Kimbell Art Museum

Yesterday, we went with my mom to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. We were specifically there to see a special exhibit, but we also looked through the permanent exhibits.

(All photos are from the Kimbell site)

Ganesh
Alex's favorite piece of art was of Ganesh, an Indian god. Alex has a new friend and I spent some time with her mom a few weeks ago. She was in India during a festival for Ganesh, a festival that Alex & her friend also learned about in school this year. This Hindu festival takes place around August or September and lasts for 10 days. Statues of the god are made, sold, decorated & worshipped. Then, the statues are led in a procession through the streets and "immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off." (from Wikipedia)

Cherubs vs Putti
In the Great Course lectures I've been watching, the lecture (Kloss) refers to putti. I wasn't sure what the difference between cherub & putti were and we came across both terms at the Kimbell. The image above (a close up of putti from Poussin's Venus & Adonis) called the cute winged babies 'putti'. Well, after doing research at home I came across this terrific blog post at Many Shades of Shabby. Basically, if the painting is religious & the babies are 'innocent', they are cherubs (like the cherubim angels of the Bible). If the painting is secular, usually mythological, and the babies are not innocent looking, they are putti.

The Sacrament of Ordination by Poussin
This painting is one of a series of 7 paintings by Poussin in the mid to late 1630's covering the 7 sacrements. Since I am not Catholic, I had to do a little reading to find out about the 7 sacraments. The Kimbell site actually gives a pretty good explanation:
1. Ordination - the taking of holy orders to become a priest, deacon or bishop - shown here as Christ giving the keys of heaven & earth to Peter.
2. Confirmation
3. The Eucharist (communion)
4. Extreme Unction (the last rites)
5. Marriage
6. Penance (confession) - this painting was destroyed in a fire
7. Baptism - which is in the National Gallery of Art in DC & we hope to see it in March.

The Torment of St Anthony by Michelangelo
This amazing painting was done by Michelangelo and is believed to be his earliest painting...at the age of only 12 or 13!!! This is the first Michelangelo to be in an American collection. And, St Anthony is one of the saints I've been reading about lately as I learn about art history. Basically, Saint Anthony became a religious hermit and was said to have been tormented by Satan. Artists have portrayed these temptations and torments with all kinds of scary, make-believe beasts.

Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene attributed to Georges de La Tour
I loved this painting of Irene tending to Saint Sebastian, another saint I've been reading about lately. Saint Sebastian was a Roman soldier under Diocletian. Diocletian ordered him executed by a firing squad of archers after Sebastian had been converting soldiers to Christianity. Irene took care of him and he miraculously lived. Though, after his recovery, he confronted Diocletian who ordered him executed...again. This time, Sebastian died. I love the gentleness of Irene in this painting.

A Worker Reads History

I watched session 1 of a Yale Open Course today. It is a free course titled "France Since 1871" and it is taught by Professor John Merriman. Although the video itself is a little choppy, I am finding the professor quite enjoyable and am looking forward to learning about France. There are 24 lectures and the class reads six books and watches three films. I thought this would be a great way to prepare for our trip to France this summer.

The first lecture was mostly about what to expect in the course. At the conclusion, though, the professor read a poem by Brecht that he said highly influenced him to become a history teacher. The poem is "A Worker Reads History."

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?
The books are filled with names of kings.
Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?
And Babylon, so many times destroyed.
Who built the city up each time? In which of Lima's houses,
That city glittering with gold, lived those who built it?
In the evening when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go? Imperial Rome
Is full of arcs of triumph. Who reared them up? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Byzantium lives in song.
Were all her dwellings palaces? And even in Atlantis of the legend
The night the seas rushed in,
The drowning men still bellowed for their slaves.

Young Alexander conquered India.
He alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Was there not even a cook in his army?
Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet
was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?
Frederick the Great triumphed in the Seven Years War.
Who triumphed with him?

Each page a victory
At whose expense the victory ball?
Every ten years a great man,
Who paid the piper?

So many particulars.
So many questions.

San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon

I recently ran the  San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon. The race wasn't that great (it was super HOT & HUMID & CROWDED!), but my mom, daughter & I had a great time in San Antonio!

 

We ate at an outdoor Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk and this pigeon walked right over to Alex!

 

We took a boat ride on the river and enjoyed hearing some of the history of the area. (Photo of building from boat.)



 

We visited The Alama (our 2nd time). I'm wearing my "Run. Rock. Roll. Repeat." t-shirt the day before my race.

 

We visited the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum and kept score on all of the questions. My mom KILLED us! And, she beat us on this drum game, too, where you have to beat as many times as you can in one minute. Way to go, Mom!

Marie Antoinette's Poufs

I have started to prepare for a trip to France this summer by reading a book about Marie Antoinette. The book, To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson, is quite fascinating.

Yesterday, I read about Marie's incredible poufs. In 1774, the women of the court were wearing elaborate hats. But, they started styling their hair in elaborate ways instead. The pouf a la circonstance featured "a cypress and black marigolds, a wheat sheaf, and a cornucopia filled with every sort of fruit and white feathers. The allegorical meaning of the Circumstance Pouf was that while mourning Louis XV, France welcomed the bounty certain to be enjoyed under the new King. A medical coiffure came next, the pouf a l'inoculation. Louis had submitted to being inoculated against smallpox about a month after becoming King, and the new hairstyle commermorated this with a rising sun, an olive tree and a serpent entwined around the trunk, a flower club near him." (quote from the above book)

Another amazing pouf was coiffure a 'Independance ou le Triomphe de la Liberte (shown above) which celebrated a naval victory in the American War for independence.

I particularly enjoyed a post I found on the subject at a blog entitled "Dressed in Time: Historical costuming with a special love for the 18th century." The post is called "Wiggery and poufs!"  The author tells all about the poufs: how they were powdered, how they scratched their itchy heads (with a tool called a grattoir), how they slept (with their hair wrapped in a triple bandage), how they protected their hair from the elements, and much, much more! I found it absolutely fascinating!

Arlington Cemetery

We were on a tight schedule this day and our biggest mistake was not eating before we went to the cemetery! It was a long ride and we thought we'd get something at the cemetery. Well, food is not allowed at the cemetery. And, we were there for hours even though we 'hurried.' One of the girls in our group had her blood sugar crashing and her mom talked one of the employees into getting some food (from his own stash). But, the rest of us went HUNGRY.

I loved that we visited DC in fall. It was beautiful!

The Kennedy's.

We got to the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers fairly early and sat and waited for quite awhile. But, it was a beautiful day and we had nice seats on the stairs. We didn't realize this was a day they would change the flowers so we got up and left our seats. It was disappointing that we didn't see it, but we were tired and still had a long walk ahead of us. And, one of the moms had a grave she wanted to find. We ended up going on without them. Everyone was tired & hungry.

My favorite photo of the day.

I read that the rocks on the tombstones are a Jewish way of paying respect. And, when I looked at the stones I'd taken photos of, they do have the Star of David on them, though I also saw one with a cross.

Our First Evening in Tokyo

We left Houston at 6:30 am on Wednesday and got to Japan at 3:30 pm on Thursday. There is a 15 hour time difference. The main airport is in Narita, so we had to take a train into Tokyo. We had to change to a local train once reaching Tokyo. The train system in Tokyo is amazingly efficient. You usually only have to wait 2-4 minutes to go in either direction. It's amazing. Anyway, by the time we took the trains and got to our hotel room, we were really tired. Alex hadn't slept at all and I'd only had two 30 minute naps. We checked in and then got back on the train to go explore a little bit and eat some dinner. We were trying to stay up until at least 9 pm.

We went back one train station to Ueno. We decided to walk around a bit. This was our first 'taste' of Japan and my first shock was that we were the only non-Japanese people we saw! The train station is kind of like a plane station - there are a few restaurants and small shops inside. We headed outside to check out the main streets.

This isn't a very good photo, but we stopped and listened to this street performer.

Besides the train system, bicycling is the primary form of transportation. We got used to seeing bikes parked everywhere - and dodging them while we walked! We even watched official 'bike parkers' (my term) who would repark the bikes by picking them up & placing them closer together! It took us awhile, but we finally figured out they are locked around the back wheel so no one else can ride them.

We'd read about these "Capsule Hotels" before we left, and Alex really wanted to stay in one. The closest we got, though, is this photo. The 'rooms' are actually just little cubbies, usually stacked 3 high, where you can sleep. It sounds kind of claustrophobic to me! Most of them are for men only and are used by workers who miss the last long train ride home.

Here's my brother getting us train tickets. You have to look at what stop you are at and where you are going and pay that amount per person. Children's fares are less than adult's. My brother would push a photo that showed 2 adults & 1 child, and then buy another ticket for 1 adult. (His girlfriend traveled with us the first 3 days.) This was much easier after we figured out how to switch the machines to English!

Here's a photo of the complicated train routes. My brother did most of the planning, though I was figuring it out in the end.This sign doesn't show the stops in English, but most of the signs were bilingual.

I think this photo is actually from the next morning. It is kind of funny that my camera didn't know I was in a different time zone, so the photos aren't actually sorted by my Japanese days! Anyway, I liked that some train cars were for "Women Only" during the morning rush hour. We had to watch for these signs as my brother wouldn't have been allowed!

Our Hotel in Japan... It's Not Like the US of A!

Our hotel in Japan was definitely not like any we've been to in the US! We stayed at Uenokoen Candeo in Tokyo. My brother had warned us that most hotel rooms in Asia are very small, and he was right! Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos. But, Alex & I shared a double bed. There was a long table underneath the window. Besides that, there was very little floor space. If you put your suitcase down, there was just barely enough room to walk beside it. And, the bathroom was very tiny, too.

On the bed, there were 2 of these lounging outfits for Alex & me. We only wore them the first evening, though I used the slippers several times. You can put this on and walk around the hotel in it.

We were on the 11th (of 12) floor and only heard a siren once. Otherwise, we didn't hear anything. This is the view from our window. It's hard to tell, but on the far left you can see the mountains! My brother's room was on the same floor, but he had a wall next to him so he couldn't see the mountains... sorry, brother!

We took a lot of photos of signs that we saw. It reminded me of Jimmie's Collage! Anyway, we got the giggles over this sign posted by our hotel window: "In case open the window, be careful of invasion of AN insect." (emphasis mine) Another sign that gave us the giggles was the one that you would leave outside of the room when you wanted your sheets changed. It basically said that "This customer would like to change sheets." I was thinking, "Yes! Sign me up! I want to change sheets while on vacation!" OK... maybe it was funnier when you were sleep deprived. We were dealing with a 15 hour time change!

This isn't really funny, but it did take some time to grasp. Something we found interesting in Japan was that it isn't very acceptable to eat or drink while you walk. This is kind of hard when you're traveling! Anyway, along with this attitude came a serious lack of trashcans! We'd walk & walk and not find a trashcan. But, sometimes when we were in a restaurant (fast food) and needed to throw away trash, you'd have trashcans - up to 4 of them - each labeled differently in JAPANESE... no English! We'd have to play detective to figure out what went in which trashcan! Oh, and I was SHOCKED at how many signs DID have English on them also! There is a LOT of English in Japan! Well, especially around Tokyo.

One last room shot... my brother says these are common in many countries, but I've never seen one. To turn on the lights, any lights, you have to put the keychain into this switch. My mom says it's to conserve energy as you can't leave the lights on while you are gone! Anyway, I was thankful my brother could help us out with this one!

Views from the Air: Mt McKinley & Anchorage, Alaska

We had beautiful views of Alaska on our trip to Japan. I hadn't realized we'd go so far north.

You can see a chunk of ice (iceberg?) in the water near the bottom center of the photo.

In the top left of the photo, you can see Mt McKinley - I believe it is the 2nd peak. Mount McKinley is the highest peak in North America. It was named McKinley in 1896. McKinley was elected president later that year. It sits in Denali National Park and is known to the Athabascan Indians as Denali, "The High One" or "The Great One."

After seeing all of the mountains, the flat area around Anchorage was surprising.

Beautiful frozen rivers near the coast.

Japan's Earthquakes & Tsunami

I've been responding to emails, texts & phones calls this morning. Some of my friends are asking if we are home yet. Others and letting me know they are thankful we are home. By the time I got out of bed at 8 this morning (having jet lag...Alex was up from 1 am until 5 am), I heard the news: Japan had been hit by a major earthquake & tsunami along with other earthquakes. I am so thankful we are home and safe. But, I am praying for the people of Japan!

We were mainly in Tokyo, which was not where the tsunami hit and was not the center of the earthquake. However, it was affected. I understand the train services are down. We rode the trains multiple times every day. Most of the people of Japan either use public transportation (we also used the subways) or ride their bikes. The trains are PACKED. In fact, I've seen photos of 'pushers' who push the people into the cars. We never experienced pushers, even during rush hour, but you do pack yourself in tight! I can't imagine if we'd been on a train when the quake hit. Or in a terminal. It is really crazy already with that many people running around. And, Alex was often the only child out of thousands of people. I'm wondering, as people rushed to get outside, how bad it might have been.

I've also heard that the tip of Tokyo Tower was bent. This is us (me, my brother, our new Japanese friend, Alex, and my brother's girlfriend) after we'd climbed down the steps of Tokyo Tower. I can't imagine being in that structure, which is a lot like the Eiffel Tower, during the quakes. Were people rushing down the stairs?

(Last photo I took in Japan showing trains delayed. Cause: Quake) 

I am praying for Japan. I loved it there. It was an amazing trip. And, I'm hurting for those who are affected by these disasters.

My brother's best friend's wife is from Japan. Her parents still live in the area directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami. We have yet to hear if they are OK. Please pray for them!

Thank you for your comments, thoughts, and prayers - Dana

We're Home from JAPAN!

Hi, everyone! Alex & I are back from Japan. We spent 4 days in Tokyo and 1 day on a 'day trip' to see the Snow Monkeys. I have so much to share with you all! I will try to get started later today.

(photo in front of a torii gate near the Zojoji Buddhist temple)

We didn't get home until midnight last night and our bodies are having trouble adjusting back to Central Standard Time. It is almost 3 pm on Thursday here. It is 6 am in Tokyo. We left Japan at 7 pm on Wednesday evening and got to Chicago at 3:30 pm on Wednesday afternoon. That's weird, isn't it?

Anyway, it was one of the most amazing trips I've ever been on, though I have loved just about everywhere we've ever went. We are actually headed out of town again tomorrow (yikes! lots of laundry & unpacking to do before then!), but then we'll be home for several weeks. We will be headed to St Louis the 2nd weekend of April for my 2nd half marathon.

I hope you all are well! And, I hope you are enjoying your school year!

-Dana

Another trip... this time, JAPAN!

Hi, everyone! I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted. I really have been concentrating a lot on my sports - I'm training for my next half marathon and my first sprint triathlon.

Anyway, my brother called 2 nights ago, and today I bought tickets for Alex & I to go to JAPAN! In 12 days!!! I'm so thrilled! And, I can hardly believe it. So, we will be going crazy trying to learn about Japan and prepare for our trip. I'll try to post all about it when we get back.

I miss you all and wish I felt more like blogging lately! Maybe it'll come back again some time. I blogged faithfully for 5 years. :-) I learned so much from you all and enjoyed sharing our lives. Take care!