Thursday, March 20, 2008

2007: Hamptons, NY to Zwingen, Switzerland

Roy Lichtenstein at 42nd StreetIn between the Hamptons with Teresa and Zwingen, Switzerland with the Lienhards, I was party to an NYPD police chase, a semi-emergency flight landing (a goose went through our right engine), I moved into a new apartment, started a second company, travelled 30,000 miles, attended two weddings (three if you count the one I crashed) and two funerals, enjoyed a new nephew, food, music, and art, and moved out of my new apartment in 2007.
on the rooftop of the Cairo
Life in D.C.
National ArchivesWashington, D.C.Office View4th of July FireworksDupont CircleUnion Station, Washington D.C.The CairoWashington Monument

The Places
I really did try to ‘settle down’ in an awesome apartment in a historic building with an unbelievable rooftop and a view of the Washington Monument. But I wasn’t very good at it.

Between January and December, I took seven trips to D.C., six to New York City, five to California, three to Florida, two to Arizona (Prescott, Tucson, Phoenix, the north side of the Grand Canyon) and Baltimore, one to Georgia, Seattle, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Chicago, Kanab, Utah, the Berkshires, Vermont, and Zwingen, Switzerland.

The People
William R. Dolby, 1935-2007Kurt and David got married in Spain (we celebrated in Baltimore). My nephew E4 redefined cute when he came into our lives. Dad Dolby left us, and I am so lucky to have been a part of his memorial service where I saw my Dolby-Hoffer family, met little Olivia and Ilana, and visited cousins Thanh & Jay. I was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Co Bich Lien’s son, Thông, who was killed by a drunk driver. I was grateful to spend time with mom’s friends at his services and meet Thông’s sister who is serving in Iraq, and his brother and sister-in-law in New York. Please, please, never drink and drive.

In May, I ate my way through the All Things Organic trade show in Chicago with Tina for our very super new organic baby clothing company, Fierce Hugs, Inc. I road tripped with Erin and the Hoffers to Kanab, Utah to see the Sand Dunes State Park and the north side of the Grand Canyon and while out west, enjoyed a string of parties at Denise’s, Nesyah’s birthday, Essanee’s BBQ, and yoga on the beach.

Road Trip to Kanab, Utah
Homeless in ChicagoBeach Yoga in Venice, CAVenice Dinner PartyWest Seattle

East coast entertainment was filled with fireworks in D.C., theater, a Central Park wedding crash with Mike, dad’s 75th birthday party in Florida where we consumed spectacular amounts of food, Gene and Marianne’s incredibly idyllic Mill house, changing leaves at John and Erin’s wedding in Williamstown, Massachusetts, eating ice cream in Vermont with my sister Kaly, Thanksgiving with the Dohenys, the most fun cacophonous family Chanukah swag party I’ve ever been to, and Christmas in Orlando with mom and dad, family, and the Espositos. Between Christmas and New Year, I moved out of the new apartment and headed off to Switzerland for a bonne année with Tanja and company. Phew.

Jersey Boys in New York CityThe Mill with Gene and Marianne
John and Erin's weddingBerkshires, Williamstown Massachusetts

The Arts
So much art this year including Walton Ford at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the public art installations at the Chicago Millennium Park, the Clark Museum collection in the Berkshires and a mini stop at the MoCA there, the marvelous Chuck Close tapestries, and Michael Grecco’s Naked Ambition gallery opening. In theater I enjoyed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Kennedy Center, Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims by the Kirov Opera, the Jersey Boys on Broadway starring our family friend Matthew Scott as Frankie Valli, Spellbound, The Unmentionables starring the talented Marni Penning, and a funny golden anniversary event of what the West Side Story might have been (but thankfully was not) at Library of Congress. And, I listened to plenty of live music at the Sibelius concert at the Kennedy Center, Mica’s violin recital, the National Gallery of Art Jazz events with Dan, Erin, Liz and Jason, a private concert at the Kennedy Center with Rich, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Katy Pfaffl, Caetano Veloso, and the SMASHing Holiday singers in California. I visited the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, checked out funky environmentally green homes at the Solar Decathalon in D.C., enriched my life by listening to Ruth Gruber speak at Loyola, and attended the Getty Villa for a lecture on the Roman Triumph.
Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.National Gallery of ArtMichael Grecco, "Naked Ambition"
Chuck Close Tapestries at the Adamson GalleryRodrigo y Gabriela @ the MusicBox
2007 was a full year, full of fun, family, friends, the arts, and well, life. Of course, boundless thanks to the Dohenys and the Nafshun-Bones for always keeping their doors and guest rooms open to me – and to the dozens of other friends and family I am always so lucky to see. I had an insane amount of good times last year, that carried into this new year, for which I can hardly believe at times. Here’s to you, and to a happy fun filled year.

"I want to stand as close to the edge
as I can without going over.
Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things
you can't see from the center.
Big, undreamed-of things..."
in Player Piano
By Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

life in pictures
Yes Philosophy
Ice Skating in Santa Monica IIIGood Morning, Switzerland

1 Comments:

At 1:44 AM , Blogger The Insane Writer said...

Sounds like so much fun!

 

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