November 2010

I finally got to meet Kyoko Ibe face-to-face. I've worked with her for a while now, but since she lives in Japan, we've never gotten the opportunity to meet in person. Of course, I was so nervous to meet her, and imagined her to be a thousand feet tall. She was thankfully more my size. And mysterious and inspirational. And I think I made her laugh.

We spent Thanksgiving at the in-laws in Jupiter, Florida. We went on a nature walk by the beach and saw a turtle in a hole!

While we were in Florida we got to go to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. The featured exhibit was Nick Cave's "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" - and it was FABULOUS. Huge colorful "Soundsuits" made of all kinds of, uh, stuff. I highly recommend this experience.

This month I got myself into a situation which comes up once every few years: I wished I had a cell phone.

I had agreed to meet a very important client in midtown for lunch. I haven't been to this restaurant, so I googled it and found the directions - 51st between 7th and 8th. Simple.

So I get to 51st and walk down towards 8th Ave and I can't find the restaurant (Later I'll find out it was between 6th and 7th). There is hardly anything but garages in this stretch and I can't see it ANYWHERE. I asked every guy in a uniform on the street who I figured knew the joints in the area to no avail. I finally get the directions from a street vendor and find the place - 15 minutes late. As I walked into the restaurant, I saw my clients waiting at the front with a wide-eyed look on their faces. As luck would have it, Ted Turner walked out of the place as I was walking in and that was all they were concerned with for the next 10 minutes.

I know, I know... If I had a cell phone, all would have turned out slightly better. But I got to talk to a bunch of janitors, a hot-dog vendor, construction guys and a knock-off purse salesman. Plus I wouldn't have had Ted Turner to serve as the perfect distraction.