TITLE: A Short Break in Boston
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: April 24, 2016  6:46 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
This weekend has been a normal one at home, a little online and
a little off, but last weekend I went offline for most of three
and a half days to visit my older daughter in Boston.  She been
in Jamaica Plain in for eight months and had plenty of sights
to show.  I hadn't spent much time in Boston since
<A HREF="http://www.aaai.org/Conferences/AAAI/aaai90.php">
   AAAI 1990</A>
and, except for the walk across the Charles River from my MIT 
dorm room, had forgotten most of the details of that trip. Now
that I blog, I can preserve my memories for 2042 me.

<EM>Offline</EM>.  &nbsp;  Being offline for most of three and
a half days was a treat.  I had my laptop on for only a couple
of hours in the Chicago airport when I used a long layover to
grade one of my students programming assignments.  Thereafter,
I left it in its bag, turned off.  It was great to be present
to my daughter and the world for a while without feeling the
need to check mail or tinker with work.

<EM>Goal</EM>.  &nbsp;  At the airport, I saw several members
of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a North American Soccer League
team.  I'm guessing they were passing through ORD en route to
a match with the Minnesota United.  From the score of the game,
I think my weekend went better than theirs.

<EM>Confluence</EM>.  &nbsp;  Saturday morning, we went out for
brunch at
<A HREF="http://www.centrestreetcafejp.com">
   the Center Street Cafe</A>
in Jamaica Plain.  We arrived a few minutes after opening.
Seating is limited, so we waited outside in line.

There was one party ahead of us, a young couple.  The young woman
kept looking at my jacket and finally said, "Did you go to UNI?"
When I told her that I teach there and that my daughter is from
Cedar Falls, she told us that she is from Des Moines.  The older
guy behind me in line heard us discussing Iowa, asked where we
were from, said that he is from Council Bluffs, and recalled that
a good friend of his UNI.  We all marveled at the coincidence.
Our new Council Bluffs friend wondered what it was that attracted
Iowans to Boston; I silently wondered if Boston depended on an
influx of Iowa talent to stay fresh.

The food was excellent, too.

<EM>Walking</EM>.  &nbsp;  After brunch, my daughter and I spent
several hours walking in the
<A HREF="http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu">
   Arnold Arboretum</A>
and the
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hills_Cemetery">
   Forest Hills Cemetery</A>.
The arboretum is not yet in bloom yet still had plenty of neat
things to see, as well as a prodigious hill to climb.  The
cemetery is full of impressive monuments and interesting
sculpture.

For some reason, I got it in my head that I wanted that I wanted
to see e.e. cummings's cemetery marker.  I did not know that it
is
<A HREF="http://harrumpher.com/?p=444">
   famously difficult to find</A>.
Alas, after several hours on foot at the arboretum and cemetery
in the sun, my brain was not up to the task of finding it.  Now
I have extra motivation to return to JP.  I'll have a picture
next time.

<EM>The Arts</EM>.  &nbsp;  We decided to spend Sunday afternoon
at the
<A HREF="http://www.mfa.org">
   Museum of Fine Arts</A>,
but I could have spent a week there.  Our first stop was the
special exhibit called
<A HREF="http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/megacities-asia">
   Megacities</A>,
by artists from cities that have, in the last few decades, grown
to populations in excess of 20 million people.  These artists
are responding to what this growth means for the people, their
way of life, and the cities themselves.  The old architecture
student in me was drawn especially to two spaces created to
evoke the cities that existed before the growth:
<UL>
<LI> Hu Xiangcheng's room-like installation made from windows
     and doors that were salvaged from Ming- and Qing-era houses
     torn down to make way for modern buildings </LI>
<LI> Asim Waqif's bamboo scaffolding inspired by the changes in
     construction techniques in Delhi</LI>
</UL>

Sarah wanted to be sure to see a painting she likes, of a big
storm in a valley, and otherwise was open to explore.  It
turned out to be Albert Bierstadt's wonderful
<A HREF="http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/storm-in-the-mountains-33126">
   Storm in the Mountains</A>.
I expressed interest in the impressionists, so we made sure to
swing through those galleries, too.  The Pisarros took more of
my attention than in the past, and the Monets lived up to my
expectations.  We spent several minutes examining several of
his Rouen Cathedral canvases and several of his Morning on the
Seine works up close, then walked to the opposite corner of the
room to experience them from a distance.  It was hard to leave.

<EM>A New Favorite</EM>.  &nbsp;  The MFA has an extensive
collection of John Singer Sargent's work, about which I had much
to learn.  I left the weekend with a new painting among my
favorites, Sargent's "An Artist in His Studio":

<CENTER>
<A HREF="http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/an-artist-in-his-studio-31260">
   <IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/art/sargent-an-artist-in-his-studio.jpg"
        ALT="An Artist in His Studio, by John Singer Sargent, 1904"
        WIDTH="400"
        ALIGN="center" /></A>
</CENTER>

Up close, the detail in the bedding grabs the eye:  "Surely,
never were tumbled white sheets so painted before."  The artist
at work.

<EM>Coincidence</EM>.  &nbsp;  My reading for the trip was
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Tea">
   The Book of Tea</A>,
Okakura Kakuzo's short book on the Japanese tea ceremony and
its intimate connection to art, culture, and philosophy.
Until I reached the biographical essay at the back of this
1956 edition of the book, I did not know that Okakura had a
connection to the MFA in Boston:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 The wholesale destruction of a nation's cultural heritage
 [in the late 19th century] aroused to action a small group
 of Japanese artists and men of letters and a handful of
 foreigners who seemed more concerned about the fate of
 Japanese art than were many native hotheads.  The nucleus
 of this movement emerged from the Imperial University in
 Tokyo, with Professors Morse and Fenollosa in the lead, and
 with Kano Hogai, of the ancient family of artists, to act as
 historic instructor.  Fenollosa urged his wealthy friend,
 William Sturgis Bigelow, to buy up whatever of value was
 tossed on a careless market; this was to become the core of
 the great Oriental collection of the Boston Museum.  Okakura
 Kakuzo and Baron Kuki were the most energetic Japanese workers
 in this group.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

Iowans and Japanese intersecting with Boston.  The Oriental
collection is definitely on the itinerary for my next visit.

<EM>Much More</EM>.  &nbsp;  We packed the weekend from morning
until night, beginning with a workout at my daughter's gym and
ending each night with a film.  In addition to the places I've
mentioned, we visited the aquarium, the North End, Boston
Common, and the public garden, another brunch at
<A HREF="https://veeveejp.com">
   Vee Vee</A>,
and a dinner at
<A HREF="https://twitter.com/milkywayjp">
   Bella Luna</A>.
It was a weekend well-spent.

<EM>A Modern Man</EM>.  &nbsp;  I even joined the 21st century
on this trip.  I sent a text for no purpose other than to say
'hello'.  My daughter and I streamed movies from Netflix.  And
I relied on my cell phone alarm to awaken to catch a cab at
5:00 AM.  A weekend well-spent, indeed.

<EM>PLT Rising</EM>.  &nbsp;  One last bit of new knowledge:
Northeastern University is but two short subway stops from
where I got off for my visit.  This means that my next visit to
Jamaica Plain, should there be one, will include a visit to
see the home of
<A HREF="http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/">
   the PLT group</A>
there.  If nothing else, I can take snapshots of the labs and
offices where so much cool Racket work is done.  Then maybe I
could write the excursion off as a business trip.
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