A Night in the Parliament, A Day at the Marionette Theater

Tuesday night I headed back to the Members' Salon for a reception hosted by an MEP for some Christian organizations in town. It was in the same room in which I experienced "Mongolia Night." They served us a few nibbles but as it was dinnertime it did not sate my appetite. Saw a few Well friends there, such as Miika (the Finnish version of Steve Smallman, complete with rocking klavier skills, dimples, humor, and popularity) and Laura (a true British gal who works for a social services association). We met up with a Slovak friend who was coming out of his office and proceeded to scope out the other receptions going on in the ASP building that night. There was "Stateless Nation," a reception for an exhibit on Palestine. But there was no food, and no drinks left except champagne, water, and OJ. Next we tried to sneak in to the President's reception where there was actual, real FOOD, but we didn't stand a chance of getting in. (This kind of thing only happens in the movies.) Finally we went up elevators, down escalators, and up stairs to get to a little sandwich shop that was closed. Why, oh why, in a place where socialism and equality are so highly valued, could my poor little stomach not find sustenance? As Jerry Seinfeld said, "You see why communism didn't work."

This afternoon I accompanied two small children and their grandmother to a small Marionette (puppet) theater. Today's show was the life and music of Mozart. It was a bit campy but still a delight to watch. Every time Mozart's carriage would travel from Vienna to Paris or Paris to London, the kids would make clucking noises to signify the motion of the wheels over the rocky roads. It was sort of cute but got old after a while. I was hoping for a Tintin show, but Mozart was an adequate replacement. I did see Tintin puppets in the museum afterwards.

what i did yesterday afternoon

I danced crazily with two small children to Mozart's "Le Petite Musique de Nuit" from one of the pages in their LeapPad.

Doubt I'll have that experience anywhere else.

Leon Spilliaert

Went to an exhibition of early 20th century Belgian artist Leon Spilliaert at the Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique yesterday. I like his name because it makes me think he was "spilling over with art." Of course, "spill" probably means "to play" in Flemish, in which case you could say he was "playing with art." Either way it tickles me.

Influenced intellectually and artistically by the likes of Nietzsche and Picasso, Spilliaert experimented with symbolism, expressionism, surrealism, and even Japanese engravings in his art. Out of that melange of thinking and creating emerged his unique style. He used precise lines to create semi-distorted depictions of people and places. He was born in Oostende on the Belgian coast and thus loved to paint pictures of dikes, beaches, and bathers. In the exhibit there were lots of 'em. But he also whipped out some fascinating paintings of women, different seasons, and even Elijah's chariot and Eve and the serpent. He did a lot of self-portraits that are quite striking, and not always flattering. Needless to say, it is difficult to put this man in an artistic-period-box.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find images of a couple of my favorite paintings that I saw at the exhibition anywhere on the internet. Here is one that represents his work well, entitled "Vertigo, Magic Staircase":


And here is one of his quirky self-portraits:

These are both in black and white, but he did do many color paintings as well, especially later in his career. I really like his style.

Woohoo, I'm posting this before Laura!

"What is that keeps you going, Jesus Christ or Pat Robertson's protein shakes?"

So lovely to have visitors

Come visit us in Brussels. Our most recent dinner/hang-out guests were Lydia and John Young, who on their way to Japan are helping out some MTW folks here who need people to watch their kids during the month of January.

Among those MTW folks is also one of my good friends from college, Amanda Lewis. It was an unexpected surprise to see her in church last week. Other potential future visitors include cousin Emily Belz who is studying in France, other Covenant students studying in Slovakia or coming here for spring break, my boyfriend's parents, my sisters who will be studying/interning in London in the summer, and my parents who will be in Budapest in May (along with the Dodsons). Really, once you're over the big pond, Brussels is only a hop, skip and a jump away from many places in Europe. So if you find yourself in this neck of the woods, be sure to look us up. We can cook you dinner and take you out to our favorite haunts. Consider this an open invitation.

Back from Christmas break

Kind of a boring post, but I just wanted to recap my Christmas. During my time in the states, I:

• went caroling the night I flew into Boston
• drove two days in a rented car with all the stuff I left in my sisters' apartment and with a Friday night stopover in DC
• came all the way from overseas only to find myself helping to lead the singing at a church I haven't attended in nearly two years (gotta love Wade Williams' faith in his choir alumni)
• saw Dave perform in a Christmas Eve service and briefly re-united with my faculty adviser at said service
• sang "While Shepherds Watched" to the tune of "How Sweet and Awesome" - it works, try it!
• woke up first on Christmas morning due to different body clock
• upon receiving a pilates DVD as a present, did pilates three times in the past week
• met up with friends Todd, Cole, Ana Maria, Tacy, Elizabeth, Heidi, Caitlin & family
  
• went with the family to see "The Good Shepherd"
• had a huge Chinese dinner, courtesy of Joe, with the Drexlers, Schimpfs, and Gienapps
• played pool with sisters, Jon, MC, and Nate
• went to Asheville for New Year's where we hung out with more relatives, started work on an "everyone can sing" worship song book, went bowling, watched the Simpsons and football, and went hiking
• spent more time with my parents than I have in a long while, and admired my mother for her brave recovery from knee surgery
  
• talked to my boyfriend every single day at least once, and used Joe's Macbook to do webcam - highly recommended for all separated couples and friends

But perhaps the greatest thing that happened to me was the discovery of the Colbert Report. I'd heard this fellow's name before, but I can't believe I'd never heard more about him or watched his show. I feel a bit behind, but I'm so glad the aquaintance was made.