Atlanta revue

We did lots of stuff. No, really. There's just not much point trying to document all of it, not this late. So I'll stick with the things that made an impression on me:

Little Five Points. The artsy section of town, replete with small odd shops and such. A tea-shop. A giant record & comic store. Something like gothinabox, exposed to atomic radiation and grown to five times its normal size. Dollar-a-piece sushi [okay, that was only on Monday nights]. And a block away, old houses available for rent, some at reasonable rates [considering their lack of such amenities as air conditioning, laundry facilities, and in one memorable case paint on the walls]. A Nice Place, in the best sense of the phrase.

Octavio Ocampa's "Portrait of Jimmy Carter" at the Carter Library. Image sadly not available online. From about fifteen feet away it looks like a normal portrait; and then you get in closer and it's made up of buildings and ships and trucks and flags and things. Eminently cool.

The High Museum of Art. Two things, really: 1) Every time I see a Monet in person I realise all over again why people make such a fuss over his work. Prints don't do it justice. 2) The Veiled Rebekah. Marble sculpture. Yes, the veil is carved. Amazing. [The sculpture is actually a lot more graceful than the picture indicates.]

The Atlanta Botanical Garden. Not so much the botanicals [though the orchids and pitcher plants were nice], but the animal life. Bullfrogs in the ponds that I was convinced were just statuary until they moved or croaked. Entire families of quail scuttling about the floor of the conservatory. [Baby quail are only barely recognisable as birds: no wings to speak of, and fuzzy!] Plus the installation art of

Dale Chihuly. A couple of his pieces were on display at the Carter Center with the American Crafts Festival, he had some large pieces at the Botanical Garden, and then one of the galleries at TULA [art galleries, akin to the Torpedo Factory] was almost entirely devoted to his stuff. Wow. The light. . . . It made me rethink what Art is/does, and 'it made me think' is some of the highest praise that can be given to anything. That it's also downright gorgeous. . . wow. [The overall effect on me was similar to when I saw Blue Man Group for the first time: "staring . . . with my mouth half open and a stupid grin plastered on my face."]

And so much more. . . the other art at TULA, drinking with Stephen and Jonathan, the Giant Farmers' Market [at which the giant farmers were sadly not in attendance], the Lost Boys, Staying The Course, moving furniture, finding a pair of polarised sunglasses that fit [at a yard sale, no less] . . . quite possibly the best week I've ever had.

Thanks, y'all.