Male Swans Abundant!

Wow, what a trip.

I don't know if I can even describe how truly great this trip was, not only for the content but for branching out and getting to know people a little bit better despite the near mutiny that spurred during the creating of the groups. To be quite honest I really didn't care who I went with so long as I had someone to talk to.

When we walked up into alphabet city I was pleasantly surprised. I had thought I hadn't been there but once entering recalled being taken there by my father when I was much younger to play with our dog.

The workshop was fun and really helpful, I love photography and had not been able to really do it this year because of scheduling problems. I wasn't too happy that I was limited to digital photographs but I feel that I snapped a few really nice shots especially as we walked through the community gardens. That was something surprising for me too. I usually hate gardens due to my bee phobia, but in the cold there were not pests busing around, this let me actually appreciate the foliage and the art of the garden. I might have taken a few of my best pictures in the one garden we managed to infiltrate.

Next, came walking.
I was warm from hot chocolate and making bad jokes with Mairead as Leah and I tried to find a place to eat. Leah suggested Pomme's Frites which I hadn't had in what feels like at least six years. Everyone loved it! The fries and dipping sauces were great, especially because the joint was warm and the food was hot, I think we all wanted a break from the cold.

After that we decided to check out some shops. Trash and Vaudeville was awesome! No one bought anything due to the outrageous prices, but it was fun trying things on and seeing Jon G. swim in a matrix style leather coat. Next was a comic shop. SABRINA AND MEGAN HAD NEVER BEEN IN A COMIC SHOP BEFORE THAT HOLY CRAP! My apologies for the excessive capitalization, I feel it was necessary. I enjoyed flipping through Frank Miller's Sin City while Sabrina scoured the place for The Peanuts.

From here on the trip got silly, at least for us. We decided to rest at Starbucks for a few minutes to regain some of our stamina and warm our bodies again. Mairead and I didn't care for Starbucks coffee so we went across the street to Walgreens for Monster. Everyone in the group tried a sip which lead to everyone but Leah buying one of their own. Megan, Sabrina and Jon danced through the trip for the next few hours as we documented their first time having monster via Leah's iPod's video recordings. Washington Square, Union Square (In which we visited Forbidden Planet) and our trip to the Pratt Gallery were punctuated with videos and skipping underclassmen.

When we got to the Pratt Gallery I was amazed at some things and underwhelmed by others. The missed connections piece was brilliant but I felt that the thing about bodegas should not have been included. The Jelly city was cool, but I wish I could have touched it. I think that the most successful psycho-geography piece was the one where you would smell the vials and put up what you felt it smelled like. It was interactive, interesting and successful. I kind of wish there had been more than one small room that was landmarked with vocal air passages opening and closing which, at least for me, kind of ruined the aesthetics of the displays.

For me there was not much to say about Eataly. It was large, it was crowded, it was expensive, and I think, over-hyped. It was probably the least memorable part of my trip, which is sad because I was looking forward to it.

SWAN LAKE:

I don't know if I can accurately sum up my feeling about this show. The dancers were phenomenal. Not being a dancer myself, I am wowed by people who can so adeptly and agilely move their bodies in such form and pattern. I don't think words were necessary and am glad that the original idea of speechless story was preserved, I understood the basic storyline which was simple enough yet left much to the imagination. The one thing I didn't get was what everyone was laughing at. I saw some of the wit in the pampered bitch that the prince was leashed to but other than that I think I simply missed references or didn't understand them.

I liked the second part (post intermission) far better than I liked the opening. I felt that there was more motion, more to keep me entertained and a bit more of a cynical feeling to the show which really made the ending so brilliant. When the swan and boy are pecked to death by the other swans and show up like souls, together in the background I wanted to cry although for unknown reason, could not. There was something so beautiful about it and after seeing such amazing work with shadows in act 4, shadows being like projections of the self, and the physical self with the characters we see the true self in the soul representation, we see the beauty of the prince and the swan just finally finding their place with one another albeit after death. I wish I had time to see it again. I want to fully analyze and understand the amazing piece.