Dear Bono,
My neighborhood is very hipster. There's cobblestone streets, hybrid cars, and even a macaron bakery. While my husband's friend was in town for her 10 year PhD reunion, we tried to go to a hipster neighboorhood restaurant.
Yes, this restaurant is so hipster, it does not take reservations. It takes "call aheads" and despite calling ahead an hour and a half as instructed, we arrived and still had no table one Friday night last fall. Indeed, this restaurant is so hipster, it has a hostess who weighs probably 70 lbs, a server who dresses like James Dean (pomade and all) and another server who has a handlebar mustache.
Though I did not know the above at the time. All I knew is I had just worked for over 12 hours and I was hungry and there was no table for us yet! Naturally, we do the only logical thing, which is have them give us a menu to look at while we stood outside in the Autumn breeze.
"Lobster roll?..." I overheard a fellow "wait outside until your name is called" patron. I turn my ears. I am, of course, the girl who ate lobster 7 days in a row on my trip to Maine only a year before. Obviously, Ohio is landlocked. Thus lobster roll=risky in my opion. I continued listening. "I suppose I could choke down a lobster roll. It's no New Orleans lobster..." the chap chortled. Laughs from his co-outside waiting people ensued.
"What?" I thought to myself. "Lobster doesn't come from New Orleans. Surely, SURELY he must be joking!" But he wasn't. He was just fancying himself REALLY cultured.
"My good sir!" I exclaimed (in a British accent). "I prithee excuse my interruption, but I could not help but overhear of your delight at finding a lobster delicacy on the menu! However, I fear you are quite mistaken about the origins of lobster in the States! Indeed, the lobster to which you refer is largely found in New England, and the crustaceans clasically found in New Orleans are actually a distant relative of lobster called crawfish!"
Actually, I didn't. I should have. Instead, I just eye-rolled in silence. I really hate people who put on airs about their fancy ways, which is one of the big problems I have with the city in which I currently live. It is a big Midwestern city. People here come from smaller Midwestern cities, and think it is the REAL DEAL. But even growning up in a small Western city, I knew the Midwest was the worst. And in the end, I convinced my husband and his friend of that too. And we returned the menus and walked down the street to the (slightly less presumptuous) tapas restaurant.
xoxo,
JP
P.S. Get me out of here!!!!
Monday, February 23, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Art
Dear Bono,
I've been thinking a lot this weekend about art. The old "what is art" question makes me want to roll my eyes, but at the same time, I actually do wonder sometimes what makes art. I do think that ultimately art is in the eye of the beholder, as do most people, I'm sure. I certainly don't have any views on art that will change the world and shock future generations.
This weekend I took a much needed break with my husband. We went to the booming metropolis of Pittsburgh. Actually, I sometimes forget what a real city looks like, and Pittsburgh is a decent city. We met some of our best friends there for a weekend trip where our priorities were 1) eating lots of good food. That's basically it. Also, I love these friends because they share the same priorities as us.
After being stuck at work until 8pm on Friday and therefore not arriving in Pittsburgh until 11:30pm, the five (ok so our friends have a baby too, but I'm pretty sure his priority is also to eat good food. He is a chubby baby) of us had a delicious brunch on Saturday morning. Going back to priorities here. Mmmm. Then we thought "hmmm... now that we are full, we need to fill some time until it's time to return to our priority again." So we settled on a visit to the Andy Warhol museum.
Here's where the art comes in (though, believe me, I could see art in my spare-rib hash from breakfast). I have long been a fan of modern art. I love love LOVE it. In my college sculpture class, where we had to give a talk on modern day sculptors, I spoke of Christo-who I started my talk with an asterisk: "Um, so professor, you may not consider this guy a sculptor, and if you don't I can totally do another one." Turns out, this professor LOVES Christo. Also, he hates Chihuly and does NOT consider that guy an artist, so the girl that did her report on him had to do another. Again, art=eye of the beholder. Also, if you are in an art class, art=eye of the professor.
Anyway, I loved the museum. It was fantastic. So much to see. My favorite part was the silver cloud exhibit were I could get in the room and toss the bouncing clouds around. There's something about becoming a part of the art that I think also opens up the mind of the beholder and lets them see a piece in a new light. And at the end, I got to screen print my own picture. I chose an orange back ground, did a bright pink panda, and then overlayed that with another screen print of a list of rules. The girl working at the screen print area was pretty shocked when I suggested doing these two layers, but she was pretty impressed with my screen printing skills when I was finished, which was flattering, but I was also slightly offended-after all, I am an artiste.
Walking back after the museum, we saw some people on the bridge, and I thought "hmm, that looks like that guy that's really good an in all those movies that now I can't remember his name." Turned out, it WAS. Also, it was John Goodman as well. And the guy that's in all those movies is Alan Arkin. Thanks IMDB! It was no sooner than I had thought that the guy looked like that guy, but my husband grabbed my shoulder and said "THAT'S JOHN GOODMAN" and I heard the voice and said "Yes it is." Also, IMDB came through AGAIN, because when we searched "Alan Arkin" and "John Goodman" Fargo came up, but ALSO, some new Christmas movie that they are currently filming in Pittsburgh! We presumed they were on their way to the Warhol museum, and I considered stalking them and asking them to sign my panda rules screen print, becuase while it is an amazing work of art, having John Goodman and Alan Arkin's signature on it would really make it that much better, at least in the eye of THIS beholder. But then my husband, who is really good at spotting famous people, mind you, said that meeting these people was always kind of a let down, because they are normal people. And I again thought about art. And how art is created by people that sometimes we think are on a different level, but they are just people. I thought about how I used to love to spend my time doing art. I thought about my high school sketch book, and how sometimes late at night, I would spend some time sketching. (Often, they were pictures of The Edge, because he had a very interesting look in the late 80s). I thought about my life now, and how I am miserable and my love of art has disappeared into my misery. I thought about my friend that was on the trip with us, and her former career as a lawyer, and the misery that went along with that, and I thought about the joy she had now that she devoted her life to photography and being a mother. And I realized, I need to create. I need to make art. I need to dance. These bring me joy. And then, just like that, my thoughts on art were over, and we walked over to the Strip and got some biscotti and meat.
Later that night, my husband and I attended a Garth Brooks concert. Ok, so maybe that was the reason behind the whole trip. I mean, Garth Brooks is an amazing performer. I saw him at the Obama inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial and he tore. it. down. Do you remember? You were there. In fact, you were the reason I went to the show and stood outside that frigid January day. But Garth stole the show. My friends didn't appreciate Garth, and they decided to stay in their room with their baby, which I guess was good since the show didn't start until 11pm.
I've been a closeted Garth fan for decades. My cousins were farmers in Idaho. I considered myself, a Utahn, to be far more refined than they. They loved their boots, their Wranglers, and their country music. I loved The Gap. I mean, what was more refined in 1990 than The Gap?? Also, I didn't really listen to music at the time, but I HATED country. At some point, I started to appreciate Garth. I got his Hits, and taped the Double Live concert off TV and would put it on after school sometimes. And then he quit touring. The Las Vegas show happened, but I wasn't into traveling that far to shows at the time (Oh, Bono, how you and Dave Gahan have changed that) but after the Obama concert, I KNEW it'd be a great show. And then he announced a tour! And he announced it only one city at a time! And it came to be that he announced Detroit and Pittsburgh, 2 cities a mere 3 hours from me. And our friends from Philly said they'd meet us in Pittsburgh, and my husband (after some coercion) was amenable to going to the show. And Garth was playing 1 show Thursday, 2 on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 1 Sunday. And I got tix to the 10:30pm Saturday show, because they had some good seats. And we went. And his voice was going. And it was a HUGE performance-complete with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming on stage and shooting confetti into the crowd. And it was Garth's birthday! And Garth said that that show was one of the all time best moments in his life. And I wasn't sure if he meant it.
Going back to the art. Sometimes, I don't know what is true and what is part of the high gloss shine on the art. I think he meant it. Reading reviews from the Thursday night show, I can tell our show was a bigger deal. But these big shows are meant to entertain. They don't necessarily intend to make the audience think. I compared the show to the last live show I went to-Joseph Arthur, the day before Thanksgiving in his home town of Akron OH (2 hrs from my work-I got out of work at 7pm and missed about the first 15 minutes of the show.) Just one man with his guitar, creating his own layers of loops. Talking with the audience-his high school friends and teachers, his parents. Taking requests from the audience. Sure I was on the front row for that concert while I was up in the 200s sections for Garth. And yes, Garth had two different treadmills on his stage, while Joseph Arthur had a box that he would stomp on to create the percussion. But both of these performers gave their all to their art.
Sincerely, JP
I've been thinking a lot this weekend about art. The old "what is art" question makes me want to roll my eyes, but at the same time, I actually do wonder sometimes what makes art. I do think that ultimately art is in the eye of the beholder, as do most people, I'm sure. I certainly don't have any views on art that will change the world and shock future generations.
This weekend I took a much needed break with my husband. We went to the booming metropolis of Pittsburgh. Actually, I sometimes forget what a real city looks like, and Pittsburgh is a decent city. We met some of our best friends there for a weekend trip where our priorities were 1) eating lots of good food. That's basically it. Also, I love these friends because they share the same priorities as us.
After being stuck at work until 8pm on Friday and therefore not arriving in Pittsburgh until 11:30pm, the five (ok so our friends have a baby too, but I'm pretty sure his priority is also to eat good food. He is a chubby baby) of us had a delicious brunch on Saturday morning. Going back to priorities here. Mmmm. Then we thought "hmmm... now that we are full, we need to fill some time until it's time to return to our priority again." So we settled on a visit to the Andy Warhol museum.
Here's where the art comes in (though, believe me, I could see art in my spare-rib hash from breakfast). I have long been a fan of modern art. I love love LOVE it. In my college sculpture class, where we had to give a talk on modern day sculptors, I spoke of Christo-who I started my talk with an asterisk: "Um, so professor, you may not consider this guy a sculptor, and if you don't I can totally do another one." Turns out, this professor LOVES Christo. Also, he hates Chihuly and does NOT consider that guy an artist, so the girl that did her report on him had to do another. Again, art=eye of the beholder. Also, if you are in an art class, art=eye of the professor.
Anyway, I loved the museum. It was fantastic. So much to see. My favorite part was the silver cloud exhibit were I could get in the room and toss the bouncing clouds around. There's something about becoming a part of the art that I think also opens up the mind of the beholder and lets them see a piece in a new light. And at the end, I got to screen print my own picture. I chose an orange back ground, did a bright pink panda, and then overlayed that with another screen print of a list of rules. The girl working at the screen print area was pretty shocked when I suggested doing these two layers, but she was pretty impressed with my screen printing skills when I was finished, which was flattering, but I was also slightly offended-after all, I am an artiste.
Walking back after the museum, we saw some people on the bridge, and I thought "hmm, that looks like that guy that's really good an in all those movies that now I can't remember his name." Turned out, it WAS. Also, it was John Goodman as well. And the guy that's in all those movies is Alan Arkin. Thanks IMDB! It was no sooner than I had thought that the guy looked like that guy, but my husband grabbed my shoulder and said "THAT'S JOHN GOODMAN" and I heard the voice and said "Yes it is." Also, IMDB came through AGAIN, because when we searched "Alan Arkin" and "John Goodman" Fargo came up, but ALSO, some new Christmas movie that they are currently filming in Pittsburgh! We presumed they were on their way to the Warhol museum, and I considered stalking them and asking them to sign my panda rules screen print, becuase while it is an amazing work of art, having John Goodman and Alan Arkin's signature on it would really make it that much better, at least in the eye of THIS beholder. But then my husband, who is really good at spotting famous people, mind you, said that meeting these people was always kind of a let down, because they are normal people. And I again thought about art. And how art is created by people that sometimes we think are on a different level, but they are just people. I thought about how I used to love to spend my time doing art. I thought about my high school sketch book, and how sometimes late at night, I would spend some time sketching. (Often, they were pictures of The Edge, because he had a very interesting look in the late 80s). I thought about my life now, and how I am miserable and my love of art has disappeared into my misery. I thought about my friend that was on the trip with us, and her former career as a lawyer, and the misery that went along with that, and I thought about the joy she had now that she devoted her life to photography and being a mother. And I realized, I need to create. I need to make art. I need to dance. These bring me joy. And then, just like that, my thoughts on art were over, and we walked over to the Strip and got some biscotti and meat.
Later that night, my husband and I attended a Garth Brooks concert. Ok, so maybe that was the reason behind the whole trip. I mean, Garth Brooks is an amazing performer. I saw him at the Obama inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial and he tore. it. down. Do you remember? You were there. In fact, you were the reason I went to the show and stood outside that frigid January day. But Garth stole the show. My friends didn't appreciate Garth, and they decided to stay in their room with their baby, which I guess was good since the show didn't start until 11pm.
I've been a closeted Garth fan for decades. My cousins were farmers in Idaho. I considered myself, a Utahn, to be far more refined than they. They loved their boots, their Wranglers, and their country music. I loved The Gap. I mean, what was more refined in 1990 than The Gap?? Also, I didn't really listen to music at the time, but I HATED country. At some point, I started to appreciate Garth. I got his Hits, and taped the Double Live concert off TV and would put it on after school sometimes. And then he quit touring. The Las Vegas show happened, but I wasn't into traveling that far to shows at the time (Oh, Bono, how you and Dave Gahan have changed that) but after the Obama concert, I KNEW it'd be a great show. And then he announced a tour! And he announced it only one city at a time! And it came to be that he announced Detroit and Pittsburgh, 2 cities a mere 3 hours from me. And our friends from Philly said they'd meet us in Pittsburgh, and my husband (after some coercion) was amenable to going to the show. And Garth was playing 1 show Thursday, 2 on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 1 Sunday. And I got tix to the 10:30pm Saturday show, because they had some good seats. And we went. And his voice was going. And it was a HUGE performance-complete with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming on stage and shooting confetti into the crowd. And it was Garth's birthday! And Garth said that that show was one of the all time best moments in his life. And I wasn't sure if he meant it.
Going back to the art. Sometimes, I don't know what is true and what is part of the high gloss shine on the art. I think he meant it. Reading reviews from the Thursday night show, I can tell our show was a bigger deal. But these big shows are meant to entertain. They don't necessarily intend to make the audience think. I compared the show to the last live show I went to-Joseph Arthur, the day before Thanksgiving in his home town of Akron OH (2 hrs from my work-I got out of work at 7pm and missed about the first 15 minutes of the show.) Just one man with his guitar, creating his own layers of loops. Talking with the audience-his high school friends and teachers, his parents. Taking requests from the audience. Sure I was on the front row for that concert while I was up in the 200s sections for Garth. And yes, Garth had two different treadmills on his stage, while Joseph Arthur had a box that he would stomp on to create the percussion. But both of these performers gave their all to their art.
Sincerely, JP
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