I chose this photo for Snapshot Day because I really think that it captures the essence of NY, and what New York means to me. New York is constantly growing and expanding, as new buildings are being constructed every day. The entire city and surrounding neighborhoods are all in existence because of the construction that was done to create them. Construction is a valuable part of the city, and without it, NY would not have the ability to grow.

I posted this a while ago but for some reason it isn’t showing up in my posts so I’m just going to do it again.

Last year, I went to Aruba for a week on winter break. The island itself is breathtaking, but the thing that struck me the most was this beautiful sunset. I took this picture after standing in amazement for a few moments, taking in the beautiful sight. The colors were so rich and bright, and the reflection it made off of the ocean made it even more beautiful. I couldn’t help but be astounded by the beauty of it. It made me realize how beautiful and amazing nature could be, and that we don’t always appreciate it as much as we should. Beauty is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes to see it.

I recently went to ICP, and exhibits that were being displayed there were truly amazing and inspiring. The one that I spent the most time on was the 9/11 memorial. The exhibit had a very solemn and serious feeling. I see the exhibit as a tribute to those who died on 9/11.

The thing that struck me the most was when I saw the piles of rubbish on the floor that actually came from the destruction of the Twin Towers. It made me realize just how real the situation is. It is not just an exhibit in a museum, nor is it just a piece of American history, it was a tragic happening that affected the lives of so many families. They lost lost the people that they loved. The exhibit made it all feel so real. I was deeply affected by the 9/11 memorial, and it got me thinking about the issue from a different perspective. My visit to ICP was an eye opening experience.

It sounds like the class had an amazing time at the opera, I wish I could’ve been there but I wasn’t feeling well and I’m so disappointed that I missed it! When we spoke about it in class it sounded like it was an amazing experience. I have some comments about what I heard in class and about opera in general.

Firstly, I like the overall concept of an opera. It’s kind of like a musical, with a more unique type of music that you don’t hear every day. The music is very emotional, and the performers voices are so passionate and strong. You could definitely hear the talent in their voices as they project across the room. Although the storyline is not so enticing, the music makes up for that factor.

A lot of people commented on the fact that there was a language barrier. I’m pretty sure that I would find the sub-titles annoying and distracting, so I would probably ignore them in order to fully take in the music even though it would take away from my understanding of the story. After all, I think that the music is the essence of the opera.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was that many of the people in our class enjoyed sitting in a section far away from the stage because they got to take in the atmosphere of the theatre and the types of people around them. In that sense, I think that part of the experience of going to the opera is taking in your surroundings and being observant of the different types of people that are there.

Many things come to mind when I think of New York City, but to me the best way to describe NYC is “the city that never sleeps.” The city is always crowded, whether it is lunchtime or 4 am. People are constantly bustling around, and I think that this is part of the beauty of NYC. No matter what time it is, there are always large crowds of diverse people on the streets. Department stores are open until all hours of the night. There is always something fun and exciting to do in NYC because of the endless possibilities that exist there. The fast-paced lifestyle in Manhattan is something that I’ve grown accustomed to because I’ve been exposed to it since I was young. I think that the city shapes our attitude towards life. The hustle and bustle of NYC makes our lives more fast paced, and we are constantly on the go, trying to get our errands done as quickly as possible. Although I don’t live in Manhattan, I still consider myself a New Yorker for two reasons. Firstly, because I am very familiar with the streets of NYC. Ever since I was young I would go to Manhattan at least once a week with my mother, so I’m pretty experienced when it comes to getting around the city. The second reason that I consider myself a New Yorker is because I too have the “New York attitude.” I like to be efficient, and when things don’t run smoothly I get upset. To me, living in New York is a privilege, because not everyone is lucky enough to live in the state that hosts the Big Apple City.

A few nights ago I went to the Meet the Artist event, featuring Alicia Hall Moran. It was an interesting event that I found to be very enjoyable, although I did not expect to like it at first.

In the beginning of the program, Mrs. Moran spoke to us and explained that she has a unique style of music. She sings opera, but with Motown lyrics. These two genres of music are very different, and I didn’t know how well the two would mesh. I admit that I was very skeptical about her approach.  However, when she began to sing, I realized that her style of music actually worked well. She was singing opera, but instead of the typical opera lyrics, these lyrics were Motown, as she had explained to us earlier. I thought that it was cool that she was able to merge two very different types of music. Her voice was beautiful and she sang a few songs, which to my surprise, I enjoyed. I never really liked opera music, but for some reason her performance entranced me. The music was soothing and I truly enjoyed the performance

The Brooklyn Museum was much nicer than I expected, and the exhibits were beautiful as well as thought provoking. When I walked into The Dinner Party, I was confused at first. I didn’t understand the purpose of the exhibit. When I took a closer look, I realized that the names on each place setting were the names of famous women. The names were placed chronologically according to when each of the women was alive. There were names of Greek and Roman goddesses, politicians, and movement leaders. I found it vulgar and really strange that there were female organs displayed on the plates around the table. It goes against everything that today’s feminists stand for, so I don’t really understand how this is looked at as a “feminist” piece of art.

I was surprised to hear that the exhibit isn’t a new exhibit. It was originally created in the 1970’s and was recently moved to the Brooklyn Museum. It looked so clean and new, so I wouldn’t have thought that it was around for about 40 years.

Overall, the trip to the Brooklyn Museum was an interesting trip for me, and I enjoyed the experience.

I really enjoyed our class trip to Dia: Beacon. After a long train ride starting at Grand Central Station, we arrived at the museum. I loved the whole feeling of the museum, the way it felt like we were standing in an abandoned warehouse with white walls and open space surrounding us. It was hard for us to keep track of where we were going, because the place was huge and it felt like a maze of art exhibits. We got to see a lot of paintings and sculptures, but my favorite was Dan Flavin’s exhibit of the different formations made out of fluorescent lights. They all looked similar, because they were all constructed using fluorescent rods, but when I looked closely at each one, they were all different. One of them looked like a spaceship, one looked like the empire state building, and one even looked like a gun turned sideways. The exhibit was very original, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I thought it was creative that he used light bulbs, an everyday object, to create art.

Next we went to see the dance performance, which I thought was pretty disturbing. I found it hard to see because of the poles in the middle of the floor that were blocking my view. The movements of the performers didn’t look like regular dance, rather they were dancing in very peculiar way. It was especially odd when the woman started screaming in the middle of the performance.

Overall, I enjoyed the trip to Dia Beacon (although I didn’t love the dance performance.) It was a truly beautiful exhibit, and I appreciated the art displayed there.

The 9/11 memorial was truly a remarkable experience for me. Although they weren’t completed yet, the buildings were beautiful. There were so many things about the memorial that were probably meant to be symbolic. The Freedom Tower is going to be 1776 feet high, because America got its independence in the year 1776. Its going to be even taller than the original towers, which seems to tell the rest of the world that although 9/11 is a huge tragedy, America has risen above it and the country has even grown as a result of it. The fountains were very interesting to me as well. They seemed like big hole in the ground, and they looked kind of like a grave. It’s as if they are grave markers for all of the people who died on 9/11, especially because they are located in the exact same spot that the original towers stood. We weren’t able to see the bottom of the fountains, and it looked as if they continued on into the ground beneath us, which was kind of creepy. Anyways, the memorial was beautiful and it was a great experience to be able to see it first hand.

The bull on Wall Street is a sculpture that I feel really demonstrates the characteristics of New York City. The city is all about business and economic growth, and that is something that the bull has heavily come to symbolize in economics. I find the features of the sculpture very interesting. The way the bull is standing shows is aggressive nature, something that most new Yorkers in the city also have (in class we called this characteristic “attitude.”) The goldish color of the bull reminds me of wealth and money, which the city has always thrived on. This work of art is a good representative of what the city is all about.