coming up roses
So, the upside of all the stress and insanity last week that was the imminent threat of government shut-down, is that I ended up working extra to try and finish some projects in case I couldn't come in to the office this week. Obviously, I have been working all this week, which means that I found myself in possession of a little bit of comp time. Pay period ends tomorrow, so I left work and hour and a half earlier than usual, left my coat and my bag in the office (taking my wallet and a couple other important things) and walked to the Freer-Sackler.
The Sackler closes at 5:30, and I got there a little before 3:30. It's easily one of my favourite Smithsonian museums, and I'd been earlier in the fall/winter, so I've seen a lot of the exhibits that are up currently. That meant 2, 2.5 hours was a lot of time to just slowly enjoy any exhibits I wanted to see. I'm definitely the kind of person who wants to read everything up in an exhibit, so I can take a long time to just meander and enjoy things.
I particularly wanted to see the exhibit on the orchid in Chinese painting because I've got a special place in my heart for Chinese painting. I took several years of lessons, so I know a little bit of what goes into a good one, and the skill you have to have, and the different styles and techniques used in the medium. It was a small exhibit, but really all the more lovely for it. I wish they'd translated some of the longer texts that were attached to some of the paintings because my chinese reading skills are...not, essentially XD.
So, I know a little bit of something about Chinese painting, but not a lot about the philosophies and motifs behind it. It's just pictures to me, really, so I learned a lot from this exhibit about what some of the common motifs in orchid paintings are. Taken from Smithsonian's website:
Since the time of the philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE), the cymbidium has been associated with principled, moral gentlemen whose talent and integrity go unrecognized by the powers that be.
There was this one painting that was just, absolutely. The aesthetic, with a simple cluster of flowers on the left, and leaves that kind of trailed across the middle, and then in the upper right corner, there was a short poem. The ink on this one was very dark, and bold, and the contrast with the white paper, and the way the orchid and the text between the very tips of the two longest-reaching flowers balanced each other was just gorgeous. There was also a really cool pair of paintings that the artist had done with his fingers. they were amazing.
(here's an example of what these orchid paintings look like, stolen from the internet)
I know next to nothing about art, and what little I do know is mostly about art from ancient East Asia, so I wasn't sure I was going to be interested in this exhibit: Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings. It. was. amazing. They're just these gloriously intricate, gloriously coloured folios depicting different stories from Shahnama. The exhibit had magnifying glasses you could borrow as you went through, and I ended up going back to get one because god. just. Sometimes there'd be a big sheet of paper, but the detail was astounding, like literally, you just kept bending your head closer to the glass to try to see if you could take in all of the tiny patters in the border, or the fabric or these gloriously tiny flowers. Anyway, it was awesome.
The last exhibit I saw (technically the first thing, but the last one I'm talking about) was this one with pieces looted from XiangTangShan and sold to collectors and museums and things back sometime between 1900 and 1930. It was also pretty cool, barring all the art that had been absconded with. a lot of it felt like a walk from my childhood.
Have been editing paper for coffeeandice, and got to talk a little bit with Tego before she left town today, which was a pleasant surprise. Also, got to talk to my favourite sillyandmorbid today, and that's always pleasing :DDDD
The weather was gorgeous, and there's nothing quite as lovely as leaving work a lot earlier than you usually do--particularly knowing that it's not time that's going to come out of your vacation later. So, all in all, excellent day ♥
My new favourite kaomoji ever: ♂ヾ(・・*)ゴシゴシ♪ ♂⌒・ピュッ(゜O゜;
Title: Fix My Heart to the Line
Author:
anamuan
Fandom, Pairing: Inception, Arthur/Eames
Word Count: 952 words.
Rating: NC-17
Summary: frantically desperate phonesex, and then some ridiculously schmoopy phone-cuddling.
Link: phonesex
The Sackler closes at 5:30, and I got there a little before 3:30. It's easily one of my favourite Smithsonian museums, and I'd been earlier in the fall/winter, so I've seen a lot of the exhibits that are up currently. That meant 2, 2.5 hours was a lot of time to just slowly enjoy any exhibits I wanted to see. I'm definitely the kind of person who wants to read everything up in an exhibit, so I can take a long time to just meander and enjoy things.
I particularly wanted to see the exhibit on the orchid in Chinese painting because I've got a special place in my heart for Chinese painting. I took several years of lessons, so I know a little bit of what goes into a good one, and the skill you have to have, and the different styles and techniques used in the medium. It was a small exhibit, but really all the more lovely for it. I wish they'd translated some of the longer texts that were attached to some of the paintings because my chinese reading skills are...not, essentially XD.
So, I know a little bit of something about Chinese painting, but not a lot about the philosophies and motifs behind it. It's just pictures to me, really, so I learned a lot from this exhibit about what some of the common motifs in orchid paintings are. Taken from Smithsonian's website:
Since the time of the philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE), the cymbidium has been associated with principled, moral gentlemen whose talent and integrity go unrecognized by the powers that be.
There was this one painting that was just, absolutely. The aesthetic, with a simple cluster of flowers on the left, and leaves that kind of trailed across the middle, and then in the upper right corner, there was a short poem. The ink on this one was very dark, and bold, and the contrast with the white paper, and the way the orchid and the text between the very tips of the two longest-reaching flowers balanced each other was just gorgeous. There was also a really cool pair of paintings that the artist had done with his fingers. they were amazing.
(here's an example of what these orchid paintings look like, stolen from the internet)
I know next to nothing about art, and what little I do know is mostly about art from ancient East Asia, so I wasn't sure I was going to be interested in this exhibit: Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings. It. was. amazing. They're just these gloriously intricate, gloriously coloured folios depicting different stories from Shahnama. The exhibit had magnifying glasses you could borrow as you went through, and I ended up going back to get one because god. just. Sometimes there'd be a big sheet of paper, but the detail was astounding, like literally, you just kept bending your head closer to the glass to try to see if you could take in all of the tiny patters in the border, or the fabric or these gloriously tiny flowers. Anyway, it was awesome.
The last exhibit I saw (technically the first thing, but the last one I'm talking about) was this one with pieces looted from XiangTangShan and sold to collectors and museums and things back sometime between 1900 and 1930. It was also pretty cool, barring all the art that had been absconded with. a lot of it felt like a walk from my childhood.
Have been editing paper for coffeeandice, and got to talk a little bit with Tego before she left town today, which was a pleasant surprise. Also, got to talk to my favourite sillyandmorbid today, and that's always pleasing :DDDD
The weather was gorgeous, and there's nothing quite as lovely as leaving work a lot earlier than you usually do--particularly knowing that it's not time that's going to come out of your vacation later. So, all in all, excellent day ♥
My new favourite kaomoji ever: ♂ヾ(・・*)ゴシゴシ♪ ♂⌒・ピュッ(゜O゜;
Title: Fix My Heart to the Line
Author:
anamuan
Fandom, Pairing: Inception, Arthur/Eames
Word Count: 952 words.
Rating: NC-17
Summary: frantically desperate phonesex, and then some ridiculously schmoopy phone-cuddling.
Link: phonesex