Le Chat Noir

 

Chuck really identifies with Steinlen's work. 

A Christmas Story in Cincinnati

Ray got a MAJOR AWARD for Christmas.

Santa is an excellent wood-worker

Unfortunately for Ray, my Christmas requests aren't as easy as one-click shopping from Amazon. Last year I asked for a dance studio. This year I asked for a saw-horse desk made from an old door we had. It turned out beautifully. The next step is to create a library/reading room around the desk.

They think it's Jeff Ruby's

It's not. It's just groceries.

Maybe you can't tell

 

But there is a really exhausted cat sleeping with his tongue out in this photo.

Dusk and dark

 

The view from the hotel window.

Christmas in Miami

 

Christmas doesn't seem possible to me in warm climates. It's like Christmas in spite of itself.

Says it all

Scrubs

 

We did a video shoot in the Cath Lab a few weeks ago and putting on scrubs and lead was pretty much the most exciting thing ever for us.

Sunset in Clifton

Ball State, represent

 

An old friend's wedding announcement was in the New York Times last weekend. I've been reading the New York Times' wedding announcements for decades and this was the first time I ever knew anyone - he made it!

Photoshoot

Ray did a photoshoot for me of the 3D hearts we featured in the 2014 Accomplishments Report. Hunter S. Thomcat art directed.

Cat radio

HELLO!

YOU'RE LISTENING TO WCAT, CINCINNATI'S FIRST AND ONLY STATION FOR MUSIC BY AND FOR CATS. THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY.

THAT WAS THE SOUND OF SUFFERING MICE. UP NEXT, TED NUGENT AND CAT SCRATCH FEVER.

Sculpture for thought

We went to  Musée Rodin because a friend told us it was her favorite museum in Paris.

It ended up being one of my favorite places in Paris too - this quiet, museum oasis of sculpture away from the fray.

Turns out, The Thinker has a lot going on - sculpture, literature, inspiration, art, heaven, hell.




And some of the best views are from the men's and women's bathrooms, where this was taken, even though you can get close enough to touch it.




The Thinker and the Eiffel Tower.

 

And Rodin's The Kiss seems really sweet, until you learn the backstory.

Birthday girl

For my birthday I asked for a picnic at the Eiffel Tower. It was about 75º and sunny in Paris.

We had sandwiches (from the bakery near our hotel) and cheese and crackers (from a store in the subway stop) and sat on a towel from our hotel room because we didn't have a blanket.

It was perfect.

And then...

We went back to the Ponts des Arts lock bridge, which we discovered by accident on our first trip Paris three years ago.

It looks terrible. The locks are a blight on the bridge now, with so many that parts of the railings are breaking from the weight. We were happy to just take a photo there.

Water levels

 

Along the Seine.

Me, on my birthday

We started the day at Café Charlot at an outdoor table to watch the Parisian world go by.

Exciting things are happening in the dining room

 

According to the cats.

Oh, hey goat

Pre- and post-'goosing'

 

Tom and Lisa's reception. 

Portraits

 

Chuck's gigantic eyes crack me up every time. 

 

He gets his paw stuck but never seems to mind. That's how Chuck Norris rolls - he knows he's not really stuck.

Rays

My dad Ray and my husband Ray washing the dishes.  Marion 2014.

UC Homecoming

 

UC played Miami, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than rooting against Miami and watching them get beat. It was glorious.

There was also parachute jumpers, pyrotechnics, tens-of-thousands of college students and a gorgeous sunset.

Shakespeare in the Park: In Three Acts

Grand Teton

 

Post hike up to Inspiration Point in Grand Teton National Park. It was shortly after this photo was taken that I got food poisoning from a pre-made turkey sandwich. I never learn. 

Above the clouds

 

The drive from Idaho Falls into Wyoming and Grand Teton is stunningly beautiful. We came upon this scene coming out of a curve on WY22 East. We are above the clouds here, with them gathering in the valley, almost to Grand Teton.

August: Erie Avenue

 

Late summer sunset, from the front porch.  

Breaking A Leg

 

Ray and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Lumenocity dress rehearsal this summer. I knew there would be a lightshow, but other than that, the only thing I knew about it for sure was that we needed to get there early.

So for two hours we sat in Washington Park with nothing really to do but shovel pasta salad into our faces and look at Music Hall as we waited.

But waiting was so worth it, and the entire event was so uniquely Cincinnati.

Ray’s favorite part was the Charlie Harper tribute. All of Harper's stylized animals - cardinals, mallards, lady bugs, flamingos - all playfully making their way across the building.

We giggled as alligators snapped up from an invisible swamp and looked on amazed as flocks of Harper’s birds flew 5 stories tall across Music Hall.

It was a whimsical and loving tribute to Cincinnati's favorite artist.

But it was the Cincinnati Ballet that took my breath away. Principal dancers Janessa Touchet and Cervilio Miguel Amador were staggeringly beautiful and graceful projected onto Music Hall.

When it was over, I looked at Ray and said, ‘That was delightful.’

It was understatement.

In truth, between the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras’s beautiful rendition of Nimrod, which I had never heard before, and the dancers elegantly pirouetting across the building, I debated tearing up it was so beautiful and lovely and sublime.

It all reminded me that I don’t see nearly enough classically trained dancers, musicians or artists.

It also reminded me, listening to the talented, hard-working musicians of the CSO, that I haven’t done anything with my life.

I do not play an instrument. I cannot dance with the poise of a Cincinnati Ballet ballerina. I couldn't have even run the light show. At best, I could have written the program for Lumenocity. (And I’ve have gladly written that program!)

And in truth, I saw Music Hall really for the first time. If there is a better way other than Lumenocity to expose people to our own unique cultural arts in Cincinnati, I don’t know what would be.

Bravo, Cincinnati.

Photobomb

Hunter S. Tomcat is reaaaaaal tired from working Carl's Deli all day. Chuck Norris is just lazy.

Juicy G

I found this written on the Blue Angel last week.

"Who wrote on your car," Ray wanted to know.
"Who do you think would write 'I heart you, Juicy Booty' on my car?"
"Any one of your friends would do that."

True.

It was Missy.

"Juicy booty" is our mantra at the gym.