I Will Hold You Close With a Thankful Heart
"If you need to know the measure of a man, you simply count his friends." --Michael Caine, as Scrooge in "A Muppet Christmas Carol" I love that movie. Watch it. Your Christmas season will be complete!
I haven't been on in awhile, but let me tell you all (or well, whoever actually READS my ramblings!) that it was wonderful! I had an absolutely lovely time with my Mom. She is one of the best people to travel with. Ever. First off, we all stopped at MoMa to check out some Dali. They had ONE piece, "The Persistence of Memory." That's it. ONE DALI PIECE. AT MoMA. Feel shame, Moma, feel shame. To their credit, the museum IS the home of Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night." That's right, Constant Reader, I SAW IT. I stood less than two feet from it. And I was teary-eyed with joy. It was beautiful, life-changing, and all kinds of wonderful things that I can't even begin to describe. We also checked out a punk rock exhibit (RAMONES!!!!!) and the special Monet exhibit they had. I chatted with a guard. He smelled nice, and was on the good looking side. Awesome. They're having a Tim Burton exhibit there right now. I will not get to see it, which is sad because I LOVE HIM, but I did get to see one piece as a preview, so I am grateful for that at least. Next, we headed over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. My Mom was totally overwhelmed, and, though I had been once before, I must admit that so was I. The architecture is just so elaborate, and detailed, and well-wrought, that it sucks you in and makes you try to take it all in at once, which is impossible but good to try! We headed up to the altar, where I will fess up and say that I cried a little. The last time I was there, I prayed so hard for a miracle. I won't say more, but we all know what happened, and just thinking about how different I am now from the girl who prayed there last time had me just sitting and crying for a moment. It was definitely bittersweet, but I am so glad that my Mom loved it. Sam and I even got pilgrim badges! We also got one for Professor Sexton, because, as a medievalist, he can totally appreciate that stuff. By this time, we were hungry, so we headed past Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall and had lunch at Tad's Steakhouse near Times Square. It was ok. We were hungry, so it didn't really matter. Mom and I didn't want to see Times Square (I was not jazzed by it. It's all lights and ghastly noise.), so I took us back to the NBC Store, and then we saw the giant Christmas Tree, and headed back to Fifth Ave. We stopped at Godiva, Tiffany, and The Disney Store! The chocolates were of course decadent, which is why I love Godiva oh so very much. I actually bought something at Tiffany. I'd always wanted to. So, I went in with my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" bag and bought myself a pair of heart stud earrings from their "Return to Tiffany" collection. I love them. They are always something that I will cherish from my Mom's first trip to NYC with me. Jeremy and I, unbeknownst to her, have also order her a porcelain vase from their Holiday Gifts collection, for her to decorate the table with every winter. It was delivered today, and I know she is going to love it! After my little spending spree, she and I went to the Disney store, where we gawked at all of our favorite Disney things and all the other stuff that we couldn't afford. I got Tricia a Christmas ornament and MJ and Tobes matching Mickey and Minnie bibs. Copious shopping bags in hand, we headed up the rest of our 40 block journey to the Met. I love the Met. I really, really, REALLY do. Especially the Greco Roman Gallery. My Mom has very similar tastes to mine (I believe our taste to be impeccable, but I may be biased! :P), and so she loved it as well. We also checked out a special samurai exhibit, where I got to see swords from the Meiji era, which is my favorite period of Japanese history. It was so cool. We liked the Baroque works too, as well as the Northern Italian etchings and 17th century French art, especially the lovely furniture. Next time, we're hitting up the medieval stuff, as well as the second floor of the Greco Roman Gallery. Because no day is complete without a Greco Roman love fest. Just saying.
After all that, we were totally exhausted. We slept on the bus ride back, and we really haven't stopped gushing about our trip since then. School has been going well too. I have a lot of work still ahead of me, but I am working on it and that is really all that can be done. I am encouraged by the fact that Doctor Crowley seems to have faith in me (I only pray I do not disappoint him, as he paid me a truly great compliment), which makes me feel honored and even smart. Awesome. :) Christmas shopping is going well so far, though I still need to do quite a bit! I'll get there though.
I've also started my annual "All I Want for Christmas is You" extravaganza! As of this afternoon, it has reached 14!!! Not bad, but hopefully it picks up a bit, if I want to beat last year's tally of 36! I'm also reading "A Christmas Carol" again. It's one of those books that just makes me feel good, and I never fail to notice something I hadn't before every time I pick it up. I love Charles Dickens.
To be making an end of this rather long-winded entry, I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and that Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Uberfunfest/Winter/Saturnalia is even better!
I haven't been on in awhile, but let me tell you all (or well, whoever actually READS my ramblings!) that it was wonderful! I had an absolutely lovely time with my Mom. She is one of the best people to travel with. Ever. First off, we all stopped at MoMa to check out some Dali. They had ONE piece, "The Persistence of Memory." That's it. ONE DALI PIECE. AT MoMA. Feel shame, Moma, feel shame. To their credit, the museum IS the home of Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night." That's right, Constant Reader, I SAW IT. I stood less than two feet from it. And I was teary-eyed with joy. It was beautiful, life-changing, and all kinds of wonderful things that I can't even begin to describe. We also checked out a punk rock exhibit (RAMONES!!!!!) and the special Monet exhibit they had. I chatted with a guard. He smelled nice, and was on the good looking side. Awesome. They're having a Tim Burton exhibit there right now. I will not get to see it, which is sad because I LOVE HIM, but I did get to see one piece as a preview, so I am grateful for that at least. Next, we headed over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. My Mom was totally overwhelmed, and, though I had been once before, I must admit that so was I. The architecture is just so elaborate, and detailed, and well-wrought, that it sucks you in and makes you try to take it all in at once, which is impossible but good to try! We headed up to the altar, where I will fess up and say that I cried a little. The last time I was there, I prayed so hard for a miracle. I won't say more, but we all know what happened, and just thinking about how different I am now from the girl who prayed there last time had me just sitting and crying for a moment. It was definitely bittersweet, but I am so glad that my Mom loved it. Sam and I even got pilgrim badges! We also got one for Professor Sexton, because, as a medievalist, he can totally appreciate that stuff. By this time, we were hungry, so we headed past Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall and had lunch at Tad's Steakhouse near Times Square. It was ok. We were hungry, so it didn't really matter. Mom and I didn't want to see Times Square (I was not jazzed by it. It's all lights and ghastly noise.), so I took us back to the NBC Store, and then we saw the giant Christmas Tree, and headed back to Fifth Ave. We stopped at Godiva, Tiffany, and The Disney Store! The chocolates were of course decadent, which is why I love Godiva oh so very much. I actually bought something at Tiffany. I'd always wanted to. So, I went in with my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" bag and bought myself a pair of heart stud earrings from their "Return to Tiffany" collection. I love them. They are always something that I will cherish from my Mom's first trip to NYC with me. Jeremy and I, unbeknownst to her, have also order her a porcelain vase from their Holiday Gifts collection, for her to decorate the table with every winter. It was delivered today, and I know she is going to love it! After my little spending spree, she and I went to the Disney store, where we gawked at all of our favorite Disney things and all the other stuff that we couldn't afford. I got Tricia a Christmas ornament and MJ and Tobes matching Mickey and Minnie bibs. Copious shopping bags in hand, we headed up the rest of our 40 block journey to the Met. I love the Met. I really, really, REALLY do. Especially the Greco Roman Gallery. My Mom has very similar tastes to mine (I believe our taste to be impeccable, but I may be biased! :P), and so she loved it as well. We also checked out a special samurai exhibit, where I got to see swords from the Meiji era, which is my favorite period of Japanese history. It was so cool. We liked the Baroque works too, as well as the Northern Italian etchings and 17th century French art, especially the lovely furniture. Next time, we're hitting up the medieval stuff, as well as the second floor of the Greco Roman Gallery. Because no day is complete without a Greco Roman love fest. Just saying.
After all that, we were totally exhausted. We slept on the bus ride back, and we really haven't stopped gushing about our trip since then. School has been going well too. I have a lot of work still ahead of me, but I am working on it and that is really all that can be done. I am encouraged by the fact that Doctor Crowley seems to have faith in me (I only pray I do not disappoint him, as he paid me a truly great compliment), which makes me feel honored and even smart. Awesome. :) Christmas shopping is going well so far, though I still need to do quite a bit! I'll get there though.
I've also started my annual "All I Want for Christmas is You" extravaganza! As of this afternoon, it has reached 14!!! Not bad, but hopefully it picks up a bit, if I want to beat last year's tally of 36! I'm also reading "A Christmas Carol" again. It's one of those books that just makes me feel good, and I never fail to notice something I hadn't before every time I pick it up. I love Charles Dickens.
To be making an end of this rather long-winded entry, I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and that Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Uberfunfest/Winter/Saturnalia is even better!