Trains!

I went to Northlandz with my sister and niece and nephew today.  Niece is three and nephew is one.  Northlandz is a huge indoor train display - I think the biggest in the country.  I have always wanted to go there.  I secretly wish I had a train set.  My dad used to have one but sold it because he never used it.  Sigh...

This place was just amazing!  It seems to have been built largely by one man.  Then, there were dollhouses on display as well as other toys.  I was so in my element.  There was a huge dollhouse that was larger than the one at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.  It made me wish I had the time to keep on working on my dollhouse.  This one was build by a woman with the same surname as the man who built the bulk of the train buildings and sets.  There really should be a book about this place.  And there were more adults there than children.

Lulu was so well behaved and just a dream to walk with around there.  Actually, I held her most of the time.  She is quite tiny.  The houses, tracks, bridges, scenery....  It was just amazing.  Then, we took a ride on the little outdoor train through the woods.  There is a part where we can see the vehicles on Route 202.  I asked Lulu whether she liked cars or trains better?  She answered trains.  Right on, cutie pie!  We are like two peas in a pod.

I have always loved trains.  I like watching freight trains, looking for tags on them, riding trains, and looking at the scenery that is not visible by car.  Someone asked me recently if hubby and I rent a car when we travel abroad.  Heck no!  Riding the train through the English countryside from industrial Manchester to Medieval York was beautiful.  Then the ride from Prague to Budapest was just wonderful - forests, flatlands, villages, bike paths.  I just wish train travel in the US was more available and affordable.  The tickets for trips sell out so far in advance and they are so expensive.  I hope I can take Lulu on a train ride someday.

Ugh.

Um, yeah, so that to do list?  Down the drain for today.  Went to find good cards - not happy with the selection this year.   I was out for a half an hour.  I come back to unload the laundry and see it as soon as I open the door to the basement.  Water.  Everywhere.  Yup.  The sewer pipe has backed up again.  Oh, It will drain very slowly, but this means few trips to the toilet, no washing dishes and no bathing until the plumber gets here tomorrow morning.

You might be thinking - if you are that rare bird that reads this - "Didn't this happen before?"  Yes, as a matter of fact it did.  Mere hours before our flight to Budapest the day before Easter.  And here we are, two days before Christmas.

So I spent the better part of the morning shop-vacuuming the basement and the pipe the washer drains to, pouring washing soda and vinegar down the drain, and then re-doing the whole darned thing every time I tested it and it over flowed again.  Oh, and I had to go out in the rain to empty the shop vac out.  Fun.

I did make the cat presents.  Home grown catnip in refillable fabric pouches.  Yay.

Made it

I do not think there is a public school teacher in this country who would not agree that this is the most desperately needed vacation.  Phew....

This vacation I vow to:

• work on making submissions to galleries and shows
• work on issue two of my zine
• work on my Etsy shop
• print in my darkroom
• not check my work e-mail more than once a day
• re-start my Hungarian lessons
• cement the plans for Paris for me and the hubby.

I just finished listening to this:

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/christmas-old-world/

It is a show of Medieval Christmas music.  I am so in love with this era.  One of the best exhibits I have seen in recent years was the Illuminated Manuscripts from Italy at the NGA.  There were some pieces that had a speaker nearby playing the piece in the sheet music.  Heaven!  And especially wonderful because there is very little out there on the work from Italy.  I didn't know of the great tradition of illumination from that area of Europe.  I only knew of those from further north or west.  

There is so much out there from the early 20th century and the medieval era that I could listen to Christmas music all vacation and not listen to the same thing twice.  But I have to find all those gems first.

Well, I had every intention of going to the Generations opening.  But when faced with rain, no one to go with, and a nagging exhaustion I went right home after work on Thursday.  I did see my work on the wall in a picture the gallery posted online.  That was nice.  Hopefully they will have a closing reception again and I will attend that.  Being tired all the time stinks.

It is now getting very cold.  I forgot to go pick the remaining lettuce in the garden, so I hope it will make it through the snow.  I will be bringing the big bear out of hibernation soon.  It was a cold ride to work.

Oh, and hubby rented the DVD of "Brick City" from the library.  It is a multi-part documentary on Newark in the summer of 2008.  We are on part three.  I have so many opinions of what we are seeing, but I will hold off from blabbing about that until the series is done....

DUMBO

Today, I dropped off a photo in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.  It is going in the biannual show "Generations" at A.I.R. Gallery.  I like this show because it is for a good cause, varying form year to year.  The neighbourhood is pretty neat too.  It is under the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.  There are some cool warehouse buildings, some graffiti, a park, a great bookshop, and Rice, a nice restaurant.

Thankfully, the weather was nice.  So.... I decided to go to Bluestocking in the Lower East Side afterwards.  Good thing I did.  When we got off the F train at 2nd Avenue there was a vintage subway train across the platform!  So, naturally all us way too cool people whip out our cameras and devices and start taking pictures like silly tourists.  It was just so darn cool!  The cars were beautiful inside and out!  This is something the MTA is doing for the holidays on Sundays only.

I might not be a huge fan of NYC, but things like this, I do like and it softened my heart a bit.