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
  

Day 1

For the last couple of weeks, (ok maybe more like months), I have been counting down the days until I finished classes. I was tired of studying on weekends and evenings, while my friends worked their 9-5 jobs and went to happy hours multiple times a week. Well...now I'm finished. Last friday I completed my last requirement to achieve my MA at the end of this month. Now what?

I'm not employed YET (I blame the economy- where are those green jobs?!) It has been a LONG time since I had more than a week off from full time school or work. I'm a little antsy. I don't want to sit around all day twiddling my thumbs, waiting for someone who has my resume to call me back.

So for the next few months, I plan to limit my job searching to several hours a day. My goal is to do something interesting each day. Something that I've been wanting to do for a while but kept putting off.

This will include a wide variety of things from trying a recipe to checking out a museum. Or maybe just sitting and reading a book outside. The point being, enjoy my unemployment at least until I start getting desperate and need to look a retail job.