Saturday into Sunday, NY and NJ

(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)

On Saturday, Rodney and I left John to his grating (how he refers to grading), and took the train into New York City for the purpose of photographing urban over-development in what is technically historic Harlem. It was a little difficult to capture the right angles to make his point, and, in some cases, just impossible--but we wouldn't have known if he hadn't tried.

I think my favourite of the ones I snapped off on my iPhone was this one, which we entitled "Our Lady of the Condos":

More about finger buildings.

More about Saturday & Sunday:

There were only two subway rides over the course of Saturday, and mostly we just walked everywhere (woe to my flip-flopped feet), because the weather was gorgeous and Rodney is very familiar with the area. We went to a vegetarian dim sum restaurant for lunch, and then walked to the shopping strip, because--

In addition to my inappropriate footwear, the strap on Rodney's bag fell apart halfway through the day. Thus, we were looking for comfier shoes and a new bag. Of course, nothing we saw gave us any compulsion to buy. Sad feet. Sad bag.

When we returned to Rahway, all three of us went over to Little India for dinner and window-shopping. Dinner was delicious. Shopping was awkward, but then we didn't stick to simple window-shopping; we actually went inside three places. You could tell it made the clerks confused and anxious--which, in turn, made me feel anxious and guilty. It's a shame, really, because the fabric selections and the artistry involved in creating these clothes--it's amazing. Yet I feel undeserving and somewhat voyeuristic, a dull interloper.

As I told Kat, I was having poor luck with shop-keepers, in general. Later, we were at the mall (where I continued to feel awkward and wrong), and I laughed too loudly in the Game Stop at something or other that Rodney had said. I'm pretty sure the clerk wished me miles away.

~*~

Sunday was a quieter affair. We all went to New Brunswick so that John and Rodney could get some school work done. Rodney went to the computer lab, while John and I hung out in Au Bon Pain, taking advantage of their wireless access and air conditioning.

For dinner there were stromboli from Stuff Yer Face, followed by bubble tea at I's Cafe. I'd never had bubble tea before, and I can say that I really enjoyed the kind I tried (coconut milk tea) and can't wait to try others.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

take the highway to the end of the night

(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)

My feet belong to a zombie. It's been somewhat painful to put shoes on, and they've occasionally been sticking to fabric (like the couch and my socks) ... and, well, they look terrible. But, along with all that, there's a familiarity with the situation that's left me vaguely detached. (Not my feet! Zombie feet, I tells ya!) I've done horrible things to my feet in the past (and know that I will continue to do so, because I am that sort of incorrigible creature), and thier current appearance exhibits the recognisable damage of walking too far in flip-flops too early in the season. Unfortunate temptations of 90° weather in April.

~*~

Friday night:

My new license was waiting for me in my mailbox when I came home from work on Friday evening, so I decided to go through with the previous weekend's plan: I ate what little dinner I could scrape together after not being able to go grocery shopping for too long, filled a backpack with the necessities, set the iPod to shuffle, and left Salem at approximately 20.00.

I stopped only once on the five-hour journey to Rahway, NJ, and that single stop reconfirmed what has been repeated to me several times in the past: Connecticut is cold and dark. "Dark" being the operative word on this particular trip. Fuel signs are not to be believed. They will lead you off the precarious safety of the highway into the resident-friendly and traveler-hostile darkness of bedroom-community Connecticut. There are no lights. There's just you and whatever the high beams might illuminate ...

AH! A BUNNY! BUNNY!BUNNY!BUNNY!BUNNY!

Eventually I was able to make Nigel-the-GPS lead me to a little oasis in the dark--Sunoco. Twelve gallons later, I was back on the road and back on course.

Apart from my little detour, it was smooth sailing most of the way. The only spot of traffic was around the George Washington Bridge in New York, and that's usually to be expected. I was afraid I might zone out, but my iPod had me fairly entertained for the duration of the trip. Lewis Black kept me company for an hour or so in Connecticut. Russell Brand, Matt Morgan, and Trevor Locke were with me through part of New York and New Jersey.

Unlike my last journey to Pennsylvania, the New Jersey Turnpike turned out to be my favourite part of this drive. There was this lovely stretch of time around Newark where there was a cluster of lorries far ahead of me and another cluster far behind me--and just my little blue space buggy coasting along by itself between them. I love being the only one on the highway, and that's as close as I came to it on this drive.

I made it to John and Rodney's by one in the morning, very happy to be done with driving, but sort of hungry. There was a tour of their portion of the Irving House and a run to McDeath, but I was very tired and nothing really took. I'm not even sure what time it was when we all said good-night ...

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

G.I. Joe, resurrected

OK, due to a brief glance at an icon, I had to check up on this (because it could have been like the journal layout for the supposed Outlander movie that doesn't actually exist--though, whereas G.I. Joe has been done to death and is more inappropriate than ever, I could do with an actual Outlander movie).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe_%28film%29

So ... is Christopher Eccleston going to be bald (and shiny)? No? That's sad.

Also on the list--

Heroes: Brendan Fraser (is Gung Ho?), Dennis Quaid, Ray Park, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost's Mr. Eko)

Heels: Christopher Eccleston (is supposed to look like this), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (remember the love-sick kid from 10 Things I Hate About You? no? well, he's Cobra Commander)

Jonathan Pryce is the President, which is great, him being Welsh and everything--and an interesting contrast to whomever may be holding the office at the time.



But, I have to say, while I enjoyed the 80's cartoon--because I was 4 or 5 and it didn't mean anything to me on more than an entertainment level, like Teddy Ruxpin or The Gummi Bears, one of many in a long line-up of cartoon distractions--and still think of it with fond nostalgic feelings, it seems incredibly inappropriate for the age.

"Real American Hero" ... uh, yeah, about that. Nobody likes us anymore. The America-to-the-rescue theme just doesn't fly. At all. And that makes me especially curious about the plot for this movie and how they will or won't reconcile that reality. Maybe they'll all go somewhere and do something that nobody actually wants them to do.

Or they could play up the classic kitsch and ignore reality. But what with Destro having a receding hairline and no shininess, I'm guessing they're avoiding the kitsch.

On the other hand, it's G.I.-freaking-Joe; there MUST be kitsch--like the Palindrome Twins. OK, that's not what they're called, but still. Kitsch. Character disappointment is inevitable with things like this--like the absence of Gambit in X-Men. Still disappointed.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

quiet time

Friday included cleaning, bank-visiting, mail-box-hunting, Essex-outdoor-stalls-perusing, and Batman-and-fireworks-watching (because, I was right, you can see the fireworks from the deck).

Saturday morning, I waited for my furniture to arrive.

The Jordan's delivery guys were a lot better at their job than my movers (and with a far more difficult piece of furniture).

The sofa felt a bit tall, so I unscrewed the 5" legs from the corners and stood back for another look. It's better this way, really. With the legs, my feet can't touch the floor, and I don't think that's good for circulation.

The counter stools in the kitchen ... I think it's the upholstery, but it smells odd. In a "eating here makes me feel queasy" kind of way. I'm hoping it just needs to air out; otherwise, I ought to get some fabric deodorant.

After lunch, I went to the Peabody Essex Museum, the ticket and special exhibits of which are free for Salem residents. Fine by me.

I had an absurd epiphany while I was there. It's been many a time that I've been walking down the street between Derby and Essex and wondered, What the hell were they thinking when they decided to imitate Chinese architecture for just that one building? And what is that? Somebody's house? A business? What? So yesterday I was excited to visit because the PEM has the Yin Yu Tang exhibit--a Chinese house. I thought this might be similar to the Japanese house exhibit at the Children's Museum by South Station, a life-size model of the real thing, but still just a model.

No. They moved a Chinese house from China to Salem, bit by bit over the past seven years, and reconstructed it in its original form and with original decorations from between 300 and 50 years ago. And now I know what I should have known before. Hooray for disconnect.

Also very cool there right now--the Maori ta moko exhibit, a gallery of photos and quotes from tribe members who have received these tattoos since the government ban was lifted in the 1960s. And it was pretty awesome to read the anecdotes and see the variety of designs ... Except for the stupid people walking around and commenting (or mining for earwax and examining your findings in public--ARGH). I was furiously texting Rodney while I was in there, because it kept me from snapping at somebody. "What kind of jobs can they get?! Teeheehee!!" (And this, after passing directly by the photograph of the young businessman with facial ta moko.)

DiaF.

I also went to the gift shop (of course), and found an addition for my rice bowl collection:



Which inspired me to go home and make sticky rice for dinner (with broccoli, mushroom, and onion mixed in, to be healthy and stuff). And because I'm trying to use up the milk I have before it goes bad (because there were two gallons from the previous week), I also made clam chowder--which was poured over the rice in a very rice-casserole kind of deal. Surprisingly good, though veering from the original inspiration.

And then there was Doctor Who's finale. I enjoyed it, even though I didn't really enjoy the ending. I'm trying to think of it in a positive light though, like--"it's the journey that matters, not the destination," or something to that effect.

Blah. Time for a shower.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...