Wednesday, May 30, 2012

We Have New Babies!

Six new babies in the nursery!
  • Two Shubunkin
  • Two High Fin Banded Sharks
  • Two Koi.... (I know... *GASP*) The big purchase.
I'm including useless photos since they are all quite scared out of their wits and hiding behind the waterplants. But in the meantime, you can see what they are supposed to look like.
The Shubunkin are essentially large goldfish and are also known as Calicos which you can understand because they have lots of black spots on an orange and white body.
 
The High Fin Sharks are about the same size as the Shubunkin (about 3 to 5") but are black and white striped and get their name from the hefty dorsal fin that towers over them.
 
And the Koi are the smallest I could find, both due to cost as well as the hopes that they will do well in the size of the fountain. I've heard that they grow according to their context, so I hope that they don't outgrow the fountain. One is white with a red spot on the head and the other is white with orange spots along its body. They are slightly larger than the other four fish, but all six seem to be huddling together quite trustingly with each other. I guess there is such a thing as courage in numbers.
 
Anyway, here are two pictures of them trying to hide, which is why I included pictures off the internet so you can see what it is that's behind those plants.

 
 
As usual, the naming ceremony will be delayed until I get a better sense of their adjusting and surviving...(one of the sharks already looks kinda iffy). In the meantime, i'll start ruminating for options.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Far, Far Away

The people in New York want me to come back.

They've made no bones about it.  They've sent message after message.  I've been getting mail insisting upon my return.  Email and snail mail.  Both.  The people in New York want me back. 

Specifically, I should clarify, it's the people from The Metropolitan Opera House.  Want me to buy more opera tickets, they do.  Would very much enjoy my money, please. 

Someone should tell the people at The Met to look more carefully at the envelope they send out and acknowledge that I'm not exactly down the road and around the corner.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sweet Tweet

The mockingbirds have made their annual nest right outside my window, under the beams of the pergola with the rose bush branches woven in.  The last we dared to get close enough to check it, it had little eggs in it.

Today, we've seen both parents bring small, yummy bug meals to the nest, which leads us to believe the little rugrats have been born.  I've forbidden anyone near the nest, and hope that the feline population (our three plus the honorary member that really belongs to the family across the street but hangs out in our yard all the time) stays the heck away or they'll have to answer to me.  The babies must be terribly small yet because they aren't making those god-awful screeching sounds when the parents near the nest and they know they are about to get a morsel. 

In the meantime, as mom putters around the patio, the parents are none too happy about her getting too close, screeching and posturing as they perch on the cross beams just over mom's head.  Mom has calmly reminded them that this is her house, she has no ill intentions, and alright already, she'll move farther away.

It's a beautiful day out today and the yard looks truly warm and cozy.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Scream

I studied Art History for four years and specialized in Renaissance Art because I related to it, had some inherent understanding of it due to my Catholicism and what I'd been exposed to up until then.
My final year in college, I finally got around to taking the upper level courses of Modern Art, Theory and Criticism and discovered that, had I taken these earlier, they would have likely made me think twice about the choice I'd made. I'd already sunk many semesters, courses, and language requisites into the specialization that I'd chosen, so it was too late to start over.
I think it was the instructor that really did it for me. The right presentation can have a lot to do with how one absorbs information.
There were a number of memorable lectures in her classes:
  • Picasso's Guernica - dramatic and impactful
  • Jeff Koons (in general) - hilarious and accessible
  • Jenny Holzer - fantastic discovery
  • Jackson Pollock - existential moment
  • The Dadaists - we got yelled at
And there was one lecture that was memorable for the overall opus rather than for any one particular work. Edvard Munch's The Scream is iconic and identifiable around the world, and often ripped off in pop cultural references. Though it's his most famous work, it's his lesser knowns which have stayed with me over the years. Dr. K walked us through Munch's progression and his experimentation, noting details in his images that might otherwise go unnoticed or misunderstood. His work was so dark, so desperate, and as we learned about his personal life, we began to sympathize with his path. There were shocking images and some that tested our patience. But the series he did as he watched his sister wither away in bed, dying of tuberculosis, was truly heartbreaking.
The lights went on at the end of day two of the Munch lecture. Not a dry eye in the room.
We'll never know what makes one image more iconic than another. We're arbitrary beings that way.
Today, The Scream set the world record for the most expensive painting sold at an auction. It went for $119,922,500.

Dad Goes Shopping

Poppa went to the store today.

Here's what he got:

One liter bottle of pineapple yogurt drink.
One liter bottle of peach yogurt drink.
Five yoplait yogurts.
One box of donuts.
One box of Mexican sweet bread.

And spinach.