Fifth birthday at the Guggenheim

Wednesday was the fifth anniversary of an event that I celebrate as my birthday. My family came over in the morning and we drove into the city to visit the Guggenheim Museum, a very special place in my personal history. I first visited there by myself back in the early 1990s on my first trip to New York City, and it was probably the first time I'd ever been in a modern art museum. Looking up into the famous structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, I began a tour of contemporary art that expanded my conception of what art could be, and I've been a fan of modern art ever since. It was an honor to share this special place with my family.

Here's a photo that Tara took from the lobby - which incidentally is the only place that photos are allowed:



We came home and had an early dinner at Burger Deluxe, a gourmet hamburger diner near my apartment that we've been meaning to try ever since it opened last year. Then we came back to my place for a quick rest, watched some TV, and opened presents. As always, I got some wonderful things - the landmark DC event comic Final Crisis, a new Sherlock Holmes/Jack the Ripper story Dust and Shadow, Marvel Comics' Thor! Ages of Thunder, Terry Moore's follow up to Strangers in Paradise titled Echo: Moon Lake, and a new Vertigo title called House of Mystery: Room and Boredom.

I also got the first season of HBO's True Blood, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris, which I have been reading after getting caught up with Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. The show so far is extremely faithful to the books, which is nice, and although Sookie is not as cool a character as Anita, the later books do start to capture some of the vampire and shapeshifter political structures that Hamilton brings to life so eloquently. Sookie is much more innocent than Anita, and unlike Anita, generally succeeds in staying that way. Other DVDs I got were the limited edition CD/DVD of Jeff Buckley's Grace Around the World and Peter Gabriel's Still Growing Up - Live and Unwrapped.

After presents we had some cake and went to the movie theater to stand in line for the 10:45 showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Out of respect for blog readers who haven't seen this yet, I'll refrain from saying anything about the movie, but I will say that I enjoyed it.

On Thursday I was supposed to have a job interview, but I woke up to find out that it had to be postponed due to a client emergency. I went into the city to have lunch with my friends Erika and Brigitte, who I'd last seen at Erika's birthday party in May ("Happy Birthday Erika!" - May 16, 2009). We were talking about their ideas for new business ventures that we'll probably continue to discuss in the coming months.

Afterwards I went to my friend Simon's apartment for a Vortex Healing session, something he's giving me in exchange for some PR work I'm doing for him. It was a very interesting experience, and it gave me some insight into how I might improve my life in the coming year, so I will see if I can follow-through on what I received from him.