From Sleep No More. Why haven’t I caught this performance yet?
The Orchid Show
The Cherry Blossom Show
Cindy Sherman @ MOMA
Sleep No More
Gatz
Drink N’ Draw @ 3rd Ward
Presentation Party in Bushwick
Grub Community Dinner
Now, who wants to go with me??
Original story from The Washington Post
Summary below from Wedding Live Band on Facebook
In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a ma n with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:
In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
How do you want to spend it? Do you want to use your energy to work so you can pay bills or buy things or to think about the next bills and things you will have to use? What if we dedicated more of our energy to our relationships, families, activist causes, learning/sharing new skills, and MAKING ART?
“By accounting for the basic necessities of food, clothing, housing, furniture, and transportation without spending a dime, freegans are able to greatly reduce or altogether eliminate the need to constantly be employed. We can instead devote our time to caring for our families, volunteering in our communities, and joining activist groups to fight the practices of the corporations who would otherwise be bossing us around at work. For some, total unemployment isn’t an option it’s far harder to find free dental surgery than a free bookcase on the curb but by limiting our financial needs, even those of us who need to work can place conscious limits on how much we work, take control of our lives, and escape the constant pressure to make ends meet. But even if we must work, we need not cede total control to the bosses. The freegan spirit of cooperative empowerment can be extended into the workplace as part of worker-led unions like the Industrial Workers of the World”
I need to get creative in the dishes I make. I have my staples: the morning bowl of cereal, the lunchtime salad/rice/bean mix, and then the dinner stir fry. I use cayenne, Bragg’s, and some kind of oil every day.
I was reading a website about becoming more creative in my cooking and it got me thinking: am I really looking for a way to become more creative? Is that really a question you pose? I think the real question is: how do I find other, more precise ways to acknowledge and express my emotions?
The website offered excellent advice. It advised to first experiment with your staples and your favorite recipes. But then it said to make the dish as if you were the dish. So, if YOU were a salad, what kind of salad would you be? This completely altered my perception of cooking and the dishes I make. If I were a salad I’m note sure I’d BE the one I always make, yet aren’t I that salad because it’s the dish that provides my body with nutrients?
If you were a soup, what kind of soup would you be? A casserole, a drink, a dessert, a dumpling? There are those you want to eat and there are those that contain elements that reflect your emotional landscape and worldly outlook.
before I forget them.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
- Steve Jobs
The definition of a NYC heat wave.
(Source: secretsofthecity, via minusmanhattan)
This is an Earthship, a completely sustainable home built out of recycled materials. It harnesses energy from wind and the sun.
I wrote an article about Earthships and the off the grid lifestyle. Off the grid means living without use of fossil fuels. Check out my piece.
There’s a secret bookstore tucked away on the Upper East Side. Mr. Brazen, thank you for creating this shrine to the written word. I hope to visit it one day.
(Source: theparisreview)
If you haven’t seen it, you must. I’m exhausted now and am still ruminating over this epic. More thoughts to come.
