momtourage

Late Fall, Central Park

Since the Kandinsky exhibit, I have been seeing everything in terms of geometry.

Growth

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this already, but O has been growing a lot. Over the summer her shoe size went from a 10.5 to a 12. (I was much chagrined at that while at the shoe store in September). In October we went to her fantastic doctor who pronounced her to be 44 pounds and 44 inches tall. That would be four pounds and an inch and a half taller from when we measured her in August.

This morning before school she asked to be measured again. Forty-five and a half inches tall. Is that possible? To grow an inch and a half in a month? She's four and a half. I'm in a bit of disbelief and amazement. Wonder Woman indeed.

Day Off

S and I took advantage of a day off - from school, work, chores (my call) and an all-consuming reading project to trek into Manhattan by bus/train to the Guggenheim. (Truly, getting to the Upper East Side is most inconvenient from this part of Brooklyn...) We got there just as it opened (planned) and have reciprocal membership through the Brooklyn Museum, so managed to avoid the long line of people all eager to see the Kandinsky exhibition. I thought that we were there to see it too, but alternate things captured the mind of a child.

Like staring over the balcony at every level, admiring the architecture. "Most people are wearing black...It gets moderner and moderner as we go up." Both observation (correctly) made about midway up. (ummm...and you're not actually supposed to take pictures from here, even flashless)

Or discovering a new nook with a great view of the park that we hadn't (somehow) seen before.

Or spending quite a large amount of time moving through Felix Gonzales-Torres' gold, bead curtain and trying to make S. understand that the small gold field behind was a work by someone else, and that the two had actually been paired by some keen eye. (He still probably doesn't get it.)

But for S, the real star of the show was Anish Kapoor's 'Memory.' I have to admit that I am somewhat shocked by the photo of the entire egg-shaped sculpture on the Guggenheim's page as part of the point (much of it) seems to be that one is forbidden to see the work in its entirety and must construct an image in it in one's mind, piecemeal, from one or more viewings. S insisted on at least two viewings from each vantage point. We listened to the commentary which included a narrative from the artist himself, describing the work in terms of 'mental sculpture.' This is an instance in which I feel that a picture really is inappropriate and does not do justice to the work. I find that the experience of viewing is lingering with me. And that I prefer to be thinking about it in the fragments I was allowed to see.

And that somewhat grumpy note marks the end of another art excursion.

Busy

After a busy day at work and back-to-back student conferences, I was ready for a nice, relaxing evening on the couch. However, as I stirred cumin into a large batch of chili, I realized that the day was nowhere near ready to wind down - in fact, I had to be out the door in 45 minutes to teach my knitting class! Gulp. How could I have misplaced that thought from my mind?

As I dashed out the door I once again pondered my natural state - complete satisfaction found in silence with a book. It's not that I don't like getting out, or talking to people, or doing things in the evening. It's just that I have  hard time motivating myself to do so. But as usually happens, once I found myself walking down 3rd Street I felt a jolt of energy and excitement. What projects would people choose? How many would be there? Would there be anyone I knew from previous classes? All regerets over a missed nesting night immediately fled.

And it was a great class. The 1 1/2 hours flew by. As I expected, the most popular knit was Alexandra Brinck's Fishtail Wristwarmers. There were old faces and new. Rows were pulled out and started again. Progress was made. And always, interesting conversation and new things learned kept the evening lively. I am looking forward to the next class.

One more...

Just one more option to add to the hand-warming-themed knitting class I will be teaching every other Tuesday, kumara arm warmers by Laura Zukaite. The rolls at the bottom and top make for an interesting variation on an old theme, though I had to rip out my first try as the rolls were not rolled evenly. Removable stitch markers placed every 4 stitches made all the difference in the world.

Now, to get down to some intensive holiday gift knitting!

What Vegas looks like to us

When I told friends, coworkers, and acquaintances that We were going on our first family vacation to Vegas I received many a condescending look. Friends of ours live there, dear friends whom we don't see nearly enough. I last visited them in 2000, when their son, my godson was nine months old. He's now ten and their daughter eight. Too long. 

During my last visit, my fried S and I went out one night to see the Strip. We had dinner, walked around, she made me play at least one slot machine, then we finished the evening with a martini at the piano bar at the Bellagio. Other than that one night my visit consisted of going to Mt. Charleston, the Red Rocks, and lots of just tooling around. 

This visit wasn't much different. Except we went to the Bellagio to show the kids the garden,

went to the Hoover Dam,

played in our friends' backyard,

saw some beautiful scenery,

and more scenery.

We had a great time. O had a blast, being able to run in and out of the house, playing with the older kids, and just hanging out. We can't wait to go back again.

(Free) Knitting Class

The first Tuesday in November is election day. But the SECOND Tuesday (November 10th) marks the beginning of the new knitting class I am teaching, with a focus on fingerless mittens, mittens and arm warmers. It meets every other Tuesday from 6:30 to 8PM at Stitch Therapy's lovely new location, 335 5th Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Drop by once, or feel free to become a regular attendee. The class itself is free, but you will need to buy your supplies at the store. (And this is hardly a drawback as there are so very many gorgeous yarns to choose from...) If you are interested, please call to reserve a spot. I am including photos of some of the projects we will be working on - Maxcine and I tried to choose a project to match every skill level (or need of hasty/leisurely holiday knitting). Here is a sneak peek at the samples.

I hope to see you there!

Wrap it up

My kids love painting. Not only that, they are prolific. Early on I began to be overwhelmed by the enormous stacks of paintings cluttering nearly every flat surface in the house. I saved a few special ones in a portfolio as a reminiscence aid for old age, but I felt terrible about throwing the rest into recycling. So I didn't. Or rather, I recycled them in a  different manner.

I feel that these 'masterpieces' are appropriate for any occasion and people seem to like them a lot. In fact, the wrap for the above stack of baby shower presents received nearly as many compliments as the hand knits inside.

And if I am running short, I just drag out the easel and little hands are quick to create more.

This Year's Models

Happy Halloween!

Weekend Art Update

Well, we're not even pretending to attempt to devote time to sports on the weekends now. And it is working out okay for all involved. Though it's probably something that will come up in therapy many years from now...

We kicked the weekend off with an album cover modification session at the WFMU record fair. Connie ended up accompanying us around Manhattan for the rest of the afternoon.

Then it was off to PaceWildenstein to experience the current Maya Lin exhibition. I think the block mountain gave the boys a few new structural ideas.

Somehow we managed to stop by the Rubin Museum along the way too. There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned art overload!

Beautiful Day/ Leaf Tracing

With the exception of a day of torrential rain - rain so intense and unrelenting that yet again a river up to my ankles ran down our street - with the exception of that, we have been having some beautiful days. On one of these days (72 degrees in October!) we skipped the grim basement pool at the Y and spent the afternoon outdoors, drawing, reading and just wandering about.

This is our 'to go' art box - basically a large pencil case from Staples to which I attached a kitchen cabinet handle (from the local hardware store). It's nice to have it around, ready to grab at a moment's notice and the hard container keeps crayons from getting broken. I'd made one a few years ago for my knitting supplies and it has helped immensely with the portability of knit projects.

Sound Walk

I realized that I spend so much time filtering out the constant din of the city that I have begun to miss out on things. Sound things. Back in the day, I was very keyed into the aural world. I did some sound work in film (recording, mixing, and as a boom operator). And at one point I made a plan to get a DAT recorder and carry it around on trips near and far. That way, when I was of a mind, I could just press play and be back in Fez, or in a mountain village in the High Atlases or even on the corner of my block, mid-morning. Now, I know that plenty of people have and follow through on similar ideas. It is due to a failure in my character (lots of interesting ideas, few of them implemented) that I never did.

Anyhow, I was walking back from work the other day when I noticed myself anticipating Flatbush Avenue. I had just crossed Atlantic and probably did the same thing then without realizing. I found myself thinking oh oh - here comes the noise. But then I thought why am I fearing this noise and why do I want to suppress it, to quash it back into an inaccessible corner of my mind? I made a decision, and that was to embrace the noise, to spend the rest of my journey home noticing - being mindful of every sound big and little, from the scuff of my shoe to the inevitable roar of a fire engine or large truck. 

Dear reader, I carried through with my plan. It's not easy, especially for a mind that has become as untrained as mine, to favor auditory experience when so many visual images are right there, easy to grab at, clamoring for attention. Several times I had to admonish myself and return my focus. But I did it, and what's more I really enjoyed it. The walk I am accustomed to became entirely new and I felt a heightening of the senses that was quite enjoyable.

I started wondering if it's at all possible to do a real 'sound walk' with my boys. They are always so busy, their voices clamoring, their little feet scuffling. Could they find the stillness and discipline to walk even one block just listening, listening? Or would I have to introduce this concept gradually, letting them speak aloud the little sounds they were noticing until they learned to notice them in a more internal manner? Would they even like doing a sound walk? And as for me, it seems like a lot of work on my part to encourage small children to do something that is somewhat intangible, that has no immediate payoff maybe. Admitted fault number two: I can be lazy.

Today I noticed that the clock in our kitchen makes a slow ticking sound. And somehow that struck me as important. It's a beautiful day and after school we three will take a walk. I think a sound walk is a nice idea to try.