Wednesday, April 10, 2013

La Havas in concert

On Tuesday night, I went to see Lianne La Havas perform at Webster Hall.  The concert was fantastic because her voice is crazy wonderful.  The first floor was packed and I was up on the second floor to get a better view.  The tall woman in front of me was a bit annoying but I managed to get a partial view of her performance.  It was enough to listen to La Havas perform live.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

April - First Week Overload


Monday— I took a day to myself and I went to see a little indie flick called Mental with a friend.  I absolutely loved Toni Collette in it.  It’s a dark comedy and I really enjoyed it.  Afterwards, we went to have drinks and just chatted the afternoon away.  I under-estimated how cold it was going to be so I was chilled to the bone.  Still, it felt good to be a bit decadent and enjoy an afternoon. 
Tuesday—I spent the day working on my novel.  After finding out that I lost pages again, I decided not to throw a pity part for myself.  I just put my head down and wrote up another 45 pages.  I didn’t even bother proofing the pages before I sent it out to my writing group.  Next Saturday is my turn to present.  Hopefully, it’s not all crap.  And even if it is…rewriting is always possible. 
Wednesday—I spent the day sending out resumes.  Job hunting is not much fun. I also broke things off with the new person I’ve been dating which was a bummer.  Definitely not my best day.  Boy, did that make me grumpy.   
Thursday—I spent the afternoon at MOMA to check out the Abstract exhibit. Overall, it was a decent collection.  For the first time, I actually appreciated Mondrian’s work.  Mostly I was reminded that Professor Horrigan really liked his work because he found it peaceful.  Isn’t it interesting how someone else’s appreciation helps you take a fresh look at a body of work. Mondrian has never been one of my favorites but I think I’m seeing his paintings with new eyes. 
There is also a beautiful blue watercolor by O’Keefe that took my breath away.  I’m attaching it here but the pic does not do the original justice. 
Blue II by Georgia O'Keefe, 1916
There were some mixed-media paintings that I found really interesting because I think layers are wonderful.   
There is also an Edvard Munch exhibit that I spent some time on.  I remember creating a lithograph very similar to the Scream.  It was amazing to study the actual piece up close. 
And of course, I sat in front of a Pollock.  It always feels like I’m visiting a friend.  As I sat there and watched visitors trying to take pics of his work, I realized that trying to capture that painting is just impossible.  Digital pics only flattens out the piece.  I sat there and took it in.  The painting definitely soothed me from my blues.
Friday—I spent the day embroidering.  Okay, this is definitely a girly girl thing to do but there was a couple of pieces in the Abstract exhibit that used embroidery as part of the medium.  I’m not very good at it but for the small piece that I’m working on it’s fine.  I wish I had smaller hoops but a 3” hoop is as small as they go.  Anyway, my fingertips hurt today from poking myself with the needle.  Argh!!  And there is blood on the cloth from the deep pokes…I’m not sure there is a way of incorporating drops of blood into the piece. Hehehe. 
Music-- I keep playing this song Open by Rhye over and over again.  It's haunting me today.  

Okay this is more than enough info for now.
Peace,
L~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Spilled Milk Sucks

Let’s see….on Monday I went to another grueling session of Bikram yoga and I was able to get into some poses better this time around. The heat helps loosen up the tight muscles but a side effect of this class is my stomach seems to now hate food. Ergh. I’ve been trying to eat smaller meals and drink more water throughout the day to offset the upset tummy. My plan is to take another class on Thursday after work. We shall see how that pans out. If that doesn’t work then I can hold off until Saturday and Sunday mornings.

With my temp job coming to end on Thursday, I’ll have some time next week to go more consistently. I would like to buy a set or two of workout clothes that wick the moisture from my body. It will be better than wearing cotton clothing ‘cause that doesn’t seem to work very well in there. Hmmm. I need to go visit a sports store to decide.

So yesterday I discovered that my last three chapters, the pages I finished last month are nowhere to be found. Ergh! Frustrating. Yesterday I was fit to be tied over it but I realized that I’ve just been careless with my work. I work on this novel in three different computers and I have not backed up my work very consistently. I usually print out the pages to have a hard copy of the new material but this time I did not. So here I go again, I need to re-write 45+ pages of material again. Where is my brain? I remember thinking that I need to email myself a copy of the pages but then I forgot to actually do it. *sigh* Well, I guess I have time this week to finish off these pages. What a crap thing for me to do. I’d be more upset over this but I talked to my writing buddy Christine and she just encouraged me to write the pages again. Thanks goodness for good friends.

Okay, I think that’s all I have for today. My stomach sounds like an alien baby is about to emerge through my navel. Haha!!
All for now,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.