Actually, Cambridgeside was a rather tedious busride away from Cambridge, as the nice lady at the Harvard kiosk told me. I wandered through Harvard Yard for a few minutes, dreaming of how Yardstick Man would have looked as a young freshman here, until I shook myself from my reverie, and scuttled off to Cambridgeside to attend to business.
Arrived at the Apple store not a minute too soon. I got the last Genius Bar appointment of the day, beginning in about 30 minutes! When I was finally called, I was able to complete my explanation in complete sentences, having satisfied my internet needs at the other computers in the store, and was able to focus sufficiently on the magnificently colored tattoes on my Genius-guy. Combined with the all-black attire, shaven black hair, Irish skin, and piercing blue eyes, he was quite magnificent. He ran through the same drill as Nichan, then said that I'd have to leave it for closer examination. Ouch. Thankfully, it was still under warranty, and I left hoping that it would be fixed before I had to leave on Friday.
Made my way to the mall exit, to be confronted with buckets of pouring rain. I wasn't surprised, but a bit deflated. Turned around and bought a Boston book at the Border's store, and made a new plan.
Boston Museum of Fine Art. Large, but not as imposing as the Met in NY. I skimmed through the little available of the asian art section (most of the Japanese stuff is being rearranged an not open for viewing). But what I really wanted was Impressionism. It could have been the rain. It could be my upcoming trip to Paris. Whatever, I really delighted in the experiments on light and texture. And I really revelled in the portraits. I'm not very attracted to landscapes. And I really dislike the flatness of pre-Renaissance art, and the pained religious art (is it the the bloodlessness of the subjects?) that followed. And still-lifes bore me. But there's something magnetic and magical about a portrait that captures and communicates the true soul of the sitter. I like Sargent, Cassatt, David, Rembrandt.
And, although I don't generally like modern or contemporary art, I was very struck by the Shy Boy, She Devil and Isis: The Art of Conceptual Craft exhibit. The piece I remember most was a stunning piece of glasswork. Desert FLower by Christopher Ries. From the side, it had the shape of a sail, with a white indentation a third of the way down on the "hypotenuse" side. From the front, one could see that the indentation was laser carved, and branched out to show the most beautiful multi-petaled flower suspended, as it appeared, in mid-air. Absolutely stunning. Other pieces that captured my imagination
Forest Bench by Peter M. Adams
Ladybird's Requiem by Akino Kondoh
Self Portrait by Ellen Day Hale
Pat Lyon at the Forge by John Neagle
The musical isntrument collection
Naginata weapons traditionally used by samurai women, and the story of Tomoe Gozen
The Painter's Honeymoon by Lord Frederic Leighton
St. Mary Magdalen Penitent by Domenico Fetti
Cecilia Beaux
Caritas by Abbott Handerson Thayer
Aizen, King of Passion, behind the large flower arrangement
10,000 Li Up the Yangtze River by Wang Hui
Met up with PG and Nichan, who had also headed for the museum in the rain. Stopped for some dessert at Finale for dessert, which Nichan graciously hosted. Then they were off to dinner with some friends, and I took myself off to Legal Seafood, which was just across the street. Couldn't decide on one thing, so I got an appetizer tray. The crab cakes are the best I've ever tasted! I've always been disappointed before, but these cakes took the cake. The waitress told me that the secret was using lump-meat. The result was a delicious and delicate drab cake that easily came apart as I picked at the yummy lump.
Hurried back to the house to change, and then I was off to Arlington for some west coast swing on the east coast. Took the T out to Harvard, then got on a bus for Arlington. As the bus was about to pull away, another asian girl hopped on and tried to get directions from the driver. Finally, the helpful woman seated across from her asked her where she was trying to get to. Then the girl started t say something about dancing at an Elk's Lodge, and I found a friend to walk with to Dance Boston. Good thing, too, since the walk involved passing through a dark neighborhood, under an underpass disconcertingly like a scene from Jodie Foster's new movie The Brave One, and a jaunt across a baseball field. Really, the guys who run Dance Boston need to come up with better directions!
Well, YG and I finally got the place, but the girl at the front directed us to the beginner-intermediate lesson, since we were a little late. Jon Schimmel taught the class, which was pretty good, but I was itching for more. When the class ended, we wandered downstairs, where the advanced lesson was ending. Turns out that Bill Cameron (who looks disconcertingly like Antonio Banderas) wasn't teaching, since he'd invited another dancer (from California?) to guest teach. I didn't catch her name, but she was wonderful. Talked all about shaping, and letting the follows have more leeway for creativity in the dance. And though she sounded a bit out of place (using terms like "organic" and "flowing"), I really liked her lesson.
The dancing was a lot of fun. People were really interested when I told them that I was visiting from the west coast. And I did confess that I'm actually a lindy-hopper who does WCS only when I travel. But I might just have to try going out in LA sometime. Even got a chance to dance with Bill. So nice, he came up and introduced himself, since Jon had told him that I'd emailed about visiting. Wanted to, but didn't, ask Bill to dance the next song, since it was fast. But I did gather up my courage and ask for a better song later in the evening. Pure bliss! Also spoke with Ryan and Laura, some other lindy hoppers who were crossing over to WCS. And, got a ride with YG from Amy back to the Alewife T station, so we didn't have to walk back through the scary underpass.
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