Valentine's (or birthday...) in the Mitten

To kick off this weekend-before-Valentine's Day (and that big birthday), I thought I'd do a special "five gratitudes"--the five fun date-places I'm grateful (get it?) to live near.

1. I'm grateful to live near the Whitney--a beautiful mansion-turned-fancy-restaurant that would make for a pretty romantic dinner-date. 

2. I'm grateful to live near the Detroit Institute of Arts--among the top six museums in the country! A dreamy place to wander around and hold hands.

3. I'm grateful to live near the French Laundry--no, not the place in Napa...but this one is pretty charming in its own right. We had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding here, and loved it so much we celebrated our first anniversary here, too!

4. I'm grateful to live near the Detroit Opera Theater--so many cool cultural experiences to be had here! We saw Alvin Ailey's dance company one Valentine's a couple of years ago; breathtaking! I'd love to see the production of Swan Lake there this spring.

5. Gah! Now that I'm into this list, I realize how hard it is to only pick five great date-spots. But, this list would not be complete without a shout out to Iron Chef (and my Grandma's crush from the Chew): Michael Symon's Roast. We had one of the best meals of our lives there! I'm so grateful to live near this impeccable establishment.

What about you? Got any fun Valentine's Day plans? Do tell.

DIA Day!

Friends, I'm having a great day. Today was DIA day for my writing classes!

My students are working on collecting readings in various genres that can inform their research proposals. We learned about how to evaluate websites, then we surfed the web. We learned about searching databases with keywords, broadening and narrowing our searches, and then we practiced in the library. Then, we learned about analyzing and evaluating visual texts, and our practice took place in the "library of visual art", the DIA.

 

A couple of my students were really interested in the Diego Rivera murals in Rivera Court. I was so geeked to talk to them about this massive, strange and beautiful work. Even cooler was when a museum staff member came up to us and offered us an ipad with all sorts of info in the pre-loaded apps about the painting process, the symbols...tons of stuff!

 

An any time I'm at the DIA, I make sure to visit the Rothko--Orange and Brown.  I try to stare at it from different angles and let my mind drain. I try to just pause and feel, as I imagine Rothko intended me to do. Today I thought to myself: wow, these colors are so warm (it is frigid and windy in the D today!), it's probably the perfect one of his paintings for Michigan...The coolest thing was that I got to introduce this piece to a student who'd never seen it, who wasn't even familiar with Rothko. We talked about the painting and you know what she said? "It's great that it's warm colors. It warms me up on a cold day."

No kidding. 

I could probably go on and on. The day was just packed with moments that made my teacher-heart sing--students asking docents for advice, asking me questions about pieces, taking notes, telling me they're planning to stay all day, exploring, smiling, absorbed in art! Man, what a great day.

How is your day going?