C.C. comes to Rochester

It's hard to believe but after twenty years of living in Rochester, I've never really had a chance to play tour guide to a visitor. I was pretty excited to show my friend C.C. Chapman around while he was in town doing a presentation. Since he is a photographer, of course I had to show him Kodak Tower. Plus High Falls. It's hard to make folks understand that there is a WATER FALL in the middle of our city.

George Eastman Museum is also a must for any photographer. There is the house to explore and the photo exhibits to see.

But the really exciting part is the vault. My friend Todd gave us a tour of their extensive camera collection several floors beneath the museum.

There are some incredible cameras from history in there. Alfred Stieglitz's camera given to them by Georgia O'Keefe. The camera that photographed the famous picture of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. I could go on and on.

I got to know C.C. through my job as a social media manager and have stayed in touch over social media. It's a great example of how social media helps you stay connected with people you don't get to see on a regular basis. Checking C.C.'s posts and his blog are a regular part of my day. I appreciate the useful marketing and business advice just as much as I love to see pics of his dog and bbq adventures.

It was a real treat to get to spend some time with C.C. and show him around Rochester!

Dutch Connection

Today I was able to catch the last day of Dutch Connection at The George Eastman House with my friend Liz.

Their website says "George Eastman ordered thousands of flowering bulbs every year for his house and gardens, and that tradition continues today with this annual exhibition."

The conservatory smelled amazing. Taking in the more than three thousand tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, amaryllis, clivias, begonias, and azaleas was such a nice reprieve from the bitter winter weather we have been having.

New Dryden & Sideways

These past few months the Eastman House has been refinishing the Dryden Theatre. This evening was the reopening. Everything has been upgraded - new seats, lighting, sound, screen and curtain. Our friend Tom invited us out for the evening and it was a chance to catch up and see the theatre changes.

A screening of Sideways was scheduled for the repopening of the Dryden Theatre. Before the screening was a dinner with wine accompaniment. I liked how my twitter handle was on my place card!

After watching Sideways, the director, novelist and screenwriter did a Q & A session on stage. Sideways won best adapted screenplay in 2004 so it was interesting to hear them.

Keep calm...

You have probably seen these Keep Calm and Carry On posters before. I really like a lot of the new posters they have added to the online store.

Hah hah... good one.

I like this one cause I love tea.

And here is one for the coffee lovers.

Smart Car Rally

Today we went to a Smart Car Rally at the George Eastman House that Aaron helped organize.

There were about 15 Smart Cars there with their proud owners. We had a great ride until a torrential downpour at Abbotts in Charlotte almost washed us away. The day ended with a talk and book signing from NYTimes food writer Mark Bittman.

Aaron was interviewed by Channel 8/Fox News - but they got his name wrong!

Morning at the George Eastman House

Upstairs downstairs tour
Originally uploaded by ljc@flickr

We spent the morning at the George Eastman House. First we went to the plant sale and then we did the upstairs/downstairs tour. We got to see the attic and basement of the house. Very cool. Except when we almost got lost in the basement. Yes, lost. There are a series of tunnels underground. We started out under the house and came out under the potting shed!

This evening we went downtown to help promote the Luche Libre exhibit at the George Eastman House by handing out Mexican wrestler mask printouts. Aaron and Vishal wore real Mexican wrestler masks... I was a rabbit and Tina was Marilyn Monroe. A big thanks to Rachel from the GEH who organized the evening and hooked Aaron and Vishal up with the masks.

Aaron even rode the mechanical bull at Daisy Dukes with the mask on. The mask did not enable him to stay on.

More pictures of our night out on My Gallery.

Remember the Mexican Wrestler exhibit I wrote about a week ago? Well, you can download a printable mask from that exhibit on 1000 Words. So if the Oscar and Stewie masks weren't your thing, you have an alternative.

Last week I realized that two of our local museums had similiar themes. The George Eastman House has an exhibit of Lucha Libre! Masked Mexican Wrestlers....

...and the Memorial Art Gallery had TRANSactions: Contemporary Latin American and Latino Art.

This was too much of a coincidence for me so we had "Mexican Museum Night" with our friends. We hit both exhibits and then when to Salenas (newly renovated) for dinner.

And Domo went too.

The George Eastman House gave out 100 Ansel Rocks! t-shirts to promote the Ansel Adams exhibit. There is even a flickr group for picture of people in their t-shirts.

We just became members of the GEH. I don't know why we didn't do it sooner. I really like going to The Dryden Theatre. Right now they are running Audrey Hepburn Wednesdays.

The George Eastman House is going to have an Ansel Adams exhibit this month. To kick it off they had a black and white party where attendees were encourage to wear black and white and bring their black and white pets. 

Oscar is more tan-ish so we stuffed him in a black t-shirt and took him. He had a good time sniffing all the black and white critters.

Yesterday we went to the George Eastman House to see the Gingerbread Houses they have on display. I was so incredibly hungry for a cookie by the time we were ready to leave. No one would have missed a little bite taken out of the Leaning Tower of Gingerbread would they?

Here are some pictures I took of the houses... and a bonus at the end... ridiculously cute pictures of Lauren from when we babysat her that morning.