An Almost Perfect Day

Today, I was out and about in the cold rain with my good friend, Karen. It started with a trip to the New Museum to see the "Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton" exhibit. I love her ability to capture the intimate moments of life and its inhabitants. But while walking around the museum, I realized that I didn't like the space very much. It felt too cold and sterile. I appreciate the exterior architecture of the building, but it allows for no or very little exterior views. The MoMA is still my favorite. Next, we headed to Cafe Habana for some Cuban style corn on the cob and a glass of coke. With umbrellas in tow, we trenched to the Angelica to see Vicky Christina Barcelona. With a beautiful cast and thoughtful dialogue and I was intrigued from the beginning. I'm not sure if there was a point, but I guess getting what we want and/or getting what we think we want can end in unhappiness or endless exploration. Lastly, we stopped at The Strand. I picked up a calendar of Tim Walker photographs (I can't really afford the book right now, Christmas gift anyone?), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. A sum of the almost perfect day except for the cold and rain.

Message Received

Today, I was riding the subway and looked up to find some actually intelligent, well-designed ads. Nowadays there is such much clutter, let's call it what it is, crap! See, this Dentyne campaign proves that advertising can be thoughtful and engaging.

Complex

I went to a performing arts high school and all of my friends were/are dancers. Because of my small frame people automatically assumed I was a dancer as well. I always took it as a complement. This past weekend I realized how I miss dance and even though I wasn't a dancer it was a part of life. I probably went to every show and dress rehearsal my friends were in. I can't count the number of times I saw the Nutcracker during the holiday season. This past weekend I got to reminisce a little bit. I went to see Complexions, a dance company founded by previous Alvin Ailey dancers Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden. It was amazing! I appreciated the more classical ballet to Ave Maria as well as the contemporary performance called Rise, which occupied the entire third act. It was an electrifying work to the soulful rock of U2. Afterward, I felt revived and inspired. Maybe I will sign up for those tango classes.

Miracle

Recently my friend wrote a bucket list and advised me to do the same. One of the ten items on my list is to witness a miracle. I didn't expect it to happen so soon, but I think I did witness a miracle on November 4th when Barack Obama became president elect. Never in my lifetime did I imagine an African American to be president. I wanted to believe that it was possible, but going through every day life, seeing the lives of my people, where we've been and where we've come from it didn't seem to be a realistic dream. We've been disappointed and rejected so many times. Now, I am truly hopeful. I am proud. And there are no more excuses. Finally!

Ono's Wish Trees

While in L.A. I came across this article in the Los Angeles Times Sunday edition. Early in August, artist Yoko Ono opened one of her signature projects in Pasadena. The installation, "Wish Trees," consists of 21 small crape myrtle trees arranged throughout the city's popular One Colorado mall in the revived Old Town. Visitors are invited to write a wish and tie it to one of the trees, something Ono recalls doing at Japanese shrines when she was a little girl. Although Ono never reads the messages tied to her "Wish Trees" — "I feel it is not right to read people's private wishes" — she does keep the hundreds of thousands of white tags, eventually to be stored in the Imagine Peace Tower off the coast of Iceland. Nevertheless, many visitors to the trees have taken to reading the wishes as a form of entertainment or, perhaps, even therapy as the nation rides out one earth-shattering wave of bad news after another. Ono's trees have exploded into a Rorschach of national angst.
Here are a few:
I wish for all broken hearts to be mended.
I wish my parents weren't so homophobic I am so lonely.
I wish unicorns were real.
I wish for an amazing day.