I Cannot Be Hurt by Anything this Wicked World Has Done

2004-12-31T13:13:00

What was 2004? It was a year of stolen and disputed elections in Georgia and the Ukraine, the rise and fall of Howard Dean and John Kerry, the first private space flight and the end of the "X-Prize," disaster in Darfur, prisoner abuse in Iraq, expansion of the European Union, the death of Ronald Regan and a month of flags at half mast, the return of Greek Olympics and a very smug presidential victory. In less political but tragic terms, the worst natural disaster in my memory has occurred in Asia as Tsunami death tolls top 135,000 according to CNN.com.

For me, the year started out as a bleak one in the coldest New York winter I have ever experienced. My mother came to visit me for her birthday. We stayed in Manhattan and it was bitterly cold.

Lowel and Johanna

I took a lighting class at Dutchess which was a blast. Some of my friends from Black and White II were taking the class and I met some other cool people. It was so much fun working with those people, including the teacher, Lowel Handler.

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In Short, 2004 was A Great Year and I have high hopes that 2005 will be even better.

Beware Pretty Farm Girls in Flying Houses

2004-11-29T03:54:00

Robert Frank

I went into New York City today. Started out with the new Museum of Modern Art, now back in Manhattan after a short retreat in Queens. Excitedly went to the Photography gallery where they had all kinds of cool stuff, including many prints from Robert Frank's The Americans, and one of William Eggleston's prints from Guide. Overall, the museum was excellent. I will have to return when I have more time to visit it with greater scrutiny.

William Eggleston

We met mum's distant "relative" as defined by the fact that his mother has the same last name as my mother, had a very expensive lunch (thank goodness, The Company got us into the museum for free) and saw some of the paintings. They had a lot of Impressionists.

Idina Menzel

Then we went to see Wicked starring Idina Menzel and Jennifer Laura Thompson. This musical is The Wizard of Oz from the point of view of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, making her the heroine. Glinda's portal as a dumb blond is cliché, but forgivable, since the whole thing takes the story you know and turns it on its head. My mum left the theater saying it was very 1984, because she had recently read the book, though I corrected her by saying the term usually used is Orwellian.

The original story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Balm was overtly political. The movie adaptation The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland (of course) is not. It was kind of neat to see the producers of the musical inject some of the original themes of the story, although with very modern overtones.

The Twilight Report

I Cannot Be Hurt by Anything this Wicked World Has Done

Beware Pretty Farm Girls in Flying Houses