I spent the day enjoying the MET with my son (and 2 colleagues and 40 students)

I am ready to write another road trip feature for the Knickerbocker Ledger. At first I was going to write about the MFA, which really, hands down, is my favorite museum, but I think I am going to feature both the MFA and the MET as a comparison of personalities.

I spent the day in the Met with my 23 year old son, two colleagues and 40 students. My class was directed to go look at two very different exhibits and come up with some solutions for finishing their own work. One of those exhibits was called Poetry in Clay, a Korean Ceramic exhibit from the Leeum Samsung Museum in Seoul.  I was tickled that the Korean gallery attendant was thrilled to hear I was in her home country last summer and that I went to the museum that the work had come from. I know I saw a dragon pot there in Korea, I wonder if the one that came to NY was the same one. She went on and on about how I should go back in the fall and visit some of the festivals, see the spectacular colors and eat the seasonal cuisine? This had me wondering what did she mean seasonal cuisine and just where the KimChi truck stopped today?

The other exhibit I had my students visit was Refiguring an African Icon. This was rather small exhibit that filled the hallway by the elevator between the African masks and the Modern Art galleries. It figures that this exhibit was one of those where there was no photography allowed and my students got chastised by a guard and had to put away their cameras only to have another group come by and take photos and not get yelled at.

I always seem to spend my time in the same galleries. This time I decided to make it a point to see one thing I would not usually stop to look at. I was cutting through the 19th century period room to get to the American wing so that I could indulge in that cup of coffee that I so desperately needed and came across the above cameo cut vase. I found both the colors and the details incredible.

After arriving in the American Wing we realized that we still had to wait for the cafe to open but this allowed us to have a great conversation about photo and printmaking and college choices. I laughed at the fact that I seemed to sit down with Justin (and Teresa and Henry) in front of a sculpture called the "Frog Pond" which reminded me so much of Justin's personality.

After  some much needed sustenance we headed to see a two more exhibits and headed to the bus for the journey home. It was a wonderful day in the city. When I arrived home it was a different story however. I had some errands to deal with and was left in the seething grips of a migraine after one went terribly awry. This seems to have been my week. Not to mention I still can not remember for the life of me what I was supposed to do this weekend. My hope is that if it was with someone reading this they will remind me. A few years ago I suffered a concussion that left me with post concussion syndrome. I have not felt this helpless about a memory problem since then. I know it was the mountain of work all at once, but its bothersome.

As of now, tomorrow? I am out for a long ride and then off to an opening at the Clay Art  Center in Portchester. Call me if you want to join me.