An unruly mob in period costumes: "As the soldiers march into the square our shouting grows louder, with some of our number brandishing rakes and clubs. The only problem is that we don't know what we are supposed to be doing. Some of my fellow rioters are asking each other in hushed tones: 'Are we dead yet?'"
Saturday: HappyWill, my father and I went to the wilds of the Upper West Side to the Natural History museum. HappyWill was most interested in the train ride--fortunately since we took an express to 125th St before heading back downtown to 81st. Museums with a focus for kids have a big racket going on. The museum is pay what you want; however, to see the special shows one can purchase a Supersaver ticket for $21.00 for a kid (adult is $32). When my brother and two nephews went to the Shedd Aquarium, we paid a similar fee. You end up growling to the kid that they have to see $23.00 worth of exotic fish just to make the experience worth it. On the other hand, I did learn that there are two types of skunks in North America: the striped and the spotted varieties. They even come in suitcases like ransom money (scroll down).
Sunday: Bri and I drove up to the farther wilds of the north with Heidi to measure the new apartment and to take photos. Then we drove back. Didn't go near Boston though the car was pulling in that direction. Apparently the apartment building used to be a church several miles away from where it is now. Some time in the late 19th century, the place got picked up and moved to its current location. The laundromat on the corner should make better use of this with taglines like "wash your sins away", etc. I've always wanted to live on deconsecrated property.
Advice for Recent Arrivals, Dos & Don'ts & More Don'ts for Gay Boy Refugees, by Nate Lippens (06/24/04): "So you made it out of that backwater town in one piece. Now comes the hard part--acclimating to a new place and living an openly gay life. Soon enough you will discover which bars cater to your distorted physical ideals, that meth is very bad, and that a deep tan is ugly and pre-cancerous--but what about the other stuff? Here's a cheat sheet to save you some time and trouble..."
Disease threatens choc production: "World cocoa production could decline if diseases ravaging South American crops spread to other major cocoa producing regions, UK scientists have warned."
Sir Paul show 'damaged artworks': "Sir Paul McCartney's Sunday concert near St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum was 'damaging' to its valuable artworks, its director has said.
Director Mikhail Piotrovski said it was 'totally unacceptable' to hold a concert so close because noise vibrations had damaged paintings.
'Something has to be done so there are no more of these types of shows,' Mr Piotrovski said."
Sir Paul caused similar trouble back in May. Will he never learn?
Girls beat boys with rulers: "A Scottish teacher was fined £750 by a court yesterday after recruiting a squad of schoolgirls armed with rulers to carry out her classroom punishments."
My father and I went to see the Byzantium exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday night. I overheard the following:
"...they really had figurative and abstract representation down..."
Wife to husband: "It says that they fought paganism".
Husband: "Well good for them!"
Also, while I am not usually down with saints, if I had to choose one, Saint Theodosia seems a good role model since she "was one of the heroes of the Iconoclast period and was credited with leading the stubborn resistance..." Well good for her!
The goddess and the president: "In his incense-filled office three blocks from the parliament building, Priest Rafael Albis dons a shiny white robe, scents his hands with magical perfume, and, with a paroxysm of shuddering, is miraculously transformed into the goddess herself.
'What message does her fall hold for the nation?' asks a reporter present at the event.
'If the people want violence, there will be violence; if they want peace, there will be peace,' replies a feminine voice from Albis' huge torso. 'I want peace for the world.'
Whatever the message, nobody interprets the goddess's crisis as positive for Venezuela.
Hedgehog was used as a football: "He said: 'It's horrible, very insensitive, no feelings. That was a little life and they didn't see it from that point of view. They just saw it as a round curled up ball, something to kick. I was horrified, really horrified by it.'
A survey funded by Mammals Trust UK and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and published in 2002 found the British hedgehog population had dropped by up to a half over 10 years."
Cat lovers test their skills: "Contestants will test their skills in games that simulate activities they would normally do for their cats, such as feeding them, removing hairballs, cleaning out a litterbox, and playing with a ball of yarn."
The iPal is a PAL speaker and an iPod held together with rubberbands. While I will forgo the binding devices (hate rubberbands), this is exactly why I wanted a little speaker. I am so zeitgeist!
Perhaps its the scent of fear on me, but people in the legal profession have been attracted to my apartment listing. The first person to look at the place is a law professor at one of the schools that I visited--she would have been one of my first year teachers. The third person that visited is a paralegal who had dropped out of the school in New York that did accept me. She told me how she was waiting tables to help make ends meet when a classmate, on her way to the beach, saw her. Classmate patted her on the shoulder and told she that she was doing a "good job". Anyway, she dropped out after a semester and a half and now works as a paralegal.
The second person, rather persons, to look are two punka roommates. They told me they were moving in together so I congratulated them; they explained that they were not moving in that way. Despite that gaffe, punkas put down their deposit and will take residence on August 1st. And next Sunday Bri and I will be up north again to sign our new lease and to measure the abundant woodwork. The new landlady could not meet sooner since her daughter is in a touring dance troupe. I have no doubt that her commitment is to Sparkle Motion.
Those ominous clouds do loom over my office building every day. And fittingly enough, many of my coworkers are Gothic atrocities. Miss Nibby spent an hour making a paper hat for a visiting beagle.
Now that I am twenty-six, my humor has gone to the toilet. I was snickering about buying a "male to male" cable all afternoon. Not only that, a "1/8 male to 1/8 male" cable! Well, its not that funny--perhaps my system is still on a sugar high from the ginger ice cream and blueberry peach cobbler that my man made for me. I only discovered this ginger ice cream when we were the land of the north on Saturday. That ice cream parlor tried to be clever and name it Fred & Ginger. Who the hell wants Fred flavored ice cream? The cable is for the beautiful Tivoli PAL speaker for my iBook or iPod. The thing can survive underwater, but I plan on using it while painting and/or the coming apocalypse. The world may be a barren wasteland, but I'll still be able to listen to NPR. And everyone knows that NPR radio journalists will last longer than cockroaches. Brian also gave me a mint condition biography of artist/writer Denton Welch. He always gives me the best gifts.
Truck hauling bees crashes: "A tractor-trailer overturned on a curve on a highway, spilling its load of hundreds of bee hives and unleashing some nine million angry honey bees... State Transportation Department employees dropped sand on the road to soak up the sticky mess."
Dylan made Dr Tambourine Man: "Only purists will object that a man who still can't play the harmonica after 40 years should be made a doctor of music..."
We drove up north to look at three apartments on Saturday morning. The drive, without traffic, is a flat five hours. About every forty-five minutes you change to a new road so the mind-numbing expanses like my childhood trips on 80 across Pennsylvania are avoided. The rental market in the town is tough. The supply is limited, pets are usually not allowed, and heat has to be included in the rent or one might be paying an extra $300/month in the winter. And the prices are not substantially lower than the current Jersey City market. Plus, I want to be in walking distance to the school and have an extra bedroom (to be a study).
After seeing the three apartments, we sat down for lunch and to talk about various pros and cons. My feeling was with #1, in part due to its nooks and crannies. The only issue was the wall to wall carpeting since Madeline the cat has an issue with some floor coverings. Bri called the landlady to bargain about the tub only to learn that as soon as we left some other renters came in to offer a cash deposit and first month rent (which is silly since the lady only wanted a credit check). #2 was a bit too small and the landlady there said she lived with her "19 or 20 year old" daughter on the other side of the building. #3 had the benefit of the largest kitchen and new appliances, but its on the first floor and farthest from the school. Feeling very disheartened and only being 4.30, we decided to drive back.
Things here get hazy... I saw the sign for 495 but not the exit. Then I saw the sign for 95 but, again, not the exit. Then skyscrapers appeared on the horizon and we were suddenly in Boston. (Or as Brian said: "A tiny little Manhattan"). Let this be a lesson to all drivers--if you let your mind wander when driving you end up in Boston by accident. The highway took us under the city in the big tunnel. I do admire that way of thinking. Traffic is bad in town; let's build a tunnel under the city! So simple! Picked up 95 and drove south.
Somewhere in Connecticut I realized that we should take #3. It did have, as per the listing, abundant woodwork. (And for the benefit of Madeline, hardwood floors). Our application is under review by the landlady.
Factory Tours USA has a round up of some of the best factory tours in my soon-to-be state of New Hampshire. Of the selections, I am most interested in the following:
*Stonyfield Farm: "You'll also see lots of activity on our multiple production lines where the cups are filled, and cases are packed and sent off to the incubators and chill cells. Spot quizzes have been known to happen, so pay attention and you might win some great prizes!"
*Hampshire Pewter: "Nowhere is pewter's tradition stronger than in New England, where strength, classic beauty, and lasting value are so important. The New Englander of today, like our colonial forefathers, considers his pewter a treasure to be used and displayed with pride."
The Rough Trade record shop has a new service for those with discriminating music tastes yet not enough time to find the music. Based on a few personal questions, The Album Club will send three to ten new albums each month. For a fee, naturally, which seems to be hidden past the registration page. (And only for the UK currently).
From sinner to saint: "In the week of Nancy's image makeover, this generation of first wives assembled at Sea Island, Georgia. While the G8 leaders addressed matters of state, such as the Iraq handover, international debt relief and why Jacques Chirac won't do smart casual, Laura Bush was hosting one of those spouses' programmes that typically include a round-table discussion on global women's issues followed by a visit to a mat-weaving co-operative."
Gold Smith: Johnny Marr: "'I've had enough of smoke and mirrors, both literally and figuratively. So I've been listening to Melanie, Donovan, Davy Graham, Joni Mitchell's first album... I don't want to hear music that uses a large vocabulary to say nothing. My attitude now is: why use a lot of words when fuck off will do?'"
Inside the gay museum: "What would be in a queer museum? The same kinds of thing as in any other museum. Noteworthy letters, diaries, photographs, drawings, sculptures and personal possessions of famous homosexuals and bisexuals, such as Lord Mountbatten, Beverley Nichols, Florence Nightingale, William Pitt the Younger, Catherine Cookson, Lawrence of Arabia, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Winston Churchill, Lord Byron, Daphne du Maurier and William Shakespeare. Some of these people were, of course, celibate and only gay by orientation."
Apparently I missed this wonderful sight in Paris. Even the beasts are much more civilized there! Some wild animals drink out of muddy puddles--these drink tea.
A handful of my coworkers and I were corralled into the conference room on Friday to attend a training seminar on "presentation skills". The instructor's credentials seemed solid enough until he handed out a small bio and revealed that his major was in rhetoric. Is that even part of the three R's, at least in the twentieth century? Each person in the group was given a random topic, allowed three minutes to prepare, and then three minutes to lead a discussion on the topic. My topic was "Explain how you would use a hat to catch a butterfly. Be sure to identify the type of hat that is required." My first inclination was to use a beret, just for the hell of it. However, on deeper thought, the answer became obvious. One needs an Easter bonnet with fresh cut flowers to act at butterfly bait. Once the butterflies are on the flowers, they can be netted. An alternate method is to use a bridal veil, also with fresh flowers. The advantage to this method is that the veil can act as a net. Any questions? The instructor spent most of the afternoon reading to us his favorite Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes comic strips from his Powerpoint presentation dealing with public speaking and anxiety. How is my mind supposed to process all this new knowledge?
Hobbits, Begone. Here Come the Gnomes.: "Liam is not Ms. Lawrence's boyfriend; he's a three-inch-tall plastic gnome, which she plans to send to friends all over the world... 'I don't get the time to travel,' said Ms. Lawrence, 25, a mortgage processor in Farmington Hills, Mich. 'It's a lot cheaper for him to go see the world than me. It's such a funny, clever thing. You almost get to live through your gnome.'"
Finally WNYC has a live mp3 stream for listening in iTunes, instead of that icky WindowsMedia stream. I'm not against using Windows applications (since I use them all day at work), but I've never wanted to download WindowsMedia just to listen. (Unfortunately, NHPR, my soon to be home station, doesn't seem to have this option yet.) Too bad today is Reagan-day-all-day. How does that line from Kiki and Herb go? "Reagan's policy always was to fuck 'em and forget 'em, and now he can't remember anything." RIP, Mr. President.
Big Shadows of 1848: Intimations of Modernity: "The year 1848 is an obsession of long standing. I used to meditate in the ruins of the Crystal Palace in South London. Later, I became smitten with the elegant muse and angel statues that settled all over the skylines of Europe. And who doesn't love a great railway hotel?"
Samedi, 8 May (Paris sketch)
Saturdays do not feel the same on vacation. Essentially, there has been a week of Saturdays already so a proper one is just in name only. And rain was falling. Staying in bed seemed a waste but going out isn't such a hot option either. So we went to church--even paid for entry no less. Sainte Chapelle is like a brightly colored kaleidoscope, shimmering and glittering. The stained glass windows were still more dazzling than the camera flashes going off (despite posted signs prohibiting flashes). A tour guide repeatedly shushed his group. I tried to follow the iconography of the windows, but didn't get very far. Across the Seine we stopped by a used (English) bookshop that was closed. Instead, we sat in a cafe on Sainte Germain to read and watch people walking in the rain. Some folks without umbrellas persevered and walk grandly on--others twitch like acid is hitting their skin. Pollution in Paris is high so perhaps it is acid. I had to hold the side of my umbrella to stop it from flapping in the wind. Back to Shakespeare and Co to find a copy of Anna Karenina for Brian to read, and then back to hotel to read. Why did we read so much on holiday? Honestly, its a rare pleasure to sit and read for a few hours. My usual reading amount is about fifteen minutes on the train or before bed. Dinner under an awning warmed with heat lamps. The waiter took away the empty plates and told us we had caused a holacaust on the food. He meant that in a good way.
Dimance, 9 May (Paris sketch)
The last day of holiday is sort of sad since there is an actual chance that you'll never return to the place. And obviously it's sad because it's the last day of holiday as well. Another grey rainy day. Exited the metro at Palais Royale--joggers have tracked a little course around the perimter of the park. Apparently the French do not stay slim by consuming only yogurt and water. Headed westerly towards the Opera. Realities crashed together when a large and very busy Starbucks was at one corner. At the beginning of the week I had been dreaming of a large cup of American coffee, but no, not like this. Lunch was a picnic in the Tuileries under the trees so the leaves were an umbrella. My father had asked for a sketch of Paris--nothing specific, just anything in the city. Brian and I sat by the Seine and I began to sketch the Musee d'Orsay facade. A nasty, cold wind whipped down the river and numbed our fingers. My father will have to settle for a mind sketch. Headed back easterly towards the Pompidou to find a cafe to sit and read. Later down to the Marais area for dinner--the streets were packed for a Sunday night. We chose a different restaurant than planned but its owned by the same fellow. By the time we sat down to eat the restaurants emptied. Brian noted that happy hour ends at 8 pm. My appetizer included some meat that I am not entirely certain what it was. Something to do with livers, but livers of what? Dessert du jour was a mango crumble. Tossed and turned and slept badly for fear of missing the alarm and the flight. Then, suddenly, Brian and I were sitting on our sofa in our apartment like we had never left at all.
As part of the moving north thing, my current apartment has to be given up. Its a beautiful space and doubtlessly its caused me to lose friends. Why go out when the inside is so nice?
If anyone wants a nice home, please read the ad (because I do want my security deposit back despite breaking my lease).
