Fuji Mountain
May 4th, 2012 § 2 Comments
Journey to Japan
This spring’s trip to Japan reminds me of my first trip to Italy in 1992. I called it “The Grand Tour”– a term referring to the tradition of 18 century European artists who could not consider their art educations complete until they had make a trip to Italy. I prepared for this trip to Japan for over a year and a half, and never have I put so much time into preparing for a journey to a foreign country. I am not sure if being able to ask for directions on the street or in a busy subway paid off for all of the time I put into studying the language, but I certainly was happy that I could be free and independent.
California Camellias and Jade Trees
March 2nd, 2012 § 1 Comment
Just got back from California. My brother-in-law’s camellias and jade trees are blooming furiously. These rare indoor plants were mundane in California. So many of them were blooming, the old brown-turned blooms mixed with the new ones, looking sloven as a whole under blinding sunlight but still beautiful up close in the shade.
Pavé-esque Installation
January 11th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
I just came across these pictures I’d taken last year of an entrance hallway in a building in Shanghai. I looks like our pattern Pavé in a large-scale, rippling installation. The real thing is a lot larger than a fabric weave of course but the idea is the same. I stopped to marveled at it for the similarity.
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Same Moon
December 14th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This past summer when I took a Japanese composition class, my Japanese teacher was a Japanese American. She has been supporting a group of psychologists in Tokyo who run a social program to help counsel the Tsunami victims. At the end of the semester, she brought little knick-knacks to the class to fundraise for the program. The money is used to buy “American” candies or toys for the children when they come together.
 Program Event (bottom right) |
 Program Event (right side) |
New World Symphony
October 17th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I remember when my older boy Leo was in high school; he would have his string quartet practice at our house. Leo invested in a bunch of Antonín Dvořák’s string quartet sheet music, and the quartet played gigs throughout their senior year. The sheet music was expensive, and they had just earned enough to cover the investment when they split up to go to college.
It just so happened that I had to remodel my house during my sons’ adolescent years, and I built a light maple floored room with a 14-foot pitched ceiling. The room reflected sound so well when it was completed that the boys used to call it the Echo Room. However, the room provided a good venue for their music practices and I got to listen to live music. They were no professionals, but they were good enough for my amateur ears. I enjoyed those pieces and was pleased to discover and learn more about Dvořák. Before, I had only known of his symphony no. 9, the New World Symphony. « Read the rest of this entry »
Alexander McQueen ~ The Wait
August 17th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The ticket box had posted a note saying the waiting line was closed for the Alexander McQueen ‘Savage Beauty’ exhibit at the Met; the ticket officer said it was because there were too many people. People waited in line anyway. I was standing at the main staircase landing area near the first step. The line started to trail down the 
staircase. The security guard came out and hollered at the people that they should not be standing in the staircase. They did anyway. Someone complained how the museum did not plan this well enough, making things so crowded and unorganized, but the security guard responded that this was the first time the museum had had this many attendees. « Read the rest of this entry »
Going to the Met
August 12th, 2011 § 1 Comment
Four days before the Alexander McQueen exhibition ended,
the morning of August 4th, I came to New York just for the show. Having left early in the morning, I was on the Lexington line on my way to the Met by 11:00a.m. I tried to recall what stop the Met was at, and at the 59th street stop, I asked both of the guys on my right and left side. Neither one of them even knew what the Met was. « Read the rest of this entry »
