Bundle 3 Blog 4 What I've learned

So this bundle has taught me this: my best ideas always come when the bundle is finished. It also looks like I have a follower, thats kind of weird. I think my best way of completing this bundle is to create the web site. I think my mother's brother will have a fit!!! I had major exposure to art over my life. As I get older I appreciate it more as I understand some of it less. I did not choose a major movement of art because I wanted to create something more unique, I think thats why alot of the time I fall back on the family thing because it was an important influence in my life and because it something that I know. Also because it is so unique. I also realize that I am rambling at this point.

Bundle 3 Blog 3 Been there done that

So for the third part of our assignment we have the go there portion. So I took myself down to RISD to take a look at the place again. I must say it never really changes that much. I've been to museums all over the world and they never really seem to change. I think that is the most upsetting part of museums they never seem to change. They get new installations, they get exciting things from around they world that they show case but the majority of works stay in the same place for decades. I also think the strangest part about art is what can define it. I have no idea of how people could consider installation art art. I went last year to the MOMAR and saw an installation piece. I walked through a dark room with odd pieces of furniture and sculpture around the room. It had this weird video playing. I don't get it the video has to be one of the strangest things that I've seen in my life. Its right up there with blue man group - another kind of odd installation art. So as my appreciation for art grows as i age my understanding of what is called art decreases at the same time.

Bundle 3 blog 2.

With this blog I will cover the materials used to research this topic. I've read the auction materials that we have left hanging around the house to see how auctions are held. Most of the documents do not contain pictures they have descriptions of the stuff that they are selling. I've not had exposure to auctions at the level of Christies and Southerbies but I dealt with national auction houses. We usually auction our stuff through a place called Knotty Pine. As for art books I've read hundreds, I've reread through a few to get an idea of how they present the art work they are dealing with to the public. One of my favorites is the Art of the Imperial Russian Court. To have lived with this wealth and to be surrounded by the stuff that these people got to be around every day is amazing. One of my dreams is to travel to Russia to see the hermitage. I will say that this is one of the loves that my uncle and I shared we both enjoyed Russian History. So how does this relate to my bundle, well in my usual ADD driven style I guess I'm trying to explain why I'm doing this. I've check out RISD's website as well to see how they promote their information. I would like to do a variety of things with this I want to do an invitation to RISD for the inclusion of uncle's stuff to the museum, a article on his history of collecting, what I have determined to be his reasons to gathering all his stuff. A press release about the opening. For the last piece I'm a little torn I can't do a online gallery of the work because of insurance reasons, reality always steps in, but I'm thinking that last piece I can do is a press release for the opening of the gallery.

Bundle 3 Blog 1 Inspiration

Growing up my mother was always into art. Her uncle was also into art. In fact he was able to collect art and other objects that he found beautiful. He house was a living museum. After his death my mother inhertited his art collection. It sounds interesting but it was more than interesting it was a chance to hold history in your hands. In my twenties I was able to hold in my hands 14th century illuminations. These illuminations were created in 1380 and were part of a prayer book written in latin. To give an idea of how often a person even gets to see these you have to go to a museum where they are kept climate controled under glass. If you get to touch them you have to wear white gloves. My uncle let me hold these. I do not have the art love that they had. I've taken art history, gone to the Prato, my trip the the Uffizi did not happen because it was closed they day we went. I've been to RISD several times, the Boston and New York Museums of fine art, the MOMAR, traveled Spain, Portugal, Greece, Crotia, and Italy. I've seen art. Yes its beatiful but I never had the love for it that they had. But because of them I learned alot, and what i didn't learn I got to hold. The collection that he passed on to my mother had several incredible peices. One that she sold set a national record and was bid on by the Cincinati Museum of art. I've held art works that have hung in the New York Museum of fine art. It had a hand written inscription form the artist to my uncle that said something that was this beatiful should be enjoyed in his home. Most people do not get exposed to this stuff. But I did and took it for granted. I have always suggested that my mother share this stuff and have it put on display. I've suggested that she contact RISD and loan some of the work to the museum. She doesn't listen but maybe when she proof reads this bundle she will get the idea that this makes more sense that what she does with the art now.

Bundle Two Talk to someone learn more

So my ever evolving plan for this bundle is leaving me a little divided. For major resources for the sushi part I've talked to my brother, my sister in law, my mother, and the waiter at the restaurant. I've also visted a couple of web sites but learned from my past bundle not to use all web based reasource so I've got one web page. http://www.makemysushi.com This site gives a basic over view of the types of sushi and how to make them. I also downloaded a cook book for sushi to my kindle. Yo Sushi: The Japanese Cook Book by Kim Barber. Its kind of bla, I'm not impressed with it although I still think that I'm going to give it a go. For my second idea the family restaurant I actually consulted legal zoom to see what kind of information they have on starting your own business. Although I have to be careful if my mother finds out how much research I've done I may find myself with a new career. The family had a converation the other day about the food we would serve and it would not have an ethnic flair, being that the family was raised with a more American diet than anything ethnic. But we could have a good hook with doing everything organic because of the farm. Our big family joke is what people call organic today we called poor growing up. Menu items would be inspired by family things we ate with some of the family jokes included in them. Lazy Louie's Pot Pies, Swedish Round Things (terahki chicken that my father made and when we asked him what it was this was the answer), Stawberry Butter, Grandma's Roast, Dumplings, and gravy (real brown gravy which is what we ate over noodles). So my ever bundle must decided what it wants to be when it grows up.

Bundle Two Talk to someone

Well my bundle seems to have a life of its own and its evolving as I go along. My bundle started as Caryn's sushi challenge and is turning into Ma wants to open a restaurant. My grandparents lived in one of the family homesteads. Bought in the 1920's by my great great grandparents it features a 17 room federal style farm house built between 1760 and 1780. This house has been the center of family gatherings good and bad for almost a century at this point. My mother has always thought it would be a perfect location for a restaurant with the barn turned into a function area. She has this idea that my brother the chef would run the kitchen and the rest of us would take care of running the rest of the business. I think the idea could work but I'm not sure any of us really want to dedicate the time and effort necessary to make it work. So my bundle is including a review of the sushi place I might revise it to a review of our fictitious restaurant, a menu for the restaurant, I've seen and helped my brother make menus in the past so I know how to do it, a selection of function events available, a information page included in the menu our family history with the house, maybe a family ghost story or two so its interesting. I'm still debating thank you for the extra time as this whole segment has a life of its own all of a sudden.

Bundle 2 go there "Dirty Fish Water"

Last weekend was my stupid brother's birthday. He restarant choice was Toyko, on Wickeden street. I've never been out for sushi but I do pick it up quite often at the super market. So I'm a little lacking in the "whats everything called department." So my brother and sister in law did the ordering and the rest of us ate what they picked. Except my mother who states that the rice in sushi tastes like it was cooked in dirty fish water. I like sushi and was willing to try new things. Except when it came to vegitarian sushi or vegatable, truely it was quite horrible and I've blocked its true name from my memory. I put it in my mouth and it tasted like dirty fish water. So I had to then attempt to keep it in my mouth and not spit it out on my mother who was laughing at me as I tried to say dirty fish water as I attempted to swallow what has to be the most vile thing I have ever eaten. My brother is a trained chef, in what is refered to as American Regional cuisine. He offered to teach me how to make sushi, because he makes it all the time. My sister in law is allergic to everything so they have to be very creative when cooking and careful or else the epi pen comes out. It makes cooking Christmas dinner very interesting, cross contamination is a big no no. Thankfully I'm very careful when I cook normally about cross contamination because I'm anal retentive about food born illness and food touching. My brother and I are so weird that we only eat one thing at a time and have been known to wash our dishes inbetween food. My mother swears that this is not normal but we have both done this our whole lives so we blame her for this. But away from the tangent and back to the sushi. I have now been educated in what things are called, don't ask me to write it down but I will know when I look at a menu what I like. It doesn't even have to have pictures. But please be careful having sushi and avoid the dirty fish water flavored sushi.