Visit With Son--Thank You

I feel a positive energy today. The day started out very well. I felt something wasn't right sometime yesterday morning but I think a few days before, even though some bad things happened, I still felt a very positive or close energy. Full.

My son looked really, really good today. Thank you whomever. Everyone.

When my son is okay, I don't feel defensive or like I need to get into things with anyone. I can just forget about everything and move forward, and I'm thankful. Also, I had a few problems with my own health but in the last few days, no problems. Thankful for this too.

I was very happy about it and able to have peace of mind getting other things done, like going directly to a job opening. I think I have the job too, though I'm unsure how the hours will work with visitation with my son.

He looked like he'd put on a little weight, didn't have circles under his eyes or they were starting to go away, and he wasn't twitching and didn't seem dehydrated. He also was speaking better and his mind seemed to be more clear and able to process things.

He had a small mark from a cut or possible slight burn (I think cut) but overall, his general health looked very very good.

He was in good spirits too, and we read a book about three kittens and their mother which he really likes, and he liked looking at an art book I was given by someone I met recently.

I showed him a few of the most famous pieces (I said, "And this is the Mona Lisa, esta muy famousa, but I have NO idea why."--I think it's overrated personally). He took particular interest in architecture and point of distance concepts. He loved anything that resembled a plane or bus or train terminal.

Things he liked:

1. Stonehenge. Wilshire, England, c. 2000 B.C.E. He loved this and looked at the aerial view with the design and kept pointing it out and following it with his finger.

2. Heartland. 1985. By Miriam Schapiro. (he mainly liked it, noting the heart shape).

3. He loved Sanford Darling In His Kitchen, with all the paintings and murals all over everything and the roads and landscapes.

4. "Footscray" by Nancy Graves. From the Australian Series, 1985. I pointed this one out on my own, because I like it, personally. I pointed out the colors and all the mediums used.

5. "The Kiss" by Rodin. 1886. My son liked it but saw the "bottom" and said "cochina." I said, "Some people think cochina but es no cochina a mama, es naturales."

6. He LOVED looking at the composite or familiar forms with visual metaphor and duality and Elliot Erwitt's "Florida", 1968. He studied these a long time and said of

7. O'Keeffe, he said "fowlers!" and i said, "Yes, flowers. Oriental Poppies" and he liked the Jack in the Pulpit too and I pointed out the thin red line inside next to the green section, almost in the middle and how striking it is.

8. "Descent of the Ganges" by Mamallapuram, India, 7th Century. He LOVED this one and adored the elephants and the baby elephants and all of the detail. Spent a LOT of time on this one and I explained it took a lot of work, to carve it out of rock and stone.

9. "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, 1972." by Betye Saat. He loved this. Said, "The baby is crying!" but kept staring at this one. I sort of thought he'd be a little scared of it but he loved it and thought it was really interesting.

10. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. "Shuttlecocks." 1994. He pointed this out and said, "What is that?" and I said, "A giant badmitten." He said, "fireworks!"

11. Wasn't interested in Paul Klee's "Landscape With Yellow Birds". I tried pointing it out but he didn't like it.

12. Bridget Riley's "Current". 1964. He liked this one.

13. Marc Chagall. "I and the Village". 1911. He loved this one and kept pointing out the man and goat and scene.

14. M.C. Escher. "Sky And Water I." 1938. He spent a lot of time looking at this one and loves the fish and birds. Looked at this at all angles. Loves it. He wanted to look at it upside down and righside-up.

15. Qennefer, Stewrd of the Palace. c. 1450 B.C.E. and Elberto Giacometti's "Man Pointing", 1947. He liked this one a lot. He liked the long lines on the guy. He also liked Henry Moore's "Recumbent Figure" 1938. He liked this one but said, "What is THAT?"

16. Cesar Pelli and Associates. "North Terminal Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport." 1997. He said, "A train station!" and pointed at where he thought the trains would go, or actually, I think he thought he was looking at the inside of a train.

17. A diagram of "clues to spatial depth". He loved this, even though it was just a diagram and not even a work of art. I tried to explain overlap and diminishing size and vertical placement. He also liked the diagrams of linear perspective. Spent a ton of time looking at this.

18. Raphael. He didn't like Raphael's "School Of Athens" except where there was a demonstration of the linear lines across it and then he was into the linear perspective and talked about things got smaller and far away.

19. Asher Brown Durand. "Kindred Spirits". 1849. He kissed this one. Fully put his face on it and kept kissing it. I guess he liked it.

20. Sassetta and Workshop of Sassetta. "The Meeting Of Saint Anthony And Saint Paul." c. 1440. He said, pointing to the saints, "A lady." I said, "It sort of looks like a lady, doesn't it? But it's a man, because a long time ago, men wore dresses and even had long hair and some men still do."

21. Dancing Krishna. Tanjor, Tamil Nadu. South India. He liked this one and then he went to the corner and knelt down but then I later looked at the photo beneath this one, and it is of Thomas Eakins "Man Pole Vaulting". 1884. He was trying to imitate the guy pole vaulting and ending in a crouched posture.

22. He liked a diagram of a drawing of a light on a sphere. He seems to be interested in geometric things.

23. Michael Hayden. "Sky's The Limit". 1987. Of United Airlines Terminals, o'Hare International Airport, Chicago. He loved this, and thought it was a train track. A very fancy one with cool lights and colors.

24. Victor Horta. "Staircase, Tassel House, Brussels." 1892. He liked this one, but I pointed it out because I liked it and he didn't like it as much as I did.

25. Hokusai. "Wave At Kanagawa." He wasn't very interested though I tried to point it out.

26. "Nahele." 1986. by Deborah Butterfield. I pointed this one out but he didn't like it that much.

27. "Dolmen." Crocuno, north of carnac, France. He liked this one a lot. And he also liked the wall of "Great Zimbabawe" before 1450. He liked Pont Du Gard at Nimes, France. 15 C.E., but mainly it sparked a conversation about camping near the river and fishing.

28. Hagia Sophia. He liked the interior of the Hagia Sophia a lot. 532-535. He really loved it and spent time talking about it. He thought the light fixtures near the ground, from an aerial view, looked like bicycles. He kept saying "bicycles!" He liked this more than the Notre Dame De Chartres. He wasn't that impressed with the Eiffel Tower.

29. Frank O. Gehry. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Bilbao, Spain. 1997. He liked this photo of the museum and wanted to look at it from all angles, even upside down and then he pointed out a small speck in the water and said, "The moon." and it was the moon, reflected from the sky in the photo but he found it in the water first.

30. Frank Lloyd Wright. "falling Water Bear Run, Pennsylvania. 1936. I pointed this out but I liked it more than he did.

31. sandra Botticelli. Birth of Venus. He liked this, more than the Mona Lisa which was on an opposite page.

32. Raphael. Madonna of the Meadows. 1505. He liked this one, with the "babies."

33. Frida Kahlo. "The Two Fridas" 1939. He loved this one and sat on his knees staring at it and liked the other one, "The Love Embrace of the Universe, The Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me, and Senor Xolotl." 1949. He also liked Rene Magritte's "Portrait" 1935.

34. Lcaes Oldenburg. "Two Cheesburgers With Everything" 1962. He liked this one.

35. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. "Running Fence". 1972-1976. He loved this and "The Lightening Field" by Walter De Maria and Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty".