halloween

we drove up to connecticut after music class and ballet class today to spend halloween with my sister and brother-in-law. the trees driving up were so beautiful. we couldn't stop ohhhing and ahhhing. (i took a few pictures of the leaves when we arrived, but it was getting dark already and i'm not so crazy about the lighting that came out for many of them, but this one was alright.)


my sister had made us a delicious dinner before embarking on the candy collecting! we had pumpkin soup and salad and then m and c got into their costumes. m was heidi and c was laura ingalls (korrina made the costume for her). m alternated between wearing my sister's wooden shoes and running barefoot. we were lucky that the rain held off until 8:30 pm. we were able to visit a lot of houses and the loot was quite extensive.

central park in the fall

on our way to the third street benefit, we were met with this warm and beautiful view of central park when coming out of the subway. i couldn't resist taking a little detour through the northeast corner for a little foliage fix.

third street music school benefit

third street had it's annual luncheon benefit today. it was at the metropolitan club, and i freaked out a little because i had to wear something "appropriate!" well, after perusing their website, i found out that their "appropriate" did not accommodate my usual wardrobe! no stretch pants or tight pants were permitted. well, if i'm not wearing my stretch yoga pants, i'm wearing my jeans . . and i was sure jeans were not considered appropriate! so i had to dig out my velvet skirt, but, unfortunately, the cat had taken a bite out of it on the very bottom. i had to fashion a patch for it and hope no one would notice. well, people certainly weren't looking at me so i needn't have worried. their eyes were on the incredible students of third street who performed this day . .

this is the photo of the younger children who were introduced as twinklers, but they really aren't twinklers. the twinklers truly only can play that twinkle song, along with the "variations!"

this is the photo of the full ensemble

this is the photo of the moms who couldn't stop snapping pictures and made their children run outside into the cold for a group shot.

this is the photo of the group shot.

and this is the photo of the dress that m made for her sister to perform in and to run outside into the cold in order for her mom to get the group shot.

halloween houses

this house is on charles street in the west village.

and these houses are on 95th street, between third and lexington avenues on the upper east side.

no parking

m and i were on our way to p and s fabric to get wool material for her halloween costume when we passed an interesting display on perry street:

you know what . . . . . . . . i really don't know . .

making a film about clowns

today we had a meet me at the corner filming at the kraine theatre on east fourth street (directly across from the la mama annex where k did her stage managing gig for my friend kendall's clown show). c interviewed christopher lueck about the history of clowning and his own clown work (new york downtown clown revue). it was a very fun and cute show and she even got to put a pie in his face . . !

autumn leaves

the leaves are beginning to change. i love this time of year but often i forget to enjoy it; we're so busy running from one class to another, running home to have dinner, running home to finish a lesson or a music practice . . or to walk the dog and give the cat her medicine . . . last year on election day i remember walking home along the river from the winter garden theatre at the world financial center (after the day on earth performance) . . it was warm out and we were all excited that obama had taken ohio and pennsylvania . . and i was admiring the beauty of the trees in the light of the streetlamps. the orange and gold and red leaves were a soft and undulating archway over our heads and the waves danced in the light shining from the water. a few days later all the leaves were gone and i realized i never took an actual photograph . . so this year i would like to have a more tangible reminder . .

sick day

c was home with a fever and headache today. xena had an especially lovey moment and slept for awhile with her head on c's chest. she was very sweet and comforting.

covered wagon

covered wagon parked for its night on the mesa.

meet me at the corner at the metropolitan museum

it was very rainy when morgana and i drove uptown to the east side for a meet me at the corner filming at the metropolitan museum of art. i guess i decided to drive the car because i didn't feel like walking through the rain and cold! but then i had to find a parking spot . . luckily, i found one at a meter, but i knew when putting in my coins that i wouldn't be able to renew it! i was taking a chance on getting a ticket. still, i had two hours. (!)

donna said it wasn't easy getting permission to film in the museum. however, she persevered and permission was granted. she also asked for a curator who would enjoy working with a child . . the curator who morgana interviewed was wonderful. in addition to answering morgana's questions for the interview, she described the ideas behind pointillism and the use of color.

two museum workers oversaw the filming. it went very smoothly and they were helpful.



the crew roamed the impressionist floor, filming morgana looking at the paintings.

waiting for the curator . .

here she is. she chose the painting she wanted to talk about, and they set up the angle. donna and i were amused at the clothes morgana and the curator chose to wear, in addition to the painting. you thought they had planned it! it was, visually, very pretty.

getting ready to start . . 

donna feeds the questions to morgana.

this is the ending credit angle, and morgana's favorite part. the curator described monet's use of light and placement of objects.

it was one of our favorite meet me at the corner film days . . and it was still raining when we left (no parking ticket, yay!)

dollhouse mesa

you never know where a village will spring up.

jack and the chair

i don't think life gets any cozier than this.

sunday

today we're off to a dances patrelle nutcracker rehearsal in never-never land . . i mean the uppper east side.

saturday duncan class

the light was so pretty in morocco studio where the saturday afternoon duncan class takes place, that i couldn't resist doing a little filming. the girls will be performing in new jersey on november 7th at buck's mill park in colt's neck (near freehold). i think it's a fundraiser, but right now I'm not sure what for.

waiting in the dressing room

c has been wearing five sweaters these past few days. waiting for her to get them all on, along with hat, scarf and mittens, can require a lot of patience from her sister and i. but as you can see, the effect is very sweet. c made the mittens herself, her friend made the scarf for her as a birthday gift, and the sweater i made several years ago for her sister. it was a morehouse merino kit. (c has reminded me that she is also wearing socks that she made with some lovely knitpicks yarn.) the hat is a hand me down from one of k's ballet friends. it's very popular in this family and c and k often fight over it . . hmmmm

photo-op

today was such a beautiful, sunny fall day. we hopped in a taxi cab to make it to our family doctor by noon so k could have her staples taken out. four came out easily, the fifth was a little tender, but she's very happy now! on the way back we passed madison square park where they had pumpkins for sale. all the pumpkins yelled "photo-op!!!" since all three girls were with me. it's very difficult getting pictures of the three of them together these days! but here's one. it'll probably make it into nana's calendar that i usually give her each year for christmas (however, i never did get one made up for her this year).

continual dismantle-lation

happily for residents, and luckily, successfully, the fountain in washington square now lines up with the arch (we'd hate to have the city redo it AGAIN) . . however, i suppose there is still something rotten in the square, as they began dismantling the iron fences surrounding the playground on the east side. it was rather surreal watching the itsy bitsy machine popping up the cement supports and pushing planters aside . . you don't really notice there IS a person operating it . . you just see a cranky little thingamabob whizzing around like a cartoon robot . .

stage managing

k has been assistant stage managing my friend's show at la mama, clown axioms. she's been doing a great job and kendall has been happy to have her around. i think k feels the same . . just happy to work with people who are intent on doing their best . . and that best is rather spectacular . .

moving pictures

lately, the clouds have felt like moving pictures behind the buildings. the wind blows them so quickly . . they change shape and dance past the canyons.

going for a spin

a friend of k's brought over two pikachus. one was wet from having been laundered, so he got to go for a spin. he looks pretty happy in there.

monday afternoon, october 5, 2009

while these two were swinging, their older sister was getting hit by a taxicab . . she's doing ok now . . but we were all pretty worried and she was really shaken up. she doesn't remember it happening. two police officers brought her to st. vincent's ER room, where we stayed with her until they stapled her up and took a cat scan. she has four staples on the back of her head, a bruised elbow and leg, and a very scraped up back. we still haven't gotten the police report. g went yesterday evening, but we need to bring a postal money order for 10 dollars (why a postal money order?) between the hours of 9 am and 2 pm.

ER waiting rooms are not a pretty sight. at least not in nyc. maybe other countries or towns try and make the situation a little more soothing for the poor traumatized souls waiting for news of their loved ones, or coping with terrible news, but not here. instead you get to listen to NCIS or some other tv show with seemingly similar situations . . . . or the news report . . but no one sitting there can concentrate or take in any more information . . . . (sigh). it's very disconcerting and unreal. and cold.