Planning a Trip to NYC? You Might Want to Catch This Exhibit

Are you planning a trip soon? If you're a Tolkien fan, you might want to consider going to New York. Beginning on January 25th, and continuing through May 12, 2019, a special exhibit "Tolkien:  Maker of Middle-Earth" will be exhibited at New York's Morgan Library and Museum. They herald it as "the most extensive public display of original Tolkien material for several generations," drawing from "the collections of the Tolkien Archive at the Bodleian Library (Oxford), Marquette University Libraries (Milwaukee), the Morgan and private lenders." 

The original dust jacket of "The Hobbit" featured an original
illustration. The article used this as their header. I can't
guarantee it will be in the exhibit, but it's probably a good bet. 

It sounds magnificent. It will include "family photographs and memorabilia, Tolkien's original illustrations, maps, draft manuscripts, and designs related to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion." There will also be "original illustrations of Smaug the dragon (from The Hobbit), Sauron's Dark Tower of Barad-dur (described in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion), and other recognizable characters," as well as that of Tolkien's draft manuscripts that "provide a window into his creative process, as well as the vivid, expansive worlds he created." (Previous two paragraphs cited from a larger article at www.openculture.com from January 7th, 2019.) 

This image of Smaug from "The Hobbit" was an original
illustration by Tolkien. Since it was also featured in
the article, it might also be in the exhibit. 

I'm sending a huge THANK YOU out to my friend Seth who sent the article to me as something he thought would interest me. I'm putting the information here, because even though I won't be able to go, I'm quite sure a lot of my friends and readers on the East Coast might be able to make a day trip or a weekend trip up to NYC and want to see the exhibit. It would be a wonderful excuse to visit one of the more exciting cities of the world. 

This original illustration of Smaug flying outside of The Lonely Mountain
might also be in the exhibit. It's a lovely and detailed illustration for
what was intended to be a children's book. 

On that note, I'm going to shut this down for the day. It's a Wednesday, I have a shopping list a mile long (well ... that's probably an exaggeration, but if I count each blueberry individually, it might get longer - LOL), and errands that will take me all over the city. Thank goodness the weather is OK even though it's darned cold outside. Have a great Wednesday. And Aearwen - enjoy your visit with Lee. We'll chat next week and you can tell me all about his visit. Hugs to all, I'll be back on Thursday. 

Alexander McQueen - Anything But Mundane

I love fashion, even though my own clothing has never progressed past 1960-70 hippie. Nonetheless, I adore fashion and watch the trends and styles and what is put down the runways in New York and some of the European runways. A friend on FB posted the video below and I fell in love. The fashions of Alexander McQueen, although I had been aware of them, were presented as art in an exhibition entitled "Savage Beauty" and I was stunned and glued to my screen as I watched it. I dared DH's wrath and found a copy of the Met Museum's catalog book available second-hand and it arrived yesterday. Large folio format with huge photos of each item, it's amazing! I started reading the introductory essays last night and will continue today. What a phenomenal exhibit this was! I'm giving you links to the YouTube videos of both exhibits - the first for the Metropolitan Museum (8:30) and the second for the Victoria and Albert Museum (10:06) where the exhibit was the best attended in the museum's history. So amazing! So beautiful!




The weatherman says it will be a rainy week this week, except for today. But I work today, so it might as well be raining. I won't be out in the sunshine. The clouds and grey weather are why I don't live in the Pacific Northwest. It's beautiful out there - the ocean, the mountains - but I can't tolerate the grey skies day after day. I need blue skies and sunshine. I don't get enough of those here either, not compared to Colorado and New Mexico - the other two places I've lived in for long periods of time. But at least I get some. This week, however, it going to really pull my mood down. Grey skies and rain pull me into depression. So I'm going to be super diligent and try and focus on the positive for a while because it's much better to be positive than to concentrate on the negative. Here's the second video I spoke of - Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty.




It's hard to believe that April is almost over. I have done snippets of writing, but not a lot. At least I've been doing a few creative things in the studio, just not on the page. I've been wrangling with my desktop computer and may have finally gotten the assistance I needed to bring that one back into line. So, things are progressing. Here's hoping you have a fabulous Tuesday. I'm off to the elliptical and then a nice small breakfast with LOTS of coffee. I'm exhausted today.

It's Friday, Right? I Need Pictures...

So it's finally Friday, I am ready to swim, and I'm not in a thinking mood. All of this blends together into a Photo Blog Day. So ... what to focus on today?  How about Sculpture? While taking a quick glance through possibilities, I found this venue called "Sculptures by the Sea" which is an annual invitational exhibit taking place on the Cottesloe Beach in Perth, Western Australia. This year was the 11th year the event has been held. Since I've never heard of it before, and since I probably will never make it to see the exhibits in person, I thought I'd show everyone some pics from the 2015 offerings.

This sculpture is quite large. In this lovely photo you get a
good look at the ocean off Western Australia, but because
the piece is up from the beach, you don't see the crowds of people
on the beach looking at other pieces in the exhibition. Nice. 

This interesting family grouping shows five dogs, two
females and they are all following ... a pineapple?
There's got to be an interesting story behind this one. 

I love this ball and chain sculpture. It's such a switch, and
it's quite large (clear in other photos where people are
sitting on the shackle). The mylar of the balloon and
the reflections in it are part of my fascination with the piece.
Opposites attract in this one. 

There was a wonderful flock of flamingos striding
down the beach. This was one of the better pictures that
incorporated their materials, their scale and the fact that
there were several of the beasts. 

I really loved this one, although I think this may be from a prior
year and just used as part of the publicity for the 2015 show. The
colors of the threads blending together and the exact placement
just won me over. 

This one is also quite large. Called "We're Fryin' Out There", it is
by Andrew Hankin. I loved the whimsy of this one. 

This seemed a nice way to end this. It's exhuberant, joyful,
and quite pretty in its presentation. 

So if you're ever in Western Australia near Perth, and you happen to be looking for something to do, maybe you'll intersect with the current Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. They'll have shuttles running, because they get more than 250,000 people attending the event, looking at the various artistic offerings. Or, if you want a challenge, look into applying to exhibit in the 2016 show. Either way, my day was brightened by these offerings and I hope yours was too. Have a wonderful Friday!

Wonderful Sunday Until the Steam Bath

The Egyptian exhibit at the Science Museum that DH and I went to yesterday was wonderful. We spent almost 2-1/2 hours looking carefully at the items. I purchased the expanded catalog book because of one item that I dearly want to try and make for myself that was only pictured in that. We looked at other books, etc., in the exhibit bookstore as well as the general museum store, but the book was the only thing we bought. Then we spent another two hours exploring the museum, playing with the various exhibits, pushing buttons and testing our child-like understanding. I was very pleased that we had the appointment we did. The exhibit wasn't crowded and it was easy to get up close to each item. By the time we left, the line to get in was huge and I am sure that our emply views would not have existed for those people.

Afterwards we went to dinner at Outback Steak House - ummmm...prime rib and two margaritas each. Simply lovely. I brought half of mine meat back home for dinner tonight. But our heat is unabated and it was hot and sticky at home. I tossed and turned all night and managed to get about four hours of sleep, but I think I'll grab a quick 45 minutes nap before heading out to work today. I'm just too tired to drive just now.

Life is Returning to Normal...

So LJ is finally back up and running.  We'll see how long this will last until the next DDoS attack, but I'm happy.  I was able to get my latest drabble posted last night, so I'm current on those again. 

It's still hot, hot, hot here - really sucks to wake up in the middle of the night and realize that you're just dripping wet.  Even though winter is a lot more work in many ways, I'm starting to miss snow.  Someone slap me, please!  Actually, my favorite seasons are spring and fall, and we're approaching fall at breakneck speed! 

On Sunday we're off to see the Tutankhamun - The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum.  I've been wanting to get out there and see this since the exhibit opened in the spring, and just now grabbed the time.  That will leave one open weekend of the first weekend of August, then comes Irish Faire and then Ren Faire starts and goes until October 2nd.  My weekends are already sewn up until late fall.  It's rather amazing!