Young woman...

This is perfect!

Scott Lee Update

Work on the Scott Lee needlepoint piece continues. Here's a picture of the project as of April 23:

Scott Lee 4/23/11

And a close-up of the section I just finished:

Scott Lee detail 4/23/11

I started this project on 10/23/10, so these pictures are exactly 6 months from the start date.  Click here for a history.

New York City

Life is a garden,
not a road
we enter and exit
through the same gate
wandering,
where we go matters less
than what we notice
- Bokonon

We went to New York City last week - plenty of things to notice there!  This is a quilt that was part of an exhibit at the American Crafts Museum.  It's called a Hummingbird Quilt. 

They had lots of antique quilts on display, inluding this "crazy quilt."

Here's a close-up of the stitching.  Beautiful.











The best part of the trip was getting to spend time with my friends.  Patty and I took a trip downtown to see the new Frank Gehry building.  Here's Patty in the lobby.  We couldn't take pictures of the lobby, but we could take pictures of each other in the lobby!

See her coat and scarf?  It was rainy and cold, but we had a good time anyway!

I went to see the Richard Serra drawings retrospective at the Met.  They wouldn't allow photos, but I sketched some things.  I really want to get back into painting this summer.  I have lots of ideas bubbling up in my imagination.  I'm going to have to let go of some of my other activities, though, and I'm trying to prioritize things right now.  It's hard, cause I'm interested in so many things and there's just not enough time.  How do you decide what to concentrate on?  I'd like to know.

I had a little mishap, clumsy me, and accidentally fell and ended up with a hairline fracture at the base of the little finger of my right hand.  I'm in a splint and it really helps, but I have a new appreciation for everything I do with that hand.

We had the BEST dessert one day at lunch at a fantastic place called Rouge Tomate.  I'm going to figure out how to do it and I'll post.  If you're in NYC, be sure to go there:  10 East 60th Street at Park and 60th.  Fantastic.

Here are a few more photos:

view from Estee Lauder's office - 40th floor of GM bldg



Contempory Quilt









Contemporary quilt closeup



Witch at Amer. Folk Art Museum



Now I Feel Awful

Last night Walter and I went to Bari for dinner, then to Playhouse on the Square to see August: Osage County (which, by the way, was wonderful.)  Bari is just down the street from the theater, so we walked.  On the opposite side of Cooper from Playhouse is the Circuit Theatre.  On the marquee:

In loving memory of June Burnette

Loving memory?  June Burnette?

June and John Burnette were more than casual friends of ours.  Over the past ten or so years we probably shared three or four meals and we liked them a lot.  They owned some commercial real estate around town.  I knew them from doing their property taxes; Walter did some appraisal work for them.  John died a few years ago from cancer, then the real estate market went you-know-where and June was having a tough time, in addition to her own health issues. 

I had to search my calendar to see when I last saw June.  It was on May 8, 2009.  We had lunch at the Women's Exchange.  It was a nice lunch, but I could see that June was struggling, albeit trying to put on a strong face.

After that, I'm ashamed to say, I never picked up the phone to check on her.  Oh, yes, I sent a Christmas card.  Big whoop.

Now I check on the internet and find that she died last July.  Last July.  I feel awful.  Not that my staying in touch with her would have kept her alive.  But why is it that we're just soooo busy, that we can't touch base with friends from time to time?

I went to a panel discussion last Wednesday night on New Urbanism.  One of the speakers was Ken Bickford, and in his presentation he talked about current theory re circles of relationships.  You've probably seen something about this in the media as it's a hot topic with regard to Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I found this article that explains it pretty well.  The general idea seems to be that we can sustain 5-7 intimate relationships and 50-70 in a network that includes work, family, friends, mentors, etc.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't have anywhere near 50 "network" folks.  But I do have the 5-7 intimate relationships and I cherish them.  I sincerely hope that I do my part to nourish those relationships and I can assure those people (you know who you are) that you're doing your part.

I guess all this is to say that I still can't believe that it was almost TWO YEARS AGO that I last had contact with June.  That's pitiful.  I liked her.  And I just let her slip off my radar.  And here's the worst part.  It's not like she never came to mind again.  I did think of her from time to time and say to myself, "I need to give June a call."  But I didn't and now it's too late.

A few weeks ago my friend, Martha, died.  One of my other friends lamented, "Oh, I meant to write her a note to tell her I was thinking of her, but I never did.  Now I feel awful."  I reassured her that we all do that and it wasn't like Martha was one of her close, intimate friends.  Now I know that that was cold comfort.

The moral of this story is, when you think of someone, that's a sign that you should reach out to them.  Don't put it off.  None of us is that busy.