Unplugged for Two Weeks

Made it home last night from our two-week mini-vacation in time to catch the Republican debate. I’ll not make much over the debate, because after being unplugged for two weeks, I have little concern for politics. But I’ll share a few comments:

     I thought Megyn Kelly came across as a bimbo with nothing to add. What a shame they couldn’t find someone who could inject some intellectual integrity in to the program. To me it was another example of the war being waged in this country between religion and intellectualism, and it was all too clear who they were pandering to in this debate.

     For my money, John Kasich was the only viable candidate on the stage, someone who has the breath of experience on both national and state levels. He has issues with stage presents, but he seems to have a head of his shoulders.

    The rest of the pack gave us the same old stage-managed, focus-group driven, political speak that candidates with nothing new to offer drag out year after year. Thank goodness for Trump, who at least injected a little interesting humor into the program.

As for my vacation, there is too much to tell with just one post. I’ll start by saying what a delightful and rejuvenating experience it was to trek in the woods—no phones, no TV, no internet, no writing, and no goals other than to hang with my husband. Priceless. This is something I need to do more often, but of course, I tell myself that every time and it doesn’t seem to happen. The last long campout was two years ago.

For this post, I’d like to focus on my visit to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. I stayed in that great city for a few days visiting old friends before heading for the back country. We had a free afternoon so we lunched on the waterfront (fresh oysters and superb clam chowder) and then spent the rest of the day at the museum.

The museum is showcasing an exhibition called 28 Chinese, organized by the Rubell Family Collection in Miami. It presents 48 artworks from 28 contemporary Chinese artists. The exhibition brings together a multiplicity of perspectives and practices, including painting, photography, and sculpture. It is touted as a testament to the dynamic contemporary art scene in China.

My favorite was the colossal Boat by Zhu Jinshi. 40 feet long, row after row of stacked paper overlapping bamboo rods suspended from the ceiling.

 Other highlights were: