Trendsetting

Did you know I'm a trendsetter? As you may know, son Eric and I are supporters of Cory Booker and went Running with Cory in a Morristown campaign event. Finally got our bumper stickers and were glad to see on Tuesday that the Mayor of Newark easily captured the Democratic nomination for US Senator from NJ with 60% of the vote. But, no, that's not what makes me a trendsetter.

A friend and I were planning an outing on Wednesday and she suggested the Newark Museum. Was this taking Cory Booker's trumpeting of the "new" Newark a bit far? My friend insisted the museum is truly a  "hidden gem", which she had discovered years ago. And she was right! The building surprises you with vaulted skylights and interesting vistas. Look down this corridor and you see the marble mosaic of Hercules at Gibraltar, otherwise known to us as the Prudential Rock. Look up and a Calder mobile is suspended above you. Pass through this hallway and note a charming collection of teapots through the ages.

The museum permanent collection is a pared down Art History 101, with one or two works of many well known artists, each room representing a different time period and philosophy of art. Here a Warhol, there a Winslow Homer or John Singer Sargent.  Even Thomas Edison's early videos are included.

The museum links to the beautiful Victorian style Ballantine House, home of the famous beer family who had a brewery in Newark.  One of our favorite display cases showed a collection of utensils and objects and asked you to identify their use. I felt like the new, confused footman in Downton Abbey, discerning the fish server from a spoon warmer and the salt dishes from the butter plates. Luckily the answers were provided and the stern visage of Carson was nowhere in sight.

There were a fair number of day camp groups and others at the museum and many of the exhibits are family friendly. African art and Tibetan/Indian art are well represented. In addition, the traveling exhibits are novel and worthwhile, including Papyraceous, which sounds like a made up word, as creative as the paper sculptures and works it included. 

You can imagine my surprise when I opened the NYTimes today to read Holland Cotter's review of The Art of Translation....at the Newark Museum. Cotter concludes his article this way:
So it comes down to this: to see the world, really see it, you have to travel. The Newark Museum is about a half-hour from Midtown by the PATH train, then a short cab ride or walk. Just go. 

(Thanks, Holland. I guess you saw my tweet. Cory Booker's not the only one with followers!)

Mouthy Teenagers

Sad story in the news recently about a distraught Florida mother who shot and killed her teenage son and daughter because she was sick and tired of them "mouthing off" to her. Aren't all teens mouthy?

Curious NY TImes op-ed piece on Friday when an empathetic mother of two teenage sons (also mouthy) explained her own experience. Her older son had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD and--here's the new one---Oppositional Defiance Disorder, which I guess would be shortened to ODD.  My first thought: was she spoofing us? Was she really a writer on the Daly Show or Colbert? No, she continued, the only way she coped  with her ODD son was a year of intense therapy.  I wondered if once this tell-all article hit the newsstand her problems with son #1 would worsen. I could hear the bullies at his school now:

bully #1: hey, man, knew you were a loser--i mean violin and Hebrew school and no sports? 

bully #2: Yeah, we knew you were odd, but not ODD, too.  hahahah

It could be a new plot line for Glee, so I'm emailing them my idea. A lot of potential here. I'm thinking Lauren, the fat girl could be the ODD candidate.  After all she's pretty hostile to the affections of  Puckerman, the cool, Jewish, juvenile delinquent football player and glee club member who sports a Mohawk haircut and thinks he is in love with Lauren. (The ingenuity that went into creating "Puck" is breathtaking!)

I know--I'm just getting old--not like the good old days when ODD was simply labeled teen rebellion or adolescent angst. Far from being odd, being ODD had a definite cool factor. Look at James Dean, Marlon Brando, Holden Caulfield, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and all the other rock and rollers.

Next time you encounter a teenager disrespecting his elders, mouthin' off to Mom or just acting like a jerk, tap him on the shoulder and reassure him you're familiar with his oppositional defiance disorder and can recommend some Big Pharma solutions or an afternoon of watching Rebel without a Cause.