Escape from Bangkok

Ok, so i've technically been home for a while now. But what can I say, these things take time. And i've been busy readjusting and working and getting ready for the holidays. But here it is!

As some of you may or may not know, about a month ago I went with my mother on a vacation to Thailand- land of smiles (I believe that's the slogan, I didn't make it up or anything). We spent two weeks being driven around the beautiful country, eating delicious food and praying at buddist temples (ok maybe we didn't actually pray, but we saw A LOT of temples). Our guides for most of the trip were my mom's friend Abe and his wife, Anong. Anong is thai, and therefore speaks the language and was able to help us out with everything from ordering at restaurants to bargaining at the markets. We enjoyed a wonderful two weeks....

However, upon our arrival in Bangkok, we were greeted with the beginning of the protests by the PAD (a people's democracy party) against the government- specifically the prime minister. See, a few years ago, Thailand was under the thumb of a wee dictator, Thaksin. He was exiled a few years ago, and the country is now run by his brother in law, who apparently, is not very popular. The PAD feel that the country was continuing to be run by Thaksin through this puppet leader, and staged a sit-in to protest and try and force the Prime Minister to resign. Unfortunately for any travelers in Thailand, they decided to 'sit-in' at the airport.... we flew into Bangkok threw the domestic airport, since we were already in the country. At this point the international airport had already been closed for a day. The day after we got there, the domestic airport closed down as well.

At first we decided to ignore it. Everyone kept telling us things would die down and the airports would reopen in no time, allowing us to leave on time- on Friday November 28th (the day after thanksgiving). We toured around the city, and outside the city, and had an overall great time (pictures to come....) However each day we heard the same thing "still closed...i'm sure it'll be cleared up by tomorrow". Yeah, we were only supposed to be in Bangkok for 3 days. On thanksgiving night I said a prayer that there would be a coup (which we were told there would be, a 'nonviolent' one though, don't worry) and for us to be able to pack up on time. We hoped and prayed and planned for things to go smoothly. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards. We woke up friday morning to a continued standoff and both airports still closed.

After being informed of this, still in my luxurious bed at our gorgeous hotel, i promptly threw a fit. An all out toddler sized tantrum, with flailing limbs and whining- to my gracious mother, who wanted nothing more than to be able to leave just like I did. We had been scheduled to fly that night on an 11:30pm flight to Tokyo, and catch our connection back to New York Saturday morning. I looked at my mother at some point that morning (over our stupidly large breakfast?) an said "we need to get to Tokyo", like, now. And that was it. My mom, my wonderful mother, got on the horn to her travel agent- Peggy. A goddess of a travel agent, really. They debated our options. There are 2 other airports in Thailand that fly internationally, one in the North/West and one in the South, 7 and 11 hours away, respectively. Neither of them had flights to Tokyo. Neither of them had available flights anywhere, as apparently we were way behind on the 'fleeing Bangkok' idea. Peggy could, however, get us a flight out of Cambodia that evening- in the right direction. Cambodia? How far away was that? Are we even allowed into Cambodia? this is kind of what it was like friday morning. My mom told me to start packing, just in case we found a solution. She then went off to talk to our tour guide, Tom (Abe and Anong didn't accompany us to Bangkok) in the lobby of the hotel. It turns out, the border of Cambodia is three hours from Bangkok, and you need a visa to get in. Luckily, visas were supposedly easy to get. Our guide and driver agreed to drive us to the border and help us get across and to the airport (another 3 hour drive). We packed up our things and hightailed it out of there. We were off on an adventure!

Of course, my mother thought we were going to die in a ditch somewhere in Cambodia, but I had faith in our plan.

So, we left our hotel at 11:15am. Our flight out of Cambodia (Siem Reap) was at 9:15pm. we had exactly 10 hours to get there. We got to the border in 3 hours, as promised. We then looked for a place to buy a visa. It turns out, right near the border there's a big market- and inside is a travel agency which happens to sell visas and helps people cross into Cambodia. How convenient. We bought some visas, which I thought might be like pieces of paper we were supposed to hand to someone cause it looked sketchy like that- but no they were real visas that got placed into our passports and everything. At this point we had to leave Tom our tour guide, as he wasn't allowed to cross the border with us. Relations between Thailand and Cambodia aren't hostile, per se, but they're not exactly buddy-buddy. So Tom helped us hire one of the agents to walk with us across the border and get us to a van on the other side, which we paid to take us to the airport. Of course we only paid half before hand, to help ensure they wouldn't dick us over and kill us in Cambodia (for mom's sanity). The guy, who never actually told us his name, was nice. He walked with us to the border, as our luggage was loaded into an ox cart and hauled across by another nameless guy (i'm not kidding- see photo for proof!)So, we stood on line in the immigration building to leave Thailand. They stamped our passport, as we officially exited the country, to meet our agent on the other side (he had some kind of pass so he could pass over the border multiple times a day without trouble). Then we entered 'No Man's Land". Most borders have this- the small plot of land technically in between two countries. Yeah, this one was depressing. I put my camera away because honestly, I was trying to fit in and avoid being mugged or anything else that may happen in a No Man's Land. The only building there was a large casino- and it looked like if you went in you'd have to fight (or win) your way back out. Uh Uh. Not me. I stood outside.

Now, the line to get into Cambodia, for those of you who may one day go on this route, is three hours long. There's only one guy working in the immigration kiosk. We did not have time for that, as it was already after 3, and mom was starting to stress again about getting to the airport on time (flight in T-minus 6 hours). The travel agent suggested we bribe a Cambodian policeman to stamp our passports in five minutes and enable us to bypass the immigration line. We, of course, readily agreed. Mom handed over 1000 Baht (about $30) and the agent took our passports into this hut and handed them to the police officer. I saw him from outside. The unsettling part was when he came back out without our passports. "umm where's my passport" I asked him. "oh the policeman has it" he responded. "yeah, so where's the policeman? I'd like my passport back". "he's going to meet us on the other side of this courtyard in five minutes". SAY WHAT. Now we're two American's hanging out in no man's land outside a casino in between two not so very friendly countries. Days after the Mumbai attacks (for those of you who missed that- British and American tourists were targeted. As were some jews. We're 2 for 2 on that one). I was not about to be relaxed about missing my passport. So i walked, alongside the luggage oxcart, basically shitting myself having images of working my life away in the sad casino, until the guy came running back over with our passports in hand. Never in my life was I so grateful to have a passport.

After that we just kind of strolled over the border. One guy almost asked to see my passport, but when he saw I was walking w/ the travel agent, didn't even bother asking. It was weird. I felt a little guilty walking past the long line of people waiting to get their passports stamped, but honestly- not that guilty. they could bribe a policeman too if they had thought of it.

So the agent tells us to get on a bus. At which point mom freaks out again cause we've hired a private van. But he assures us we have to take the bus to the van. And we'll only be on it for 10 minutes. Ok. Fine. I can handle that. It's an old rickety bus, holding at least 30 people and all their luggage INSIDE the bus, not on the bottom or on the roof. So it was crowded. And they wouldn't let us open the windows. So, minimal torture basically. And we had to wait for them to fill the bus up, so this bus driver could make some money on the trip. Apparenty most of the people were taking this bus (with no air or bathroom) to the airport we were going to, but it would take them almost twice as long (supposedly). We didn't ask a lot of questions, except for where the hell our van was.
But the ride was only 10 or 15 minutes, as promised. Down a bumpy dirt road to an abandoned building- which was the 'bus station'. We got off, made sure all the correct luggage was with us, and waited for our van. It was here we met a Canadian born doctor who was living in Phom Phen working at a clinic with 10,000 orphans. He was nice, and talked to us about Cambodian culture.

Then our van arrived, with the nicest couple ever. The driver spoke almost perfect english, much better than we heard in Thailand, and though his wife didn't speak any english, she brought a cooler with water for us. Neither of us really ate or drank all day though, cause we knew there was gonna be no stopping for the bathroom (and cause mom was too stressed to eat). So it's now 4pm. The driver says its a 3 hour ride to the airport, Siem Reap. Mom of course is cautious, but I have a feeling we're not going to die in a ditches today. And three hours is plenty of time to make our flight. So we settled into the van, and off we went. Straight shot down "National Highway #5"- aka- the biggest and bumpiest dirt road you've ever seen.

In Cambodia, everyone drives in the middle of the road. When someone is coming the other way, you honk and get to your own side, then return to the middle. When you want to pass someone, you honk a lot, pass them, then return to the middle. It's kind of crazy, but it works.

I had my face pressed up against the glass for most of the trip, because I was so fascinated by what I saw all around me. Cambodia is very different from Thailand. As the Canadian doctor told us, "it was bombed back to the stone age- how do you expect it to look?". It's still very third world-ish. Dirt road, wherever there was an attempt to modernize there were detour signs cause the road wasn't finished. So ever five minutes we were dipping into the shoulder. People on all sides were fishing, with nets or rods or whatever they had. 85% of the people I saw were not wearing shoes. The cows seemed more domesticated, tied up in the front yards of the houses on the roads. and the houses were definitely run down and made of more primitive materials. There were large cement buildings, but they were mostly deserted. People lived along the road in huts, which didn't appear to have much electricity. As the sun went down, I noticed that there seemed to be one light to a house, and it was in a family area where the families were sitting to have dinner. No tvs, no lights on upstairs. This was also very different from Thailand, where no matter what kind of shack you lived in you had a sattelite dish parked outside. This was definitely something else.

At one point during this ride, when mom seemed to realize things were going ok- she looked at me and said "we should be in a movie". And i thought- 'you mean this isn't one? i thought we were getting punk'd'. But I was glad she was calming down. When Moo is stressed, everyone is stressed.

We pulled up to the airport around 7, and our sweet van driver stayed outside to make sure our flight was ok and we had checked in. I'm telling you- nicest guy ever. We got stuck in the check-in line behind a large group of italian tourists, but at that point it was like "well, we're in Cambodia, and we made our flight- so we can't ask for much else". When we got into the gate area- for your information there were only 2 gates in the whole place- mom went straight to the little massage parlor they had- and got a 30 minute foot massage. Which by this point, was just enough time before boarding the plane. I decided to peruse the magazine racks and buy a croissant from the cafe (after not eating since breakfast i wasn't being too picky).

We eventually got on the plane, which left reasonably on time, and landed in Hanoi, Vietnam around 10:40pm. That's right- we hightailed it to Hanoi! We had a 2 hour layover before our flight to Tokyo, which we spent on the internet in the buisness class lounge (once we could find it- Hanoi is not the most organized of places in the middle of the night) and then got on our flight to Tokyo. At this point I was so exhausted from driving all day that I slept for most of the 4 1/2 hour flight. Japan is also two hours ahead of Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam. So we arrived in Tokyo just before 7:30am saturday morning. I was still exhausted, but we had made it to Tokyo in time for our original flight home. Mom and I were the first people in the lounge, where I promptly passed out in my comfy pj-like clothes. Eye mask included. When I woke up a few hours later, I was surrounded by business men in suits and ladies dressed to impress. Oops. No one told me i'd have to look pretty after 24 hours of travel with one flight left to go. I went and bought lip gloss in the duty free shop.

And then we boarded our plane, JAL flight 6 to JFK New York. When the plane took off, I looked at my mother in some shock and awe and said "I can't believe we really made this plane. You got us to Tokyo". She just smiled. Cause that's what Evelyn does.

Eleven hours later we touched down at JFK. We basically sped through immigration, and when the guy said "welcome back" i said "you don't know the half of it". After 36 hours of traveling, we made it home, on time, with all our luggage. It was a thanksgiving miracle. Well, in any event I certainly did have something to be thankful for. And let's just say it'll be a while before I go on another long trip like that again....But you know, what's a trip to Asia without some political turmoil and border corruption?






*postscript- the airports in Bangkok were closed for a whole week, reopening the tuesday or wednesday after we got back to New York. However, due to the damage done while the demonstrators were there, it took longer for flights to begin leaving on schedule. We don't even know how long we would have been stuck there had we not left on our journey when we did.

**pps- even though my mom thought we were going to die in a ditch in Cambodia for most of the day, her orchestrating our escape and getting us to Tokyo in time for our original connecting flight- is one of the reasons she rocks. That's just how we roll in our family....

Sunday Night, and not any Blues in sight

I'm the type of person who has the sunday night blues. not really 'blues' in that i'm sad or anything. i just feel kind of anxious about the week. will i get to sleep? did i get everything done i needed to get done this weekend? what's coming up this week? it's not my most proud feature, but hey, there it is.
however, tonight i am not really feel very blue. i'm just tired. overtired, probably. i took the psychology gre on saturday- which i'd been studying for for two months straight. and today i went to an open house at chestnut hill college. another thing to cross off my list. the only thing standing in the way of me and thailand now is 2 applications, the essays for those applications, packing, oh, and about 20 clients. but it's getting closer!
i did something today i hadn't done in a while. well, two things actually. the first is i went for a drive. to a new place, to look around. well, technically chestnut hill isn't 'new'. but it is cute, and i hadn't been there in a while. and it made me feel good to get out and just drive for a little while.
the second thing was revisit some old music. i bit the bullet today and sat down to write my application essay. i figured it was about time, since you know, the application is going out this week. i put on Radiohead- the Bends. possibly one of my top 5 all time favorite albums. I was a latecomer to radiohead, only being introduced to them formally senior year of college. but let me tell you, this album got me through the entire spring semester of my senior year. i probably wouldn't have written a thesis without radiohead. so here i was- writersblock, a deadline- i went to my old friends. and it worked! i blared 'fake plastic trees' and words started flowing. what can i say, some things don't change. be thankful for small miracles.

Call of Duty

and no, i'm not talking about the video game. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so nervous about the election. I'm not taking anything for granted, and I can't read any more articles. Last night, I went to bed genuinely scared about what would happen today. Would people chicken out once they were alone in the voting booth? Is the Bradley effect a reality? How could we possibly deal if McCain won?
And I woke up- excited. Bubbly. Like a kid on the first day of school (well, if you were a dorky kid like me). I couldn't wait to vote!!! Seriously- I was so excited. I voted four years ago, but wasn't really excited about it. This time, I wanted to sit outside the polls all day and just watch people vote. That's how excited I am.
On my way to work the line to vote came out of the pizza shop (yes, i vote in a pizza shop) and went halfway down the block. at 8am! So I went on to work because I couldn't be late for my early clients. My kind and caring bosses at work let us go half an hour early today to get back home to vote- so when I did get to my pizza shop- the line was gone! It was fate! I stepped into the booth and kissed my Obama vote up to God, pressed the button, and smiled with glee. I get to vote. I get to make a difference. Sure, i'm one person. You're one person. We're all only one person. But together, we really can change the world. And tonight, fingers crossed, we will win.
I may stay up all night to witness the change I want actually happen. If Obama wins, I will be really proud of our country. I will get to tell my children and grandchildren that I participated in the election of the first African American President. And that I supported him 150%. I don't know if people really understand what a big deal that is. yes, we as a country have come a long way since slavery. But the civil rights movement was only 40-50 years ago. In our parent's lifetimes there was inequality and segregation and discrimination. And tonight Barack Obama will hopefully become the leader of our nation. This is huge. Really huge.
And I could not be more proud to be a part of it.

Not Bad for a Tuesday

Hiiiiiiiii.

It's Tuesday. After 10. I'm drunk. And really happy actually. After somewhat of a long day at work, I came home feeling somewhat ill- and promptly received a phone call from Jared- my long lost best friend. It was really good catching up w/ him, and he made my stomach feel miraculously better. Which was good, cause I invited people over for dinner. So i got to work making mom's recipe of chicken w/ cheese and string beans (w/ a packet of yellow rice). The food came out surprisingly well ( i didn't set off the smoke alarm once- even when pre-frying the chicken) and everyone seemed to like it. We also shared, and finished off, the largest bottle of wine ever. I think I had 4 glasses all by myself. Now for me, who doesn't drink very often- this is enough to make me wasted. walking funny, tangential thoughts, talking about embarrassing stories from my youth drunk. and you know what? I had fun. My girlfriends are awesome- and i really enjoyed sitting around talking about life and drivers tests and tv and baby names and music.

Now, i'm watching Fringe before i go to bed. Not always the best idea, watching a show about scientific oddities before bed. But i like pacey. so here i am. Tomorrow, I have a 12 hour day at work, and will probably be hung over before it all even starts. but for today, I couldn't have asked for a better tuesday night.

Double Feature

I've just started my weekend, and i've gotta say- it's gonna be a good one. I went straight from work to my favorite unassumingly large movie theatre, where i promptly used a free movie pass for a ticket to Nights in Rodanthe. I feel like it should be pronounced RodanTH, but the E is prominent, RodanTHEEE. Which is odd. In any event, it was typical nicholas sparks fare (except not as good as the notebook, come on) but it was free. I splurged on popcorn and a soda since i didn't have to pay for my movie ticket, and cause a girl's gotta eat.
Next i went through all the theaters on the first floor of the riverview, cause i had some time to kill before Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Oh yes, my friend, oh yes. I saw two different parts of Eagle Eye, a little of the new Republican farce An American Carol, and umm, about 45 min- to an hour of Miracle at St. Anna, which was pretty good actually.
Then I moved on upstairs to the main event. I figured it was playing upstairs, since it was nowhere to be found on the first floor. So i went up there and to the bathroom, where i asked some high school chick who was obviously going to see Nick and Norah's which theatre it was in. Here are my reactions: First of all, Norah is my daughter's name- only i plan on spelling it Nora, jury's still out on the h. I am slightly worried that people will start stealing it now that it's a movie character name. Anyways, Secondly, its a wonderful piece of cinematic magic. It warmed my heart. It was just what I always wanted in a friday night michael cera music related teenage romady (get it? romantic comedy? who needs rom-com...). Mainly, because I love michael cera. love. not in the same way i love jim from the office, but in a 'hey, i'd like to be your best friend' awkward way. I think he'd appreciate it, i think we could have a magical friendship of awkward moments and too much information. In any event the movie is fun, the characters are fun (he's in a band with 2 gay guys, perfect), and the music is fun. GO SEE IT. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

so after my two and a half feature (all for the price of popcorn and a soda, mind you) i found my way home, and am downloading music and listening to wxpn, while my perfect cat purrs beside me. I'd say it's basically the perfect start to the weekend, wouldn't you?

A Dating Story

Picture This:

A long long time ago (like 2 weeks or so), in a galaxy far far away (otherwise known as the suburb of Newtown) I found myself on a date. Let's call him.....the magician.
For this particular date I broke my cardinal rule of no leaving Philly, make him come to me. The magician was new to the area, had never been to philly, and really didn't seem to keen on coming into the city. I agreed to drag my ass up to Newtown because in our emails and phone converstaions (brief as they were) the magician made me laugh. Something new and different for my eharmony dates! So i decided 'what the hell', threw caution to the wind, and drove the 40 minutes up 95.

The magician is a teacher at a private school, and lives on campus. I arrive, and he greets me in a parking lot outside his building...but standing 20 feet away from me and saying "hey". I'm all "hello? is that you over there? where am i? why are you standing so far away?" He leads me into the dorm (sophmore boys, how appropriate), into his apartment- which is empty. No, like really empty. I am greeted by a large tv, a desk with a computer, and a tin single bed like i slept on at camp. This was all the furniture spread out over 3 large rooms. Oh, and some bookshelves filled with boring books (all college text books, no actual 'i like to read' books). Strike one.

The magician promptly asked me what I wanted to do. To which i thought, "me? but you invited me here! i don't know what there is to do here, but i'd prefer something where i can sit. like, on a chair". Instead i said, "ummmm what is there to do here?". he replied "oh, ummm. not much. i guess i didn't think about what we would do when you got here". Strike two. How do you not think about what you're going to do on a first date, especially when you're forcing someone to come to you and you don't have any FURNITURE. Needless to say, his bright idea was to give me a tour of the campus. It was pretty, and pretty boring. It took all of say, 10 minutes. and i spent a few of those sitting in the magician's classroom at a desk that made me feel i was back in high school. which was not my prime dating time. Let's move on.

So we're back in the empty apartment, he's wrangled up an uncomfortable chair for me to sit on. the magician proceeds to talk about himself, incessantly. in our 2 and a half hour date i think i learned his entire life story without really asking. During this particular stretch, he begins to tell me that he can't afford furniture- for a plethora of reasons, one of which is college debt, particularly racked up after valentine's day of last year when he took four friends to Las Vegas for the weekend. "oh, do you want to see the pictures?" inner monologue:"no not really, this is bizarre". cut to us on his facebook account, looking at his drunken photo album of him and his FOUR GIRLFRIENDS in las vegas, drunk off their asses getting lap dances. wonderful. classy. everything a date should be. Strike 5000. Funny enough, I don't leave yet. This is still near the beginning of the date....just wait.

So mr. magician is waxing poetically about his debt and how he likes to spend money, and the stupid tshirt he's wearing cost him $300 at the Louis Vuitton store in vegas. First of all, who spends $300 on a tshirt? and Secondly, who buys tshirts at louis vuitton? buy a wallet or a scarf or a piece of fabric that looks like luggage. not a tshirt. but okaaaaaay fine. I announced I am hungry. He says, "ok i know a place we can go"- aka- the only restaurant he's ever been off campus, which is 100 yards away. He makes me drive. It's a sports bar. Great. We sit outside, even though it's overcast. Like he is worried we might have to make a quick getaway. I'm thinking i'm the one who is going to run away, but whatever.

So. We sit, he keeps talking about himself. Why he's 24 and just graduated from college, how he spent 2 years after high school living in new york doing nothing but mooching off of various people and working odd, kind of crappy jobs. lovely. Oh wait! First there was the story of how his co-workers think he's an alcoholic. Great first date story, magician. Way to warm me up. Apparently he went out w/ some other teachers and had six drinks and wasn't drunk- and like, went around telling everyone he wasn't drunk? And so now he 'has a problem'. It's the big gossip on campus. It's also ridiculous and information I don't really need to know. Like ever.
While he's telling me this story I ordered a diet coke. He has a coke. He only gets through half of it though before telling me that soda bothers his stomach because he's incapable of burping.......(that's my silent awkward face in response). He then orders a drink, a shot of ammaretto, a shot of chambord, and half and half (ick, sounds gross). The waitress asks him if it's got a name, so she can enter it into the computer- oh yes. it has a name. This lovely drink concoction is called a Wet Pussy. (Cut to me almost spitting out my soda all over the table). The waitress cracks up- clearly this is her lucky day. She delivers the drink minutes later, saying the bartender has never heard that name- this drink is really called Nuts and Berries, and is apparently a favorite among the gays. (Cut to the magician making a face and sulking at being called gay).

Ok so- going well so far, right? As i'm eating my chicken fingers (in a basket, in case you were wondering) the magician continues his worldly life stories. and interjects that he is "really really smart" and "didn't go to class at all in college, cause he could teach himself his entire college education, while drunk and magic" (you know, the game magic, i don't know how to explain it). Once again, cut to me almost choking on my chicken finger, partly cause it was really hot, and partly because i can't believe i'm eating with such a jackass. like seriously. he sees me almost choking and instead of trying to help goes "oh, i guess that came out wrong- i just feel like i'm saying a lot of dumb things, and i don't want you to think i'm stupid". Well, now i think you're a rude jackass, don't mind me though i'm not CHOKING or anything. The fingers go down, i recover, everything is fine. This is when it's apparently my turn to shine:
"so, tell me about yourself"..... me: "well, what would you like to know? i'm not sure i can top some of your stories".... him: "oh i dont know, whatever". yeah thanks, at least pretend to be interested in something besides yourself and your wet pussy, dickwad.

When we finish eating and leave the bar, I decide we should drive through town, in an effort to avoid going back to the big gaping hole of nothingness that is his apartment. He agrees, but then when we get to the cute little one block downtown, he refuses to park and get out of the car for any reason whatsoever. There were some cute stores, a little street fair. No way no how. he's not interested. Silly me remarks that i'm seeing a few too many John McCain signs on people's lawns. what kind of people live in newtown anyway? Well, the magician is not into politics: "i'm apathetic. i don't really care about national politics". Ok. Really? Do you really think after all this that you're going to impress me with your surprising lack of opinion on something? No. you're not. especially something like the presidential race, which i find to be extremely important. What else you got for me magician?

Oh- no worries, as we're driving back to campus he tells me that- low and behold, he is a MAGICIAN (hence, the name). Like, a real, live magician. He apparently really moved to new york after high school to hang out with magicians. apparently they all hang out once a week at a restaurant on 35th street. you should go check it out. i bet its real cool.

Surprise surprise, we're back at the abyss of the apartment, only now he's doing card tricks. This is the longest god damned date of my life. Card tricks? Ok in fairness, they're actually pretty good. But WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON. He tries to show me some booklet that was a lecture he gave to the magic community, but i'm beyond not interested in that. Stop trying to impress me magician, you lost me long ago, probably when you didn't even walk all the way up to me in the parking lot to say hi.

Finally, FINALLY i leave to head back to the city. He walks me to my car, again stops like 10 feet away to like, wave as i walk the last part to my car (is he afraid of parking lots?). Yeah, great to meet you magician. So glad we did this. We'll have to do it again soon. I feel dumber for knowing your life story.

The best part, is that night he emailed me to tell me what a great time he had, and that we 'should definitely do it again'. Ummmmmm thanks but no thanks mr. magician. Get a clue.
Strike 4890348709032957.
Eharmony strikes again!

A No Good Very Bad Day

So. There's lots of things to discuss. I've been gone for a while, and i've been busy. There are funny yet sad dating stories to share. But not right now. Now, i'm going to describe my day. Because I need someone to appreciate the craziness of my day.

Work was busy, busier than usual. I had five clients back to back, and they all showed up! Some clients are making progress, others were harder to deal with, and by the end of the day i was exhausted and cranky. Now, my mother was coming to visit today. I've known this for a while, and was preparing the apartment for her arrival. I still had to clean the bathroom though. So while I was looking for parking- my mom called. She was standing somewhere around 30th St. Station waiting for a bus. I told her she had to be on Chestnut St., she said she was. But there was no bus stop. I told her to walk towards Center City until she saw a bus stop. But no, that would be too much. Perhaps the buses no longer go down Chestnut st? To which i responded, ummmmm no. Septa doesn't just change major routes, just walk until you see an actual bus stop. My mother, the wonderful Evelyn- said i was being obnoxious and rude and she was going home. then hung up on me. Wonderful.

So I parked my car and came home to clean the bathroom and change. I threw some last minute things into the washing machine, and was on the phone with Matt updating him on my latest horrible date story (to be described later) when God decided to laugh at me:
a loud noise started going off in the apartment. I tracked it down, and low and behold my washing machine was overflowing! hurray! suds! I called my mom, who promptly told me i should call a plumber because it wasn't her problem. And oh, she was wondering the streets in case i wanted to know, cause i'm a terrible daughter who can't help her find the bus.
I went to call the woman who routinely has to fix my shitty washing machine, when i heard someone jiggling my lock. Thinking Evelyn had decided to cab it- i opened the door for her- except it was a hispanic handyman. Wearing a toolbelt. Wanting to fix things. I thought- how did you find out about my washing machine that fast? But in reality, he had the wrong apartment. Too bad he was insistent he had the right apartment, and was convinced I was wrong. Then came a ridiculous conversation involving me going "no really, i didn't hire you to come here. i don't have a problem in my bathroom. i promise. no- no i really do think you have the wrong apartment". the handyman called his boss- Jose. Then went off to find someone else's apartment to fix things in. In the meantime- Evelyn showed up.
She came in, and wandered around passive aggressively looking for the Gizmo while not talking to me. It was great. I went about my business and got the washing machine lady on the phone. I was instructed to put fabric softener into the machine to get rid of some of the suds, run it for 3 minutes, change the setting, run it for 10 minutes, then fill it up with a gallon of vinegar (??) and let it run again for the full cycle (sans soaking). so, add to my night tracking down a gallon of vinegar.
I'm trying to get on my way to supervision, like i do every thursday, but mom decides she wants to talk. Particularly about why i'm such a terrible child who's always rude to her. Which i'm not, by the way. She is uber sensitive and considers rude to be me not calling her everyday in a bright and shiny mood with good news. Oh please. So she threatens to go home and punish me by trying to make me feel guilty. and i tell her that she's gotta do what she's gotta do.
Oh by the way, Jose the boss handyman showed up- and showed me his list of things to fix in my apartment. A few minutes were spent convincing him that he meant apartment 300, not 301. He was insistent that it was 301- but finally he went away after i told him he should try and put his key into the door and would realize it wouldn't work- cause he had the key to 300. And i hadn't hired him and wouldn't be paying him.
Now late, I went off to supervision to apologize to my supervisor and discuss my oh so lovely day. I then went and got my nails done, and went to meet this mysterious Penn grad with a business proposition at Starbucks (oh, and i found vinegar at an asian market) but was stood up, and sat sipping my non fat mint mocha not wanting to go home.

But home I came, unloading my vinegar into the washing machine, praying it works, catching up on tv just awaiting the wonderful weekend ahead. Full of passive aggressiveness i'm sure.

The dating stories will have to wait.

golden summer days

so i've been gone a little while. i'm sorry. things have been happening. i've been to new york a bunch of times, just got back from a weekend away at leslie's family cabin outside binghamton. and i've been very busy watching summer tv and working at my fabu job. and bbc america's 'robin hood' killed off marian in the season finale. so there was a whole relationship to mourn. see. i've been very busy.

at the moment i'm obsessed with the olympics. i love them. i always do. summer, winter, whatever. so me international competition doing fun things like gymnastics, swimming, riding horses (? ok maybe not that one) and i'll watch. mainly i'm keeping track of the swimming and the gymnastics. and when track and field start i'll be watching that too. michael phelps just won his 4th gold medal of these games, 10th overall- making him the athlete with the most gold medals, ever. it just happened. like, 2 minutes ago. i love being able to watch history happen like that. plus, he looks good in a bathing suit, especially the bottoms only suit where i can stare at his abs while he stretches and gets out of the pool. yum. did i mention i'd gladly have 10 million of his swimming babies?
now i'm watching the girl's gymnastics finals. its apparently america vs. china this year. too bad china looks like their team is all under 10 years old. is that even legal? oh wait that 8 year old looks like she has the beginnings of boobs. maybe she's 12.
and america is all injured. like, seriously everyone sprained their ankle in the past week or something. its crazy.
i love it!

i can't believe it's almost the end of summer. where does the time go? i feel like just yesterday i was getting ready to start my new job and sweltering in the june heat. and now it's an oddly cool few days in august. i can practically smell fall. oh wait, now it's humid again. just kidding. but seriously. the middle of august! soon i'm going skydiving with my sister! (august 30th, put it on your calendars) and taking the gre's (oops. i need to study).
overall i'm pretty happy. i think it's been a good summer. i have yet to find my prince on eharmony, and actually think i might take a break from that for a while. i have faith things are going to happen the way they should. they seem to have so far, right?

now, back to michael phelps....

I'm a Believer

This week had a lot of ups and downs. It seemed to fly by, but in the end, everything is the way it should be. that's why I believe in fate.

I had a lot of no-shows at work. I was beginning to think I was cursed, as Jake (my colleague) had clients showing up left and right. I was getting things done- i read a few professional magazines, and studied some vocab words for the upcoming gre (sept. 6th here i come), and was almost up to date on my emailing. I also went to this awesome orchestra concert at the mann center, and hung out with some friends. and let's face it, i was maybe a little preoccupied with some recent events that i'm not going into here.

However, today I had an experience that reinforced my belief in my work. First of all, I had a client actually show up. My last appointed client of the week. And he stumbled into my office very suspicious of behavioral health, waiting to size me up and see what i am worth. The thing is, I connected with him. This man I have nothing superficially in common with, and he began to talk about feeling isolated, and depressed, and wanting more from his friends and his life. He spoke about feeling love very strongly, and that he had gotten to a point that maybe love was bad for him- because he felt it so strongly that it pained him. This guy was smart, and in a sad state. And i looked at him and said "i get it". And the thing is, i do. I'm not depressed, and i'm not currently in love with anyone. But as this man was talking I had to blink more than once to keep tears from forming in my eyes. As he put it, i 'love hard'. and sometimes, that hurts. a lot of the things that i do, much like my patient, i do completely. that's why when i get a new job, or start to develop new relationships, i want to throw myself into it completely. i've never been very good at the adjustment period, because i want to feel things and do things whole heartedly. it's not a bad quality. in fact, i think its one of my better ones. but it's not always easy, and sometimes, it hurts. but i'm beginning to learn how to deal with the in-betweens.
in the end i got the guy to agree to come back for therapy. i think he felt that i did understand him, despite some of our more obvious differences. and her reminded me why i do this at all- to connect with people, to make them feel less alone, if only for an hour a week.

so the week is over, and everything is once again as it should be. i'm happy at work. i'm on my way to new york, things are good. i am good. and i have a feeling they're only going to get better. because the fates have a lot in store for me. well, that's what i believe.

guilty pleasures

At the moment, mine is 'Step Up 2- the Streets'. yes. you read that correctly. i most definitely went and bought it after work today, because i knew in advance that it came out on dvd this week.
what can i say, i'm serious about my guilty pleasures.
and i just watched it and it was great. it makes me want to get up and dance. except its a lot of street dancing and freestyling which i am not able to do. remotely.
so instead i watch.

other guilty pleasures: robin hood on the bbc, celine dion in the car, biscuits, army wives on lifetime, baking just so i can lick the bowl, HGTV, christina aguliera, an excessive amount of candles, cesar milan (the dog whisperer) and my velcro sneakers. oh. and double features at the riverview.

everybody should have guilty pleasures. cause they're what secretly make us happy.

so i'm saying it loud, and i'm saying it proud- I ENJOYED STEP UP 2.

(shut up)

Hump Day

So i'm blogging at work. I recognize this is unprofessional, but today is my late day, and I have half an hour left and nothing to do. Plus, I feel there are some blog-worthy things to discuss.

First of all, i'm listening to wxpn's children's music hour. unfortunately. i hate the children's music hour but its on from 7 to whenever god takes pity on my ears, and its the station my little clock radio here is programmed to. What's funny is, the dj has like kids call in and sing live on the radio. And so i just heard like three kids call in and sing 'amazing grace' and a variety of other inspirational songs. and they were so bad, cause its like, a 6 year old. and the dj is like 'wow alex, that was so inspirational, thanks so much! you are the best singer i've ever heard!'
wtf? since when is wxpn into giving children false hope that they can make it in music? that was TERRIBLE and please stop now. That's what was going through my head anyway. on second thought, perhaps it would be better to sit in silence than listen to this cacophony.

So. Work. Yup, still here. Today i finished an old New Yorker magazine, talked to my coworkers a little, attended a mandatory training session that discussed customer service, aaaaaannnnd, waited for my one scheduled patient to stand me up. Which she did. It's interesting, cause everyone is all excited that we're here and saying they have a ton of people to send our way. Well send them already! Cause my days would go by much faster if i was seeing clients and feeling productive. I like getting paid to catch up on my reading, but this is getting ridiculous.
I did however, have a conversation with our psychiatrist. She comes three nights a week for two hours at a time. She is a character. For example: she is Pakistani (? i think?) and wears way too much makeup. She's very intense and stares at you like she's going to suck out your brain with her eyes. or like she's stoned. take your pick. and today she's talking to me and my boss, standing in the doorway, and she gets all philosophical. She's like "you know, we are all born in chains. it's like Rousseau said- 'we are born free but are in chains'- and it's true!" and my boss is like, "umm, yeah i guess it is", and i'm sitting there thinking- this woman just quoted Rousseau, like, standing in my doorway in a passing conversation. WTF.

So that's just a taste of my day, well, my past two hours really. Only 25 minutes left to go and i'm home to watch project runway!! (and robin hood....)

long time no talk

hello there. sorry i've been gone awhile. I went away last weekend up to Leslie's house for the 4th of July (and her birthday, on the 5th) and it took a lot out of me. That's what wine and food and family will do!! (not to mention a convertible, we like the wind-blown look).

Here are some pictures of our adventure:


Here we are, first (on the left) as we're heading out to the windmill for some shopping, next to the wineries for some tasting! we bought scarves in between, cause man- those convertibles do a number on the hair. plus, we really wanted to look dramatic. (esther chose the thug look, using my hoodie to complete her 'i may rob you in a minute' look. although she's smiling, so less believable).
















And here we have a some 'jump shots'. kara and esther wanted to take pictures of us jumping throughout the weekend. its fun, and as you can see looks kinds cool. the picture on the right is of the four of us at the campfire saturday night. we made smores and played games and had an overall grand old time.


Jump to this week.

Work was fine. It has been kind of boring due to the lack of clients and the high no-show rate at the clinic. i'm hoping that changes this week. we finally made it onto the computerized schedule, so perhaps the front desk will make appointments for us as well as us trying to rope people into coming in to talk about their feelings.
This brings me to an interesting point. my friend caitlin called me tonight to ask me how to break up with her therapist (hi cait, whats up). I told her the easiest route was to go the 'i can't afford this anymore', which isnt' a lie and is short and sweet. but she brought up this point about kind of feeling weird going to therapy, because her life isnt' that bad. this irked me a little bit, and it was nothing personal towards her, just a professional frustration.
Do people know they are allowed to go to therapy even if they're not depressed or bipolar or having serious "issues". therapy is for everyone. EVERYONE. it's to help when times get tough, which could mean any kind of life transition or relationship problem or fight with your roommate. Therapy can help you figure out patterns in your life, or just give you an ear to vent to. It's important that people understand this, cause this is my job. And frankly, the more people who indulge themselves in the luxury of having an unbiased ear, the better (for both of us). Get over the stigma. It's old.

Now, onto this weekend. Arielle came to visit! and we had an awesome, relaxing, stress free time. We ate, we slept, we ate, we watched what some might call 'bad' tv (for the record that was her, and i totally brought her around by the end of the weekend). Basically we had some good sister bonding time. And after she left I had a major case of the sunday blues. Luckily, my math tutor arrived in time to distract me and get me focused on fractions and percents. Lucky me. In any event, i'm now winding down to my sunday night tv, design star and army wives. don't worry, i dvr-ed 'generation kill', the new hbo miniseries about the marines. i'll let you know how it is tomorrow after i've watched.

not that anyone missed me, but it's nice to be back.

oooo, glassy

In my final architecture class we looked at the more modern and post-modern buildings built during the 1920s and later. We started out at 15th and Market (which back then was Broad Street train station) and walked west and north. As per usual, we didn't get far, thanks to my professor's penchant for sharing a lot of information about every building she sees. (this isn't bad, just long).

the only pictures i took were of the new comcast center and some of the surrounding areas. We did discuss the 'penn center' buildings, which have a lot of asymmetrical touches and are all skyscrapers with different tops. There were a few major architects in the 1920s and 30s that were important in Philadelphia, Louis Kahn being one of them. I can't remember the names of the other ones right now, but maybe they'll come back to me.

So here are some photos:
This is the new comcast center. its all glass and shiny and reflective and stuff. Very modern, although my teacher doesnt' like it. i think it's too much glass for her. She says she doesn't like the way it touches the ground, and there should be something between the glass and the sidewalk to slow the progress of the building. Me, I think it's fancy shmancy.




The inside is really cool. Above the elevator bank there's this huge screen, and they show random relaxing images that are crystal clear. it's AMAZING. An odd touch is that above the lobby there's this weave of poles with fake people walking on them. It's very bizarre, but interesting enough to photograph.

I am tired so the buck stops here. But overall I really enjoyed my architecture class. It was definitely worth the $95, and you get the knowledge for free!!

And without further ado....the weekend is over....

Quiet is Overrated

So I will post about my last architecture class tomorrow. I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, but it wasn't as fact-filled as the previous. So don't worry.

My first week of work is over. I survived, and it wasn't bad!
Overall this week I went to the gym a few times and hung out with friends. Leslie and I had our fav dinner at maoz (falafel and eggplant and hummus = yum) and went to a free concert at Louis Kahn park around the corner. The band was called 'the hoppin john orchestra', you should definitely look them up if you like jazz. i believe the website is www.hoppinjohn.net

so of course, we get there and i immediately spot the trumpet player. he's hot. i always look at the trumpet player first because i love the trumpet. I definitely should have played the trumpet in elementary school, instead of the lowly alto clarinet. Alas, i was not cool enough to know that the trumpet is awesome. and mainly, trumpet players are hot. so leslie and i are scoping out the band (she likes the keyboardist)- and we then check out the park for their potential followers (read: girlfriends). the trumpet player is talking to a nice looking blond in a skirt. damn. damn damn. leslie spots this girl sitting next to us staring intently at the keyboard player, toting an extra coffee. at their break it is confirmed that these designated girls are with our hot band members. we left. but of course i took out my trusty camera and took throw-back stalker pictures of our favorite players first. they're kind of blurry, but you'd get the point. (again, they're not getting posted now. still on the camera).

and here's the main event. today i had a happy hour date with eharmony #2. the male nurse who's not assertive and potentially ashamed of himself. well, it started off that he was late. i thought i had gotten stood up, but he showed up 15 minutes late. i was on the stoop across from the restaurant, on the phone with rachel. i saw him approaching, and he proceeded to walk all over the place except to the door of the restaurant. i was like, 'what is this?' what if i was actually inside? and he's like, wandering around not going in. so anyway, i put myself in his path, so when he came toddling over towards me i was like 'HI.' as it turns out we didn't go to that place, because there was no one else in there and i did not want to have a first date as the only people in a restaurant. the last thing i need is the entire staff watching my awkwardness. we walked to Doc Watson's (a bar) a block away. During this walk i'm pretty sure I learned all there is to know about #2. He's quiet, and when he does talk he's soft spoken to the point where i'm straining and leaning towards him to understand what he's saying. What is with this? We ordered some drinks and appetizers, and proceeded to ask each other polite questions every few minutes for the next hour. Luckily there was a baseball game on in the background, which I watched. I also thought about various things, like what i was going to do once the date was over, and what kind of girl would actually go well with mr. quiet. clearly, it was not me. polite questions and blank stares do not go far in my romance department.
the best part was- when we were done, i walked him to his car and he actually asked me to go out again! like, that was enjoyable?

more like overrated. when i'm the 'outgoing' one in the relationship (and the guy is quiet as a country mouse) there is a problem. period.

well friends, another one bites the dust. stay tuned for the architecture finale.

Brain Freeze

....more like brain mush. its late thursday (late in my own language, its almost 11) and after almost a week at the new job (doing a lot of...nothing) i feel unusually tired.
so i'm sitting here, watching kathy griffin, thinking- 'you know what, on my blog i tend to write about what i do everyday, but i'm not writing about the weird shit going on in my head'.

so without further ado: my thoughts.

ok i just went blank.

ok no, here we go. you know how sometimes when things are going right, and everything seems to be going in the right direction, somewhere in the back of your head you're like 'wait. really?' well thats my head. because my new job seems like its going to work out ok. pretty much anything is ok after my last job.... but so far, so good.

and yet, i keep thinking about the GRE, and how my math skills are bordering on third grade. and i'm not going to able to do some of the random difficult analogies or whatever. i think, 'yes, over the summer i will devote myself to studying', and its almost july, and i'm studied a few hours spread out over 3 days. so there goes that plan. (seriously i'm sure i'll be fine).

and then there is this upcoming date this weekend. i am not excited. like, couldn't care less if i go or not. the guys is 5'7" (shorter than me, strike one) and a nurse. its cool that he's a nurse, but he tries to hide it on his eharmony profile. under profession he listed 'healthcare'. i'm sorry, are you Ashamed of being a male nurse? has 'meet the fockers' gotten this society nowhere? who cares? i dont care that you're a nurse, you shouldn't either. and i mean that in a nice way.
as you can tell, this date is already going well, and its only in my head.

plus. i think it's a shockingly awful prospect that i'm a born again virgin. i might never have sex again. this summer marks a sad anniversary. and i think my hymen has grown back. i have been thinking about this lately (i'm getting my period so with ovulation comes like, thoughts about sex. its natural. shut up) and i'm in my 20s. i'm supposed to be whoring it up and 'experimenting' or whatever so that i can 'settle down' when i get married to the eventual man of my dreams. and yet, it seems i've chosen the road less traveled. that of 25 year old jewish nun. wtf. this is not how i planned on living my 20s, and frankly, its starting to get a little disturbing. and if this upcoming date to mr. short nurse is any indication, the drought will continue indefinitely....

and finally. i saw my therapist today. and i love my therapist. she's fabulous, and i not-so-secretly want to be just like her. and there i was, sitting in her office, telling her about all the normal good things going on in my life. and i want to tell her about the crazy things going on in my head, but i don't. because i don't want her to think i'm crazy. i realize, this sounds off. i'm a therapist, and i'm afraid to tell my therapist what i think about. but hey, i'm not perfect. and i realized in the elevator leaving my appointment that i think i'm lacking in the 'brave' dna. i'm too critical of myself, and hold myself back from living sometimes. it's like i need to just let loose and not give a shit and see where it goes. but i'm not quite there yet. instead i'm bullshitting to my therapist about the bland superficial in my life instead of getting down to the nitty gritty.

i am not an ideal patient. do not try this at home.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part 2

Ok. So, the new job starts tomorrow. In less than twelve hours actually. I have been nervous and excited, and nervous again. Overall, there isn't much to be nervous about, as tomorrow I will have orientation all day so I won't be expected to actually do anything (that I know of, at least). And i'll have the opportunity to find out more things about my job. Which is a good thing. So see? Nothing to be nervous about.

A little while ago I was just looking at my list of goals for my two week vacation. As it turns out, i've accomplished all but one! I went to Independence Hall, walked across the Ben Franklin Bridge, tried two new recipes (which were delicious), got a new pair of shoes at DSW, got all the paperwork done for new job, went on a date! I did not go to the gym four times a week, more like four times in two weeks- but hey, I was on vacation!

I feel pretty good about the way i've spent my time. I read four books- all of which were enjoyable. I watched seasons one and two of Dexter (which is Really good- anyone who doesn't watch it already should start). I've also started watching some good/bad summer tv. I say good/bad because I'm not sure how good it is, but it's good enough to watch for the summer while i'm bored.
Weeds is back on- Mondays. Thursdays are busy with Swingtown and the new Kathy Griffin. And then there's the horrific 'so you think you can dance'- i hate the judges but like the dancing. And i'm still waiting for the end of Battlestar Galactica (I believe there's one episode left?). And saturdays has the new Robin Hood on BBC America (Robin Hood is dreamy). Then sunday has Design Star and Army Wives. So as you can see my tv schedule is as busy as ever. And soon Project Runway will start! Hurray!!

As for now, i'm going to finish de-stressing and snuggle into bed with Gizmo and book number five. Wish me luck with my new beginning!

The Grandest Hall of the City

So. This week in architecture we talked a lot about city hall, and walked all around it as well. We couldn't go into the courtyard because it is once again blocked off for some sort of renovations. But this is what I learned about City Hall:

It was started in 1871, a few years after the end of the Civil War. As it turns out, Philadelphia made bucket loads of money during the Civil War because we served as a major supply source for the Union. So City Hall was a statement in the grand-ness of the city. It took thirty years to complete- and look at all the detail!

The building has many tiers and double columns, as well as a lot of detail on the pedements in between the layers.

Also, the tower upon which sits William Penn is apparently the largest masonry build tower standing- ever. That means there are no steel beams in the tower. Masonry is that the walls are meant to hold the support of the entire building. It's pretty cool actually.

We then looked at Reading Terminal and the PFSF building. I learned a lot about the Terminal. It turns out all the trains used to come in above ground there until about 1981! When it was closed down the main building in front of it (what is now the convention center) was abandoned for a while. My teacher was on the project to fix up the place.

The PSFS building was a bank- the Pennsylvania Savings Fund Society. It was the first high rise built in the International style anywhere in the world. It has this cool curve on the corner side and is built with both light and black materials, which makes the building look separated when actually it's not. My pictures of it aren't very good- but you can kind of get what i'm talking about.



We then meandered through a few blocks near my neighborhood- until we ended up on Broad Street talking about a lot of the buildings up near City Hall. My favorite of which is the Union League:
I just think is a very pretty building, and really stands out among the skyscrapers. The Union League was also build after the Civil War, for those who aided the Union effort. It's an exclusive club that even today you need to be a member of to go in or hold events there. I've never been in, but one of these days I will!!
Those are the highlights of class this week, more later on a wrap-up of my vacation....

The Dorkiest Person I Know

Today I accomplished one of the last big goals on my vacation 'goal' list. I went to Independence Hall!! I got up early to go and get a ticket, then came back in early afternoon for my 30 minute tour. I have to say- it was AMAZING. I mean, yeah, the tour is short, but you get to roam around on your own inside the grounds that I usually see from the other side of the rope. I never wanted to leave. Ever. I wanted to sleep on the old benches, hug the old walls, listen forever to the stories about the state house and the hall of congress and the assembly room where the constitution was signed. I photographed everything, so I can look at them and remember fondly.
What I found out is that you only need a ticket to actually get into the building. I can walk around inside the sacred grounds just by going through security! Anytime I want! How cool is that?


Here are some pictures.....

They're all a mishmash of the assembly room (with the grey walls) the senate room (dark green) and the state supreme court (yellowish). And then me of course, looking like a kid in a candy store. I am officially the dorkiest person I know.

Saturday Night at the Rodeo

Ok, so another busy saturday. I had my second architecture class. We discussed a lot of French/Gothic Revival and Philly in the 19th Century. We spent a lot of time looking at PAFA- the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It was designed by Frank Furness, a prominent Philly architect who had a unique style. Here are some photos:


I like the floral touches on the building. They are everywhere, but its really beautiful. And look at all the detail at the top of the building!


This is the inside, if you walk to the main lobby by the stairs and look up. Its amazing. I wanted to move in. All of the colors and the skylight and the celestial ceiling, it was very different for it's time (the 1870s) and I think has beautiful contrasts.

We then moved to Walnut St., where we observed some stores that clearly used to be townhouses and a lot of different styles. My favorite is the Art Deco style:
This is the door to the Metropolitan. All the geometric shapes and contrasting metals are typical of the Art Deco. I think its cool.



We ended at Rittenhouse Square (although I didn't take pictures there) and I learned that it used to be a 'brick bath', that is, a place where they used to make bricks. Paul Cret, a french architect hired to teach the Beaux-Arts style at Penn, developed Rittenhouse in 1913 into the park it is today. My professor thinks it works so well because it is so accessible, with a low fence and entrances at every possible pedestrian path, which helps encourage as much foot traffic as possible. The neighborhood, a mixture of residences and stores, helps as well.

So after class I went and got my hair done. New color and a trim! Exciting. I like catching up with my stylist, Eleanor, about movies and Ann Rice novels (I've never read any but they are here favorite). She understood my criticisms of 'The Happening', and said she gave up on M. Night long ago. That made me sad, but que sera...

Tonight I went to my second annual Cowtown Rodeo!! I went last year with Kara and Leslie and had a blast (as well as acquired a plethora of cowtown souvenirs that were completely unnecessary). This year we skipped the souvenirs and focused on the events. They have steer wrangling, bull riding, stallion riding, barrel racing, and lasso-ing events. Here are some shots from tonight:



Let me tell you. There are some interesting people at the Cowtown Rodeo, but I was glad to be one of them. I wore my Nashville cowboy hat proudly! That is, until they tied up the little baby cows... (don't worry, they always let them go after 6 seconds).

Here ends my saturday night. On the couch, watching bad tv. The usual....

Double Feature

So today I was lazy. L-A-Z-Y. I did not go to the gym. I didn't do much of anything. I did however, end up seeing a double feature, for $8 and the price of a small diet coke. I started off with M.Night Shamalyan's "The Happening". Frankly, it wasn't all that happening. I miss the M. Night of yore, where his movies were exciting and suspenseful. I mean, Marky Mark is fun to look at (even the high school girls sitting behind me squealed when he made his first appearance), but the movie is missing something. Namely, a plot anyone cares about. And as much as I love Zooey Deschanel (love love love, everyone go buy her album 'She and Him Vol. 1), she sticks out like sore thumb in this movie.

However, after it ended (thankfully its only about an hour and a half) I found 'The Incredible Hulk" (thank you riverview for not having more security). I missed the first few minutes, but I read a review this morning so I basically knew what was going on. And this was impressive. Obviously, I love Edward Norton. Who doesn't? And Liv Tyler is one of my personal favorites (by the way I want her to play me in the movie version of my life). I just thought the movie was well done, exciting, good mixture of CGI and actual action, good acting (well, except for maybe William Hurt, but he seems to only have one emotion these days). I was glad I stayed for the extra movie (seeing it for free was only a perk). Oh and Tony Stark shows up in the last scene. Which reminded me that the movie did have that "Iron Man" feel to it (I liked that movie as well, btw). So, if you liked that one, you'll like this one too.

Nothing like a double feature in the middle of the day.

But I have to add- I saw these movies in the early and mid-afternoon. and there were SO MANY PEOPLE THERE. I was like "hello isn't there school? doesn't anyone work in Philadelphia?" It was bizarre. I know it's June, but its only mid-June. My high school was still in session at this time, and I didn't start skipping til senior year. And the squealing girls behind me were definitely not seniors... how things change, and yet stay the same (I have vague memories of being a squealer once too...)

Nothing Like a Walk on a Bridge...

Yesterday I accomplished another one of my 'vacation goals', I walked across the Ben Franklin Bridge!! I documented my journey, for your viewing pleasure:


This was the start- I approached the bridge from 6th and Race. I was surprised to find a jeep coming towards me as i started my walk. It was the Delaware Port Authority, i guess they patrol or something?

So I started off, a little before 11am. Unsure of how long it would really take and what kind of fun things i'd see along the way...




This was the first thing I saw, clearly some people in Philly support Obama! Hurray!! What a good way to start.





This is a secret little staircase, used by workers to get from one side of the bridge to the other. It is kept locked, obviously, but I did see some workers sitting on the stairs on my walk back. I wanted to join them, but thought that might be inappropriate.



This here (on the right) is the Camden waterfront. I think the aquarium is down there somewhere. It's not as pretty of a view as the Philly skyline, but the waterfront is more accessible.




When I turned to come back to Philly this was my view!! It's so pretty!! I love it, and I love this city. What a perfect day for strolling on the bridge :)




And then there's this view....Lovely isn't it? It was a bit windy up there on the bridge.

Well. Today is Friday the 13th. I have no real plans, but i'm thinking I might blow off the gym and go see 'The Happening', cause its scary and takes place in and outside of Philly. I'll let you know how it goes....

What I'm Doing on My Summer Vacation, Part I

So...what am I doing? Nothing really. This is the longest amount of time i've had in years to really do nothing. And so i'm going for it all the way. Frankly, last night (Tuesday), i was bored. And i was sitting at my table, reading, and I realized, shit. I'm bored. And it's only TUESDAY!!!
I decided to get out of the house and go see a double feature. Seeing as there's nothing out I haven't already seen, I was forced to see....."What Happens in Vegas" and "Kung Fu Panda".
Pathetic. I know.
Although, I'm pretty sure my dad would not see a problem in these choices. (Which is one of the reasons I love my dad so much).
Even more outrageous- I liked "What Happens in Vegas". Like my dad told me weeks ago, it really is better than you think it'll be. Ashton Kutcher is likable. Who knew?

On to other highlights of my week:

I got new rear breaks on my car. I walked all over in the disgusting heat, and when it came time to go pick my car up I decided to cab it out of self preservation. So I got in the cab, and told my driver where I wanted to go. Typical New Yorker, I also told him what route I wanted him to go, in order to avoid all the traffic. We go a few blocks and he starts mumbling something to me that was definitely not English. I was like, "i'm sorry- what?" at which points he waves a letter at me and points down the block. Ohhhhh, you want to mail a letter. He stopped the cab, and mailed his letter. What? Is this normal? It was only like 10 seconds, but this has never happened to me before. And I shrugged and thought "oh yeah, I do need some stamps. Where's the post office?"

I also finished my book, The Year of Yes. So one book down, one to go (according to my goal list). The book is awesome. Really funny. I recommend it to anyone who wants to hear a good story about finding love in a big city. Cause it can be anywhere. While i'm not instilling my own "year of yes", i'd like to think it's possible in this city as well.

Finally, today I was walking around the city a bit, running errands, enjoying the new less humid weather. However I noticed something. Philly smells like BO. Seriously. You could be on random corners and it'll hit you- ew. I looked around and thought- "ok, which one of you is not wearing deodorant?" I realize it's hot, and so no one specific is to blame (I hope), but it was gross enough to notice nonetheless.

Well, tomorrow is another day, with lots of possibility.

Lovely Day for Some.....Sweltering Heat

Well i've had quite the Saturday. It started with my very first "Great Architecture of Philadelphia" class, which I am taking every saturday in June at Temple. The class consists of an hour or so lecture, followed by a walking tour of whatever part of the city we studied that day.

Today, being the first class, we started with a brief history of main styles of architecture, and William Penn's layout for Philadelphia, in 1682. COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE! YAY! You can imagine my glee.

Would you like to know what I learned?

Well, Independence Hall was built in the 1730s (or 1740s? I wasn't taking notes...) and it is in the Georgian style. You can see this by the windows, and pedements. The top spire/bell tower was added later, as were the buildings on either side, which housed the Congress and the Supreme Court ( i think). These side buildings were in the Federal style, which was after Georgian, and they had smaller window casements. (I don't have a picture of this, we were walking, i was in a hurry).


We then moved down Chestnut St, where we saw what had been the Second National Bank, designed by William Strickland, Philadelphia's first architect. Here it is:Notice that it looks like a big monstrous Greek Temple. I never quite understood how this came to be right down the block from all these brick colonial buildings. I learned today that it's in the Greek Revival style. See, this building was built post-Revolution. Georgian style, from before? That comes from England. Post-Revolution us Americans were not feeling anything English, so we went back to the Greeks, who, as we all know, were our role model for democracy. It's starting to make some sense now, right?

I also learned that one of my favorite movie theaters, the Ritz 5, was in the International style, as seen by the exposed steel beams and basic geometric shapes. And the cool-looking building across the street from the theater, I learned today was the Mercantile Exchange! And the beautiful curved part of the building was the trading room. Interesting indeed.
So at this point we have gone over our time limit on the walking tour, its 90-something degrees out, and i've started to melt. And by started, I mean am sweating through my tank top and feel like i'm going to die. So I came home to my nice air conditioned apartment and vegged on the couch.

Here is where I found my next surprise- Army Wives. There was nothing on tv, and I was still too hot to do anything productive. So I stumbled on an Army Wives marathon on Lifetime. I never was too interested in the show, since i'm not a huge fan of the army. But after watching way too many episodes, I kind of like it. Although Kim Delaney needs to tone it down a notch. I think she would be hard pressed to overact anymore than she already does. But some of the other characters are actually interesting. So good. A summer show to watch, on Lifetime no less.

Around 5 I went on my drinks date with eharmony guy. Kicking and screaming, I got myself dressed and ready, and met him at Tria on the corner (it was too hot to walk much farther). There we had a drink, and I had an awesome duck salad. I learned that he's from Colorado, lived at home for college, moved to Jersey for Rutger's law, likes Jersey, and plans to eventually go back to school to get a masters of Divinity. Divinity. Quick show of hands for all the many things I have in common with this particular gentleman. Now, he was a gentleman, he paid, he agreed to go for ice cream when I suggested (i'm going to breeze past his choice of chocolate banana- ew). And he tried very hard. So I definitely give him credit. But come on. There was zero chemistry. I can already hear my therapist telling me to give him another shot, but i'm sorry Laura, I don't think I can do it.

And so here I am, back at home, having finished the Army Wives marathon, getting ready for bed. Kind of a busy lazy saturday, if I do say so myself. And it's only day one of my vacation!