Wednesday
-mental soundtrack ---> Neko Case
-all the cool kids in the Oakland Airport boarding the plane for Austin on their way to SXSW
-a little shiver of horror when I see the man next to me is reading Ayn Rand
-chatting pleasantly with my Malian SuperShuttle driver about Africa...but still lying through my teeth and saying I already have a boyfriend
-the always-awesome Chelsea Lodge
-a Samuel Smith brown ale + a mason jar stuffed with carrots, squash, beans, wheat berries and farro with pipettes of fig balsamic and Austrian pumpkin seed oil and shakers of artichoke and beet powder on the side + mushroom and bread dumplings + peanut butter mousse with blood orange and chocolate jelly and caramelized popcorn at Klee Brasserie
-the Gowanus Canal by night
-Neil deGrasse Tyson delivering a Secret Science Club lecture on Pluto at the Bell House that had the entire bar hanging on his every word
-a Czechvar and lots of adorably geeky boys
-a slice of cheese pizza on the walk home
Thursday
-mental soundtrack ---> Neutral Milk Hotel
-wishing I'd seen Natasha Richardson in Cabaret
-tea + orange juice + sour cream hazelnut waffles with warm berries at Balthazar
-stumbling into Uniqlo and stumbling back out again with a cute new dress for $20
-Sun Xun using both old Communist newspapers and his own body as canvas in two wonderful animated videos at the Drawing Center
-Ryan McGinness pushing into intensely layered paintings, sculptures and black light at Deitch Projects
-three cheese macaroni + a glass of white at Freemans, cozy in the rain
-conversing with former soldier Brian Laguardia in Jeremy Deller's It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq at the New Museum, the brand new building itself a happy addition to the neighborhood
-the joy of seeing Trevor Paglen's familiar starry satellite photography at Bellwether Gallery, and wishing I had a few extra thousand dollars lying around so I could own one
-Lisa Yuskavage's explicit painted ladies at David Zwirner that simultaneously attract and repel
-psychedelic film sets by Mika Tajima, stairwell fluorescents by Dan Flavin, dreamy early Super-8 films by Derek Jarman and a rooftop installation by Christian Holstad at X
-Yoshitomo Nara's radiantly grumpy girls at Marianne Boesky and his accompanying installation that made me weep by filling the gallery with one of my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel songs
-jumbo shrimp sauteed with vegetables in a light curry coconut sauce + a coconut pyramid with tapioca pandan sauce and a sesame twist at O Mai
-an opening in the Kitchen's gallery that instantly cemented Elodie Pong as my new favorite video artist
-then downstairs in the theater Big Art Group noisily and vigorously deconstructed our present virtual reality in their new play SOS in which they used a dizzying mix of live-edited video, hallucinatory backgrounds and animal costumes
-seeing names like Yoko Ono Lennon, Robert W. Wilson and Louise Bourgeois in the supporters section of the program
-coming home to a full hour of live Ani DiFranco on PBS
Friday
-mental soundtrack ---> Clipse
-first day of spring = tiny snowstorm!
-chocolate croissant + chai latte at Jack's Coffee
-huge exhibit on the influence of Asia on American art at the Guggenheim including some gorgeous Whistlers, Bruce Conner's Sound of Two Hand Angel and a whole room of John Cage
-Emily Jacir's evocative Hugo Boss Prize exhibit
-tartine of aged Gruyère with cornichons, sundried tomato, sliced mango and a trio of mustards + Belgian hot chocolate at Le Pain Quotidien
-at the Whitney: Jenny Holzer's gasp-inducing installations, Alex Bag's hilarious take on children's shows, a scribbled Sol LeWitt and a spectacular piece by Doug Aitken
-tea and crisps
-a glass of red + patatas bravas + tuna cakes + flash-fried sardines + a pear poached in rose at Tía Pol
-feeling like I won the lottery when my waitress spontaneously complimented my heels
-a live art battle in the basement of (Le) Poissin Rouge, though my favorite artist of the talented competing quartet, Venus, sadly did not win
-a splurge on a cab ride home and on a slice of spinach and mushroom
Saturday
-mental soundtrack ---> Jesus & Mary Chain
-the city this time appeared to be full of ancient basset hounds, or else I was just lucky and kept running into them out on their walks
-the hustle and bustle of Grand Central even first thing on a Saturday morning
-a train ride to the Botanical Garden
-lunch with a lovely view in the cafe
-the crazy orchid people (and some amazing flowers) in the great glass conservatory for the Orchid Show
-outside: bees buzzing, robins hopping and epic Henry Moore sculptures around every corner
-a veggie dog with hummus, carrots and olives + green bean "frites" + a lemonade at F & B
-Webster Hall packed to the gills with people there to watch designers make magical things happen live onstage at the Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament
-Steve McQueen live at the IFC Center to introduce his film Hunger, which I can already say with certainty is going to be one of my films of the year
Sunday
-mental soundtrack ---> Stone Roses
-did I mention that I had a bad cold the entire trip?
-back to Klee Brasserie for a proper Viennese brunch: café au lait, orange juice, brioche, apricot preserve and butter, scrambled eggs and cheddar + warm apple strudel mit schlag
-a SuperShuttle full of Dutch and Belgian tourists
-the unavoidable temptation of the Muji store right there in Jet Blue's new Terminal 5
-this quote from Irina Reyn's What Happened to Anna K.: