28/05/2013

Running recap, take 3.

I recently downloaded the Blogger app for my android. At first I was elated by the prospect of writing and publishing as the freeway miles unroll behind us but now, after a couple of posts have been devoured by the void, things don't look so rosy. Of course, it's probably my fault or at least the machines are very good at making it look that way. I told myself to jump right back in and rewrite them while the words still hung in the air but I was too damn frustrated.

Sunday morning in New York
with family.
Anyway, just to say by way of recap, the wedding event was simple and sweet. They were married in December so this was the blessing presided over by my, almost a priest once, brother-in-law. That's him, top photo (r). Great guy.

My sister, aka mother of the groom

Tonight we're in Georgia. We spent the afternoon walking around Savannah. The old town center is perfectly beautiful, historic and a shallow tourist trap but it works for me. We had a great lunch at the Sentient Bean, a local veggie cafe/coffee shop. They were even hosting an open mic tonight. I considered reading. I'd love to have added Savannah to my world tour list but we have a really long day tomorrow. We drive to Venice, unload the car, drive to Tampa, spend the night then get up at 4 am and catch a flight to Portland. Got to see the grandkids don't you know.

27/05/2013

"Life is worth living"

Those four words are posted at the entrance to New York's Verrazano bridge. I hope they have successfully persuaded would-be jumpers to reconsider. Life is worth living. Even so-called "dead ends" generally turn into new beginnings if you give them time enough.

NYC from the Verranzo bridge
Swami & Minerva crossing the Verranzo bridge

Bye-bye Brooklandia

Leaving Brooklyn. Most perfect weather we've had here... blue blue blue sunny skies after two weeks of mostly rain, wind and cold. But of course I don't complain. Just report.
The wedding was a great success... beautiful, sweet, tender, sad and, well, cold which will make for a warmer memory. Pictures to follow, probably.
So...next stop Wilson, North Carolina and a "tasty" dinner tonight at the Golden Corral because we can piece together a cheap vegetarian meal there. If you don't know what that is consider yourself fortunate.

25/05/2013

The Wedding Party

Ok. D-day. In one half hour we're off to the wedding party. It's really the reason behind this whole trip to DC and NYC. To celebrate our nephew's recent wedding. We are wearing grown-up clothes. My stomach is full of butterflies. Why? Sad isn't it? M. Lee just googled how to tie a half-Windsor knot. I'm wearing heels, well they kind of look like motorcycle boot sandals but they have an elevated heel heel like ladies wear. Ok. Gotta go.

Ps. The half-Windsor looks good.

19/05/2013

Rainy day, Brooklyn

We've been in New York for a week now and have spent most of that time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's huge. They have over two million objects in archive. I am beginning to wonder if we are not, in fact, masochists. The Smithsonian already kicked our asses. We went to 15 out of the 17 museums, but still left DC beaten, heads bowed, oodles of art yet unseen.

Our Brooklyn airbnb apartment,
the three windows above the grocery store.
That's M. going in the door.

Yesterday, we took a quick pass through Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial in Central Park. In all, it's a couple of acres but most people just stop long enough to take a photo of themselves by the "Imagine" mosaic embedded in the sidewalk. Naturally the place has a self-appointed, Yoko approved, "Mayor of Strawberry Fields" and yesterday the Mayor was in. M. Lee hates guys like this so, when the Mayor began rounding up the tourists for his schtick, he wanted to immediately leave. I thought about staying to take a couple of photos but then decided against it. The memorial feels sweet, sad and empty. Seemed best to leave it at that.


View of the street from our apartment


As usual, we eat breakfast and lunch at home and take sandwiches with us when we're out during the day. For treats, we found a bakery in Chinatown that sells excellent red bean buns and mochi balls. And here in Flatbush, only two blocks from our apartment, Kabir's Bakery sells most delicious giant samosas for a dollar so this rainy Sunday we stayed home, had samosas for lunch and did laundry.

Small but nice, with a kitchen.

I have yet to find a place to read poetry. Places favor rap and spoken word, which I don't do, and most readings start late here in the City that never sleeps. Anyway, New York is already listed on my world tour. I read here in the '60s in the basement of St. Mark's in the Bowery before it was taken over by academics. Yes, Gingburg and Orlovsky also read that night and no, they did not speak to me, a mere girl.

Kabir's Bakery, Brooklyn
Kabir's Bakery, Brooklyn
Great samosas, one dollar.
Tomorrow, MOMA.

17/05/2013

Peter and the Starcatcher


Peter and the Starcatcher was absolutely enthralling. It was hard waking to the gray morning after an evening of such wonderful language and spectacle. Everyone was perfect. And all on such a small stage. Brilliant. I read that Peter is going on the road beginning this August. If it comes to a theater anywhere near you...GO!!! Here's the schedule schedule.

15/05/2013

Friends along the way

NYC
As usual, I'm on the run so this has to be brief. We made a new friend last night. It's a friend of a friend kind of thing. Anyway, we're going to a play with him tonight. As a member of the Actor's Guild, he can get discount tickets so the three of us are going tonight to see Peter and the Starcatcer. Should be good. It won five Tony Awards when it was on Broadway. Now it's moved to a smaller off-Broadway location. Okay. Gotta go.

14/05/2013

Enter the Blue Cloud

I have no idea how I got this photo. I took it from the car as we were driving across the country but, at the time, I was completely unaware of that strange blue cloud leaking in from the top.

Enter the Blue Cloud
Strange photo taken on the road

Perhaps M. Lee is right. Perhaps we do live in a sim.

Other than that, we are in NY, Brooklyn to be exact and, of course, M. Lee is tapping his foot by the door so gotta go.

my perfuntory arty ny subway pic
my perfunctory arty ny subway pic

08/05/2013

Nuts

One fateful day Squirrel and Mr. Donut cross paths.
One fateful day, Squirrel and Mr. Donut cross paths.

07/05/2013

Notes in passing

Smithsonian astronaut suit and reflections
Spaceman and me.

Went to the National Archives today. I have never been in a building with so many brass doors. Even the bathroom doors are brass and gigantic. The Archives are the home of important historical documents such as the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta. Oddly, of these four, the Magna Carta, from 1297, is in the best shape. In comparison, the Declaration of Independence, 1776, has almost completely faded away and the Constitution and Bill of Rights aren't doing very well either. However, the room they are in, the manner in which they are displayed and the Security surrounding them is so opulent, reverential and threatening that it wouldn't matter if comic books were under the layers of brass, glass and watchful eyes, they would inspire awe.

Glenn Curtiss
1907s Fastest Man in the World.

We also visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It houses everything from the Wright brother's airplanes and Glenn Curtiss's V-8 motorcycle to the Command Module which ferried astronauts to and from the moon and a full-scale replica of the same Voyager I which is on its deep space mission, never to return. Besides sending information back to Earth, Voyager is carrying the Golden Record with pictures and sounds of Earth and detailed information about where our planet is located. I hope that's a good idea.

This evening, back in our little makeshift basement apartment on Capitol Hill, the domestic battle raging upstairs all week continues. It's really sad. Their baby chirps away happily in morning and they are at each others throats at night then the silent treatment.

Seventeen days

That's how long we've been gone but it seems so much longer. We've traversed many worlds, visited a time whorl and now are here in the center of world power, the US capital. Yesterday, passing by some nice rocking chairs under a rose arbor on the Mall, we dipped in for a sit. One of my many mottoes is never pass up a fine rocking chair. No, I'm not "ready" for one but they are fun for a pause. So we sat there under the just budding vines, under gray skies and got into an interesting conversation with an older black woman who was also rocking away. She claimed to be in the DOD and, if it were true, it sounded like she really had her ear to the ground, foreign ambassadors, street rumors...all that. I decided to believe her. It's more fun that way. M. Lee did not.

Anyway, I still haven't included anything about our visit to New Vrindaban and now the whole thing is receding in the rear view mirror. I fully intend to post some photos for my own future reference and my kids, if they are so inclined. This is, after all, a blog aka diary. And I'm still preparing myself for the task of wearing actual grown up clothes to this wedding on the 25th, an actually dress, high heels, M. Lee in a tailored suit. Holy shit! I was born wearing jeans. So we're going to do it, and it will probably be fun, but damn. I'm just hoping I don't wobble in the heels and twist an ankle.

Ok. Enough of this. Gotta eat my oatmeal now. We're leaving in 15 min. Yes. It's raining.

06/05/2013

Rainy Monday

A suit for every occasion
Suitsupply has the right suit for everybody,
even old guys.


On Saturday we managed to get in a bike ride. It was the one, true, though not quite warm sunny day. Including all the noodling, it was about a 25 mile ride which is pretty good for my first ride of the season. Once we crossed the Potomac we jumped on the Mt. Vernon Trail, a multi-use path which follows the river all the way to George Washington's home, though we didn't get that far ourselves.

But we did stop off at the Museum of Natural History on the way home. Oh my god. This museum alone is worth driving across the country for. Outstanding, fabulous and amazing.

And M. Lee's suit was ready yesterday so we picked that up. He looks great. Suitsupply is everything it promises to be but the guy who made it all come together was a fellow named Faouzi. He was wonderful. Fantastic. He knew exactly where the line was for an old guy, modern but appropriate. Photo to follow.

Okay. Gotta go. The Trip Tyrant, M. Lee, is rattling on about how we have to leave in a few minutes.


Note to my future self: 
Hey! Don't be like me. Bring your bike jacket and collapsible water bottle.

03/05/2013

Slow Nickels TV

Washington DC

Slow Nickels is an odd name for anything but I suppose it makes sense as a laundromat although it would be more accurate to call the place Lots of Nickles. Anyway, we're at Slow Nickels doing our laundry this morning for the first time since we left Nevada. DC TV news is on. I don't know if its just me but it seems definitely different than TV news anywhere else I've been. The daily political scene plays out more like a battle in a Roman Colosseum, every strike broadcast, who is where doing what and everybody leaning in, keeping up blow by blow, the States themselves watching from front row seats, competing with one another, switching alliances on a moments notice like ringside hustlers buying and selling odds on each and every move. It's mad. OK. Time to fold laundry.

02/05/2013

Notes and reflections

Five days in DC now. We're staying about 2.5 mi away from the Mall so everyday we get in a good walk going to and from the museums. The first few days it rained but the last two have been clear blue and warm in the sun. Makes all the difference. We've seen a lot of art, good and bad and some masters, including da Vinci and Rembrandt, and today we checked out the exhibit at the old patent building now the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Their portrait gallery was pretty bad but there is some wonderful, and disturbing, art brut. They refer to it as folk art for whatever reason but it's art brut aka outsider art. Anyway, the exhibit kicked our asses. It's huge. We got there at the end of the day and only had enough energy for the first floor.

Also I ran into a dear old friend from Oregon on the Mall today. Talk about a surprise! She and her husband are in DC visiting family. She called my name from across the street. It was phenomenal. We really don't know what's going to happen in a day, do we? So we did coffee. The event got me brooding again that we didn't stop in Kansas City and have coffee with Roy. I want to totally blame M. Lee for that. He makes plans way in advance and mostly alone. He decides destinations, reservations and even where we'll eat along the way. It's mostly all good so I am in the habit of just going along with things. I really hate admitting I'm so passive. It's a pathetic kind of flaw, a convenient weakness, but blaming him only magnifies it so I can't/don't want to do that. Arg.