it's like the eye of a duck

Despite my misgivings, I actually rocked at Nationals. As in, alarmingly so.

( getting there, and there )

( the competition, now with spectators )

( wandering )

All in all a good end to the season and several months of banging my head against the wall :)

...was the word of the weekend.

D. and I took our delayed trip to NYC last weekend, and it was good :)

It was my first time on the Vamoose bus, and I was fairly impressed. No cheap Greyhound this, there was free wi-fi, NY Times and bottled water. I did get a little headachey towards the end because of jolting, but it's worth it not to have to haul a car up to NYC.

First stop was the Spanish Institute Fortuny retrospective. Oh... oh my. Sometimes I forget how astonishing these gowns are when I have only my books for reference, only to see the real deal again and be reminded of the layers of color and detail inherent in the three-dimensional piece. Pieces such as these could not be made now, as each piece required so much individual handling to make it into the work of art it is.

Most of the dresses were displayed with a tunic, scarf, or other outer piece that reminded me that dresses weren't the only thing Fortuny made: his printed velvets are so delicately embellished, colors changing subtly under the light.. .just amazing.

I noticed a number of different variations of neckline, embellishment, and even fabric that I'd never seen before, and it gave me a new direction for my ongoing Fortuny research: create a database of gown details and see if I can find any patterns by date, color, etc.

D. and I then went out to Strand Books. Which was next door to Forbidden Planet comics. Always a hazard, but a good one :)

Finally, my first trip to the Met. The main reason was for D. to see the Gubbio Studiolo, a masterpiece of Renaissance intarsia commissioned by the Duke of Urbino, a condottiere made good with a taste for art and learning.

It's another case of the real thing being far more breathtaking than any photo. After 500+ years, the individual wooden pieces are still bright and set perfectly edge to edge, without any shrinkage or warping over the centuries. The 3-dimensional effect is subtle but startling - I really didn't expect it to be as richly textured as it was. Again, something for which there seems to be no place in the modern world, as simply appreciating it requires time that is so seldom available.

If I could be said to have a passion, this would be it: the transformation of mundane materials into works of art, and the tangible nature of that art - to feel those silks, cut the wood with my own hands. Pushing pixels around may pay the bills but it doesn't have that same immediacy.

I've been remiss in updating the ol' LJ, mostly because I'm still in lazy holiday mode/on west coast time:

Christmas week was great but hectic. We went out to Seattle to see D.'s family. Rarely and wonderfully, mom and stepdad and all of the siblings and their families were able to get together, and Seattle was chosen because that's where the new niece is - and she's an ideal baby, all smiles and never cries unless something is really wrong. Four-year-old niece is on a princess kick and got the most fabulous dress-up dresses with twirlable skirts. The older nieces are going through preteen rockiness but mostly well; the nephews are for all purposes adults and fun to talk to.

The siblings all seem to be happy, and togetherness was balanced by time apart - each family had their own place to stay (including a two-level delightfully minimalist loft in the arts district that set my aesthetic lust all a-quiver!) I'm very fortunate that I get along with my in-laws and enjoy spending time with them!

We did spend a good amount of time walking, mostly around the hotel and the Pike/Pine area, finding record stores with genuine vinyl records and almost as rare, an independent brick and mortar bookstore that reminded me of the late lamented Oxford Books of Atlanta. I made a deliberate trip to Red Light Vintage, and though I found nothing that fit I recommend it to vintage seekers if you're ever in town as the prices are criminally low.

Due to the whimsical inclinations of Google Maps we got to see even more of the city, driving past multiple (as in, every corner, sometimes twice) coffee houses, wig shops (?) tattoo parlors and restaurants in search of a drugstore (that ended up being a block from the hotel :P) I'm surprised that I like Seattle in winter as much as I do in spring, even without the blisteringly bright plants in bloom. It's more casual, funky, and relaxed than DC, which was much needed as being at home can be such a roller-coaster. Our hotel was nice (free coffee every morning!), so we spent much of our quiet time just sleeping and reading.

And oh, there was reading! D. got me a Kindle for Christmas and despite my misgivings (I can't share books, I'm limited to Amazon's format) it's addictive at first use - at last I can read all of those obscure novels that the library doesn't get, without eating shelf space! There's also internet access so it functions as a limited laptop.

As with all holidays there was an unholy amount of food and wine. We found gut-busting Italian, old fashioned pies, Belgian waffles and deep, dense coffee (of course).

Saw the new Sherlock Holmes (a total scream, especially Stephen Fry as Mycroft) and New Year's Eve (better and more poignant than expected).

Due to a 10-hour break between hotel checkout and redeye flight home, we visited the Museum of Glass and marveled at tiny glass flowers, and had a quiet evening at Indochine, with just about perfect food and wine.

It was good :)

This past weekend was the 2nd leg of my March travel marathon, to Detroit for a North American Cup.

NACs happen several times a year and have a similar national scope and size as summer Nationals, but don't require a separate qualifying competition. As such, I'm eligible for more than one event and as I'm not sure if I'm going to SN this year, I thought I'd let this be my big fencing trip for 2011. For a variety of reasons NACs aren't always in the most glamorous locales, and this one was in Detroit.

( Locale/venue, and tales of good customer service )

( fencing foo )

It occurs to me that I've been to 4 cities in the past 2 months, and while for some that's life, it's unusual for me and I'm rather looking forward staying put for the next few weeks. This weekend: sewing and a deep tissue massage.

It occurs to me that with the visits for Christmas and Nationals, I've probably spent more time inside Atlanta city limits in the past year than...a long time, at least. Maybe ever.

See, as often as I've said I'm "from Atlanta", it's not true, not really. I lived there until I was about 18 months old, but I did most of my growing up in the exurbs. I got into the city occasionally through my teen years, but it was mostly for record shopping or clubbing/concerts. I told everyone I was from Atlanta because 1) no one's ever heard of Duluth, and 2) my self-conscious teen self was anxious about being perceived as an awful suburbanite mallrat or [insert cliche here].

This is why I can't answer many questions about what are the best restaurants, nicest neighborhoods, etc.: I really didn't experience Atlanta at that level. Much of what I remember from my teen years has changed dramatically, if it's still there at all - indeed, on both of my recent visits I stayed in the Olympic Centennial Park area which wasn't even built until I after I moved away (1995). I couldn't even tell you how to drive from point A to B because I wasn't allowed to drive :P

As such my recent visits have been an interesting mix of nostalgia and discovery, i.e. "so THAT's how I get to x", "this looks like nowhere I've ever been - because it wasn't here when I was", etc.

I finally got my suitcase back yesterday morning. Given that we flew back in late Friday/early Saturday, this was incredibly inconvenient. Very fortunately everything was present and intact, with only a travel-size lotion bottle breaking in transit.

Somehow the bag ended up on an international flight(?! No one at the airline could figure how this happened. Perhaps bags like London this time of year?) and came back from London via Detroit on Monday afternoon. Evidently even a quick connecting flight doesn't speed things up because it's a given that any unaccompanied luggage from outside the US takes 4-6 hours to clear customs.

As I type this I'm still doing laundry :/ Silly (?) me packed all of my nicest casual clothes because we were seeing family and so I wanted to look tidier than my usual after-hours sweatpants, but that meant that had the bag been lost I would have had to replace most of my jeans, best bras, and 2 very nice cashmere sweaters I received as gifts :(

If nothing else, I've learned not to pack everything for a trip no matter how nice I have to look or how long I'll be away - 1 week's worth, no more, carryon forever!

On the upside, erring on the side of caution meant I did have my snow boots and ski bib available when the snow hit the ground and we ended up hitting the slopes - something I hope to find time to post about over the weekend.

So, I'm back from my first trip to Las Vegas. I liked it, almost in spite of myself and itself.

( let me clarify )

Short version: Las Vegas isn't what I would have chosen for myself, but the window shopping, shows, and spa were fantastic, heavy on the "fantasy". I found the all-flashing, all glittering vibe invigorating but tiring, and truth told I started to reach saturation point after about 3 days. Perhaps next time more spa, less time on my feet and some non-Strip day trips would be good.

• 12:20 My mom's biscuits are still so much better than mine :) #
• 15:12 Taking MARTA down to hotel for #sn10. Damn hot, real hot (90F+) & I'm glad I won't have to haul gear + suitcase for a few days after this! #
• 15:52 Checked in for #sn10 - can see venue from my room tweetphoto.com/31521876 #
• 15:57 Hotel elevator can only take 3000 lbs - good thing my #fencing bag only FEELS that heavy in this heat. #
• 17:05 Took LOONG way 'round from hotel to venue (pant pant) - getting roomie to room; meeting @bodhibadger for dinner. #
• 17:30 Found roomie, is cool person. Splitting cab fare or shuttle back to hotel given ridiculous heat #sn10 #
• 17:33 Saw old rave site on way down; is now "rodeo disco". Sometimes you really can't go home again. #
• 17:37 RT @MargoEve: Are you a good Kisser? Come to our "Kissing: The Eloquent Silence" class 7/13; br.org <- think this wd b gd 4 kids. #
• 19:47 Lost in Atlanta on way to Iberian Pug in Decatur. It's an adventure.... #
• 23:21 Hearty rec. of The Iberian Pig restaurant in Decatur for hungry # fencers. Delicious plus fantastically attentive service. #
• 23:22 Off to bed - I'm gonna help my Div II buddies warm up tomorrow #sn10 #fencing #
• 23:23 @MargoEve I know it's not - apologies if I wasn't clear. But still I think a class about kissing would be great for teenagers. #

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• 11:38 @racheline_m crap, just catching up - glad Bristol is still on & hope worst really IS over! #
• 12:45 Catching up on test & visiting with fam. Also: chocolate cake. #
• 12:46 On site @ #sn10 sometime Thurs. Doing stretches & footwork to keep limber #fencing #
• 17:22 1st trip to a Fry's - media/appliance heaven. Mom has strong opinions on washer dryers. #
• 19:13 RT @TimMorehouse: Images from Summer Nationals of #Fencing in Atlanta: wp.me/pfSw1- #sn10 #
• 19:42 Saw old photos of my hometown@ Fry's. Dust roads, wood plank houses, surprisingly not all long gone. #
• 21:01 @iamscully Yes. #
• 21:07 I swear, 1000 years from now archaeologists are going to dig up Memphis & decide Elvis was some kind of deity. #

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