A Refreshing Weekend

This past Friday and Saturday I was blessed to have a visit from my brother and his wife. It was a long time coming! We had a wonderful time exploring Cincinnati and sharing some good laughs. They got here Friday evening and we had some wine and cheese before heading downtown for dinner. Of course I had to take them to my workplace, Nada for some delcious food.

Here we are outside after eating a very filling meal! Claudio, Andrew, Emily, and I decided to order a few entrees and share them so we could get a good taste of several dishes. We started off with the Nadarita (house-made margarita), chips, salsa, and guacamole. I could eat our chips for days! Our lovely server brought us out some small soups including tortilla soup and the creamy butternut squash soup. We then had the cazuela tasting (a portion of each cazuela), a pork belly taco, grilled redfish taco, and the carnitas taco. All amazing! We finished it off with the sweet and fresh tres leches. I was happy to impress my family with such delicious food and hospitality.

After dinner we walked to Fountain Square to show Andrew and Emily and then headed home. On Saturday I woke up fairly early to prepare blueberry pancakes with fruit and of course coffee. After we enjoyed our breakfast we all went to Findlay Market, a Cincinnati must-see. I knew Andrew and Emily would love Findlay Market for all its many vendors selling a huge variety of foods. We all decided to eat at Pho Lang Thang, a Vietnamese cafe. It was my first time trying "pho," a soup that uses many spices, rice noodles, and beef. It was nice to eat the warm delcious soup while sitting outside in the sun!

Claudio and I enjoyed visiting with my brother and Emily and showing them just a small part of Cincinnati and NKY. Cannot wait to do it again!

Monet in Giverny: Landscapes of Reflection

                                              

If you know art, you know Monet. If you live in or near Cincinnati, you know he's here! Well, not he himself, but 12 of his beautiful and inspiring masterpieces. I just perused them myself just yesterday while at work. Here's a link to the Cincinnati Art Museum's website with more information.

As an artist and lover of art, I have learned about Monet and his famous pieces. I have been so fortunate to see a few in the past, standing in awe of one of the large waterlily paintings. In case you are not familiar with Monet and/or his work, I definitely encourage you to make it to this exhibition if possible. Yesterday as I walked upstairs to the gallery, I became enthralled with these ethereal and somewhat ambiguous works of art.

I seemed to have drifted away in a foggy mist, floating above the lilypad-laden water as my eyes cascaded Monet's work. The smoothness of  some canvases contrasted against the thick brush strokes of others. It seemed as if Monet blanketed the canvas with his soft paints, while he brushed layer upon layer on other works creating a much different appearance but similar "impression."

I was somewhat startruck by these great works. To stand in the presence of art created by such a world-renowned artist is overwhelming.If you do not know why Mone was and is so respected, it is because he was one of the first artists to paint in such a way. Similar to Duchamp, Pollck, and Picasso, Monet stepped oustide of the box, painting in a way he wanted to paint. He went totally against what society was teaching.

As an artist myself, I find this very inspiring. I know I will never be a Monet but I do look to him as someone that created art in a way he desired to do so, not what others expected. With that said, I need to get back to painting asap!

Real Life Pimp

Yes indeed, well I can't say for sure. My instinct says that the man I saw just the other day at my workplace could have very well been a pimp. I am not one to stereotype (well I guess we all do to some extent but I try my best not to) but this man fit all the criteria. Before he graced me with his intoxicating presence (and not in a good way), I first met a young woman. She came walking in, eyes squinting, hair desheveled, an air of confusion. She proceeded to take a seat and wait on her other guest. Moments later he  made his entrance. Slowling walking in like he owned the place. Long slicked-back pony tail, unusual matching suit of beige hues, long creme-colored trench coat lined with black lapels. His short stubby fingers were all adorned in various gaudy rings. The worst of all, he seemed to have covered himself in a bottle of cheap, take-your-breath-away cologne.

The man then yelled at his girl (probably about 10 years younger), "Michelle, we're going upstairs." I then made him aware that the upstairs was closed and would open again at dinner time. He looked at me in surprise and then stated "I want to sit by the window." I dared deny him of that right and I probably subconcisouly thought it better for others not to have to smell his scent along with their lunch.

Now, maybe I have just watched too many episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, but this was a no-brainer. I found it quite amusing at the time to see such a character, as ubiquitious as they are downtown. But retrospectively I realize it could be quite a sad story if the one in my mind is true. I guess in cases such as these, it is best to hope you are wrong.

The Waltz

Yesterday I was spending a little time with my friend Marilyn Stokstad (not really the person, just the book) and I stumbled upon this work by Camille Claudel. I had forgotten about this sculpture and how much I really enjoy it. After reading a couple paragraphs about this piece, I found that Claudel wanted to show the spiritual unity of the couple, not just the physical. As you can see, the couple's gaze is away from each other but they are still quite united in their embrace. What do you think?

Wild Cat Fight Upstairs

The other night, as I was in and out of sleep, I heard some loud noises. Like many times when I am in bed, I am not fully asleep and my dreams intertwine with what's really going on around me. Well, the other night there was a cat fight (apparently outside my apartment). I vaguely remember the loud screams but I do recall thinking there were a couple of wild cats in the vacant apartment above me, getting into a tiff. These cats were so loud, and I kept thinking, why would someone have wild cats in their apartment? How crazy! Just thought I would share this with you. I usually remember my dreams, and nine times out of 10 they are pretty out there.