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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Fast away the old year passes

2010 is only a couple of hours away, but today saw a couple of new experiences for us. DH reminded me this morning that today is the last day of the Everything Austen Challenge. He accomplished his goal of reading all six novels, but I have two things left. My Jane Austen sampler is kitted up, but not stitched on, and I have two chapters left of Persuasion to listen to in French.

We did manage to get out in the snow this morning and go into New York to see the Austen exhibit at The Morgan Library. It was well worth it! I loved looking at her letters and reading in one about the portrait Austen imagined to be of Mrs. Bingley and how she couldn't find one of Mrs. Darcy. A print of that painting hangs next to that letter. It was very cool to read her words in her own handwriting. I also liked the manuscript of Lady Susan.

We very rarely go to museums, so today was a real treat, especially since we also walked to MOMA to see Monet's Water Lillies and the Tim Burton exhibit. That sounds like some type of time-travelling triple play combo - Austen to Monet to Burton. And not only did we visit two museums in one day, but we also walked through Times Square on New Year's Eve. Now, we've been to Times Square before, but never on a New Year's Eve, so we felt kind of like tourists in our own city. We got to see the stages and the 2010 sign that the big crystal ball will light up in two hours.

DH wrote his own report about the day:

The last day, and would you believe we went to The Morgan Library to see The Jane Austen Exhibit? It was a great day even with the early snow and New Years Eve crowds. We went to Times Square first and then to the museum in the heart of the storm. But it was worth it. The exhibit was a new insight into the past few months of reading. The exhibit had many letters of Jane’s to many of her family and friends. There were copies of her books, many stories and artwork that showed the era and characters of her works. The Video was excellent and I know because I watched it three times.
The great end to the year continued; we walked 16 plus blocks to MOMA to see Monet’s lilies and the Tim Burton Exhibit. Along the way we saw the tree at Rockefeller Center.
It was truly a great end to the Jane Austen Challenge.
Happy New Year!

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