Three Books and an Art Museum
And I didn't love any of the books, but I really loved the museum.
It was just a bit of an off week for me for shows and books and emotionally. But I’m feeling refreshed after the weekend and ready to start on having a better time of it all. It was a little cathartic to reflect both here and in my journal while writing this. THough there were many things I didn’t love, I enjoy getting to test a variety of things, even if they aren’t always to my taste.
Reading
I happened to finish three books around the same time, though that was unintentional. I honestly had a tough time getting through these, and so I powered through a bit of them. None of them were bad, they just were not the ones for me, I think.
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
Of the three, this was my least favorite. I skimmed the whole second half because I can’t not finish a book (it is a problem that I can’t seem to solve). I have a ‘got to see it through’ mentality when it comes to books and this was one. It follows two lovers in 1980s Germany, a woman who just barely arrived in adulthood and a man who is 35+ years her senior. They are experiencing a pretty tumultuous and changing time in Germany’s history as well as their own issues of growing up and getting old. It sounded intriguing to me, but ultimately, I was bored and just wanted their relationship to be over. I also honestly wish I read a quick wiki of German history around this time because I felt like their environment was pivotal to the story and character development, but I just didn’t quite know what was happening. I made it through this one, though begrudgingly.
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trias
This dystopian story is about our main character who is a caretaker, of her mother, of her ex-husband, and of a child she nannies. The world is ending because of some toxicness that has also affected the weather. Birds and fish are gone as we know it. Food is scarce and the community is on the verge of completely breaking down. It was fine overall. There was a lot of wrestling and hanging around all these people that didn't care about her, which did get a little exhausting. I kind of just wanted the main character to leave and take care of herself, but I don’t know that she knew how to do anything else except care for those around her. The dystopian stuff was interesting, but I don’t know, the whole thing was just a little underdeveloped for me.
The Ukraine by Artem Chapeye
Short stories, sort of, about journeying across Ukraine, pre-war. This was mostly fun to listen to. It’s great to understand other countries in a unique way, like short essays that explore the culture and people. There’s some fun characters and interesting introspection. I think the last essay was my favorite. Talking about Ukraine vs “The Ukraine” and noting what is something that is so “the” Ukraine was a beautiful way to tie up the country that so many are fighting for today. This was by far my favorite of the three.
Watching
I haven’t really been watching anything of note this week, more Friday Night Lights, but it’s nothing to write about. I am actually taking recommendations because I’m feeling very stale and stuck in this area!
Portland Art Museum
I’ve lived in Oregon for 95% of my life and there are still so many things that I haven’t explored! It’s like you live around it that these things become ‘someday’ because I can do those ‘anyday’ and then before you know it, it just never happens. But in an effort to try more local things, I finally made it over to the Portland Art Museum. What really got me over there was two things: free passes from my library and a sneaker exhibit I wanted to take Mitchell to. So we finally made our way over there and thank you local library for saving me $50 in admission--libraries are the best!
We made our way over to the museum in the afternoon and started on the sneaker exhibit. There were some pretty cool and wild designs. I especially like the big red shoes. There were some very cool eco-friendly material shoes, like ones made out of mushrooms. It was interesting to see some different things, I mean it’s just crazy that sneakers are a big enough thing to have their own exhibit. Some of them I really wished I could try on just because they weren’t like anything else.
My favorite exhibit though, was the Monet to Matisse: French Modernists, which just coincidentally happened to be there when we went. I actually felt really lucky to see some of these beautiful pieces. I put a few of my favorites below.
We’ve gone to a few museums and seen really incredible things, but it’s always been because we were traveling and seeing something we couldn’t see at home. But honestly, I feel more inclined to visit my home museum a little more often (at least once every few years, which would be a great improvement from zero). I’ve felt in a creative funk and sometimes exploring and enjoying other masterful, creative work is just what one needs.
And of course, we had to celebrate National Ice Cream Month at Salt N’ Straw because I still stand by the elite-ness of both SNS and Berry month.
