Studio Ruthe

This week

Lots of things happened.

Still taking Cipro (until Tuesday). Slightly better each day, but still a problem.

I am going to move again. I didn't really plan to do this, but I've been unhappy with this apartment for some time now. After my fight with the landlord I think it's best if I get out. So I've been spending a lot of time looking, online and otherwise. There are lots of apartments for rent but not many I want or can afford.

Because of this, and because I should do it anyway, I'm trying to get rid of stuff. Last week I shredded or threw out tax returns from 1988 through 2002. I didn't even know I had them. They came with my divorce.

Last weekend I went to a benefit concert for Japan, actually the second one I've been to. This was at Pitt and included some Japanese cultural things as well as good music. This photo is from the tea ceremony.

I found it strange and interesting to have the camera man right in there with the participants while a ghostly image of the action was projected onto the screen behind. It reminded me of the Bunraku performance I saw in Osaka where the puppet masters stand directly next to the life-size puppets. All the camera man needed was a black hood around his head.

More beautiful trees from the 'burgh. These are in a somewhat run down park that was once the site of George Westinghouse's mansion.

Rainy, gray eleventh day

I came prepared for very hot weather here and have been delighted by the cool, pleasant days. This day is the exception; it's raining and in the fifties. I can't really complain. When I left the apartment before 8, with Renee's raincoat, it was really not unpleasant walking in the rain. This was the only way I was going to see Rose-- meet her for breakfast. I came back to the apartment, afterward, and tried to motivate myself to go out again before my dinner date.

After a lunch of the left-overs from the previous night's dinner, more multigrain salad and pear and endive salad from Columbus, I went back to the Met, along with every tourist in the city. What a madhouse! Seeking less crowded spaces, I went to one of the temporary exhibitions I overlooked in previous visits: Neo Rauch. I don't know what to say about this one; undoubtedly some of the most confusing art I've ever seen. Rauch is from the former East Germany, and his paintings contain associations that are completely mysterious to me.

Also sparsely populated, the Indian, Chinese and Korean  galleries kept me busy for another hour or so. My legs won't tolerate more than a couple hours of museum viewing at any one time. Finally I got back on the crosstown bus and went over to 86th and Broadway in pursuit of Harry's Shoes. Not my favorite place but buying shoes when my feet hurt is my favorite activity.

I want to remember not to return to Harry's Shoes, ever. This is without doubt a place where I was most invisible. I had a hard time getting someone to wait on me; they all looked through me. Finally I tried on two pairs of shoes. I might have bought one of them, but my salesman disappeared, so I just walked out. I'm sure he thought I was a terrible old lady; I thought he was a terrible salesman. Harry, I hope you read this.

I met Ilana at 116th and Broadway, the main entrance to Columbia. She is working on a PhD at JTS, next to Columbia. She showed me around JTS and Union Theological Seminary, and then we went to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. Lovely day, in spite of the rain.