Day one- October 3rd 2012

10-3-2012

Flying out of Lax on Tuesday night at 9:20pm and arriving at JFK on Wednesday morning at 5:40am. I was definitely feeling the effects of the time change right when I stepped off the plane. Sleeping on a plane full of strangers is impossible for me, I imagine a plane full of my family and friends where you don't have to worry about laying your head on someones shoulder, but I can only dream.

Have you ever tried laying your head on the food tray in front of you? Don't try it, your neck will hurt for a couple of days.

Coming from Los Angeles and living through weeks and weeks of a heat wave did not prepare me for the sudden contrast in weather that Manhattan shared with me. But I will say that I was so so happy that fall was present in New York, because lucky for me, fog, rain, and sunny days that don't burn are the most enjoyable kind of days for me. My first stop after riding the metro out of JFK was the M.E.T. Metropolitan Museum of Art. But first I had to pass through a big chunk of Central Park which was sort of eerie because of all the fog. 

In 2008 I went to visit my friend Luke in Buffalo NY which is all the way on the west side of New York. I did get to visit the city and stay with a good friend of his in Brooklyn. I had a wonderful time then but I didn't get to do a lot of things that I wanted to do, or better yet, I didn't know what I could do. This time around, I wrote out an entire itinerary with places I wanted to go eat at, art museums galleries that I wanted to visit, monuments, parks, and a ton of other weird things that I found out about prior to my visit. My itinerary wasn't a timed one with a schedule of events for a day, it was much more free so I could decide what to do on a specific day.

The picture above is a gigantic installation by El Anatsui titled Dusasa II. It's made from found aluminum, cooper wire, and plastic disks.

This was one of many favorite pieces I had the chance to see at the MET. I've always liked the idea of reuse, recycling used and old materials to make something new. And the transforming of our idea of trash, what is trash, what makes it trash, and why is the value lesser than something new. Do these titles make it less important or attractive? I like how Anatsui took these materials that we consider trash or dispensable and turned them into this beautiful tapestry. 

The MET has everything you could ever think of, so much artwork from different continents, eras, and cultures. The great thing about that was you could walk into a room full of 4th century B.C. Etruscan pottery, and walk into another huge room of wood carvings from 19th century Northern New Ireland. It was fun, and I spent my entire half day there until my feet couldn't take it anymore and I still had about a 4th of the museum that I didn't even see. 

Remember how I was saying that I had an itinerary, well the food section on my itinerary was such a success. Thanks to Yelp and some suggestions from locals, I ate the most delicious food during my stay. Also, I'm now officially in love with falafel sandwiches.  

This past May the sketchbook project came out to Los Angeles during their Sketchbook World Tour. They were only in Los Angeles for 2 days, so only being there for a night, we didn't get to see as many sketchbooks as we would've liked. Our books just got back from their last stop in the states to come and sleep at the Brooklyn Art Library. So lucky for me, I was reunited with my book and all the amazing books from 2012 and before.

I was so excited to see Amy's book again, I really liked her book but felt like I didn't really get to sit with it in Los Angeles. And I didn't get to take pictures of her whole book in LA so I made sure to do so while I had the chance. 

All about hair by Amy Bones. 

The Brooklyn Art Library was just fantastic, shelves and shelves of sketchbooks from around the world. It was also just a really nice place to hang out. There's all kinds of art supplies for sale here, and the staff is super friendly which is a plus. When I told them I was looking for my book, Chris, the man who was helping me told me it was one of their favorite books at the library and he knew exactly where to find it! Of course I was flattered. 

Before meeting Keith & Ilknur, the couple I was supposed to stay with during the week, I explored Williamsburg. Found this small park by the water and a view of Manhattan and the Williamsburg bridge. It was a nice way to end a long sleepless day.