Museum, martial arts and wine.... hmmm, sounds like a strange combination. Well, that's me though. A strange combination! :) Work has been a little stressful the past few weeks, so I haven't really had the energy for updates. I did, however, manage to get out to a few things in the Albuquerque area.
One of the other reasons for not blogging is that I've been busy getting my butt kicked by martial arts. I started taking some classes in Tai Chi and Kung Fu at the Chinese Shaolin Center in Albuquerque. Think Karate Kid - sort of... They teach traditional Shaolin methods - which means I'm completely lost and clueless most of the time. Apparently it takes a least a month to start to recognize what you're doing and several months to "get it". And being me (which is to say not very graceful), I can see myself being the longest running white belt ever! LOL! The second time they had me practice twirling the sparring staff I hit myself and got tangled up in it. When I looked up grinning foolishly, the black belt teaching us was laughing, which started me giggling. I had to bite my lip to keep from collapsing with laughter and try to look serious. Well, at any rate, this is something I've always wanted to try and as the sifu points out, it's good exercise even if I'm not very proficient at it. I know when I must be looking frustrated and hopelessly blank because he makes a point of saying not to worry if you're not getting it yet, you're building muscle memory. Right. Hope my old muscles have good memory. They're gonna need it!
Now on to the fun stuff.... I joined a meet up group on Yahoo called Discover Albuquerque. I'm hoping to meet some new friends that way. So far I've only gone to one meet up. We went to The Albuquerque Museum to see the New Mexico Centennial exhibit and the Goya special exhibit.
One of the other reasons for not blogging is that I've been busy getting my butt kicked by martial arts. I started taking some classes in Tai Chi and Kung Fu at the Chinese Shaolin Center in Albuquerque. Think Karate Kid - sort of... They teach traditional Shaolin methods - which means I'm completely lost and clueless most of the time. Apparently it takes a least a month to start to recognize what you're doing and several months to "get it". And being me (which is to say not very graceful), I can see myself being the longest running white belt ever! LOL! The second time they had me practice twirling the sparring staff I hit myself and got tangled up in it. When I looked up grinning foolishly, the black belt teaching us was laughing, which started me giggling. I had to bite my lip to keep from collapsing with laughter and try to look serious. Well, at any rate, this is something I've always wanted to try and as the sifu points out, it's good exercise even if I'm not very proficient at it. I know when I must be looking frustrated and hopelessly blank because he makes a point of saying not to worry if you're not getting it yet, you're building muscle memory. Right. Hope my old muscles have good memory. They're gonna need it!
Now on to the fun stuff.... I joined a meet up group on Yahoo called Discover Albuquerque. I'm hoping to meet some new friends that way. So far I've only gone to one meet up. We went to The Albuquerque Museum to see the New Mexico Centennial exhibit and the Goya special exhibit.
2012 is New Mexico's Centennial as a state. According to the museum brochure: "Part of the Albuquerque Museum's "Celebrating the New Mexico Centennial" programming, this exhibition celebrates major events taking place in Albuquerque around the time New Mexico became a state in 1912. The exhibition also features examples of New Mexico's official emblems including the state cookie (biscochito), state neckwear (bolo tie) and state symbol (Zia sun sign)." I have to say though, if you blink or turn the wrong corner, you'll miss the exhibit. It's really tiny and spread out in a couple of areas not well marked in the museum. I was disappointed that it wasn't more prominent.
The special exhibit at the moment is Goya's "Los Caprichos" by Francisco De Goya y Lucientes. It features an early first edition of these etchings first published in 1799. "Goya denied that he was trying to irritate or ridicule any specific individual. He managed, instead, to ridicule almost everyone in contemporary Spanish society in what would become one of the most influential series of graphic images in the history of Western art." I don't think very many of our group liked it. I think they were a little put off by his effrontery. I took it to be very tongue in cheek and imagined that in today's society he might have published these in the New Yorker. They seemed to be witty, satirical commentaries on the foibles of society. I thought they were funny - lots of drama! At any rate, it was nice to actually converse with some different folks. We had a quick lunch in the museum cafe - a very tasty cream of chicken and green chile soup! - and then parted ways. On the way out, I checked out some of the outdoor sculpture. I want to go back and do the outdoor tour of sculptures, but I enjoyed the large one of the settlers making their way west - and found this plaque in the outside garden area:
Today I felt the need to get out despite the cold, windy weather. Spring is arriving with a windy vengeance here. I did a few shopping errands in Old Town - birthday gifts, etc. And decided to try out the St. Clair winery for lunch. Actually it's just the St Clair Winery & Bistro in Old Town - a restaurant and store location to sell their wines. These are locally grown and bottled New Mexico wines. Over a turkey pesto and provolone pannini with fruit, I tried their flight of 6 wines. Don't worry, a flight is just a tasting - I didn't really have 6 glasses of wine and then drive away! I can highly recommend the St Clair Malvasia Bianca - a sweet white wine with honey taste and tropical fruit notes. It's sweet like a riesling, but not cloying. The DH Lescombes Chardonnay will make a great summer wine. It has notes of apple, lemon and oaky vanilla - just slightly acidic enough to be refreshing on a hot summer day. I also enjoyed the Blue Teal Shiraz which is very fruit forward - lots of berry taste with an oaky undertone and a nice smooth finish.
Apparently New Mexico is one of the oldest wine growing regions in the U.S. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the vineyards. So much to explore here ... how will I have time to work? LOL! So I'll leave you with one last picture, lest you have forgotten what I look like! ;) <g>
Be well,
Julie
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