the fellowship in oxford

morgana and chanda had actually gone back to oxford to visit deychen in order to see a special j. r. r. tolkien exhibit that was there. chanda finally shared some photos with me that she took of it (i think they were there last friday).

journal writing on the lawn . . 

the exhibit was in the bodleian library on the left . .

and is comprised of tolkien's manuscripts, artwork, letters, maps and artifacts from the bodleian's archive, and from marquette university in milwaukee, wisconsin.

hobbit measurements . .

one of tolkien's many beautiful watercolor drawings of middle-earth. it sounds like a wonderfully extensive exhibition and you can read more about it here, on the bodleian library's website. i wish it would travel and come to the pierpont morgan!

tolkien's close friend, c. s. lewis, also taught at oxford. here, perhaps, is the lamp from narnia.

"this is the land of narnia,' said the faun, 'where we are now; all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of cair paravel on the eastern sea."

prague!

chanda is in prague for a ballet intensive with the dancer daria klimentova, who danced with the english national ballet. she holds one every summer in her hometown of prague, and invites different professional dancers to help teach each year.

she arrived yesterday afternoon. the rooms are just a fifteen minute walk from the studios.

she said that breakfast this morning was so good! amazing! i'll have to find out how they are doing the meals.

leg warmers knitted by daria's mother.

take the A train

 14th street subway station . . sculptures by tom otterness.

 168th street station, columbia presbyterian hospital.

 i think this was one of the first buildings to go up on 168th street in 1928. it now houses the dental hosptial.

 an armory! you never know where and when you'll come across one.

 we were here to see brian's dad. unfortunately, neal has always had a bad heart, and he's now on the waiting list for a transplant.

the view from his room. he was in such good spirits and happy to have company. i worried that we were tiring him out, as he regaled us with stories of the nurses and his work and how everything will work for his operation. he's like my friend joanna with a myriad of interesting stories and facts. his very good friend david came by just as we were leaving. today was his wife's day off, so others try to fill in for her. we hope the wait won't be long, but that means someone somewhere has to die . . ? it's a very surreal situation to be in and makes me cry inside.

museum visit

 greg and i walked to the whitney this afternoon. he wanted to see the david wojnarowicz exhibit, and i the new indigenous space, modern architecture exhibit.

 the woman above is carrying two cakes and the box lid on the right kept blowing open. i think she was a little concerned one might topple.

 i think this family was part of the same group. it looked like preparations for a birthday party. the little girl kept asking "what is it" indicating the bag her mother was holding, and her father kept yelling, "balls." greg found it a little comical.

 at the whitney . . 

 one of thousands of conical grain silos built in the 1960's in mexico through a program that went defunct, much to the farmers' dismay. an architect had designed it using materials the farmers could use themselves for building. photograph by livia corona benjamin.

 enea or cattail woven on wooden scaffold by artist jorge gonzález, based on the art and culture of the taino.

 huaca, by william cordova, based on a temple built by the pre-incan ichma in lima, peru. in 2001 huaca huantille was named a national heritage site, but when the artist was growing up in the area, the temple was home to dispossessed families who had erected scaffold-like shelters.

 heading home . . i liked how this woman was holding her dog . . 

i made kohlrabi with bacon, garlic and scallions for dinner. the kohlrabi came in our vegetable box this past thursday. i peeled the bulbs and also used its greens.

final theatre forays, the roman market and the german deli

chanda and morgana were up early friday morning to wait for tickets to see ian mckellen in king lear at the duke of york's theatre (!).

they were first in line and received front row seats.

the rumor is that she is knitting gloves.

chanda had never seen king lear performed before. she said the performance was incredibly moving and she cried at the end. i saw david ogden stiers as king lear in 1981 at the outdoor globe theatre in balboa park in san diego.

today chanda saw two shows at the (real?!) globe: hamlet and then othello.

yes, she stood for a total of six hours, but she said it was all worth it.

the leather shop where morgana and she bought belts for themselves and korrina.

matcha tea and cake afterwards . .

and this is tuesday afternoon at the roman market on the old roman road in hackney.

 it's an open market that has been operating for 150  years and sells clothing and housewares, but also plants and flowers, fresh produce and prepared food. it has a website here.

and last, but not least, morgana visited a german deli in hackney, which i first thought was the same company from which eva and i order christmas chocolates, but i see now that it's different:

(i thought at first that it was a brick and mortar store of the online store.) she said it was very nice and a woman and her daughter cooked their wurst for them on a grill. it's in a quiet neighborhood by the canal. they have a website here, and the online company eva and i use is here.

oxford

this is a photo our friend deychen took of magdalen college in oxford, where she's staying for five weeks for a shakespeare acting intensive.

 a close up chanda or morgana took of another one of the many beautiful buildings in oxford.

 you can walk forty minutes to a meadow overflowing with . . horses (who like to nuzzle you looking for carrots or sugar cubes). (photo by deychen.)

chanda in oxford with her whitney museum color theme glasses.

eventide . .