Still Life With Robin: A Thing from Last Week, a Thing for Next Week, and a Thing for Anytime at All

Dustin Yellin's PsychoGeographies - Kennedy Center Photo

by Peggy Robin

Today’s offering in a grab-bag of things: one from the week behind us, one you might want to do next week, plus a thing you might want to do at some point in the future, and the last thing – something you might do anytime you feel like wasting a minute or two.

First -- from the previous week, which was the Third Annual Squirrel Week featured in John Kelly’s “local color” column in the Washington Post, I give you the link to the “best squirrel photos sent in by readers”: http://wapo.st/1IaYjXd. The 23-Kelly-crowned winners are the essence of furry cuteness…even if they are sneaky little varmints. But how did those ringers [chipmunks!] snag the number 13 spot!?

Second, take a look at this art installation http://wapo.st/1OSZIlb currently on display at the Kennedy Center in the Hall of States. It will be there until May 6^th, so you have about a week and a half to see it in real life.  It’s called “PsychoGeographies” and the sculptor is Dustin Yellin. The twelve large-scale, glass and mixed-media pieces that make up the exhibit were commissioned by and originally exhibited at the New York City Ballet, whose dancers inspired the poses of the figures in glass. Details of the exhibit are at http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/ZPPSY

Third, if you are planning a vacation now or at some point in the future and want to go someplace out of the ordinary, where you can wake up to a view you would never get anywhere else, take a look at this list put together by TripAdvisor, “10 stunning hotel views that'll make your jaw drop”: http://www.tripadvisor.com/TripNews-a_ctr.roomswithaviewEN. At first I thought these photos had to be Photo-shopped. But if you click through the link to any of the featured hotels, you will find lots more photos submitted by hotel guests, proving that any guest could capture the shot. I was particularly wowed by the aurora borealis photos taken at the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Saariselka, Finland, where guests stay in glass-domed igloos, letting them view the aurora from the comfort of their heated rooms.

Fourth and final link – to something you can see anytime you feel like taking a two-minute break: Kitten attacking two apples, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owPX3r3s6t8. I just saw it for the first time yesterday, although I see it’s been around for at least four years. It’s the kind of thing you can see a zillion times and it’s still a kick to watch (and you don't have to go to Finland to enjoy it).

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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.