting. I mean, it blew the hayseeds right out of my New Mexico girl hair…..

After the Monet exhibit, I went to the next floor. There held an exhibit of Matisse works. It was mostly his torn and cut paper work, and while I was not all that crazy about his torn paper years, I did see some amazing stuff. And again, I was *blown away* that I was standing in front of Matisse’s original work, including the well known “Jazz”. The actual original piece of art.

I was also turned on to some of his paintings. Back then I’d never even known he did anything OTHER than the torn paper work (little did I know torn and cut paper was late in his life).

It was truly a profound experience.

My next profound art excursion was last year at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Did you know that Van Gogh’s “Starry Starry Night” lives there (or at least it did in the summer of 2006)? I didn’t. That painting has meaning for me. An English teacher changed my life by teaching a poetry segment using lyrics from songs. She taught Don McLean’s “Vincent” and she talked about the artist and showed slides of the painting. That was seventh grade and I can still remember in vivid detail her lecture and what I learned (I can remember little from my childhood, but I remember this). I’ve always considered that painting to be inspirational and I’m a fan of Van Gogh.

So I laid eyes on the actual painting….and I burst into tears. I was so moved, it meant everything to me. Despite spending a few more days in Manhattan, I could have gone home that day. I was spent.

My next art museum trip was to San Francisco’s de Young Museum for the “Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge”. It was a moving experience, showing art from Cheech Marin’s private collection, folklore items, and work by Chicano artists. Again, I was blown away to see the original “La Pistola y El Corazon” by George Yepes. Well, the second original, the first was owned by Sean Penn and it burned in a house fire. George painted another one with subtle differences, but no less powerful. I sat on the floor in front of the some eight foot tall canvas and gaped at that painting, blown away by the style and the power of it. Moved to silence.

(noticing a trend here? Going to art museums is usually a deep emotional experience)

So going to the MoMa in San Francisco on Sunday was a big day for me. My reaction on this tour of an art museum was much different from the previous two. The first two times, I fell in love. This time, I sort of got mad.

Mad, you ask? Yes. Mad. Or well, maybe not mad as much as disgruntled.

I am not a fan of abstract art. There I said it, shoot slings at arrows at me now…..

I don’t enjoy the canvas painted blue. Just blue, that’s it. I’m also no fan of Jackson Pollock. I know, heresy. And there was a lot of abstract art during this visit. Some I liked, some just made me hostile. All evoked a response, and that’s the idea, right?

But all was not lost. Also on this trip I got to see two real live Diego Rivera paintings! That was pretty cool. And also a real live Frida Kahlo painting.

And the main reason we went to MoMa was to see the display of Matisse sculptures. Ah yes, Matisse again! It was fascinating to watch him progress with his style and getting the human form right, then deconstructing it. Amazing! Made me want to pick up some clay and get to work!

And finally, I was wowed by the “Hidden Picasso” exhibit. First, I was that close to a Picasso! (you know the drill…*blown away*). And then the mysteries behind the painting hidden behind Picasso’s “Rue de Montmartre” and discovered using pretty cool technology.

Fascinating!

So, all filled with the arts and feeling artistic and flying on a cloud of joy……Sunday ended.

And today, I had to come back to work. To get yelled at. And complained about. And feeling decidedly UN-creative.

Being a grown up sucks.

A few photos

I was strangely photographically uncreative and uninspired while on my trip to New Mexico. I think I was so sick I could only concentrate on blowing my nose. I’d expected to take a ton of photos, but only took a few.

The views in New Mexico are as breathtaking as always, but I had trouble capturing them on film. This is usually not an issue for me. New Mexico is really one big photo op.

Below are a few of the better ones, but not my best work, but they make me happy enough. It was such a great trip. I’m ready to go back.

This was on the way to Capitan

This is just outside of Fort Stanton

Taken at the Merchant Marine cemetery right across from Fort Stanton

This was on the way back to Alto from Fort Stanton. You just don’t get views like this anywhere else…..

Gotta love it

It was just a brief story in the ABQjournal. Hardly a story, really. But it hit home with me.

In my “grown up life” I am a contracts professional. I negotiate contracts on behalf of my company with a variety of suppliers. I’ve been at this for the better part of fifteen years. These days I’m all embroiled up in the middle of a hairy deal. I have a great in-house lawyer that I work with, and one of her mantras is “we have to take care of this now, despite the fact that we hope we never have to turn to the contract”.

And truly, getting the contract language right really only matters when something goes terribly wrong. But having been on the receiving end of “terribly wrong”, I was always glad I took the time to get the words right. I’ve had to give a deposition to an Albuquerque Court based on one of my contracts. That’s how important the contract becomes.

So, of course, this was what I immediately thought of when I ready the article titled Land Grant Heirs: Treaty Promises Free Wood.

In the article basically, they are saying in order to resolve a dispute, they are going to have to turn to the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, circa 1946. Man, when you have to turn to a contract that is some sixty years old, you know someone is gonna come out of this unhappy.

Ah well, better them (and their lawyers) than me.

Happy Friday to everyone! Here’s to a great, restful and safe weekend! I hope to finally shake this damn sinus infection. Sleep is my prescription for a happy weekend.

———–
Update: Well, right after I posted I toodled over to the ABQjournal and found this article. Seems St. Pete has decided to get involved, asking for fees to be halted while everyone scans the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo for their interpretation of the language. Forest Service says “no”. Things are progressing predictably…..

Is it really getting on time again??

The other day, my partner said, “I can’t believe it’s August, soon it will be Fall”. I shot him a whiny look. I *love* the summer. I’m at my best in the summer with the warm and the light and all that comes with summer. “But I like Fall,” he claimed. Yeah, I do too, but it’s always sad for me…it means winter darkness is just around the corner.

I loathe days when it’s dark at 5:00pm. I’m at work, working away and it’s pitch black outside. Wah!

I saw a harbinger of the impending fall in Wednesday’s ABQjournal. Evidently the debate is on whether to televise the burning of Zozobra this year. It’s scheduled for September 6. Wow. Already?

I’ve watched Zozobra burn both on TV and in person. I have to say, the impact is FAR greater in person. When you chant “burn, burn, burn” along with thousands of your closest, drunkest friends, you feel a certain tribal kinship that’s hard to find in other places. It’s joyful and sad and creepy and a passage of time all at once. And then you go to the Fiesta de Santa Fe and drink and eat to forget. But Old Man Gloom stays in your soul.

Info can be found here. In one of those “the more things change…” moments, I realize they are charging admission to the event. I remember when it used to be free. You just rushed the field, beer in hand, and staked your spot. Oh well…….

Jeez, already a few weeks away from Zozobra. The kids go back to school next week. Soon the State Fair will be here. Time, she moves too fast for me….

Value

Shamelessly stolen from Live From Silver City who stole it from NewMexiKen.

Herewith, the value of my little blog:


My blog is worth $5,080.86.
How much is your blog worth?

The paltry $5k is FAR more than I would have thought given the venerable NewMexiKen’s blog is worth some $27K. He’s been at his blog for four years! (by the way, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! That’s a huge accomplishment).

I’m also celebrating a milestone of sorts. The post this morning regarding the Bonds swat into the history books represented my 100th post. I started this crazy thing in March, on St. Paddy’s day, to be exact. It seems I should have racked up more posts by now…but oh well, I still consider 100 posts to be an accomplishment. The days of staring at the screen with rampant writer’s block surely account for some of the gaps.

And then there are times like today when I’ve written four posts in advance….who knows about the mind of a blogger?