Independence

I've wanted one for a month and I finally got my grilled hot dog this weekend :). BBQ, chocolate cupcake, chocolate covered strawberries, a glow necklace, watching the fireworks from the 15th floor with a bottle of red wine... Independence Day in NYC.

Watched Man on Wire:

To me its really so simple that life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion, to refuse to taper yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see everyday, every year, every idea as a true challenge and then you're going to live your life on a tight rope.

Reading:

• The Inhabited Island by the brothers Strugatsky. I was hoping to see the movie in theaters in NYC, but I think I might be out of luck.
  
• When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.

P.S.

Can my 1 month and 13 day hiatus from blogging go silently unnoticed?! :D Sorry, not much really going on aside from work.

Good things I've discovered in that time:

• 'Away We Go' - loved it!
• Zachary Quinto as Spock, though he'll always be part Sylar to me.
• Honey Bear and Singapore Sling cocktails.
• The High Line. Beautiful. There are nice wooden benches on which one can sit and enjoy the view of ... well... the traffic on 10th Ave... but it really is a very lovely walk on a breezy, warm summer evening.
• I heart THE GUILD

Bear Attack

So Nick spent last week visiting his sister in Montana, but before he left, he made me promise that if he was mauled to death by a bear during his trip then I'd come and weep at his grave and avenge his death. (Or maybe it was avenge his death, then weep at his grave? Not sure of the order.) Of course I promised that I would.

Well I had the pleasure of speaking with Nick tonight (and by speaking I mean thoroughly depressing him for which I apologize, but that's a totally different topic). Turns out his brother-in-law almost got attacked by a bear on his way back to the tent from the restroom and had to retreat back into the restroom for shelter, while Nick and his sister hid in the car...

phew, close call!

Holland Photos

Posts will come later, I'm rushing out to a late dinner at a Brazilian restaurant.

photos

Mmm tummy rumbling.

"American" dream

After the art museum and a climb up the Grossmünster for a nice view of the city, I wandered the streets of the old town in search for a place to eat. I ended up enjoying a cheese fondue and a glass of Swiss wine (not great fyi) at an outside table of Alder's Swiss Chuchi Restaurant. 

Sitting at the table, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of a middle aged American couple with their daughter (who's apparently currently living in Bosnia, teaching English). The daughter was very obviously disappointed with the fact that her English students were creatively challenged.  She'd asked them to brainstorm 'What do you do when you are feeling down' and as an example answered 'I wear my favorite t-shirt'. The responses she got were all of the form 'I wear my favorite ____.' Thus the conclusion - children in Bosnia are programmed with answers.

The whole experience of being in Zürich by myself was very liberating. No cell phone. No internet access (the G1 has spoiled me). No friends in the city. No one can contact me unless I want to be contacted. No responsibilities, just wandering the streets, doing what I want. The quaintness of the city, the plethora of little modern art galleries made me dream of some day moving to Europe and opening up a little gallery of my own. Hence, my 'American dream' which has nothing to do with America except its sentiment.

A fantasy dream in a fantasy land.

On art

Sorry about that... it's been a busy week catching up with work. Let's rewind to the Sunday two weeks ago in Zürich.

I went to the Kunstmuseum and realized that I love going to museums on my own, which is a far way to go for a girl who used to hate going to museums in general. The museum building itself wasn't that great and several paintings are framed in very ugly frames and put behind glass, which creates a lot of glare.

• Giacometti

There were obviously a lot of works by Giacometti. I do enjoy his sculptures, but maybe it's because I am not very educated on sculpting that I prefer his paintings. Though I do find that his sculpting and painting have a lot in common, but I feel like his painting is more expressive. There was also a very interesting exhibitions of works by Giacometti in dialogue with ancient Egyptian sculptures (Giacometti's art work was influenced by Egyptian art).

• Doug Wheeler

With the exception of some paintings, I'm generally not a big fan of modern art. However, Doug Wheeler's installation in the 'Hot Spots' exhibit was very trippy. You put on overshoes and enter an all white room with a glowing square:

From Zürich und Uetliberg

From Zürich und Uetliberg

The room is bordering on oval shape rather than rectangular. All the corners have been rounded out. The shape of the room and the lighting and shadows was very disorienting to the sense of balance. 

The 'Hot Spots' exhibition itself was very interesting. It included works Milan/Torino, L.A. and Rio de Janeiro from 1956-1969.

Anti-zombie kit

This is a perfect addition to the anti-zombie kit: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/kids/bbae/

Just photos

More photos posted to the album from the previous post. Take a look, since it looks like I won't be able to post legitimately for a while.

Preview:

• I think I have an "American dream".

Lessons learned in my leadership workshop today:

• Being a technical lead of engineers is like being a cat herder.
• Some engineers are people too.

In der Schweiz

Grüzi from Zurich!

Today I walked from my hotel in Sihlcity to Bahnhof Straße. Then up and down Bahnhof Straße with all it's expensive watch and jewelry stores. Then to Fraumünster and across the bridge to Grossmünster where I explored the church and the dungeon (I'll climb to the top tomorrow). Then all the way down along the lake shore to the Chinese garden, though I didn't go into the garden itself. Then back up by the churches to a restaurant called Zeughauskeller by Paradeplatz. And afterward all the way back to the hotel. I'm so tired that I'm going to go to sleep once I finish this post.

The lakeside I imagine is much prettier on a sunny day, but it was still a very enjoyable walk. It was fun observing the people around: groups of teens hanging out, lots of couples walking hand in hand, young people enjoying a bottle of champagne, two teenage girls smoking a joint (yup, still in Zürich) and of course plenty of Russian conversations...

(Nick - I failed to find the teacup fountain, so you'll have to come back here with me to track it down.)

Zeughauskeller restaurant is decorated like an armory, which was fun. I had a dark beer called Dunkle Perle and beef in cream of mushroom sauce with rösti (which are basically hashbrowns). It was very Swiss and yummy.

I find it a little disturbing how used to NYC I am. First of all with the exception of Bahnhof Straße there are very few people on the street. Second of all lots of stores start closing around 4pm on Saturday. Third of all in parts the city is uncomfortably clean. Overall Zürich reminds me of Prague, but more Swiss :).

Photos

"A happy fantasy land" indeed.

in the Amsterdam airport

Flight went by quickly enough. I slept through most of it and had some really bizarre dreams of the pilot flying the plane upside down really close to the ground and taking down treetops. I think these dreams were instigated by my hearing the pilot announcing a turbulence zone while I was half asleep.

Off to Zurich in a couple of hours.