Self-CONFIDENCE

"I am too busy to care about what other people think."  Tavi Gevinson

"Personal style is curiosity about oneself."  Iris Apfel

My mother crawled into the protective shelf of a girdle almost everyday of her adult life.  When it came to fashion, she was a follower.  Her lack of self-confidence was masked by her innate ability to always appear elegant. She chose her clothes carefully.

High maintenance is a trait I inherited from her, but not elegance.  Early on I was putting outfits together that had an aesthetic appeal to ME, which is not to say I had self-confidence.  Tavi Gevinson, founder and editor-in-chief of RookieMag.com, age 16 and Iris Apfel, style icon, age 90 have self-confidence.  They exude it.

The conversation between these two women was moderated by Judith Thurman: the topic:  Good Taste/Bad Taste:  The Evolution of Contemporary Chic (Metropolitan Museum - Sunday June 17).  You might wonder what kind of dialog a 16 year old and 90 year old can have?  Is it grandmother to granddaughter?  Sage to Innocent? Seniority to inexperience?  No.  These two ladies were talking to each other as respected colleagues.

"I don't live to be trendy - you can't be trendy and have personal style."  Iris Apfel

"Personal style is a chance to create your own fantasy...to have a force field around you"  Tavi Gevinson

I understand that clothes are like performance art.  I often look over my closet and put something together I feel proud of; I put a check next to the self-esteem box.   But sometimes you want to be yourself.  Many years ago, a friend of mine said, what is the first thing you do when you get home?  Take your clothes off and change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Apfel "I am freer when I am not dressed up"

and Gevinson agreed, "There is nothing like a good old bathrobe."

And there is nothing like a great conversation.

___________________________
Visionary Courage
Iris Apfel may have been the first woman to wear a pair of jeans on a college campus.

"I went to the University of Wisconsin in 1940's.  I had this vision of myself in a pair of jeans, big gingham turban, hoop earrings and a crisp shirt.  I asked around and found an Army/Navy store in the area.  I inquired of the owner where I could find a pair of jeans for myself.  He immediately kicked me out of the shop.  "Woman don't wear jeans."  But, when I want something; I am like a dog with a bone.  I went back time after time; thinking he might take me seriously.  A few months later, I received a call from the owner.  He had ordered a pair of boys jeans for me."

UMAMI: The Wow Effect

I lost my sense of taste to anesthesia.  When I was offered a cup of coffee before leaving the hospital, I realized that my tongue was no longer picking up on sensory cues.  I could identify the drink as hot, but that was all.  I tried not to worry.  I hoped it was a temporary condition.

A week and half after surgery, still living in a non-flavorful world, I went to hear Eric Ripert, chef at the 4 star restaurant, Le Bernadin and Christina Tosi, pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar talk about "Fabulous Flavors:  Sweet, Sour, Savory" at the Alliance Francaise.  The conversation moderated by Christine Muhlke, Executive Editor of Bon Appetit Magazine was advertised as a discussion on how flavors shape our memories.  For someone lacking  taste buds, I thought this conversation might revive my capacity to detect flavor.

The pairing of these two chefs was brilliant:  cornflakes meet black truffles.

Ripert grew up in the South of France in a cooking family. With French and Italian grandmothers, a mother devoted to the nouvelle French cuisine of the day (Paul Bocuse), Ripert was surrounded by rustic and elaborate cooking that depended on local ingredients.  His home was an ocean of flavor and smells.

Tosi's childhood was packaged. A picky eater,  her childhood diet consisted of Whatchamacallits, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Barbecued Potato Chips. "I did not taste a raw tomato until I was 18 and ordered a BLT. My early food memories are those of the American Midwest.  It's low-brow, casual and has provided me with a flavor palette that inspires me as a pastry chef".

Just like a good dish, the contrast in texture made for a great conversation, which never became bitter or sour.  Each chef was passionate about putting their voice into food; tapping into emotions and memories.  The evening turned on one word:  UMAMI.

Tosi was talking about depth of flavor.  "It's something you feel in the pit of your stomach; it's umami." 

Ripert brigthened at this remark.  "What does umami mean to you? We've been researching it.  What does it mean in Japanese?... delicious flavor.  It's the WOW effect.  A state of mind.  A combination of ingredients...vibrant, powerful.  It's pure harmony.  It's earthiness."

As I left the Alliance Francaise, I felt reassured that my sense of taste would return.  As Tosi said, eating creates emotions in your mind.  I am waiting for those emotions to infuse my tongue.  In the meantime, I am planning a trip to Milk Bar to taste a compost cookie (pretzels, potato chips, chocolate and Rice Krispies).  A dinner at Le Bernadin will have to wait until a few more pesos accumulate in my bank account.


From le Bernandin dinner menu:
Lacquered Striped Bass; Chayote Squash, Sofrito Broth
Sauted Sole;"Almond-Pisctachio-Barberry" Golden Basmati, Brown-Butter Tamarind Vinaigrette
Grilled Baby Sepia; Sweet Pepper jam, Red-Wine-Squid Ink Sauce

From Milk Bar menu:
Blueberry miso soft serve
Compost Cookie
Crack Pie
Pretzel Milk

A Political Act

For gardeners, there is nothing new to learn in American Grown, The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama.  But it doesn't matter.

Before I downloaded American Grown, I had to consider if buying it was a political act.  I spend a great deal of my time at work in a 15,000 sq. ft. organic vegetable garden that exists solely for the purpose of educating New York City School children about where food comes from.  I am already a convert to the current gardening movement.  I am not interested in the White House garden as a garden and I am already familiar with gardening movement around the country, so?

Gardening is a safe topic.  It comes with none of the baggage of abortion or gay marriage.   I admire Michelle Obama for her efforts on behalf of healthy eating, nutritional food and war on couch potatoes is needed,.  For those who need the validation of a First Lady to open their eyes to the food movement, this is a good start.

The guy who has more to say about the politics of food than anyone I know of:  Wendell Berry

"I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act.  Eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth.  Most eaters, however, are no longer aware that this is true.  They think food as an agricultural product, perhaps, but they do not think of themselves as participants in agriculture. They think of themselves as "consumers."  If they think beyond that, they recognize that they are passive consumers.  They buy what they want - or what they have been persuaded to want - within the limits of what they can get.  They pay, mostly, without protect, what they are charged.  And they mostly ignore certain critical questions about the quality and the cost of what they are sold:  How fresh is it?  How pure or clean is it, how free of dangerous chemicals? How far was it transported, and what did transportation add to the cost? How much did manufacturing of packaging or advertising add to the cost?  When the food product has been manufactured or "processed" or "precooked," how has that affected its quality or price or nutritional value?..."

"When I think of the meaning of food, I always remember these lines by the poet William Carlos Williams, which seems to me merely honest:

There is nothing to eat,

seek it where you will,

but the body of the Lord,

The blessed plants

and the sea, yield it

to the imagination intact.
1989

Wendell Berry, The Pleasures of Eating

Walking on CLOUDS

Tomas
SARACENO
Cloud City
54 ft. long x 29 ft. high
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Rooftop - Until November 2012

It's a geodesic dome, it's a space pod... 
IT'S CLOUD CITY. 
 FUN
 DISORIENTING
PLAYFUL

 MIRRORS and WEBS
It's the new installation on the roof of the MET.

 It's might be true that every time you look at a landscape, you see something different.  If you think you've seen the skyline of NYC, think again.  Tomas Saraceno's Cloud City is a exuberant burst of joy that makes us experience the lightness of being.

"What inspired me was the geometry of the soap bubbles or the foam, of how they connect one sphere to the other, or they could be the bubbles that form when you drink chocolate milk from a bottle." Tomas Saraceno

"It's a multi-reality, it's like a walk in the sky."

Tomas Saraceno

When I look at Georgia O'Keefe's Sky Above The Clouds IV (1965), I feel like I am walking on clouds.  I am not sure I can say that about Tomas Saraceno's sculpture.

But in order to experience  Cloud City climb* into the sculpture. That changes everything.

The walk to the top is a challenge.  You can get off the stairway at a different levels.  Even though the sculpture is only 29 ft. tall,  it's hard to maintain your equilibrium.  The body wants to go forward, but your mind keeps telling you that the next step may not "exist." I don't know if it's the transparent acrylic floor  and "walls" or the different size and shape of each pod, but your perception of stability is flummoxed.

I always assumed that walking on clouds would feel like floating. The structure of Cloud City may relate to the geometry of bubbles, but being inside this sculpture is the unease of seemingly walking on a weightless surface. Maybe that is what walking on clouds is like. 

I descended slowly, unsure of my next step.  As my foot touched the roof deck,  I was happy to be back on terra firma. 

*The tickets to climb into Cloud City are free.  They can be obtained on the 4th Floor near the roof elevator.  The tickets are a timed entry.  I advise going to get your tickets first and then going up to the roof.  Sneakers are required to climb the sculpture and all belongings, including your cell phone and camera are required to be locked up on the 4th floor as well. 

Artist as Innovator: 
Visions of a Floating City
A 2012 World Science Festival Event
Thursday, May 31, 6pm, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Met
Featuring: Tomas Saraceno, Peter Jager, Mario Livio, Chris McKay, Mark Wigley

A History of Self

 Definition of GLASS:
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure 
from Free Online Thesaurus 

The shattering of  glass is as loud as a domino being slapped down by a player with a winning hand.  I didn't cry when I heard the sound.  I realized that the glass represented a part of the history of myself.

In an episode from NCIS, a recurring villain hands a glass of Napoleonic brandy to one of the main characters and says "History in a glass."  I am not interested in what's inside the glass or the history of the glass itself.  Although, I am sure both are equally fascinating.  I collect tiny, antique, hand-blown glasses for aesthetic reasons only.

I can date my collection from the time I started visiting my sister in southern France.  In a small shop near her home in Le Bez, a rather grumpy man runs a 50 year old antique shop covered with dust.  Spitting on a plate to see the pattern is not unheard of, at least in my family.  This is where my collection began.

Every glass I own has a story.  It is the story of where it was purchased, who I was with, what mood I was in, what cafe my husband waited for me in, and what aspect of that particular vessel prompted me to buy it.  These glasses are a  barometer of my aesthetic decisions at a specific time.  Better than a scrapbook or digital catalog of photos, these vintage containers are a warning sign;  reminding me of my obsessions and the lengths I will go to, to satisfy them.

Last weekend, my husband added a shelf to my glass cabinet.  This meant removing all the glasses with great care.  In re-arranging the glasses back on the shelves, I left the best for last: my collection.  And that is when it happened.  A deafening crash.  One small vessel was no more.

 In some circles a digestif may be an ordinary occurrence.  In my circle, even my facebook circle, imbibing a digestif is still a rarefied experience, but after the destruction of one of my prized glasses, 11 am was not too early to pour myself a drop of grappa in a glass from Bassano Del Grappa.