1.5.08

crossin'

we are all but curious children. it is interesting to consider what compels us to greet the new day, smile into the mirror, join the pulse.

i dream of toy boats in the jardin de luxembourg - lazy afternoons on kathmandu out of art's dock on the magothy, sun on my neck - baguette sandwiches by the fountain in front of the sorbonne - paris bridges in steady rain - hands in my hair - slaps of sensual "juli-o" - knowing other people's happiness.

upcoming:
  • flute/tuba/dancers project inside/outside performance clothes/street with susan wheatley, cara heerdt and friend.
  • orchestra concert with maestra tania león at symphony space, nyc, may 11
  • flute trio in crystal zagarello's recital, may 16

Paul Signac, Plane Trees, Place des Lices, Saint-Tropez, Opus 242, 1893
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Now playing: Damien Rice - Volcano
via FoxyTunes

24.4.08

what

what i want is affirmation (or is it confirmation?). i need to know that it's not all for naught, that huge bangles aren't just for show, and that somehow, someday he will love me.

cooper-hewitt's rococo exhibit was sumptuously decadent; the only thing missing was music. why not a stately soundtrack of pieces written under louis XV to give an aural sense of the court? the met was, well, met-ish, grand, wide and open. le grand vestibule qui fonctionne comme un dégagement entre l'entrée et la nouvelle annexe grecque-romande me rappelle du louvre, quand j'étais là avec mes amis pour voir des choses cet après-midi en janvier (ou février?). le plafond est assez haut pour permettre l'entrée du soleil - dans l'évolution du jour, l'angle et la force du soleil changent et éclairent des sculptures différentes. au new museum dans le bowery, c'était assez surprenant que il n'y avait pas de plan ou progression spécifique, comme le moma (c'est pas le même idée, mais quand même...) ou autres musées modernes à washington que je fréquente quand je suis chez moi. ça, c'est pas bien pour le succès du musée pour leur publique parce que il n'y a pas une cohérence claire et alors il y a une tendance pour les gens de se balader partout sans but.

collaborating on projects involves constant discovery, about what things can happen simultaneously (or un-), effects that are extramusically gorgeous and interesting............. very, very cool. this inside/outside thing with cara and susan is bound to be thought-provoking. it's just a matter of buckling down and writing.

do we really feel our ages, or do we just keep living, surviving as before?

19.4.08

enfin

j'ai décidé d'écrire en français cette fois-ci. j'avais un "night off" hier et j'ai fait du shopping. j'ai trouvé quelques robes (!) et aussi des pantalons khaki. ma colocataire jamie et moi nous sommes allées au film "smart people" (avec le génial ellen page) - c'était bien fait, le dialogue était simple et parfaitement fait. il fait beau (ENFIN!!) ici alors il faut "m'en profiter." il y avait de glace gratuit à purchase "culture shock"...c'était presque un TGIF à oberlin, mais pas vraiment. c'est un truc qui passe seulement une fois chaque printemps; à oberlin TGIF c'était chaque vendredi quand il y avait du soleil. après travailler dans le labo c'était parfait de boire qqch et m'en profiter.

ben ouais, c'est vrai que ça fait longtemps que j'écris en français, et de temps en temps je parle avec raphaël ou emilie à la bibliothèque. c'est assez interessant de m'écouter - mon accent de paris a presque completement disparu! c'est possible que j'avais un accent là simplement parce que tout le monde avait parlé comme ça....................mais ma langue sens lourde, sans capacité de dire des choses. aussi ça prend trop de temps dans ma tête de formuler des idées.

est-ce qu'il y a un remède, mes amis? je ne peux pas payer pour l'avion dans cet instant...... dites-moi.

Monica Fernandex, Gaudi Barcelona, from Organic Cities show at BBC Leicester's Open Centre as part of Architecture Week from 16-25 June.

9.4.08

hahvahd

art used to call me martha ellen when i was younger. he also had the strongest boston accent i'd ever heard............except he was from maine.

today, early (which explains the hour of this post) crossover is going to cambridge - more specifically to harvard to meet david edwards, dashing author of artscience. i'm skeptical of the spectacularity (spectacularness?) of it; perhaps i've too long lived in the presence of artscience, growing up around my dad's musician-, sculptor- and painter-mathematician friends.

don't fractals resemble human life? i love them. this one recalls angie wood and her octopi.

22.3.08

and so...

sushi take-out in harrison is amazingly fast. eel-avocado rolls on the train, swigging hyper-sweet japanese drinks, dribbling soy sauce, trying not to choke on the big mouthfuls of rice.

a lovely evening of too-loud music at the bowery, although they made me confiscate my big bottle of water at the door. jerks.

these last few days, every one, has felt like a sunday. this break has a certain timeless stasis that i have grown to love and will be reluctant to let go of.

i think it would be cool to be in a band. it takes balls, though.

tomorrow is easter sunday. i'm not sure how i feel about god. maybe "into the wild" will give me perspective...i like incense and candles more and more now. this kenyan book petals of blood is giving me pause; roddy doyle's the woman who walked into doors is charming and sad.


Georgia O'Keefe, Red Canna
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Now playing: Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall - Old Tyme
via FoxyTunes

16.3.08

buzz

am i cut out for the restaurant business? these next few months will be intense; this job is demanding in ways i did not expect. arnie has years of experience. janice knows to wear high-waisted pants. james (6'7") is incredibly patient. i can't pocket the coatcheck money anymore.

today the flute trio (alice-crystal-myself) had a coaching on the devienne at tara's house in the city. i had a mug of kona coffee (caf, roasted in-house) with milk and 2 sugars and alternated it with glaceau water (tara called me the liquid lady). afterwards we 4 took a cab to carnegie hall to see roberta michel give her debut. her vibrato is a little high-strung for my taste, but her control of all the special flute effects is stunning. i especially liked a flute and percussion piece called "ritornelo" by brazilian composer silvio ferraz. i think maybe alexa still made her a little whistletone-happy.

the zack browning piece on cadillac moon's myspace (see livelink above) kinda reminds me of an electrified reich with a little bang on a can all stars thrown in.

cure for two dinner shifts (4pm-midnight) = light movie, ce soir: "the holiday."

[i haven't rented half the bergman films i promised myself i would. david edwards' book on artscience in the post-google generation is enough intellectuality for a few weeks, thank you very much.]

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Now playing: Ingrid Michaelson - Overboard
via FoxyTunes

2.3.08

singularly beautiful

occasionally, somehow, moments - slices of time - will strike me as singularly beautiful: repose between phrases of sweeping bach, the dark penetrating gaze of a small girl with an etch-a-sketch, the whisper of mink against departing shoulders, the glow of a candle amidst broken glass, the clasped hands of a broken soul, the play of light through my blinds in late morning, the sweep of someone's hair across their unwitting back-

they keep me in pursuit.

handel trio sonatas (magnatune classical internet radio)-miles davis "so what" (my copy)

the pace of my days has to change. i need hope.