A Tuesday Night Memo at 10: Getting to know me ...

My blog, “A Tuesday Night Memo,” recent turned 10. Yes, I’ve been writing a blog for a decade!

People who know me well know that I’ve been interested in writing, reporting and storytelling for much of my life. So, it’s only natural that I turned to blog writing because it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills and provided a forum for writing about things that truly interested me that I wanted to share with others.

Here’s a little touch of history about my blog:

I started writing “A Tuesday Night Memo” on January 26, 2010, as a means for sharing musings about my life filled with music, sport and urban travel, and to foster community with my friends, family and Facebook acquaintances. More recently, I added a Twitter profile, which has allowed me to reach a wider audience across the country and the world. Finally, I jumped onto the Instagram bandwagon earlier this year in order to share and comment on some of my favorite photographs and subjects.

Folks who read my blog know that I’m passionate about music, sport and urban travel Additionally, I have used “A Tuesday Night Memo” as a vehicle for writing from time to time about art, food, fashion, gardening and religion – and in the age of Trump about politics. Before we moved to the east coast nearly three years ago, sharing news about our former Oakland, Calif., flower gardens at home always seemed to generate great interest and enthusiasm. Maybe, it was the pretty shapes and colors of our flowers that others found appealing, especially since we could maintain a garden all year long. Here in Maryland, thanks to having four distinct seasons of the year, our gardening and gardens are limited to certain times of the year.

The feedback I’ve received from the 482 “blogged” entries for “A Tuesday Night Memo,” which collectively have received more than 179,000 page views, not only is very much appreciated but also very useful. Among the many subjects I have written about, some of my favorites have been: my appreciation of tennis champion Roger Federer; how the city of Seattle fosters community through international cinema; a history of the world as seen through 100 objects; classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr; my music love affairs with Elvis Costello and Pink Martini; validating our travel experiences through the photographs we take; and Jerry Seinfeld’s internet comedy Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Among my recent posts, I have written about: An appreciation of women’s tennis grand slam champion Ashleigh Barty; a look at what makes makes a good city great; figuring out adulthood through the web series “The Female Gaze”; a profile of Rhiannon Giddens and a look at her global voice that resonates with curiosity and purpose in these troubled times; and “Getting Lost at the Smithsonian,” a podcast crafted by comedian Aasif Mandvi.

In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my writing week in and week out, and I look forward to contributing more of my words and thoughts in what is shaping up to be another exciting year awaiting all of us. With a shoutout to Monocle, the London-based global briefing magazine that covers international affairs, business, culture and design, here’s a Q & A so you can learn a little more about me:

Where do we find you this week?

On Sunday, I was at The Cinema Club in northwest Washington, D.C., discussing the best new American and foreign independent films. This week, we saw Saint Frances, written by Kelly O’Sullivan, which is filled with plenty of empathy, humor and grace. It’s definitely worth seeing. On Monday evening, I was at Politics & Prose listening to a lively discussion about college basketball with John Feinstein, whose new book, The Back Roads to March is a must read for NCAA March Madness.

What’s the ideal start to your Sunday?

I’m an early riser, so I like to pull out one of my three French presses and make a pot of coffee to enjoy while perusing the Sunday “fat papers” – The Washington Post and The New York Times. Also, it’s a chance to update my status on Facebook and check Instagram.

Soundtrack of choice?

Lately, I’ve been enjoying the music of George Gershwin, from Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls and other light classical fare based on my choice via Spotify. I always have dreamed of being a pianist giving recitals in small concert halls or playing in sporty jazz clubs. Gershwin’s music always puts me in or leaves me in a good mood.

What’s for breakfast?

I love a good bowl of granola cereal with maple yogurt and, perhaps, a slice of toast with peanut butter. On weekends, when I’ve got more time, I enjoy springing for a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese. Coupled with a small glass of orange juice and coffee, my breakfast puts me in a good mood for the remainder of the day.

News or not?

Always in the morning. I tune in to listen to “Morning Edition” on NPR and peruse the online editions of  The Washington Post and The New York Times. I often use my Twitter feed as a means of tapping in to NPR and other media like The San Francisco Chronicle (from living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 20+ years) and The Guardian. I also try to keep up with a variety of long-form articles from The New Yorker and my favorite magazine is Monocle, the London-based monthly that focuses on world affairs, art and architecture, and cultural arts.

Some exercise?

I enjoy riding an exercise bicycle every chance I get – which isn’t often enough – but I’ve always been an avid walker and the flatness of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., makes walking very inviting. 

Cultural musts?

Living five miles from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as well as being a docent at the Library of Congress, I’ve learned there’s so much culture to tap into – if you’ve got the time and interest. The National Gallery of Art has become a favorite destination and, of course, I never tire of exploring the Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress.

A glass of something you’d recommend?

I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. During the winter months, I drink mostly reds and quite often it’s Pinot Noir. During summertime, when the weather is warm and I’m often grilling on our patio deck, I enjoy drinking a Pinot Grigio from Oregon or a California Sauvignon Blanc.

Ideal dinner venue?

I’m fond of many of the Chef José Andrés concepts in Washington, D.C., including Jaleo and China Chilcano. Closer to home, about five minutes by car, is Franklins – our go-to place for ourselves and when we’re hosting out-of-town friends. I love their shrimp and grits and Carolina pulled pork.

Favorite look?

This time of the year, I enjoy wearing Lands End traditional fit blue jeans, a Navy blue or black turtleneck shirt with a Uniqlo down vest, knitted socks crafted by my wife, and either a pair of Navy blue Cole Haan or charcoal black Adidas sneakers. I like to coordinate my colors!

Stay tuned!

On art and photography: By the light of the silvery moon

A friend of mine recently noted that it must be nice to live in Washington, D.C., and have access to so many varied museums. Indeed, it is – and the great thing about it is most of them offer free admission, too. Take the National Gallery of Art, for instance, which has grown into our favorite museum to visit in the two years we’ve resided inside the Beltway.

In addition to regularly attending the NGA’s monthly “Evenings on the Edge,” in which the east gallery stays open late the first Thursday of selected months, from time to time the NGA also sponsors insightful lectures in conjunction with its ongoing exhibitions.

Last week, my wife and I attended one of these lectures, “Photographing the Moon,” which featured curators from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum discussing the history of photographing the moon and how photography played both a significant role in preparing for the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969 and in shaping the cultural consciousness of the event.

We learned how “the mission, launched within the framework of Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union, was not merely one of scientific discovery and technical prowess. It was necessary, as President John F. Kennedy explained in a famous 1962 speech, ‘to win the battle ... between freedom and tyranny’ and held nothing less than ‘the key to our future on Earth.’”

Buzz Aldrin’s Footprint, July 20, 1969

David DeVorkin, senior curator of astronomy and space sciences, spoke on “Mapping the Moon with Telescopes,” in which he illustrated the interplay of the eye and hand with the development of the photographic process of the moon over the past 150 years and how it impacted the Apollo space program.

Then, Matthew Shindell, curator of planetary science, in “Geology from Orbit: Robots, Cameras and Photogeology,” described the development and impact that photogeology, which provided for early photography of the earth and moon from airplanes, had in establishing a pathway for mapping and selecting landing sites for manned missions to the moon.

Finally, Jennifer Levasseur, curator of space history, showed how images captured by the Apollo Era astronauts formed a framework for our ability to understand human spaceflight today.

The hour-long lecture tied in nicely with the “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, which we viewed afterward. (The exhibition opened on July 14 and continues through January 5, 2020 in Gallery 22 of the NGA’s West Building.)

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon” contains some 50 works including a selection of photographs taken by the unmanned Ranger, Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter missions that were preliminary to the Apollo 11 manned space flight. The landmark event is represented by glass stereographs that were taken on the moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. They show close-up views of three-inch-square areas of the lunar surface. There are also many iconic NASA and press photographs of the astronauts, which brought back memories of my childhood, that received wide recognition and dissemination following the success of the Apollo 11 mission.

The exhibition also includes lunar photographs collected from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Warren de la Rue’s late 1850s glass stereograph of the full moon and Charles Le Morvan’s photogravures from Carte photographique et systematique de la lune that was published in 1914, in which he tried to “systematically map the entire visible lunar surface.”

Collectively, the photographs displayed in “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” ranging from the 19th century to the “space-age” 1960s, “merged art and science and transformed the way that we envision and comprehend the cosmos.”

Credits: Cover photo: By Michael Dickens. Other photos: Courtesy of “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” exhibition. Video: Courtesy of YouTube and National Gallery of Art.

Modernism: Every picture has a story

A rare opportunity / Modernism comes to the de Young.

Imagine having a rare opportunity to to see one of the most important gifts of modern art ever made to our nation.

On a recent Friday night, my wife and I visited the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to see Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Collection. It is showing in the Herbst Exhibition Galleries through October 12.

Ellsworth Kelly / Orange Green (1966).

The de Young is the sole venue for this collection, which encompasses many of the finest works by Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and Frank Stella, among many -- one of the most representative collections of American painting from the postwar period. It also includes a rare display of Barnett Newman's 15-painting modern art masterpiece The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani. 

Modernism represents the first time that "a significant portion" of the Meyerhoff Collection has been shown outside of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. And, of course, it only adds to the prestige of impressive shows to come to the de Young and its sister museum, the Legion of Honor, in the past year. They include: Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966; David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition; The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita and Beyond, 1950-1990; and Anders Zorn: Sweden's Master Painter. Added up, these special exhibitions have helped draw more than 1 million visitors to these San Francisco museums between July 2013 and January 2014.

Walking through the exhibition galleries at the de Young to see Modernism, I was surprised to see that not only was photography allowed -- often it isn't during special exhibitions -- it seemed to be encouraged. After all, every picture has a story -- and I was only all too glad to be able to photograph many of my favorites.

Roy Lichtenstein / Painting with Statue of Liberty (1983).

According to Fine Arts magazine, "In the late 1950s, the Baltimore-based real estate developer and philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff and his wife, the late Jane Meyerhoff, began collecting art by the then-emergent Abstract Expressionists, acquiring paintings and works on paper by Grace Hartigan, Hans Hofmann, and Clyfford Still. Works by Josef Albers, Joseph Cornell and Ad Reinhardt -- artists who rose to prominence in the wake of World War II -- were also among the couple's earliest acquisitions. The Meyerhoffs then focused on the generation of artists who followed  the Abstract Expressionists -- Johns, Kelly, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, and Stella -- all of whom also became close friends of the pair." By the time of Jane's death, in 2004, the Meyerhoff's collection included more than 300 works in a variety of media by more than 50 artists.

Among the works that are featured in the de Young installation are: Perilous Night (1982) by Jasper Johns; Orange Green (1966) by Ellsworth Kelly; Painting with Statue of Liberty (1983) by Roy Lichtenstein; Picasso's Skull (1989-1990) by Brice Marden; Archive (1963) by Robert Rauschenberg, and Flin Flon IV (1969) by Frank Stella.

Observing / The Stations of the Cross.

Meanwhile, one can't help but notice the centerpiece of Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: Newman's The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani (1958-1966), which was presented within a large, dedicated room, "experienced as the artist intended, as a single work in an intimate, contemplative space."

Writing about Newman's The Stations of the Cross, San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker noted: "Newman saw himself as seeking and finding an abstract pictorial code for ultimate human concerns: the polarities of light and darkness, of wholeness and transience, despair and longing for redemption, living and dying.

"Sighting back from our own grossly materialistic moment, across the watershed of minimalism, we may find it hard to take Newman's aspirations seriously, but the paintings still produce the sort of elevated feeling that people frequently say they seek in art."

Indeed, every picture has a story.

Let the conversation begin!

All photographs by Michael Dickens © 2014.