Memorial Day 2011

Lizzi and Thauna at Besprinkled asked yesterday about our favorite summer things.  I had fun thinking about this, especially on Memorial Day weekend.

In New York City, I like nights when you walk outside and the sound of a violin is drifting from someone's open window.  I adore street fairs with polenta and cheese squares and candied fruit, and seeing all the happy faces walking on 9th Avenue.  I soak up evenings when the terrace downstairs is full of people chatting and drinking coffee and laughing, with the fountain splashing and bubbling away. I love the start of it all, Memorial Day weekend, because the military ships dock close by and the streets are full of happy people in uniform, celebrating their leave in this fun city.  And I'm smitten with summer days at Central Park, with cotton candy and baby ducks and the symphony of sounds:  children laughing, the lilting jack-in-the-box melody of the carousel, dogs barking, and the mournful wail of a saxophone from under a bridge.

I was in Times Square yesterday and captured these shots of the Memorial Day Weekend festivities for you.  Enjoy your weekend!

My Dad, husband and father-in-law were Marines. It's a proud tradition in my family, and I loved capturing a picture of these handsome young men.

A Marine corps jazz band was playing on the stage in Times Square.

Yes, that's me manning a machine gun.  One of the Marines offered to take a picture for me to send to my husband, and I couldn't resist.

Remember to thank your military this holiday.  They are the people who keep us safe and free.

Alexander McQueen Exhibit - MOMA

I recently attended the Alexander McQueen exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  There was so much to see -- he was truly a genius, and the fashion world is greatly reduced without him. Some was definitely dark and would seem strange to many, like the "spine corset" http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/spine-corset-untitled/

But others would look beautiful to almost any eye.

Look at how this dress has one short sleeve and the other side sleeveless (and almost sideless).  The thing about Alexander McQueen that strikes me most is that he was not afraid to poke the edges of acceptable in his designs.  He did not seem to be confined by the boundaries that can imprison creative thought.

I don't recall what kind of material this dress is made from.  I remember thinking it looked like long fingernails fastened together into a dress.

The platforms on these shoes are outrageous, and they look even better reflected in the mirror beneath them.

This last shot isn't quite as clear as the others (lighting was quite low in the exhibit) but you can see enough to appreciate the design.

There were several videos playing in the display, showing the dresses being worn for their fashion debuts.  Often the background on the stage was dark and the music was solitary, strange, almost like the melancholy call of a whale.  The models moved around slowly and in a zombie-like fashion.  As I said, definitely punching holes in the boundaries of the expected.

Lynne Perrella-Ultimate Mikkado

I spent an artful weekend in Connecticut at Lynne Perrella's Ultimate Mikkado workshop.  It was my first class with Lynn and I can see why she has so many repeat attenders.  She's terrific. I buddied up with my friend Eileen for this one, and she has blogged about it at her Art Saves Lives blog. You can read the details below:

http://artsaveslives-paperqueen.blogspot.com/2011/05/mikado-in-connecticut.html

Last two Days - Memoir Unit

Yesterday's prompt:  Did you have a favorite friend (or friends) to play with? What did you like to do with them? Try to be specific.


And today's prompt:  Do you have any memories of your parents? Try to remember a happy time with each of them.


If you have been journaling along for the past few days, I hope you've enjoyed this mini memoir unit.  There are several books you can find to guide you with writing memoirs.  One very good one is called, "Writing Life Stories, How to Take Memories into Memoir" by Bill Roorbach.  


You don't have to be a former president or movie star to want to preserve your memories.  I love to read autobiographies -- and I dearly wish my grandparents or aunts and uncles had kept journals to pass down.  I'd love to know more about all the little things in their lives -- what they wanted for their future, their hopes and dreams and challenges, and to hear about what their worlds were like when they were growing up.  I wish I had started journaling sooner myself - but as George Eliot said, "It's never too late to be who you might have been."

Day 3-Art Journaling Memoir Unit

The question for yesterday was, "were you a dreamer, a painter..."

Here is my journal response to that one.

And the journal prompt for today is...

My favorite food was cornflakes with chocolate milk. Usually I dumped Nestles Quik in to make the white milk taste chocolatey. My brother and I would pile our cereal boxes up high between us at the breakfast table so we didn't have to see each other.


Did you have sibling rivalry? Did you have a food you always ate for breakfast or lunch?  Do you still eat it?

Memoir Art Journal Day 2

Here are my journal responses to yesterday's prompt.

And the next journal prompt is:

When you were young and growing, were you a painter, a singer, a dreamer a lover, a planner?  Describe yourself by telling us what you did.