Artomatic

Last week, I went to the 10th anniversary Artomatic art show/festival. I haven't been before but I heard lots of good things about it from Washington Post and DCist and the website looked interesting so I thought I would check it out. It was in a huge building (8 floors) right above the Navy Yard metro. I have never even been to that part of town so it was cool to go and see the Nationals Stadium and just be out of the NW area. I only got through 3 out of the 8 floors before getting totally overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of it all. The reviews warned me about that, so I was proud to last as long as I did. There was a huge variety of works on display, from sculpture to painting to collage, photography and mixed media. Lots of it was very modern, and some of it was just plain unappealing. It was kind of relaxing but also a bit eery to be there on a Wednesday afternoon because the place was empty and some of the art was definitely creepy (think doll heads staring at you). I would like to come back on an evening and experience some of the live music, though I'm sure it will be packed during those times. Another thing I really liked was that every artist comes up with their own displays and they reveal a lot about the artist and the style.







This was probably my favorite display: Juliet Arnaudo, beautiful colors reminds me a bit of Matisse.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

The other day, I made some great cookies. The recipe I used was for Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies, and it was pretty similar to your basic chocolate chip recipe. I replaced the flour with whole wheat flour and only used half the butter, but they still turned our really rich and tasty! I shared them with friends and ate them for almost the entire week as breakfast and desserts. Also that week, I made a potato salad with red baby potatoes, canned three bean salad from trade joes, basil and baby yellow and orange peppers. The three bean salad is perfect to add to pasta or potato salads and has a wonderful light garlic/onion/white wine sauce. Later that week, I also made watermelon agua fresca sort of like this one for my friend's going away party. It was a good week for my sally homemaker skills.

Bike Ride to Mt. Vernon

A little belated, but I decided to catch up on my blog so here goes...maybe a few other will happen today too.

A few weeks ago, I rode out to Mt. Vernon with a few friends. It was a great ride, because it was a beautiful day, very low humidity and since it was a Tuesday there were also very few people out on the trail. It was really nice to ride along on the shady path and get whiffs of honeysuckle and wild roses along the way. There were also some nice views and we had a great picnic when we got there!

Although it was a pretty easy ride, I was fairly exhausted afterwards and it felt good to do some exercise that was difficult but different from my usual running workouts.

When we got back, my friend found out she had an interview and ended up getting the job later that week and leaving for Malawi within a month! Great news for her, and gave the rest of us a little bit of hope I think...

Artists in Dialogue

Yesterday afternoon, I made my way to the Mall (the national one). I went to the National Museum of African Art. I saw the Artists in Dialogue Exhibit, which had an excellent review in the Washington Post (and I always trust the Post rightly or wrongly). The exhibit is works by two modern artists from Africa: Ole from Angola and Mpane from the DRC. It features their works and had a few pieces in which one artist reponded to the work of another. It is a moving display of the difficulties of African life and the contradictions modernity can bring. I enjoyed many of the pieces, and a few that I particularly liked were:

• Anonymous photographic portraits by Ole of Angolans he encountered while travelling around the country. The one that struck me is the man with the cracked glasses, who asked Ole to have his portrait taken. The cracked glasses seemed to me a bit of an embarassment, but the man looks so proud to have his picture taken.
• Sculpture of a man made entirely out of matchsticks illuminated from behind to create a haunting shadow on the wall (Mpane). This one was breathtaking and sad, but at the same time very intriguing in that it had been built completely out of matchsticks and was such an accurate replica of the human form.
  
• A series of carved drawings by Mpane which represent the troubles of Africans. Some of them were things or words, while others were faces and bodies. Though from a distance, they were cheerful in their bright colors, they were also haunting and moving. In many of these, the persons eyes or face was carved through to reveal an empty space.
  

Sadly, the exhibit was very limited, and featured only 2 rooms. I went to look around the museum at some of the other artwork and exhibitions but I found that I wasn't as moved by these.

Fun Night= Rough Day

Three of my friends came to spend the night last night and celebrate one of their birthdays. We went to Local 16, which is much nicer with the roof deck open. It was suprisingly crowded for a Tuesday and the place just kept getting more packed. We realized that we had crashed a Law School graduation party and that pretty much everyone there was a law student. We also grew progressively more drunk, especially the birthday girl. There was some embarassing dancing and a late night run to the 24 hour McDonald's (which turned out to be closed because of a power outage!).

The point of the story is, I woke up this morning with a very foggy head and a sticky floor (Dr. Pepper accident). I have yet to leave my apartment and its almost 4! I have been looking for jobs all day and made a list of places I have applied to in order to keep track.

BUT i still plan to do something fun! Its so nice out so I'm going to play tennis with a friend later! I love springtime tennis and hopefully it wont be too dampened by my hangover!

Yogalates

So, I got right to my list yesterday evening and decided to try yogalates at Yoga District. It was a bit less exciting than I had expected, but still a decent (and cheap!) class. I got a 3-class into pass for $10 to use this week. The YD studio is a teeny attic and only about 15 people fit in there comfortably. Also, its right on top of another yoga studio. This strange competitive dynamic reminds me of Italy, where there are stores that sell the exact same products right next to each other!

The class itself was much more yoga than pilates, with a few vinyasas and a little corework. The best part was the chivasna, when the instructor came around and gave every a little shoulder massage and neck massage.

The verdict is that I didn't feel like I was super-toned and ready to hit the beach afterwards, but it was a nice class anyway.

Idea List

• See: Artists in Dialogue at National Museum of African Arts
  
• See: Metropolis NOW! Chinese Contemporary Art at the Meridian International Center
• Visit: Eastern Market
• Read: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
• Read: An Omnivore's Dilemma
• Bike to Mt. Vernon
• Bike to Mt. Rainier
  
• Bike: Capital Crescent Trail
  
• Try: Yogalates
• Have a picnic
• Make: jewelry
  
• Make: a scrapbook of travel pictures
• Cook: deluxe macaroni and cheese
  
• Organize closet and pick out clothes to donate or trade at The Mustard Seed
• Bake: Muffins
  
• Play: Tennis
• Draw something