MOBA report delayed (but on the way)

I know, dear readers, that you've rushed with eager anticipation to my blog this morning to read the full account of the unveiling (yes!) of The Id and Ego of Gina (official title) at MOBA. After the gala reception ended last night, Erin phoned in a gleeful, albeit brief, report. But now she's off to Atlanta for a conference and the full report, with pix, will have to wait a week. If she has decent wifi access where she's staying, we may be able to get some work done on it sooner. In the meantime, you can cool your jets by reading Anju and Rahul's blogs of their summer adventures in India.

MOBA exhibit opens June 7!

Below is the blurb about the new exhibit at MOBA. Unfortunately, they've scheduled the gala opening for a Wednesday evening -- a bit hard for me to drive to Dedham and back that night. But Erin will go and send me a full report.

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The other world-famous art museum in Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, recently closed a popular exhibit, "David Hockney Portraits". As a tribute to our downtown neighbors, and in recognition of the importance of portraits to their collection and ours, MOBA announces the opening of: HACKNEYED PORTRAITS: IT LOOKS JUST LIKE HER!

We'll include many new MOBA acquisitions along with a few of your old favorites. One is:

. . . ASHEN WOMAN RISING
. . . By Anonymous
. . . 12"x15", oil on canvas
. . . purchased in Jamaica Plain by Mike Frank

. . . Rising from the murky depths like Nessie, this mysterious
. . . beauty from the underworld haunts the viewer with her
. . . piercing gaze from eyes both blue and brown.

This show opens with a gala reception at MOBA's permanent gallery on Wednesday, June 7. Please join us at 7:30 pm and bring your friends. Arrive early and enjoy beer or wine in the refurbished lobby of the Dedham Community Theater. Traditional MOBA refreshments* will be offered at the Opening Reception.

If you can't make the opening, then come and see this exciting new exhibit when you can.

* Traditional MOBA refreshments often include brightly colored KoolAid and cheese curls.

A tank full of gas, a clean windshield and a shoe shine

Ok, so I didn't really get a shoe shine. But I wore my new Simple sneakers for three days in NY last week. The first day we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw a play. We walked every street of the Lower East Side and had a tour at the Tenement Museum (highly recommended) on Day 2. On the last day, we toured Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate in Tarrytown. So, we saw two very different sides of life in America in the early 20th century -- the cramped quarters and extreme poverty of the immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard Street and the lavish wealth and palatial digs of the Rockefellers. Many pix are now on my Flickr page. Take a look and let me know what you think of them.

Mad Rush to the PO

I was on a mission to get both of these items in the post today. First was this excellent, mint condition, vintage Kake-Toter by Everedy that I got for ST at the flea market. The top turns to attach to the bottom plate. Brilliant! And it's clearly been hanging around unused for 40-50 years. You just can't beat that. Second, I had a request from Spooner that I send Pepto Bismol tabs to him in the UK for him to take along on his upcoming trip to Mexico. He is hoping to avoid -- or at least lessen the impact of -- the bugs that distressed him on his last visit south of the border. I included some Immodium caplets as well. But what's wrong with this picture? I paid more than $6 to mail over-the-counter meds across the Atlantic Ocean so that he can fly back to this continent with them in his suitcase. I thought it was better to do as asked than to ask questions, but I'm curious to know if the UK is really a land without PB. What does the Queen carry with her when she travels abroad to visit her subjects? What does she do if she eats some bad fish in France?

Farewell, Gateway PC

These old components had been strewn all over the floor of my study for the past 9 months. Together, they probably weigh the same and occupy as much space as I do. My plan all along was to recycle them, but I hadn't quite figured out how to do that. Dell would take them, but I would have to pack them into the box that my new computer came in (one look told me they wouldn't fit, or if I could get them into the box, it certainly wouldn't fit in the Mini) and ship them back to Dell. I sent e-mail last fall to the Five College recycling coordinator, asking her how I could recycle computer components, but she never replied. The college where I work has a recycling program, but only for college-owned computers. The UMass recycling facility will accept personally-owned computers, but you need a UMass ID to get in (mine expired in 1988). I gave the old ink-guzzling Epson printer away last fall, sold the external CD drive (the best of the lot) for $20, and tried to no avail to find a buyer for the speakers and subwoofer (old, but still sound good).

Then this week I saw a post on Usenet -- someone wanted an old PC. I wrote back, he called, we arranged a place to meet, and the components shifted the next day from my car to his. His plan is to rebuild an old computer for his sister. He didn't ask any questions, so I didn't have to tell any lies. I did tell him in advance that the hard drive was about to die (true) and that I would be pulling it out (easier than trying to permanently delete -- if that's even possible -- all my personal stuff from it). So, there was no mention that the monster monitor spazzes out periodically and that the power switch is temperamental. Apparently he didn't need to know. He promised to recycle whatever bits he couldn't use, and that was all I needed to know. I'm thrilled that I can see my floor again.