A Puzzling Process

For my birthday present to myself I got a membership for myself and Kathleen to the Phillips Collection which is the first modern art museum. The Phillips Collection is located in DC and is both housed in a lovely and intimate setting for a museum.

The Collection has many wonderful paintings. Their prize painting is Renoir's Luncheon for a Boat Party which I have seen several times. It's the kind of painting that makes a visual imprint in one's memory. While I may not remember this painting in all of its glorious detail, I definitely remember its feel. So one night when I was casting about to buy a jigsaw puzzle, I came upon this painting as one. I purchased it immediately and it has arrived via UPS. It's produced by Pigment and Hue and sold by WonderCat Inc. Perfect for me.

I've wanted to do something quiet and meditative like a puzzle for a long time. Now that my studio is more or less in order, I can devote my drafting table to the puzzle. Yet I have paused. I have not opened the shipping box the puzzle was shipped in and I've lost momentum. Can I not do a puzzle and piano lessons at the same time?

That's what happens when you have too much time, sometimes you get less done than if you were busy. You know the saying "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person!"

So considering that maybe I'll open the box today...

Another Tomboy Becomes A Feminist

As an only child I played with the neighborhood children, who were mostly boys. This worked well for me since I had rejected every doll my family had ever given me. I loved playing baseball, basketball and even tag football in the streets with the boys. And I turned into a tough little girl too. I played as rough as I got, and I had the scrapes and bruises to prove it.

The boys would often play nice with me and then when I would win, they would step up the intensity. I always wanted them to play with me like I was a boy, an equal. Playing like equals was pretty easy between the ages of 4-7. Something happened at age 8 though. I think I become a GIRL, and now the foe.

Ever since I was 8 years old, I have never regained that easy camaraderie with boys or men. My attempts to be an equal whether in school or work have been rebuffed at best. I was now restricted to the company of girls and women. And, so I discovered by age 11 that females were considered by many people to be unequal to males.

But I knew better from my tomboy days...and so since then I have devoted a significant part of my life to ending sexism. I have become a feminist. I have gone to rallies and marches, I have been an editor of a feminist newsmagazine at UCLA, and I have worked at women's organizations in Washington, DC. I guess you could say I've contributed to the women's movement.

But I don't know if this tomboy will ever get to play like an equal with boys and men. But my hope is that future generations of women will have far more opportunities to play ball with the guys. And I hope they win too!