
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13104273663_5bf634f667_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora and Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13104273663_b2e4ba724c_t.jpg" alt="Nora and Ian"/>
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This March has been a pretty big month for the offspring, not quite as big as the one five years ago, but pretty huge. **_Nora turned five years old!_** It still sounds amazing when I say it. She's been with us for five years, the majority of the time we've been living in Spain. Crazy!

Ian has hit some milestones, too, as he completed his eleventh month. He can now pull himself up to standing on the coffee table and take one or two tentative steps between outstretched adult arms. He's found that he _loves_ little pieces of bread, and can usually entertain himself in his high chair while the fully teethed members of the family eat by grabbing and eating little bits of bread we break off for him. 

<iframe src="//instagram.com/p/lS3c2aL9OR/embed/" width="500" height="598" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

Last night I let him suck on a pen for a minute while I read an email. Oops...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534610985_9fe2c134e0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Blue Ink Eater">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534610985_f00d8b065f.jpg" alt="Blue Ink Eater"/>
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### Family Excursions

When Nora was a baby, she was absolutely terrible in the car. If you've never had a child that hates riding in the car, it might be hard to comprehend, but we would often decide that it was just not worth it to go five minutes to the neighboring town because the car ride would make us all so miserable. Ian, on the other hand, is orders of magnitude better in the car, usually falling asleep or playing quietly. As a result, we've decided that we need to do more family excursions on the weekends. This month we went on three, the first was up to the _Nacimiento del Asón_, the place where the river that runs into the ocean where we live is "born", springing forth from the high rocky cliffs.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/8232414673_49e7e7743d.jpg)](https://flic.kr/p/dxth52)

The photo is not mine. Since this was our rookie attempt at a daily outing, I left my good camera at home.

Unfortunately, I think we were a little too ambitious on our first trip and went a little too high into the mountains on roads that were a little too curvy, and Ian demonstrated that he's got the Rasmussen car sickness gene, vomiting thrice along the way.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13083412014_e312571cb8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Parque de Asón">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13083412014_d64baf5e52.jpg" alt="Parque de Asón"/>
</a>

We did have a lovely picnic up on the mountain, though, beneath snowy peaks.

Our second outing was to Bilbao, which I've already written about, and our third was just yesterday to a nearby picnic site by the _River Asón_ near _Ramales de la Victoria_, where we had a lovely walk, got to pet some baby goats, and had a fun picnic by the river. We took Nora's little scooter to let her use on the walk, but she quickly tired of it. We've yet to find anything remotely athletic that she enjoys doing. Even if she had perfect balance and riding a scooter or bicycle well didn't require any practice, I think she'd still be uninterested.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13533802573_496322be1e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="River Walk">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13533802573_62edd68f8c.jpg" alt="River Walk"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13533810373_f02c3ea5e5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Swinging with Mommy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13533810373_470f199031.jpg" alt="Swinging with Mommy"/>
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We've discovered that we're all a lot happier when we're out together. It's a lot easier to give your kids your undivided attention when there's not housework that you could be doing or the temptation to let one parent nap.

<iframe src="//instagram.com/p/lU0odir9Dj/embed/" width="500" height="598" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

We look forward to many more family excursions in the future, as we explore the area around where we've been living for nine years.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13391308193_f923b196a6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Fifth Birthday">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13391308193_3209e49db7_z.jpg" alt="Nora's Fifth Birthday"/>
</a>

Nora had a great time hosting her birthday party at school.

### Gender Roles

One day this month I took the offspring to a common play room full of kids they don't know. It literally looked like it was populated by two different species. The girls were quietly thumbing through books or drawing on a chalkboard, and the boys were bashing each other over the head with cushions. Noraï»¿ headed straight for the chalkboard, and Ianï»¿, pulling me in tow for ambulatory assistance, made a beeline for the corner of the room where the wrestling was going on. To the boys' credit, not only did they ignore the girls and not bother them, but when Ian arrived, they calmed down and played peek-a-boo with him. Eventually one of them handed him a little toy Ferrari, and Ian stood up and ran through the various doll makeover activities over to a corner where he could zoom the car along the ground between attempts to swallow it whole.

I've done my best (short of telling beloved family members where to shove that pink crap) to raise my kids as gender neutral as possible, and Ian's never had a masculine toy (a hammer or truck) at home, but it's startling how stereotypical they are in their gender identities. If it's spherical or got wheels, Ian's interested, and if it's pink or related to babies, fashion, makeup or housework, Nora's intrigued. They are both, at the moment, more masculine and feminine than their respective parents.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534164565_e6baf541c8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Fifth Birthday">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534164565_e730dafca4_n.jpg" alt="Nora's Fifth Birthday"/>
</a>

### That's What They Said

Some verbal exchanges we had this month.

Me: "What's the rule?" Nora: \[exasperated\] "Okaaay, Daddy, I'll put the cartoons in English!" \[reaches for remote\]

One day, I saw some bizarre news footage on TV (I can't remember what), and I said, "What the heck!?" Nora, added, very seriously, "Yes, what is that heck?"

Nora: "\[Friend from school\] asked me if Tic Tac's melt in your pocket." Me: "What did you tell her?" Nora: "I said 'no'. But I said it in Spanish, of course."

One day Nora asked, "Why do grown ups not use pretty band-aids like kids do?" Excellent question, that.

I instructed Nora to go draw a picture of "a house and a rainbow". The latter instruction got dropped, but what I got was a tree with a beehive, inside the house was a bee asking a bear (I was asked to draw the outline of the bear) if he wanted some honey. She signed it at the top left, and got one word into the sentence "Claudia didn't do this" (I was asked to complete it), ensuring that her best friend, whom we haven't seen for four days due to vacations, would not be taking any credit for this masterpiece...a technique Dalí­ used, I think, regularly scrawling "Picasso didn't do this!" on his works.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534428013_78cf408c72_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Beehive Drawing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534428013_f8a3026e00.jpg" alt="Beehive Drawing"/>
</a>

### Partying

Some photos from Nora's birthday and Ian's 11-month birthday...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534479594_63dfce3dda_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian's Eleven-Month Birthday Hamburger Party">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534479594_ef001a91fd.jpg" alt="Ian's Eleven-Month Birthday Hamburger Party"/>
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Abuela, Tí­a Belén, and us.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534269513_f12ab9b73e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Friends">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534269513_61be7c03c9.jpg" alt="Nora's Friends"/>
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Nora had her two best friends over for her birthday, Carmen and Claudia (the one who didn't draw the artwork above).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13391192115_3cd105fda7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Fifth Birthday">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13391192115_6162374607.jpg" alt="Nora's Fifth Birthday"/>
</a>

Pink mustache, or excited about a miniskirt?

### Art at School

Every year, for the Cultural Week, Nora's school decorates around a theme. To be honest, almost all the work is done by Nora's teacher and her husband. The kids and parents are encouraged to go help out, but the only ones that go are from Nora's class (despite there being many more classes). Nora loves to go during these times because she and maybe one or two other kids has their teacher all to themselves and they can help out (but mostly just follow her around) as she goes about organizing the decorations. We took Ian for a little bit, and he got a lot of one-on-one time with the teachers and other helpers.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534583154_c25dbc4a91_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian and Viky">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534583154_4456d72397.jpg" alt="Ian and Viky"/>
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Nora's teacher, Viky, with Ian. She said she'd been wanting to hold him for months, but restrains herself from doting too much over her students' siblings to not cause favoritism envy.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534579994_a65c347958_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Painting with Angel">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534579994_225b2bed83.jpg" alt="Painting with Angel"/>
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Viky's husband, íngel, let Ian "help" paint a big papier-mí¢ché whale. The theme is Endangered Species.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534574884_fa5cdddc6b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian and his future preschool teacher, Carmen">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13534574884_4a6954a0f4.jpg" alt="Ian and his future preschool teacher, Carmen"/>
</a>

This is Ian with his future preschool teacher, Carmen. They're on a three-year cycle, where each teacher stays with a class for three years, and this year Carmen's got the youngest kids, so in three years, when Ian enters preschool, she will again. I look forward to showing this photo to them in the future.

The state of the offspring is strong!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13104267243_8f8049c5c6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-31-state-of-the-offspring-address-march-2014/13104267243_3a12d85a2a_z.jpg" alt="Nora and Ian"/>
</a>


State of the Offspring Address - March 2014


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203261793_b91e50ba31_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora and Westie - Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203261793_01652d68a6_t.jpg" alt="Nora and Westie - Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
</a>

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it's only as we're rounding out our ninth year living in eastern Cantabria that we have actually entered Frank Gehry's incredibly unique building that tops all guidebooks to the lovely Basque city of Bilbao. But we did it; with two kids in tow nonetheless!

As a child, Nora was completely miserable to travel with in the car, so we became very town-bound. Ian is considerably better at riding in the car, so we've decided that we need to start doing more things on the weekends as a foursome family unit. As we're still new at this, it took us a while to get out the door, and we arrived in Bilbao at around 1 pm, with plenty of time for a walk before looking for lunch. We lucked into a sweet parking spot less than 200 meters from the Guggenheim museum itself.

After a brief walk along the river, we headed into town, but quickly got lost meandering around the commercial streets full of closed shops (it was Sunday). Friend of the blog, Bawa, had suggested we find a place named [_El Globo_](http://www.barelglobo.com) (this is the state of web design in Spain), but there was a _huge_ bicycle race taking place on the street adjacent to where she said, so the area was overrun with spandex-clad people. Not to mention, the place that Google said it was didn't seem to have a bar with that name. Soon we were getting desperate to feed Ian, so we chose the first place we found, a little bar called _Planchaditos_, which served up some pretty mediocre pintxos (tapas, in Basque), but they heated up Ian's puré.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203273373_34b4e6df2c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Feeding Ian on the street">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203273373_1795e4300c.jpg" alt="Feeding Ian on the street"/>
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As you can see here from the look of exasperation on mother and son, Ian wanted nothing to do with his puré, so he got to skip right to the yogurt course.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203276453_9ae799dd1a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Beer and Yogurt Mustache">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203276453_5a568d7251.jpg" alt="Beer and Yogurt Mustache"/>
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This was more acceptable to him.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203135255_7f91ec2a1d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Sandwich and Mosto">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203135255_57acd7e51d.jpg" alt="Nora's Sandwich and Mosto"/>
</a>

Nora enjoyed her _mosto_ (grape juice), and I – when in Rome... – had a [_Txakoli_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txakoli), a Basque white wine.

After Ian was fed, we finally found a little nook that was packed with _Bilbainos_ enjoying _pintxos_ and wine, _Calle Maestro Garcia Rivera_. There was not a tourist in sight; they were all locals.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203288633_baf81c466b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pintxos in Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203288633_ab88a4dc74.jpg" alt="Pintxos in Bilbao"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203462994_6bd40cbe8c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pintxos in Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203462994_3acf97e2a1.jpg" alt="Pintxos in Bilbao"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203138215_bca99a9e40_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pintxos in Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203138215_44ce6a77bf.jpg" alt="Pintxos in Bilbao"/>
</a>

Good. Stuff.

I could've stayed for another hour sipping Basque wine and eating _pintxos_, but Nora was getting bored, so we headed towards the museum we came to see.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/180px-Richard_Serra-The_Matter_of_Time.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matter_of_Time) It was 13€ per adult to enter, with the kids being free. One of the reasons we'd been drawn at this particular time was an exhibition by the most famous person whose name is 57% the letter "O", none other than the Beatles breaker herself, Yoko Ono. Her exhibition was on the third floor, but first we explored the first floor. The most prominent display on the first floor was the only one I'd heard about at the Guggenheim, which was Richard Serra's _A Matter of Time_, a series of enormous steel spirals that you could walk through. It was a good introduction to "modern art" and how much sense it makes.

The works definitely evoked an emotion (which is the goal of artists, I think), and the emotion was a sense of suspense and intrigue as you walked deeper and deeper into the spirals, only to have a tremendous letdown upon arriving to the stark nothingness at the center. I was amused that when I attempted to vocalize my frustration at the anticlimax, my brain came up with the sentence, "They should have some sort of cheese platter here in the middle.", unconsciously evoking the rat maze nature of the work.

Ian never, ever, ever wants to sit or lie down, always preferring to stand or walk (with assistance) whenever he can. So imagine our confusion when, upon being set on the ground to walk around inside one of these spirals, he immediately sat down and then laid down on his back. We assumed he must be onto something.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203186225_ed025d0bb4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203186225_d98c5be0d9.jpg" alt="Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
</a>

Perhaps this is the way the piece is meant to be enjoyed?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203294173_44d0ea4724_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Load. Of. Bollucks.">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203294173_4091ea72e8_z.jpg" alt="Load. Of. Bollucks."/>
</a>

> The torqued ellipses, spirals, spheres and toruses exist in the polarity between the downward force of gravity, their weightlessness and their upward rise in elevation which attempts to attain a condition of weightlessness. The sculptures are not objects separated in space but on the contrary they engender the spacial continuum of their environment. They impart form to the entire space, they shape the space through axes, trajectories and passages between their solids and voids.
> 
> I titled this installation _The Matter of Time_ because it is based on the idea of multiple or layered temporalities. As one experiences each work in the context of the entirety of the installation one will become aware of the obvious diversity of durations of time. The meaning of the installation will be activated and animated by the rhythm of the viewer's movement. Meaning occurs only through continuous movement, through anticipation, observation and recollection. However, there is no prescribed view, no preferred sequence, no preferred succession of views. Each person will map the space differently. There is an unlimited range of individual experiences, but they all take place over time. When I talk about time, I do not mean 'real' time, clock time. The perceptual or aesthetic, emotional or psychological time of the sculptural experience is quite different from 'real' time. It is non-narrative, discontinuous, fragmented, de-centred, disorienting.
> 
> \-Richard Serra

Total. Absolute. Bollocks. This is the kind of shit that makes me despise modern art. I mean, who's to say that these gigantic steel mazes even _exist_, man, on, like, the contours of my consciousness, man!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203167145_fcaace545d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203167145_9f64d73792.jpg" alt="Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
</a>

Nora, probably bored, got pretty insistent that it was time for her to have a yogurt, so we let her eat it here (once we decided the chairs weren't an exhibition piece) with this beautiful view of the Nervion River.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203499894_7bcab84dc9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203499894_16c1a0a5ba.jpg" alt="Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
</a>

Ian was not impressed with the scale model of Serra's giant spiral things.

Oh, speaking of bollocks, here's the main lobby of the museum, announcing its contents loud and clear.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13204494344_a84a758167_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guggenheim Lobby Panorama">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13204494344_d5b1db93f8_b.jpg" alt="Guggenheim Lobby Panorama"/>
</a>

Huge dangling gonads.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203521714_6e4e80132d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203521714_b35bb377c7_z.jpg" alt="Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
</a>

Another gorgeous window that Nora found to sit in front of.

So, it was in this "WTF?" mindset that we took the elevator up to the third floor to see the work of known "avant garde" nutcase Yoko-freakin'-Ono...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203367663_2af4fe9885_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Yoko Ono - Wishing Tree - Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203367663_094d1cd063_z.jpg" alt="Yoko Ono - Wishing Tree - Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
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The very first piece of the Yoko exhibit was the coolest of them all. It was a "Wish Tree" where visitors were encouraged to write a little wish and place it on the tree. Some of them wished for silly things like their favorite sports team to win or for World Peace, but others actually had wishes for sick loved ones to get well. We left a card that Nora filled out that said "NORAIAN" on it.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203370443_399bf820a5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Yoko Ono - Wishing Tree - Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203370443_a9ea86575e.jpg" alt="Yoko Ono - Wishing Tree - Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
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The security guards were extremely vigilant to stop camera usage inside the Yoko exhibit, but it lived up to my WTF expectations of modern art, with piles of trash cordoned off on the floor, etc. Two disturbingly memorial items were videos on repeat, one of a housefly on a woman's (Yoko's?) lips, and then on her nipples, just sitting there scratching its legs together, doing what flies do. The second was a video of closeups of human buttocks, just two cheeks filling the screen. Umm...?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203479484_9d66d4943f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="All White Chess">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203479484_ca36d57306.jpg" alt="All White Chess"/>
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By far the most thought-provoking thing inside the Yoko exhibit was one of the only items labeled "Participate!" – another one was a set of gumball vending machines selling "little capsules of air" for 0.50€ each...ugh! – this chessboard where all the squares and all the pieces were white. I took a photo of the photograph out in the hall. The teenagers playing at the actual table in the exhibition could only get three or four moves into the game before confusion set in. I thought it was a pretty clever way to raise the "Imagine there's countries" way of looking at the ridiculousness of war.

After exhausting first our interest, and then the content of the exhibition, of Yoko's work, we were ready to head down to the second floor to see the strange crocheted work of a Brazilian artist named Ernesto Neto. Now that I think about it, both Yoko and Ernesto's surnames are perfect for them. The Brazilian made some pretty crazy stuff out of netting.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203518424_0b72405562_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Suspended Art">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203518424_6d4d65eb70.jpg" alt="Suspended Art"/>
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Without a doubt, the coolest thing in the whole museum and the coolest thing I did this week was this suspended net full of rubber balls. My wife assumed they represented intestines, but the audio recording said it was a sperm and egg. Whatever. Either way, if you were over 13 years of age, you could climb up into the thing and walk around. It was _awesome_! The audio recording described it very well in saying that it juxtaposed a real sense of comfort of soft rubber balls underfoot with one of discomfort of suspension at great height and the generally wobbliness that went along with that. It was very cool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203336753_2efb392abd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Suspended Art">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203336753_7e0fc3fe55.jpg" alt="Suspended Art"/>
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That's Marga making the climb. The netting along the sides could not have been easier to hold onto, making falling down an impossibility. Very cleverly, they had some little sausage links of the netted balls on the floor for kids under thirteen to play on. Nora had a good time on them until some other rougher kids came along and she lost interest.

Then we went to a section where Neto had made a sort of shag carpet of different colors. Part of it was marked with "You can take your shoes off and run around here", and no one was doing so, so Nora enjoyed running around on the soft stuff. When it was time to go, we were on our way out, and there was a "piece of art" that was basically a big spill of gray dust. Nora, having just been encouraged by the museum to interact with stuff, went over and touched it, smearing her finger marks in the dust. I tried to stop her, shouting "No!" a little too loudly, but I was only in time to scare the crap out of my poor daughter. The security lady, who had previous encouraged Nora to put her hand through a piece of netting on another exhibit, came over and said, "The rule is that children must be holding hands with adults at all times!" as two children ran by. Meh! I bet they rake that dust every morning like sand traps on a golf course.

On that sour note, we left the museum to walk around a bit, grab and ice cream and head home.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203261793_b91e50ba31_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Westie - Guggenheim - Bilbao">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-16-the-guggenheim-in-bilbao/13203261793_01652d68a6_c.jpg" alt="Nora and Westie - Guggenheim - Bilbao"/>
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Overall it was a pretty enjoyable day. In retrospect it's pretty funny that we were considering whether or not we'd want to visit the Guggenheim at least three times a year to justify the yearlong pass. I'm pretty sure that, unless some _extremely compelling_ exhibition comes there, we won't be going back. The building and architecture is absolutely stunning, but the pretentiousness of modern art is a little too much to stomach.


The Guggenheim in Bilbao


![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990116064_eb204c3847_t.jpg)After my impressive performance [her first year](/2010/02/12/carnival-2010-in-colindres/), for the last two years of Nora's daycare, I was ordained the official daycare photographer for the Carnival parade, where all the kids and parents (from all the daycares and preschools) dress up and parade around town. Since I was out of town for [last year](/2013/02/13/carnival-2013-preschool-clowns/) (it rained, anyway), and Ian hadn't yet shown his face, this was the first year that I had ties to both the local school _and_ to the daycare. Several months ago, the daycare boss, Adela, approached me and said, "We can count on you as photographer again this year, right?" I said, well...since I've got Nora in school, I'm not sure which group I should participate with. She said, "But you're dressing up with us, right?" I said, "Well, that depends...Nora's class is dressing up as bees, which is pretty cute. What is your costume?" She explained that the kids were going to dress up as cops, and the parents as prisoners. I was sold immediately. She always has the most creative ideas, like when [the grown-ups were angels and the kids demons](/2011/03/04/carnival-2011-in-colindres-angels-and-demons/).  Then, a few weeks ago, Adela approached me and asked if they could change my costume. Two years ago, when [the kids and parents were dwarves and the daycare workers _Snow White_](/2012/02/17/carnival-2012-in-colindres-snow-white/), they gave me the special role as Prince Charming. This year, she asked if I, rather than dress up like a prisoner like the other parents, would be the Police Chief, the only adult dressed the same as the kids. I was honored, of course.

The originally planned parade last week got rained out, so we did it today.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989399805_2dbc7169cb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 021">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989399805_ba02b53358_c.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 021"/>
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That's one dapper cop!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989813864_0ec06d0322_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 031">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989813864_f95eece1cf.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 031"/>
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You may not believe this, but the psychology of the [Stanford Prison Experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment) was very strong. It was really hard not to feel like I could order around the other adults.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989587863_0a8347d5e3_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 056">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989587863_e5df54b99f.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 056"/>
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I brought out Nora's toy handcuffs to "arrest" Adela.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989547913_5b86bb1b0c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 032">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989547913_cb5b6f361f.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 032"/>
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Ian on patrol. The kids had their birth dates written on their hats, and the mothers all had 90-60-90, on theirs. That's 36-24-36 for you Americans.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989458945_532d3daf9d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 055">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989458945_c7230ce6fd_z.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 055"/>
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This other guy had a really rubbish costume compared to mine. I told him so.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989868144_09ab6fa4ed_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 062">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989868144_bfbd2b471b.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 062"/>
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He also arrested Adela.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989507203_2a45f6d294_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 011">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989507203_6207758e30.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 011"/>
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My cadets at the academy.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989534325_dda4ac3a86_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 097">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989534325_b4577eaf03.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 097"/>
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Cops on patrol.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989952854_ae14088522_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 109">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989952854_a89367a941.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 109"/>
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That bee looks familiar! She spotted me from a long way off.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989565775_fce70ae56a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 114">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12989565775_5458964ecd_z.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 114"/>
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A swarm of bees!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990050284_1347445c09_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 162">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990050284_daf1bbd30c.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 162"/>
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One of the other daycares dressed up as actual pigs, not just figurative pigs like us. The idea was much less creative, but they were pretty cute.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990116064_a3f178b00f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 197">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990116064_eb204c3847.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 197"/>
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The captain and the bee.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990117744_509246204b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 198">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-03-07-carnival-2014-cops-and-robbers-and-bees/12990117744_5491866b53.jpg" alt="Carnaval 2014 - La Cucaña - 198"/>
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We had a great time. All 214 photos I took are [here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/sets/72157642001691674/). I'm looking forward to next year. I suspect that I will continue to be impressed with the creativity and pragmatic execution of the holiday festivities at _La Cucaña_, Ian's daycare.


3 posts from March, 2014