Urban Gardening (Sounds Way More Sophisticated Than Reality)

Something something complete. Yes, after finishing potting the window boxes on our balcony, my first though was a Family Guy, Star Wars reference. This is a sure sign a more significant portion of my brain has been corrupted by the company I've been keeping for the past 13+ years than I am generally willing to admit. Looking at you DH.

Since we moved in we've been wanting to turn the balcony into outdoor living space with plants. Having a tiny patch of access to the outdoors was an imperative for us when we moved and while it may be small, we'll be damned if we won't use every inch of it.

The World Market pillows make the herbs happy.

So this past weekend we discovered Gingko Gardens on the Hill (which is awesome) and stocked up on the hardware, plants and soil we would need to have a microscopic size "garden". It had never occurred to me to use different soil for the herbs/veggies that we eat vs. the flowers that we grow. But, the friendly gardener pointed out that if we use Miracle Grow soil to plant our herbs we'd be ingesting fertilizer through the plants. So of course I bought fancy organic soil-- because I am a total yuppie that can be convinced of just about anything I have little knowledge of will kill me or damage the environment-- and also regular MG soil for the petunias.

Of course, now I have enough soil in my garage to plant at least two other balcony gardens, so give a shout if you need some local dirt.

Squint and you can see the petunias.

Now basking in the gentle rain of this week (a sure sign mother nature agrees with our planting efforts) are:

-Herb box of cilantro, rosemary, thyme, basil and mint

-Box of mesclun lettuce (bought on total impulse, not sure why I need to grow my own)

-Two boxes of lantana, petunias and sweet potato vine (which are way over planted and will likely need to be broken into a third at some point)

-One potted hosta

 Not quite the Marigold Festival Gardens of yore, but here's hoping we can keep it alive and at least enjoy a few appetizers and drinks from our labors. So stop by and enjoy the flowers and a drink while lounging on an IKEA bench or vintage chair we've jigsawed into our little outdoor space.

Making Space for Art

Stepping off the metro at L'Enfant Plaza the moving curvature catches your eye before the sound reaches your ears. From two blocks away I was captivated. This was something special.

Late Saturday night (after the Nationals rallied, but still took a beating from the O's) I drug DH to go see Doug Aitken's Song 1 at the Hirshhorn before it closed.  I had seen the work in passing a few times, but I had not yet been able to sit and just watch.

Doug Aitken's Song 1 viewed from Seventh St at the Hirshhorn.

The installation piece envelopes the entire circular exterior of the Smithsonian museum perfectly. The technical is flawless. My inner museum geek simultaneously pondered how hard the installation staff worked on getting the width of the projection just right and the sound levels just so, while taking in the full visual effect of the piece.

This was a happening. Truly. People were casual strewn about the grassy bits and low walls of seventh street. Some in their finest attire, others partaking in full picnics they brought out for the occasion. Seventh Street gave way to slow rolling bicyclists ambling past.

On Jefferson Dr. we perched on the Sculpture Garden wall, dark shadows cloaking the bronze figures several feet below us. The ethereal music of Al Dubin and Harry Warren's "I Only Have Eyes for You" washed over the landscape in a seductive, yet meditative fashion. The layered and shifting loop of sound is by definition repetitive. The same lyrics reworked reached your ears again and again. And yet, the piece never tires.

Fleeting in nature, the installation thrusts both the museum and the Mall into an urgent context that otherwise would pass their evenings quietly and undisturbed by more than ambling tourists trekking between monuments. Yet, the strength of the work is deeper than the novelty of it's limited airing. It literally transforms the concrete 1974 structure from a shrine to modern and contemporary art to a canvas for art. This seems more meaningful than being simply a backdrop for the work. The work and the location become inseparable. Sure you could install it again somewhere else, but it would be a different work, in a different place.

This pushes the boundaries in a way distinct and yet similar to what Quixotic has done in Kansas City with both the Kauffman Center opening and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  Interacting with architecture to make art. But instead of a single performance, there is the opportunity with Song 1 to return again to change your vantage point of the piece.

Creating relevance for the visual arts in a society that is becoming conditioned to consume work quickly and without consideration is an evolving challenge for museums. Developing inspired installations like this are certainly a critical step into bringing new and old audiences to the steps of the museum to be inspired. For people to find out for themselves why art matters.

Walking home from the Mall, I kept turning to catch a glimpse of the piece from across the expanse until it eventually receded and the city noises once again took over.

Stumbling into Running, Again

Wandering through the adjacent fancy-pants neighborhood to ours with the dog is a brilliant way to:

a) be a total voyeur looking in all of the ridiculous embassy houses (where no one actually seems to live)

Iris at one of my favorite new parks.

b) discover some amazing gardens and parks that are tucked in to tiny corners and the roses smell amazing right now

c) scope out future delusional real estate purchases

d) ease from walking back into running

By bringing the dog along, I just seem less creepy (at least I think I do...) doing all of the above and I can blame my super awkward running stride on the dog. He's a total fall guy in this situation.

At any rate, a huge thank you to all my friends near and far who continue to post about their own running exploits, because it continues to inspire me to choose my running shoes over my flip flops and to drag myself out of bed far earlier that I would every normally consider doing (particularly on a Saturday).

So this past weekend when I managed to actually run (let's pretend it's running and not the slow slumped jog it really is) just shy of ten miles, in a row, and didn't die; I realized... why yes, I can be ready to run to the Army 10 Miler this fall and yes, I will be able to have my mile time be fast enough to not get swept. 

Here's hoping I get a bib this week when registration opens up for the rest of us. And now that I've written this I'll try and force myself not to wimp out.