Category Museums

Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum

Singapore: Red Dot Design + Otters

K-pop in Chicago!

This weekend was a fun excursion into the world of K-pop! After a week of work in DC, I stopped off in Chicago and met up with Amanda and Rachel to see NCT Dream in concert. My last brush with K-pop was a bunch of years ago on a trip to Seoul. But this time […]

The Met, grilled cauliflower, and a jagged little pill

How better to start the first day in New York than with an uncle/niece breakfast date at Le Pain Quotidien. Thus did Brynn encounter the glory that is Belgian hot chocolate. Then off to the Metropolitan Museum of art, with a brief pause at Grand central Station to marvel at the stars. In the best […]

Petroglyphs and sea arch!

Within Volcanoes National Park there’s a road that leads down from the craters to the water’s edge, where the lava cliffs and ocean waves make for a dramatic coastline. Along the way there’s an understated stopping point with a trailhead to the middle of nowhere. This particular bit of nowhere happens to be a stretch […]

Amy’s here!

My doorbell rang at noon and who should be outside? None other than my dear Amy who has flown all the way from Seattle for a little vacation avec moi: a few days in London, followed by a few days in Paris, before a long weekend in Iceland (where we’re hoping to see some northern […]

Exploring Auckland

Sunday was my day to explore Auckland. I caught a mid-morning ferry to the CBD . . . . . . and made my way to the Auckland Art Gallery, which with its striking wooden awning is my certainly favourite building in Auckland so far. The gallery has an impressive collection of Maori art . […]

As one turns 40

Somewhere across town the London Symphony Orchestra is performing Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet for an audience of n minus 1, as I think the expression goes. That’s because instead of occupying seat C42 in the Circle, I’m sitting cozily in my living room, enveloped in wool and candlelight and the sounds of a Beethoven symphony […]

Ceramics and rain in Oxford

Remember how last year I brought that (allegedly) 18th Century Chinese dish home from the Cotswolds and used it for eating burrito bowls until I broke it by tapping it gently on my granite countertop? Well, it occurred to me (and some of you — Susan!) that this might be an interesting opportunity to try […]

Lungs and late at the Tate

Sometimes a play’s title sheds light on what’s to come. Sometimes it doesn’t. Last week I saw a play that fell into the latter category: Lungs, at the Old Vic. I still have no idea why it’s called Lungs. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it! Ninety minutes of Matt Smith and Claire Foy […]

Owning My OCD 2.0

Making sense of my world

Master Class

Travel, Teaching, and the Arts