Found a Wormhole in a New York Gallery...

This is when I wish I was better at words, because my visits to the Museum of Modern Art and The Neue Gallery were profound experiences for me, and I know I will not be able to explain it completely. I was taken by surprise the first time it happened - in front of a Cezanne at MOMA. I stopped to look at the painting and my eyes immediately welled up with tears. (The last time I remember such an instant physical/emotional reaction was in South Africa upon seeing my first wild Giraffe :-) A few days later I visited The Neue Gallery which was holding an exhibit on Van Gogh and Expressionism, and I spent several hours walking around in a blissful weepy daze! I would stand looking at a canvas, and it was something about seeing each individual brush stroke, seeing the dried paint of his signature - I had this very immediate, emotional experience of ... of history? of the power of art? of him? At one end of that brush stroke was me in the Neue Gallery in New York, but at the other end, just at the other end of that little flick of colour was a brush being held by Vincent Van Gogh 118 years ago.

Life in and out of the Upper West Side

To-do List:
Greyline tour - check
Central Park - check
Riverside Park - check
GreenFlea market - check
RENT on Broadway - check
Lincoln Center - check
Guggenheim - check
MOMA - check
Observation deck at Rockefeller Center - check
Patio dinner on Amsterdam Avenue - check
Battery Park - check
Statue of Liberty - check
Ellis Island - check
Wicked on Broadway - check
We're tired. We're sore. We're thrilled to be here :-)

Start Spreadin' the News...

This time tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to the airport! Yipee! I still get so excited about travelling, but am becoming more and more anxious about flying. I don't think it's fear of terrorism, it's more the dread of feeling like a head of cattle - being herded into a space too small, with bad air and unable to move for several hours. Then I start thinking about all the airlines filing for bankruptcy protection, and worry if the mechanics who serviced the plane I'm on have had a raise in the past 10 years. I stress the most during take off and landing. And turbulance.
Ack!
Stop it!
These are the things I am most looking forward to.

The Usual Suspects

The husband of a friend I met through the Artist's Way has started making furniture for children. He asked me if I would be interested in painting some of his chairs, and these are the samples I just finished for him to look at. (They are cardboard cutouts in the shapes of his chair backs.) They turned out to be quite fun and fast to do (well, after I procrastinated for two months). We'll see what happens!

The Truth. The Whole Truth. And Nothing but The Truth.

Today David accused me of lying in my blog profile. He says it is dishonest of me to say I like Gerber Daisies and goats while failing to mention what he calls my "vacuum collection" and "lip balm addiction". So in the interest of full-disclosure, here you go:

I will have to review my lip balms and compile a Top 10 to illustrate. Because David is right, I am addicted, and there are just too many to draw them all.
Another Thursday-day-off nearly over, and once again I cannot believe how quickly it has gone. I took my 95 year old friend Grace to the hairdresser today. Every two weeks I pick her up and take her to get her hair washed and set. It's the only time she gets out of the Assisted Living home now, so it is a big deal for her. I sit and read trashy magazines (although I think the shop may have new owners. There has been a turn over of staff, and the magazines are no longer so trashy. Homes & Garden and W have replaced Teen People and US) while she sits under the dryer. Then we go up the road to this really old hot dog and ice cream place and eat french fries sitting in the car in the parking lot.

I'm in the moment... Just not this moment...

Is this how the Rich and Famous do it? Spend each vacation planning the next?
Here I am on the beautiful North Carolina coast, planning my trip to New York. My attempts to live life in the moment seem to have been abandoned. Ah well, how often do I have two holidays in one month?
We had a great week. David worked and golfed. I walked and read. Jimmy ran, splashed, barked, slept, played frisbee, dug for shells and chased seagulls. What a life.