Hearts and Flowers (Make that Water Lilies)

[kelly_chambliss]

Today my partner and I went to the Museum of Modern Art.  MoMA is a romantic place for us, because nine-and-a-half years ago, in the summer of 2000, we met in the real world for the first time (after having been friends on-line for about a year).  I came to NYC for academic research and asked her (nervously, and allowing her plenty of chance to decline!) if she'd like to get together.  She said yes!  I was thrilled and anxious, and my mother made everything better by sending me clippings about people who'd arranged face-to-face meetings with strangers they'd met on-line and then were horribly murdered.

Anyway, we went out for dinner on the first night and then agreed to meet the next day at MoMA (it being a Monday, when all the other museums are closed).  I honestly don't remember what we saw in the way of art, but I vividly remember sitting with her and the child (it was one day before his fourth birthday) in the MoMA garden on an astonishingly hot afternoon while protestors (no idea what they were protesting) shouted and banged on the metal garden gates with metal kitchen tools.  We were awash in heat and sweat and noise, and it was one of the most romantic moments of my life.

Today was also romantic, but in a different way.  It was much colder, for one thing, and there were no protestors.  We saw Monet's "Waterlilies" and a special exhibit about Bauhaus, and then we ate lunch in the cafe.  I find Bauhaus fascinating (form!  function! modernism! design!)  They had examples of various fabric prints that had been created using the Os and lines on a typewriter; it looked like a lot of binary code.  "These were people just waiting for the computer to be invented," my partner said.

The Monet was interesting, too, although I'm not generally a fan of Impressionism -- partly, I think, because it has been so over-reproduced.  By the time you've seen the waterlilies on a thousand greeting cards and two-pocket folders and tote bags and even umbrellas, they lose their impact.  But seeing these huge, paint-heavy works in the originals is quite a powerful experience.

Tomorrow I fly back to my brother's house and then, on Saturday, I'll drive back home.  Yes, the holiday is over; now I'll have to give up my  vacation schedule of staying up till 3:00 a.m. and playing in HP fandom for several hours a day.  Life is hard.  /g/  But it's been a wonderful break!

Comments

[tray-la-la.livejournal.com]

oooh, this story made me happy! :D sounds like a beautiful day (and a beautiful memory).

also, your mother sounds a lot like mine, lol.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

also, your mother sounds a lot like mine, lol

Well, she meant well, trying to protect me from murderers and all /g/

[leela-cat.livejournal.com]

What a lovely story of two people meeting.

Hugs and sympathy on your need to leave the home of your heart to fly home. The partner chick and I spent four years living in separate countries (the US for her and Canada for me) until I got my first job and work visa in the States. It's a bittersweet parting.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

The long-distance relationship definitely has its downsides, that's for sure. But it mostly works out very well. I'm glad you and your partner are reunited -- wow, separate countries would be difficult!

[diana-hawthorne.livejournal.com]

That's such a lovely story!

And I love MoMA ♥

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

And I love MoMA

So does half of NY! The place was packed.

[fox-murphy.livejournal.com]

All the times I've been in New York and not once have I made it to the MoMA - and now of course I feel even more like I'm missing out.
My mum does the same thing whenever I bring up visiting online friends. I'm thinking of cutting off her supply of CSI lol.

Glad you had a great break! Hope your travels go safely over the weekend!

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

You can always go next time you're there -- there's a subway stop right across the street!

Thanks for the travel wishes.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, that's a lovely meeting.

I'm sure it is wrenching to go back, but it does sound like a wonderful holiday. (The teenager is a bit scary to me, but that's something else entire.)

Take it easy on the Tart Shit when you get home.

L

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

The story drew a smile. Thank you for that. More gratitude than I can express.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Hope you're feeling better, sweetie.

[harmony-bites.livejournal.com]

She said yes! I was thrilled and anxious, and my mother made everything better by sending me clippings about people who'd arranged face-to-face meetings with strangers they'd met on-line and then were horribly murdered.

Bwaaaaaaaaa. My aunt had pretty much the same reaction when I was going to get together with Djinn--and is still pretty much of the same opinion now that another couple of internet friends are coming to New York City. I think for people of a certain age the entire concept of internet friends is bizarre and threatening...

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

I think you're right that it's a generational thing. My partner's father used to think that emails were like telegrams -- that you had to pay by the word.

Plan to do some KIA reccing this weekend.

[minervas-eule.livejournal.com]

♥ Thanks for sharing your memories...

PS: I do feel exactly the same way about the "Waterlilies" (Munich), or Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and so on (in Amsterdam 2 years ago...)

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

It's hard to describe the sensation of seeing really famous artworks (or buildings) in the original -- can't quite believe in them /g/

[queen-of-snapes.livejournal.com]

Oh I can feel the snow melting around me!

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

I hope so! From what we read in the US, it sounds as if the UK and Europe are positively buried.

[tetleythesecond]

That sounds so wonderful! And how thoughtful of your mother... /g/

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

And how thoughtful of your mother

/g/ She could imagine catastrophe scenarios better than anyone I knew. We always told her she should have written scripts for 1970s disaster movies.

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

my mother made everything better by sending me clippings about people who'd arranged face-to-face meetings with strangers they'd met on-line
And, indeed, you were never the same again. What a marvellous story about how Mummy is always right. Thank you for sharing that memory.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

And, indeed, you were never the same again

I was probably never the same before, either, as far as my mother was concerned /g/

[emjay79.livejournal.com]

What a lovely day! I am so glad you enjoyed your break.

I have to make a confession, I am one of those people with "Waterlillies" on their umbrella:)