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[Jul. 10th, 2009|10:13 am] |
On the way to my subway station, parked along 8th Avenue, is a rather large, 1960s-vintage Airstream motor home, presumably owned by a couple of retired hippies making a stop on their cross-country travels. There's a pro-Willie Nelson motto on the front of it (and we all know what that means) and a copy of Jon Stewart's America: The Book atop a pile of maps on the dashboard.
When I was growing up, a good number of people I knew had a camper of some sort, whether it was a full-scale motor home, a trailer, or a stackable unit that fit on the back of a pickup. Motor homes were mainly the province of older folks, but plenty of families had their own mobile camping units. My parents had a 70s-ish trailer with a turquoise-and-white color scheme inside and out, little propane lamps and stove, a mini-fridge, and twin-size sleeping compartments up by the ceiling that my stepbrother and I would have to jump up to reach. It was not an Airstream, but it was still pretty cool.
My current neighborhood, however, is full of small children who've not traveled much outside of big cities, most of whom have apparently never seen such a thing. Every day for the past week I've been walking behind a kid or two who is utterly enchanted with the Airstream.
"It's like a house on wheels," their parents tell them. "That way they always have a place to stay, no matter where they decide to go. There's a bed, and a kitchen, and a table and chairs inside."
The kids run up and try to look in the windows, but most of the shades are pulled. Most all of them still want one of their own, site unseen. One this morning vowed that when he grew up, he would live in one and tour the country, an idea his parents loved.
It makes sense that they'd be so easily adaptable to the idea - if you grow up in Brooklyn, where you live full-time is probably not that much bigger than an Airstream. |
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| Ever-so-exciting Life Update. |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|10:53 am] |
First, natal greetings go out to some of my very favorite people, who all seem to be clumped around this time of year.
Many, many happy (and happier) days to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) redstapler, jackalprey, firynze, and of course, antheia. I hope your days were all happy, and I can only wish you all even happier ones to come. ::hugs and smishes all around::
And now, a brief rundown about how things are chugging along:
* Last Friday I had the day off. I did some grocery shopping, but then j_bkl and I went and bought a real-by-God mattress. One with springs and coils and puffy parts and the whole bit. I was initially suffering from sticker shock, but after sleeping on it for the first time last night, I can honestly say it was worth every last penny. I also ran into whtegrlwthehair and her friend S and wound up joining them for an impromptu picnic earlier in the afternoon, while I was aimlessly wandering the slope. The picnic and company were both delightful.
*Saturday, the 4th, I was lucky enough to be a guest at two lovely barbeques. Lots of meats, beer, and good times. (And really amazing pulled pork that I must get the recipe for. For serious.)
*On Sunday, J ACTUALLY HAD THE DAY OFF. No, really. Seriously. So we slept in, watched some of Season 2 of Veronica Mars, and then, inspired by a call from lwoodbloo, wound up heading out to the Dumbo Brooklyn Flea, Bubby's for some lunch, and several shops along the way to the F train. Then it was home, some tidying, and even more Veronica Mars, and then dinner. It was so amazing to actually get to spend a weekend day with him, just doing random stuff. We had a lot of fun together, but that's not a surprise, we always do.
*Sadly, I wound up having the WORST NIGHT OF SLEEP EVAR on Sunday. I was a zombie on Monday, so much so that I forgot half of the stuff I needed to get on an after-work Target run. Blah. But then we finished Season 2 of Veronica Mars, and I got a much better night of sleep.
* Yesterday our mattress was delivered, work was crazy, but THEN we got to see Public Enemies. It was visually beautiful, Johnny Depp was terrific, and it was most definitely a Michael Mann Film. Every director has his/her own stylistic markers, some more prominent than others, and Mann's love of tight close-ups, slow-motion, light saturation, and quick cuts were very prevalent. He also doesn't hit you over the head with lots of detail, he gives enough to be accurate and just lets the actors work. Which was really great. Definitely worth seeing. Then we had Shake Shack after the movie. (yum).
*And now, work. Yay. J is working late tonight, so I still haven't made definite evening plans yet. Don't know if I'm going to go home or what. Still pondering. I haven't watched any of Torchwood: Children of Earth yet, so that's not a bad way to spend an evening. We'll see.
I've been too busy/distracted to write on stuff I've been ruminating about more deeply, so I guess that will have to wait. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|10:07 am] |
Happy Monday morning, LiveJournal. Hopefully everyone who had a long weekend enjoyed their time away.
Although work is the same, home is the same, family and friends the same, and my spare time is the same (read, cook, sitcom reruns, physical therapy, bitch about not being able to exercise), there is one big bright shining thing in my life that makes all small annoyances bearable.
It's not Statue of Liberty crown tickets (although we do have those).
It's not Paul McCartney tickets (although we also have those).
It's that KIP AND I ARE GOING TO SOUTH AMERICA.
We leave on November 18 and will be spending 11 days and 10 nights in Brazil and Argentina, including Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, and Buenos Aires. Rio is probably the city I most want to visit in the entire world, so this is pretty exciting.
So I have, naturally, a ton of questions for the Internets at large. I've been reading TripAdvisor boards and googling all the different little stuff we're going to do, but I could use some more personalized advice from both those of you who have been to South America and those of you who have not been to South America but have traveled extensively.
For Those Who've Been to Brazil or Argentina:
1. What shouldn't I miss in Rio or Buenos Aires? Any good food recommendations that are not massive piles of grilled meat? (We already have a churrasco dinner booked as part of the package.) How about sights to see? Corcovado and Sugarloaf are already on the itinerary.
2. If you've been to Iguazu Falls, did you get any vaccinations? If you didn't, did you get sick and/or feel like you cheated death? CDC recommends yellow fever shots, but I'm getting mixed suggestions on malaria pills.
3. Other miscellaneous things as far as preparation goes? I'm trying to learn a few words of Portuguese between now and then.
For Those Who Are Just Into Travel but Haven't Necessarily Been to Brazil or Argentina:
4. We are in the market for travel guidebooks. If you're local and you have some, we'd love to borrow, but we know we'll probably end up buying. I've perused a bunch and I know we're definitely going to want Knopf MapGuides for both cities, but we'd also like something more detailed for each city.
We need: suggestions and tips for interesting sites/activities, delicious food across a variety of price ranges, detailed directions, and a section with miscellaneous advice like how to call the cops and what to do if you break your leg and how to tip in bars.
We don't need: super high-end stuff, excursions outside of the cities, hotel listings.
5. Have you read any good books, fiction or non, about any of these places? I'm always hoping to find a book that will take me to a specific place before I go there for real, sort of like The Hotel New Hampshire did for me with Vienna, or Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon did for, well, you know. Movies would work too. |
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| ABC, it's easy as 123 |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|05:17 pm] |
I dreamed last night that I'd been asked to chaperone a school field trip to Washington, D.C. and evaluate the teacher's performance.
The teacher, the kids, and I were walking past the Supreme Court building on the way to the White House. The kids, all eight or nine years old, were exceedingly well-behaved, curious, energetic chatterboxes, all trying to outdo one another with knowledge of history and social studies. (Gee, I wonder where that part of my dream came from.) Each of the kids could name all of the presidents in order, and as the Supreme Court building appeared on our right, they started to rattle off all the current Supreme Court justices. They were a little less sure of those, though, so their teacher decided to help them out.
"Let's all sing the song I taught you," he said. "Remember? It was just like how you learned all the presidents."
When the teacher began singing to start them off, I realized suddenly that he was Michael Jackson. Unmarred by repeated plastic surgeries, unremarkably dressed, but the voice was unmistakable, as were the cadences and rhythms of the song. Led by their teacher's clear, perfect falsetto, the kids all sang a catchy little ditty about the Supreme Court, filled with clever little rhymes and fun facts. I wish I could remember all of the words, but the only line I recall was "...and John Paul Stevens likes to wear bow ties." (Which does scan to the verses of "The Way You Make Me Feel," now that I think about it, but that wasn't the tune they were using. In fact, now that I made that connection, I've totally lost whatever the tune was. Dammit.)
"I'll have to change the line about David Souter for next fall," Michael told me. "I just hope we get a new justice confirmed before the start of the school year."
Impressed, I confided in him that I'd be writing a glowing review of his teaching abilities.
Again, to be clear, there was nothing weird about the guy's interactions with the kids. They clearly liked him and were happy to be on the field trip, and he was clearly happy to be their social studies teacher. I gradually came to the conclusion that this must be some sort of alternate-universe Michael Jackson, in some world where his childhood wasn't ruined by fame, his life wasn't a media circus, and his death wasn't an untimely, tragic spectacle. He was just a regular guy who had a great musical talent and loved working with kids, and had found a productive way to combine the two.
I've been hit unexpectedly hard by Michael Jackson's death. His songs were as big a part of my childhood as they were for anybody my age, but I wasn't necessarily a bigger fan than anybody that's true for. And while I've never been hugely into celebrity gossip, I couldn't avoid being more than a little appalled at some of the things we knew about him - the baby-dangling, the self-aggrandizing extravagance, the criminal allegations. All the same, it's hard to think about this incredibly talented and influential person not being in the world anymore, even as I know how miserable and messed-up most of his life was, and I wish things had turned out better for him.
I think that's what my subconscious must have been doing last night - putting him somewhere he'd finally be happy. |
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| Rough Day, Amazing People |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|03:44 am] |
For my birthday, I got to have dinner with my dad, my brother, and my half sister. (My half brother is flying in from San Diego [lulz for context] this weekend.)
Much as I love and missed them, I could have done without them being in New York for why they're here.
Charles, my boss, presented me with a bottle of excellent bourbon saying, "Happy birthday. I'm sorry it's for forgetting rather than celebrating."
My sister raised her glass to me at dinner saying that we should not forget it was my day. I drank vodka tonight (oh god so much vodka) for Mom. We told stories of Mom, how amazing she is, how everyone loves her because she treats everyone like a human being. (Apparently the door/elevator men from the building sent a card. The building is full of old, sick, and dying people. I doubt they do that for everyone. In fact, I'm sure they don't.)
Tonight, I saw my father wish one of the nurses--one I'd barely met--a lovely weekend, and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. This is how my family is.
After dinner, I got to the bar and it was full of people I love, who cheered when I came in the door.
Today was terrible, but it was absolutely made better by the love of the wonderful people around me.
I even joked with my mother, as I hugged her good night, that oh god, worst birthday ever. She grinned at me and hugged me again.
I am blessed. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. |
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| Mom |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|10:56 pm] |
For those of you who never met her or saw her picture, this is my Mom:
That's her on the right.
My mother is the most beautiful, glamorous, fabulous person I have ever known.
That hat doesn't nearly do her justice. |
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| Crazy Times. |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|02:35 pm] |
Whatup, LJ? I've been meaning to post updates since Sunday, and have not had the chance.
Sunday was the Pride Parade, which I was thrilled to be a part of. The ever-talented and awesome nemesisbecoming formed a group called Bridesmaids for Marriage Equality, which I joined. We were asked to be on Marriage Equality of NY's float (take a good hard look at the mother-effing float) in the parade, and I got to dance and hold my sign and have a great time, along with j_bkl at my side, and the always-awesome company of leahpia77 and dkellergrl. I had a great time, forgot the camera, but I think some other people have pictures (please let me know if you do).
It was a marvelous, surreal experience. I've never been on a parade float before, especially in an event as big as Pride. I loved waving and waving my sign to the cheering crowds. I even had a great vantage point to flip off a cranky old man who gave us the thumbs down at 23rd Street. I write and call my sentaors and congresspeople regularly to advocate for marriage equality, but it was nice to take part in something bigger.
It was especially memorable since J and I made the float at the last minute, literally seconds before they rolled out, due to some missed calls on my part. I had to do a crazy-ass Spiderman manuever to get on the float, which was interesting, considering my big, poofy dress. But we got there, and our float had a giant blue wedding cake (with two grooms on top) bouquets and bunting, a dj and a whole bunch of dancers. Apparently, we were sponsored by the entire city of Amsterdam (just see what legalizing pot and prostitution can do for you GNP!). Afterwards, we met up with different bunches of J's friends, and I changed into civilian clothes, but we crashed out for home by 7. I was so wrecked, I couldn't even stay awake for True Blood . True story.
Monday J and I had a make up Father's Day celelbration with his family, at a lovely restaurant in Midtown. A few hours after dinner, I was a trainwreck. I don't know if the clams oreganata gave me food poisoning or an allergic reaction (never had a problem with them before, and redesigner can attest that I ate a metric ton of clams and mussels at a seafood buffet in vegas last year). Either way, it was ugly. And I am feeling much better now. But yesterday was pretty much a wash.
So, I'm back today, work is crazy. And I have to get back to it. But after tomorrow I am off, and tomorrow is a pay day. With the rest of the overtime in it. And, J and I are due to go mattress shopping this weekend!!! In addition to parties and other funtimes. So yay on that. |
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| Happy Canada Day!! |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|11:37 am] |
To All the Canadians out there! You have a good one, eh? |
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