tuesday wrap-up.

the field trip to the frist center was fun. the boy learned tons about egyptian history during a docent tour of the brooklyn museum exhibit, to live forever. he even made this egyptian necklace!

i had fun joining him on the field trip though i had to dash off in the middle to go interview john seigenthaler, a civil rights legend, former freedom rider, and right hand man to bobby kennedy and jfk back in the day.

image is copyright John Russell/Vanderbilt

i was beyond honored to meet him and am looking forward to writing the article on his organization, the freedom forum.

i was not pleased that i was ten minutes late, sweaty and had rain-tousled hair, but you can't have everything. he didn't seem to notice, thank goodness.

the photo is by my friend and staff photographer john russell, and it's copyrighted so please don't re-post. what good friends i have. and how lucky i am to have this job.

peace and love to you - happy thanksgiving in advance!

bits of my weekend vol. 59. and a giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

granny, a.k.a., my mom, sent books.

oh how i love books.

especially vintage children's books. she and i bought these when i was in the heartland, and we decided they were too heavy to put in my suitcase.

i especially love children's books published in the 1960s, by authors like edith thatcher hurd and sid hoff ... books that smell like old paper ... books that still have the old library card in the pocket on the inside cover ... a library card that hasn't been stamped since 1976 ...

did i mention i love books?

the boy and i went to quiet church.

he insisted on dressing up.

it's kind of his thing right now.

he's already asked if he can wear his ties to kindergarten.

what a lovely, quiet place.

except when an almost-six-year-old eats cheezits during the homily.

we were a little early so decided to walk around the neighborhood.

look how brown my little bug is.

we stopped by the frist center, which wasn't open yet so we didn't go inside. but the boy declared the large balcony overlooking broadway the perfect place for his next birthday party.

genius.

we saw the "andy warthog" exhibit last weekend.

that's what the boy calls it.

then we meandered through the gorgeous union station hotel.

it used to be an old train station.

and it's so beautiful inside.

especially from above.

perhaps the perfect place for my next birthday party.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Don't forget that i'm giving away coffee from the fabulous buddy brew in tampa. leave me a comment here about why you love coffee and you'll be entered in the drawing.

if you have trouble commenting, friend me on facebook and leave the comment there!

PS the night market at nashville farmer's market with young jenny was fantastic. but i forgot my camera, so you'll just have to imagine the perfect night under the full moon: live music, gorgeous fruits and vegetables and a lively crowd. ironically, i didn't buy any produce. just organic homemade cookies that were terrific: a giant ginger snap cookie which i snarfed as soon as i got home, and a chocolate chili cookie that was out of this world.

i highly recommend this totally fun, cool and semi-hipster event. every month under the full moon, baby.

wednesday wuvlies: the frist center.

bits of my weekend, volume 54.

saturday morning we went straight to the downtown nashville public library for a puppet show of mark twain's The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

we'd never heard of the book. but anything frog-related i'm all about it.

then we had cupcakes in honor of the library's 10th birthday.

and made origami frogs.

there was live music in the courtyard, too.

can't believe this was all free.

and speaking of free...

the boy and his buddies went to the first center for the visual arts for a free kids club art class on printmaking in honor of the upcoming warhol exhibit.

they were over course taking the whole thing seriously.

very seriously.

first they heard a book about colors and how they make you feel.

every one agreed that brown makes you feel tired, and red makes you feel happy.

then they went to the art tables and inked their designs (these are shoes), and then transferred the ink and painted both prints different colors.

they really got into it.

well, sort of. the boy felt a little bit over his head and got very quiet indeed. this is his warhol-esque rendition of an adidas tennis shoe.

he actually felt more at home at the artquest gallery across the hall where he sketched ...

... this sari-clad wood model.

the boy's decided he wants to be an artist when he grows up.

i hope it sticks.

how was your weekend?

bits of my weekend, volume 38.

the entire family was fighting allergies and sinus pressure, so our tail feathers were dragging.

we managed to make it to two arts productions and a quick trip to the park, with some mighty naps in between.

the boy has become very attached to this book, by the way, and now takes it where ever he goes.

he also sleeps with it.

and told me last night that he cried a few tears over it because he loved it so much.

at the downtown nashville public library, there was a free performance of borreguita and the coyote, which i had never heard of but the boy knew well.

the little lamb, borreguita, keeps the coyote from eating her through a series of tricks.

the nashville ballet is generous to spend their saturdays doing these free productions.

they boy even was brave enough to go on stage afterward to meet the dancers and learn a step or two.

feeling ambitious, we had a quick lunch and headed straight for the frist center for the bharatanatyam performance by monica cooley in honor of the new vishnu exhibit.

sadly, we were in the back row and couldn't see well, so i didn't get any photos.

i stole this one from monica's web site. she runs a dance school with her husband, sankaran mahadevan, called kala nivedanam.

i've seen her productions many times at sri ganesha temple and they are mesmerizing.

the boy was not similarly mesmerized, so we ended up upstairs in the kids center doing art before we decided as a family we needed naps. pronto.

on sunday we dragged ourselves to the park for a few minutes, but just couldn't sustain the energy it took, so went back home to bed.

mostly the boy did this.

computer games. which he is getting really good at.

what did you do this weekend?