in preparation

tomorrow is mardis gras. lent starts on wednesday. ash wednesday. i'll need to make it to a church sometime.

this year i think i'm going to abstain from beer and soda. i'm also trying to think of some sort of reflective obligation to give myself for the duration of lent... but i haven't decided on on yet. so for now, the plan is to skip out on the carbonated fat-makers in my life for at least 40 days.

i don't really drink soda much anymore. so that won't be so hard. however beer is all around me when i'm out having fun, so this one will be a bit tougher. which is good. that's the point isn't it? to actually sacrifice something. good.

art appreciation

while hanging out with my grandma this evening, we spent some time talking about how she would like to write more. she used to send letters to her friends and family on a pretty often basis and it's dropped off lately. i remember the fun in recieving letters from her when i was away at school. sometimes they were in english, sometimes in spanish- always in perfect script and fun to recieve and read through.

as we were looking through her box of stationary, i came across a set of notecards with a degas on the front.


i love degas. i've spent hours in various museums just soaking up his stuff. he told stories through his paintings and sculptures.

i think lately, i haven't been giving as much attention to classic works as i have to modern and street art. i havent been to mfa or the met or even san antonio's mcnay in ages. i have been to moma and a slew of art galleries featuring modern pieces and photography pretty often in recent years. and obviously, i spend a bit of time wandering the streets shooting graffiti and other street art. i have not been balanced in my dedication to and appreciation of the arts of late. i've been heavy in recent stuff and lacking in the classics.

ellen and i have a date to visit boston's ICA this coming week. which should be awesome, since i have never been. but also i think i'll need to make some other dates for myself to revisit old favorites. study a little bit. expand my art appreciation scope.

if i really am serious about maybe, possibly, hopefully pursuing some sort of career in the arts arena- i definitely need to study so much more. i'd like to be well rounded, not hyper focused in one area. ha. eventually. maybe this will lead somewhere. i hope.

grandparents

grandparents
Originally uploaded by florajasmine

here's a picture of my mom's parents in front of their house in jourdanton, texas.

my grandpa built that house in the late 40s or early 50s. my aunt and uncle live there today. they have a new fence. and i don't think it's seen snow since about 1986.

my mom looks so much like my grandmother, its freaky.

story: my mom and dad started dating in 73 or 74. something like that. my mom was around 20 years old.

after they'd been dating for a while, my dad invited my mom over to his house (where he lived with his parents and siblings) here in san antonio. his dad was already sick at the time and mostly bedridden.

when my mom entered the bedroom to meet my paternal grandfather, he called out the name florinda. florinda happened to be my mom's mother's name.

that's when the strange its-a-small-world story came out. apparently sometime 'back in the day' in mexico, my paternal grandfather had met my maternal grandmother at a town dance. or something. he thought she was cute.

and then time passed and my dad thought my mom was cute and they got married and had me.

so apparently, similar taste in women totally runs in the family. haha. gross.

oh the drama

i'm working from a starbucks in the middle of old-money-ladies-who-lunch-land in san antonio. it's also adjacent to a small catholic university that rich kids go to.

eavesdropping on these convos is so funny:

• when i came in a bleach blonde woman and her plastic friend were discussing her upcoming vacation to miami. they're staying at the biltmore and the friend was saying how she always prefers the ritz because its closer to shopping. um. when i go to miami i just want to roast in the sun. but thats just me.
  
• one boy was studying his organic chemistry (and staring out the window) when he ran into a girl from his class and they discussed their grades and studying techniques and the professors test style. it reminded me of a tams discussion that might have occurred for me 7 or 8 (!) years ago. made me feel old.
• now three women are gathered at a booth in the corner and are planning a gala for something. one woman was on the phone lecturing/counseling someone about the actions of her irresponsible daughter. another one is organizing her family's attendance at a wake later this evening. the third just arrived and is stirring sugar into her coffee. they're all dressed in cashmere cable knits, pressed oxfords, pearls and smart pumas or loafers. their wedding rings are HUGE. the big topic of conversation is the width of ribbon for something. its so foreign.

i need to focus on my own work/life. instead of listening in on others...