October 31st - Halloween

Today is Halloween 2018.

I met Father Peter at Yindee Thai in Springfield.

We had a delicious lunch and a very nice talk.

On the Home Front

Arthur was in costume as usual! 

This year he was a Plague Doctor. 

He certainly scared the trick and treaters!!

Ready

Before putting on the hat and the beak

New Museum in Town

After attending the healing service at Church of the Epiphany with George, I visited the new museum in town: The Museum of Contemporary Political Art. It is located near Metro Center.

When the museum's founder issued a call for political art, every single work that was offered was anti-Trump. He is indeed an excellent, although scary, subject for political art.

Here are some examples:

Translation: I am working for the Soviet People! 

Birthday Lunch

Barbara, Linda, and I celebrated Marie's birthday today! We met at Matchbox in Mosaic (Merrifield) in Virginia for lunch.

As usual, we enjoyed our time together, sharing stories and discussing a variety of interesting topics. The food was good, too.

We shared a delicious artichoke and spinach dip with yummy crunchy bread (seen in the background). I then had a salad with greens, pears, pecans, and blue cheese. Marie and Barbara shared a chicken and pesto pizza and Linda had chicken something. If I return there, I will definitely try the pizza, Matchbox's specialty.

Marie and I shared a scrumptious piece of New York style cheesecake (no candle, however. I should have insisted!)

Marie looks so happy and relaxed after her wonderful cruise. (Maybe I should take one. I would like to have that glow.) Note her lovely sweater with the adorable Shetland wool sheep from - Where else? - the Shetland Island.

Barbara and Linda preferred not to be photographed. They are sitting across the table from us. Use your imagination!

Exhibit Previews

NORDIC IMPRESSIONS

 

The Phillips Collection has mounted a wonderful exhibit entitled "Nordic Impressions."Phillips Curator Klaus Ottmann traveled to the five Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland) and three self-governing territories (Greenland, Åland, and the Faroe Islands) to select works of art for the show.

This extraordinary exhibit consists of 53 works by Nordic artists including oil paintings, pen and ink drawings, prints, photographs, synthetic fiber creations, installations, and video projections.

Press Preview (Wednesday, October 10)

My friend and photographer John O and I were invited to the Press Preview. Curator Klaus himself led the tour of the exhibit.

Christine and John

Members Preview Days (Thursday October 11)

I returned today to focus almost exclusively on the eleven works by Norwegian artists.

I will write a review of this exhibit for the Norwegian American and will post a link to it here.

In case you don't know,

Greenland is a massive island and autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Much of its land surface is covered in ice.

The Åland Islands, or Åland, is an autonomous region of Finland. Comprising around 6,700 islands, this Swedish-speaking archipelago is in the Baltic Sea.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean,

Icelandic Artist Shoplifter and Christine

  

Italian Chat

I met my friend Matt for a Chinese lunch at the Eat First Restaurant in Chinatown. It is located at 609 H Street, NW. The food was good and it was very quiet for quite a while after we arrived.

 I heard about his trip to Italy this summer and watched the interesting documentary he created about immigration in Italy today. For his documentary he interviewed the proverbial man on the street as well as faculty experts on the subject. He will post it soon to his YouTube account Classroom Colburn.

La Lingua Bella

I always feel very happy and energized when I have an opportunity to converse with friends in the Bella Lingua. (I truly miss my 50 years of daily immersion in Italian. )

This morning I met my friends Marisa and Betsy at the Swiss Bakery and Cafe in Annandale for a wonderful chat over coffee and croissants (and apple strudel). I wish we could get together more often.

Marisa and Betsy

Jodi

I spent a wonderful evening with my friend Janet and two of her very nice and interesting friends, Deborah and Dru.

We first had a lovely dinner at Carlyle's in Shirlington.

 Dru and Janet
(They obviously planned their attire together.)

Deborah and Christine
(We were quite color-coordinated but had not planned in advance.)

We then went to listen to an interview with well-known author Jodi Picoult in the Baird Auditorium in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. Picoult was interviewed by her close friend, the Junior Senator (D) from New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan.

Each attendee was given a copy of Picoult's latest book, A Spark of Life.

Meeting of minds

I have no personal photos of my meeting today with my friend Linda but here is a visual from the Internet.



Linda and I are getting into a routine. We have started meeting regularly at the Panera in Springfield to discuss our current projects and to encourage each other in moving ahead with them. We focus primarily on our writing.

After our meetings I feel energized and ready to delve into my work. It helps to share with someone who can inspire me. Linda always inspires me and continually reminds me to have a notebook and pen with me at all times to jot down thoughts that might come to me when I least expect it! She has many other useful ideas as well.