Thursday, April 19, 2007
Feets, Planted
On a Westward (Ho!) expedition recently, ostensibly a road trip to see, smell, touch, and hear the progeny, added benefits of new museums and eateries to visit were thrown in. Here follows a very subjective travelogue.
The Ever-Loving Wife and I have been blessed. Blessed that neither of the kids went through that stage of the teenage years when Solipsism was the religion of choice for them. No need for missionary work on their sole-centered souls. They both have continued a fortunately un-natural curiosity in others. How they came upon this life view is beyond me; I recall with embarrassment and regret (for all of the lost days)of my own bellybutton gazing in the teen years.
All that wasted inward energy when I could have been running barefoot in the uncut grass. But, enough about me; let's talk about my trip.
Traveling of any sorts, especially on any trips extending past a couple of days, always results in a great case of what the French call "le espièglerie". A giddiness layered in thin coats of adventure topped with a dollop of childlike wonder. I can stare down at the
Cincinnati, parked on the muddy (when we went) and swift and deadly currents of the Ohio, was one of our stopovers. Cincy has not been usually associated with positive national headlines in the 5 years or so, what with the 2001 riots and the travails of the Bengals. We spent 3 gorgeous days there, encountering only friendliness and pride from the folks we dealt with. From the over-the-top concern of the staff of the Underground Railroad Museum to the interactive staff of
The Contemporary Arts Center, located in downtown Cincy, was fairly empty of visitors but packed with entertainment. John Pilson's visual works were on display. His take on life/work in the concrete stacks of NYC where he "reconsiders the banal, daily routines office workers as quixotic deviations into sublime moments", made for an interesting alternative reaction to the depression of fluorescent lighting and wall-to-wall grey carpeting. The museum itself, designed by the Iranian Zaha Hadid, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2004, is relatively plain on the outside, blending in well with the business offices and skyscrapers on the same block. The first floor seems to be a bank lobby without the bank tellers. When you start climbing the long shallow steps to the second floor, however, an odd experience starts sinking in. You must really concentrate on your stair-climbing and what this concentration does is cleanse your mind of what you've seen on the previous floor. Unlike many staircases, the three in this museum are bathed in natural light from the glass ceiling three stories up. It was a cloudy overcast morning when we came in, but the light streaming in was intensified by the way only a shaft of rectangular sky illuminated the staircases. You won't trip but you will be lifting your feet a lot higher to the next step than is necessary. This high-stepping continues throughout the climb from floor to floor; a pleasant discombobulation.
Michael Blowhard recently went to Pittsburgh and the Warhol Museum and posted his observations here. I'd agree with him entirely as to his experiences on Pittsburgh as a truly livable and interesting city and his take on the Warhol Museum. I had my own 2 cents about the museum here(if you like Yoko Ono even the tiniest bit, please don't click).
If you prefer cold to hot weather, meandering streets to long straight avenues, distinct neighborhoods to malled communities, then Pittsburgh is the place for you, if only for a visit or two,
Note Bene: clicking on all of the pictures, well not all at once, will allow you to view them as larger versions of themselves...if that's something you're in dire need of.
Labels: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Trips
Comments:
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Nice shoes.
A giddiness layered in thin coats of adventure topped with a dollop of childlike wonder.
Too true! There is something about traveling that allows us to see things fresh and new and to appreciate the "little" things.
Your opinion of Warhol matches my own (just read the post in your link above)..."ick" was the word I used in a prior post after a visit to the Chicago Contemporary Art Museum.
A giddiness layered in thin coats of adventure topped with a dollop of childlike wonder.
Too true! There is something about traveling that allows us to see things fresh and new and to appreciate the "little" things.
Your opinion of Warhol matches my own (just read the post in your link above)..."ick" was the word I used in a prior post after a visit to the Chicago Contemporary Art Museum.
Thanks, as re. the shoes. I've been wearing Naot clogs for the last 6-7 years. They're very comfortable and they last forever, the latter being a great quality to convince myself to ignore the high cost. With socks, without, a very comforting shoe. Loose enough to not constrcit bloodflow; tight enough to grip your foot like a glove. And no, I would not be going for this style any time soon. There are over 6,602,224,175 people in the world. Based on personal experience, of that total, I'd suspect 74 have toes that should be allowed to be viewed by the general public. For the rest of the 6,602,224,171 people, God created socks and closed toes shoes.
For the rest of the 6,602,224,171 people, God created socks and closed toes shoes.
Ahem. You mean, like these? ;-)
Hey, I'm all about the comfort. Who cares what the feet look like? I got married in Birkenstocks. ;-) Naots fall into the same camp. Comfortable, long-lasting and good looking. After you've worn a pair, nobody cares how much they cost.
Ahem. You mean, like these? ;-)
Hey, I'm all about the comfort. Who cares what the feet look like? I got married in Birkenstocks. ;-) Naots fall into the same camp. Comfortable, long-lasting and good looking. After you've worn a pair, nobody cares how much they cost.
As a naturalized citizen of the US of A, I've learned to never inquire of a specific person's earnings nor comment on a specific person's toes.
Commenting on the general theme of those subjects is o.k., however. I'm sticking with my estimate of 6,602,224,171 people who would look better to the rest of us if they wore socks or closed toe sandals.
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Commenting on the general theme of those subjects is o.k., however. I'm sticking with my estimate of 6,602,224,171 people who would look better to the rest of us if they wore socks or closed toe sandals.
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