Cecil Beaton and Valentino in one afternoon.

Went to see the "Cecil Beaton:The New York Years" exhibition at the highly underrated Museum of the City of New York this afternoon with my handsome young surgeon-in-residence pal Dr. E. We had a wonderful afternoon. I had no idea what an amazing and versatile talent Beaton was—here's how he's described— as a fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films, operas, ballet and theater. Phew!

I was struck by the notion that when it was determined that his style of fashion photography was no longer modern, he didn't object or fight it, instead, he decided to change his focus to stage and costume design.
And he was brilliant at it, as he was at photography.

His portrait photography was so beautiful, especially of women like Garbo (who he had a love affair with), a very vulnerable Marilyn Monroe, and a gorgeous laughing Katherine Hepburn. Truly he was a Renaissance man—and he seemed to enjoy every moment of it.

The exhibit run through February. Perfect inspiration for lofty New Year's resolutions.


It has been unusually warm throughout this long Thanksgiving weekend so Dr. E and I decided to walk along Central Park after the museum, pausing to take in the sunset across the reservoir and the skyline of the Upper West Side.  We walked along Fifth Avenue, near 71st Street on the park side when I noticed a man coming towards us, walking a pug.

My jaw dropped, my eyes popped out of my head -- it was VALENTINO! Of course, Dr. E had no idea who I was talking about or why I was hyper-ventilating. 

Maybe in my next life, I'll come back as one of Valentino's pugs.