American Art Museum

More from the Smithsonian American Art Museum two weeks ago . . . . They had a current exhibit of paintings from the WPA days in the 1930s. Some samples: And one more contemporary piece:

#TBT: Thinking of G-ma

Don’t judge. We called her G-ma because we already had a Grandma on the paternal side. And it’s Klaus Greenhouse, not Kraus. And the son John, who was just two months older than me, died of cancer in 2013, according to the Google searching. But here’s the story:

The groan

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ARTICLE IS TRUE!! What’s behind the “middle-aged groan”?by Jancee Dunnfrom a New York Times newsletter When my daughter was a toddler, she often imitated the long groan I made when I bent down. It was both funny and mortifying. Judging by the large number of videos of toddlers doing this on the internet, I

Architecture

Details of the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of American Art . . . . The building that has been repurposed as a Smithsonian museum was once the U.S. Patent Office. During the Civil War, the exhibition hall (second from right in the gallery above) was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. Walt

National Portrait Gallery

This past weekend was NYC, but the weekend before that was Washington, D.C. The National Portrait Gallery is open late on Friday evenings, so I spent some time there. Here are some take-aways. The Eisenhower portrait was striking to me in its symmetry. Most other portraits are slighly asymmetrical. This wall-sized portrait, with Ms. Graves

Sydney

I made a dash to NYC this weekend to see Sydney Jones in her first week as a Broadway actor. [insert über-proud teacher moment here] The flight from Lambert was quite late in leaving, which made our NYC arrival late too — after midnight when we landed at LaGuardia. I took a couple of Manhattan

Jessye

These CDs arrived at my home yesterday. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1162391332/jessye-norman-unreleased-recordings I’m eager to listen to them during Holy Week!

American History

Items from the Smithsonian last week: R2-D2 and C3PO; Edith and Archie’s chairs; Zero Mostel’s costume from Fiddler on the Roof. I love the Smithsonian!

25 years

Twenty-five years ago this morning. I have a hard time fathoming that it’s been 25 years. I am in Lee’s Summit today to be with my sisters and visit the cemetery. And oh, how I wish she were still here in person. From 25 years ago:

NPR’s Ari

I LOVED this story on NPR yesterday morning . . . https://www.npr.org/2023/03/21/1164917026/atc-host-ari-shapiro-reflects-on-a-varied-life-in-best-strangers-in-the-world I’ve requested the book through the Saint Louis Public Library. I’m 24th in line for the 15 copies they have on order.