A day of freezing ice and rain in New England is best spent at the Peabody-Essex Museum, ogling the eerily atmospheric Yin Yu Tang Qing dynasty merchants' house. As the historic Chinese house's only visitor today, I was alone with the two guards, amidst the trickling raindrops and grey natural light of the atrium.My New Year's Resolution is to give off more positive energy. When seemingly gloomy situations present themselves, I will try to create lightness from them. It is a bit like making lemonade out of lemons, but more often than not, it will be a matter of simply enjoying lemons. My favorite high school English teacher used to eat straight-up lemons, ranting about their health benefits. He'd even chew on and eat the peels, since they apparently carry many of the nutrients.
Gauche New Year's Resolutions:
1. Resolving to lose weight. It's tragically unoriginal, and better not to waste your energy on something as arbitrary as a number.
2. Resolving to quit drinking. Drinking too much is all relative. Maybe simply spending less time with your relatives will alleviate the desire to drink excessively.
3. Resolving to save more money. Being thrifty is an underrated art, but by the year's end, your bank may go under, and who knows if the U.S. Treasury will be in a position to insure your savings? Spend blissfully and enjoy the moment.
The above picture is of a pair of salt shakers from 1780 (possibly Austria or Bohemia). They are made of glass, paint, and gold leaf. I was struck by their day-glo quality. Whatever happened to the tradition of married couples having portraits of themselves painted on their kitchenware?
2 comments:
They don't make kitchen ware like they used to. Who'd want their portraits on something that would be worn out or broken before the end of the first years of marriage? :P
That's true. It would be a bad omen, and married couples need all the good karma they can get..
xxo - HH
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