Grand Army Plaza, Downton Abbey, and the Weekend

Hey everyone!!

We're at the end of a three-day weekend. For some reason, these long weekends always feel so short.
I spent the weekend catching up on sleep, doing homework, and hanging out at home. I went shopping with my mom today, which was fun. It's cool to get new stuff and just hang out with my mom.
The highlight of the past week was going to Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. It serves as the entryway to Prospect Park. I've gone there multiple times since I was kid to visit the large Central Library. I used to love going to the library there because there were so many books, and it was so fun to go with my dad for an afternoon.
This time, the focus of my visit was the plaza itself. For my Seminar 4 class, my professor wants each student to find a public space and write a blog entry about it. We're supposed to describe how design relates to function and our observations of how people utilize the space. I went on Tuesday since we had a day off for President Lincoln's birthday. The plaza is essentially a tribute to the Union Army of the Civil War so it was cool to be there on his birthday. One of the most beautiful features of the plaza is Bailey Fountain. It features these grand sculptures of Wisdom and Felicity. When I was there taking pictures, nobody else was there and it was nice to just experience the grandness of the fountain and the romantic image of the two figures on top of the ship.

Bailey Fountain

The most well-known part of Grand Army Plaza is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch. It commemorates the Union Army and includes bas-reliefs of President Lincoln and President Grant. The architecture of the arch and the sculptures on the arch are truly spectacular. In front of the arch, there is a large open space which includes several benches to sit on. It's great to just sit there and feel the "openness"of the area and the history that surrounds you. I'm really glad I had a chance to revisit a place that I've been coming to for many years and to get to know it better.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

In other news, Sunday was the season finale of Downton Abbey. And OMG. One of the main characters on the show was killed off, and I was literally sitting there with my mouth open and tears in my eyes. This was the second main character that had died during the season. My first thought was "How could the writer do this?". I found out later that the actor that plays the role asked the writers to write him off the show because he wants to work on other projects. My heart is still broken though. Now we have to wait a whole year for a new season. The agony. Sigh.

Enjoy the shorter school week everyone!! =)

This week's song is one of my new favorites. Rihanna is amazing here. 

S. 

Song of the Week

All along it was a fever
A cold sweat hot-headed believer
I threw my hands in the air and said, "Show me something,"
He said, "If you dare come a little closer."

Round and around and around and around we go
Oh now tell me now tell me now tell me now you know

Not really sure how to feel about it.
Something in the way you move
Makes me feel like I can't live without you.
It takes me all the way.
I want you to stay

"Stay" by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko