Artist's Rendering

Above is Gwendolyn's picture of everyone on the bus during our big Sunday adventure. From left to right, Diaper Bag, Owen, Me, the Wife and Gwendolyn.

What a Day!

Sunday started out like any other weekend day with everyone waking up too early and getting on each other's nerves. However, this day we had a plan. Team Sonnenschein was hitting the road and going to the world-famous Brooklyn Museum. Gwen was excited to see Egyptian art and particularly the exhibit on queens and princesses. Just as we left Gwen remembered we'd left the diaper bag. This was quite sharp of Gwen and some excellent foreshadowing.

As we killed time waiting for the museum to open (11:00 on a Sunday, c'mon!) Gwen brought up how great it was that she remembered the diaper bag. The Wife said, "Hey, where is the diaper bag?" We'd left it, including The Wife's engraved video iPod on the bus. We made some quick phone calls and found out that the MTA lost and found wasn't even open until Monday. There was nothing we could do we went to the Museum.

Despite Gwen's insistence on seeing the Egyptian princesses immediately I was determined to have her go to the Arty Facts kids program. When I was a kid and I didn't want to do something my parents always gave in and I don't want to be that kind of a parent even if I have to be a bit of dick sometimes. Arty Facts was great and I highly recommend it. The instructors did a great job talking about Chinese printing and Japanese screens and getting the kids involved in the discussions. Gwen was pretty shy as she often is when trying something new but she liked the Chinese and Japanese art and making Chinese characters. At the end we made a little Japanese screen and Gwen really got into painting and using the ink. If I said so myself I did some great parenting by guiding her and helping out but not overwhelming her. I know Gwen will thank me at some point in her twenties.

Afterwards, we got out of the studio and The Wife and Owen were right there taking a break. The Wife had gone to the Feminisms exhibit and luckily Owen was sleeping and didn't get traumatized by the freaky images. We all went to the Egyptian floor (after not finding the Queens and Princesses exhibit) and had a great time looking at the statues, papyruses and even mummies of cats and birds. It was a great day…except for losing the diaper bag. But The Wife did not give up. She talked to the bus driver on the way home and he said if we had lost the bag on the 10:00 bus the driver would be on the one coming in half and hour. We went home but were still dubious. So a half hour later The Wife went out to meet the next bus. It was the same driver as this morning! She asked him if he had seen her bag and he said, "Wait for me at Union Street and I'll make it happen." The Wife walked a block to catch the bus going the other way and the driver had the bag and the iPod! I couldn't believe it when she walked in. We're still a little stunned.

Oh, yeah, there was a football game that afternoon. Is there anything better than winning games your team has no business winning in playoffs your team has no business being in? I just wish my Dad was still around to make fun of me for not thinking the Giants would win. Anyway, that was Sunday in the world of the Sonnenscheins.

"Lyndon, Why Won't You Tell Me How You Became President?"

I've been obsessed with these prints since I first saw them last month. They're in the front window of an art store near my office. If you can't quite make it out the top is a picture of many Democratic presidents and the botton one is of many Republican presidents. Both are gathered around a table playing cards having a great time. The composition and colors are oddly similar in both pictures and for a split-second when I look at them I can't tell which is which. I think that's supposed to be a party convention in the back of each picture.

The Democrats are JFK, Clinton, Woodrow Wilson, LBJ, Truman, Andrew Jackson, FDR and Jimmy Carter. The Republicans are Reagan, Bush 2, Ike, Theodore Roosevelt, Nixon, Ford, Lincoln and Bush 1. There are some nice details like FDR's cigarette holder, Reagan's jelly beans and Truman's Hawaiian shirt. Who doesn't like a guy who comes to a poker game in a Hawaiian shirt? I'm getting him a bourbon. Nixon is in a stiff suit which is a nice touch. Heck, even Ike is in a polo shirt. But why is TR hanging with Nixon? I'm sure he'd rather be with Ike. And why do the oldest presidents in each picture have their backs to the viewer?

I'm curious how the party will change next year. Will the guys be cool that Bill brought his wife? Will Wilson and Andy Jackson play cards with a black guy? Does Huckabee gamble? Will Romney get any of the jokes? Of course, John McCain would fit right in.

Thanks to the Google I've found a link to a story on the painter, Andy Thomas.

Here's a close-up of the Democratic painting, "True Blues". Here's a close-up of "Grand Old Gang".