RIP Ad'H...

a billion years ago, when i was a grant writer at the philadelphia museum of art, one of my regular tasks was to write letters. i wrote cover letters for grant requests, thank you letters for grant awards, and cover letters for grant reports. and since nobody knew who the hell i, a lowly grants associate, was, and since the whole fundraising/development/arts&culture world is all about name/brand recognition, i wrote these letters under someone else's name, someone whose name got recognized.

one of those well-recognized people was anne d'harnoncourt, the museum's director. anne d'harnoncourt died over the weekend.

now, it's not like ADH and i were pals; it's not as if we'd trade quips about marcel duchamp when we'd pass each other in the halls. truthfully, i had very little direct interaction with her, and i was a little terrified of her because she was the big boss and she was six feet tall. but i liked her -- she was always kind and professional, she was a perfectionist even with my submitted drafts of two-paragraph thank you notes (very rarely did i get a draft returned to me without some minor change on it), she was completely devoted to her work, she was gracious and genuine with those who supported the museum and its programming, and she had truly fantastic handwriting. she did wonderful things with and for the philadelphia museum of art, and by extension for the city of philadelphia. she was very well liked and respected and she will definitely be missed.

(by the way, as an example of an editorial change that ADH would have made to one of my drafts, in the previous paragraph's second-to-last sentence, she likely would have marked through the word "wonderful" and replaced it with "marvelous." she actually talked like that, too.)

there are a few articles in the NYT about her. here's one of them.

by the way...

...that new job i mentioned? i'm gonna be a public defender. damn right!

i start on monday. i have no idea what i'm going to wear.

YES WE CAN!!!

never ever have i loved pittsburgh more than i do right now! i swear the whole city today was sleep-deprived; people were walking into their various downtown office buildings this morning like a mass of zombies. why? because every one of us stayed up last night to watch game 5 of the stanley cup finals!

now, here's my confession: i've only been a hockey fan for seven weeks, since friday, april 11th. that was game 2 of the stanley cup playoffs in the round one penguins/senators series. i didn't even want to watch the game that night, but carson did, so i watched it with him. and by the end of the first period, i was hooked! and yes, pun intended.

i had no idea that hockey was so fantastic! all this time -- for thirty one years -- i'd been convinced that a girl from the south like me had no business with the cold weather sports. and then i learned to snowboard. and then i discovered the true magnificence that is the NHL! you're SUPPOSED to check the guy with the puck! and there are fights and black eyes and bloody noses and sticks in faces! and a penalty box! and power plays! and man, can those boys skate! and really, hockey is totally hot. there's something about the sound of a good check against the boards that makes me all swoony.

also, of course, i have seventh-grade-girl-caliber crushes on like all the pens, but especially max talbot and marian hossa. although, after last night's game, i'm about ready to bear marc-andre fleury's children.

never have i been more emotionally invested in a sports event than i was in last night's game. that includes a lifetime obsession with notre dame football. those fifty minutes of overtime play took years from my life, but that sweet sweet petr sykora goal made it all worthwhile!

holy crap! game six tomorrow back at home! LET'S GO PENS!!!