But then Lady Gaga reminds me. Her new album came out yesterday and my favorite track, "Americano" just started playing. So, of course- I went to Times Square and bought the CD. I only buy CDs when I purposely and especially want to support the artist. I suppose that she doesn't need my money, but it's like voting- you do it to voice your beliefs, not because that one vote will matter.
I'm learning, however, that some of the reasons I started to love Lady Gaga - her brilliantly, shockingly different outfits and artistic choices- actually should be credited to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Because TODAY I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw the exhibit of his work, Savage Beauty. Check out details on the exhibit on this page. Lady Gaga wore the middle outfit below in her Bad Romance video.
So part of why I love her was his art. (Her new song "The Fashion of His Love" is a tribute to McQueen) He was an artist whose medium happened to be fashion and the pieces of his art in the exhibit were incredibly beautiful. They made me feel reverent and inspired and happy. Seeing everything in person and up close gave me a real appreciation for the clothes- they're traditional and subversive, intricate and deconstructed, and thematically rich. He used porcupine quills, alligator heads, vulture skulls, feathers, mussel shells, human hair, mud, as well as leather, silk, and wool.
Alright, I don't know that anyone else who might read this is as interested in Alexander McQueen as I am. So enough of that. After leaving the Met (NYC Survival Tip: Admission prices at the Met are recommendations. You pay what you can) and eating my responsible little packed lunch on the steps, I took a walking tour of Central Park courtesy of my friend Xandi. She gave me this little box that has cards, and each card is a guided walking tour of a part of the city. It's really great.
Events in my life transpired to give me 7 days in New York City with nothing I have to do. In my heart I feel an evolution that started when I moved to San Diego to go to college, continued when I went to Peru and saw Machu Picchu, and has brought me here. I almost can't write that because it sounds like bragging. What I mean is, the first event felt like the first proof I could do things. The second event made me finally feel I could stop doing things just to prove I could (it was the biggest so-there to my doubts that I had) and do something bigger with that knowledge. And here I am. So when on the subway, or in my apartment, or any other place here, I have a sense of it being anticlimactic. One side of me goes, "OH MY GOD YOU MARIA ARE BUYING GROCERIES AT THE CORNER STORE IN NY OMG OMG OMG!!" Because living in Manhattan is admittedly incredible. But the other side of me in fact learned years ago that I could do anything I dreamed of, in time, so it says...."calm the heck down...stop being so shocked you can do incredible things." To achieve your highest purpose you may lose self-doubt and incredulity along the way.
Also, I am a relationship person. I am having a great time seeing the sights but I'm also alone all the time. So I know I would never choose a life like this over YOU people.
Me on the roof at the Met:
"When I'm on a mission/ I rebuke my condition/ If you're a strong female/ you don't need permission" -Lady Gaga, "Scheiße"
"I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress." -Alexander McQueen
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