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May 03, 2007
my days
This city is fluttering with people and happenings and good food and lots of other things I don't even know about, which excites me. Here are the happenings of some of my days, which hardly have consistency yet. This lack absolutely excites and creatively stimulates me at times, while at other times it has me in tears. So it goes.
Yesterday I woke up early and hopped on my bike at 8 to run some errands around the rainy city in my green raincoat. I picked up sushi at Trader Joe's which I pass everyday on my way to work, and spent the day stocking the zoo shop with more stuffed animals and books and talking to funny kids and my funny co-workers. On my way home I called my friend Bronwyn who lives a few blocks away and was invited over to dinner at once. We sat on her roof and dined on white bean and mussel salad with spinach and grilled lamb sandwiches with homemade fruit-nut bread. oooooooh yum.
I met Aaron Stewart later than night in center city at a tiny, quaint little hole-in-the-wall theater called the Roxy. It's the very theater Quentin Tarantino would have wanted us to see his new film. And we did. I was doubly impressed with Grindhouse. (hee-ha.) I am convinced that Tarantino thrives by making films that are creative as possible and as offensive as possible. But hiis creativity will never cease to captivate me. I fear the sorts of things that he throws into the minds of the general public, but his work fascinates me on so many levels. His characters are extreme, but always desperately human too. The first film opens with a go-go girl dancing around provocatively in a strip club. Her moves are sexy, but far from perfect, and as she's dancing, tears are streaming down her eyes. (I know the first film was Rodriguez', but I'm sure the two influence each other heavily.) I'm always interested in the side characters in his films also. He's so incredibly attuned to detail. In some horror scene, there'll be a dorky fat person who looks like a random crew member running in the side of the frame. I love that junk.
So, enjoyed the mess of a movie incredibly, though I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that. Aaron and I both agreed that we were shown simply too much, as one always is when subjecting oneself to Tarantino's films. I am a discerning viewer though, and have so many thoughts hopping around in my head about what I saw. Call me if you want to have a discussion!
Woke up early this a.m. to eat breakfast with a cool woman and her kids in my neighborhood and biked to work again where I roamed around the zoo talking to people and snapping cheesy pictures of them, which some of them bought, and some of them didn't. Arrived back home to a delicious meal of veggie french onion soup and home made bread and iced licorice tea with my host family and now I'm chilling in my room.
I really wanted to go hear Barbara Kingsolver speak tonight at the big beautiful library about her new book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life", which is all about the year her family spent eating nothing but locally produced food. But the talk was 12 bucks and I'm tired and feel that money is flying out of my pockets accidentally all the time. It's so hard to save when one is surrounded by such delicious food, amazing clothing, fun events, and places to buy drinks, which are absurdly expensive.
So I'm messing around in my room.
Anyone want to come visit me? I have millions of ideas of ways to entertain you in this sweet city.
| By Brae | 09:41 AM
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Comments
hey brae! actually, i think i might come visit! i'm only forty minutes away or so (depending where in philly you are). so maybe i'll stop by sometime in the next few weeks. i'll email you. =)
Posted by: bonny beth at May 11, 2007 11:39 PM
"Guess what's playing at the Roxy? I'll tell you what's playing at the Roxy. A Minnesota man falls for a Mississippi girl and moves all the way to Biloxi. That's what's playing at the Roxy."
~Guys and Dolls
Posted by: funke at May 6, 2007 10:31 PM
I wanna go visit u!
Posted by: sanskey at May 6, 2007 10:00 AM
Hey girl,I just went back from Harbin.
It is an amazing city,also an aritistic city.
Posted by: sanskey at May 6, 2007 09:56 AM
Christin is actually going to be in Philly today to help move a friend from there to here. I don't know any details, but if you were interested in finding out if she will be coincidentally near you, you can call her. I think you have her cell number? Or mine? I'll email it to you.
Posted by: feetofclay at May 5, 2007 08:26 PM
uh, yep. july 4th we're coming. if not sooner.
Posted by: tacy at May 3, 2007 12:05 PM