I love bubbles

Before I give a report on New York, I have to write a few lines about ANTM, which I finally caught up on last night. As in past seasons, just when I pick a favorite, she takes whatever personality trait I like too far to the point of being obnoxious and becomes that week's house target. Lisa immediately stood out for me when I rather belatedly starting watching this season's episodes a few weeks ago. But in the last couple of episodes she crossed a line, apparently for the judges as well because, as you know if you watch the show, she got the boot last week. Maybe it was the peeing in the diaper incident. But even in the midst of all that, in a sort of montage of how the house was making the girls crazy, she stood out for me. In one clip they showed, she was in the hot tub and proclaimed, "I love bubbles!" I knew her fate, actually, before watching the show (that's what I get for not keeping up) and I was okay that she was the one leaving, but I have to say, I felt a little sad at that state-the-obvious moment.

But Kim's my new favorite. She reminds me of Eva - the ultimate ANTM winner from a couple of seasons ago. Tyra does a pretty good job of breaking down the girls and then building them back up, but every now and then, as if that wasn't enough, (as happened with Eva right around the same time during her season) the majority forms a mob and gangs up on one of the girls. This is when honesty rides a fine line with cruelty. It's the "calling you out" syndrome. Anyway, the girls were on their way home from a photo shoot, I think, in their stretch Hummer, when Bre and Nik started in on her. Jayla really took it to the cruelty level, and then the group condemned Nicole for defending Kim. Poor Kim, trapped in a confined space, being confronted by a bunch of righteous, judgmental nineteen-year-olds. Get a bunch of teenage girls together in a house for six weeks and show me one girl who's not guilty of talking behind another girl's back. Anyway, I really felt for Kim, but you know what, it'll only make her stronger and when she wins, the other girls will have their chance to cry.

But enough about ANTM...New York was, as they say, fabulous. And getting up early to catch the 7 a.m. bus from Boston's South Station really wasn't all that bad. There were five of us on the bus, and I was, apparently, the only one who had coffee. Everyone else slept while I was wide awake. I didn't want to miss anything during our road trip, especially as we approached New York. This was only my third visit, so the scale of the city in particular is still so amazing to me. You see the skyline from the freeway but twenty minutes later, you're still not there yet.

After lunch at Chelsea Market we hit the streets, visiting about fifteen galleries along Tenth Ave and on West 19th through 26th. The highlights for me were, in terms of galleries visited, Bellwether, Paula Cooper, 303 Gallery, Metro Pictures, and Gagosian. And in terms of artists, I'd have to go with Mark Dion, Hans Haacke, Mark Bradford, Lari Pittman, Mike Kelley (holy cow, what a show!), and Bill Viola. Most of the artists whose work I liked were from L.A., go figure...Anyway, the bus ride home that night left me stiff and tired, but overall, I had a blast. I've posted a few more images on my Flickr page.

A couple of random thoughts along the way and while there: All of the Sheraton hotels I see in Massachusetts look like castles. Why is that? The NY subway system is great, but the price has doubled since the last time I was there ($2 per ride! it's almost as bad as BART...). Also, on our way back to the bus stop, we took the blue line (A, C, or E, I can't remember which one), which smelled like cat poo. At West 4th, we transferred to the B/D line and every handrail was sticky. Yuck. Finally, while waiting outside the restrooms in Chelsea Market I couldn't help but notice that eavesdropping on a group of girls also in line was like watching Sex and the City. One girl actually said something like, "I never wear sneakers." Sneakers! I love New York. But at the end of the day, I gotta admit, I'm a jeans and sneakers kinda gal...