atlas of the difficult (but remarkable) world

My reading has been largely rooted in poetry. Poetry and Edith Wharton (whom I'm feeling would have a fabulous take on Paris Hilton). But what has been holding me captive has been the precision of poetry. Maybe it's because I'm living with all these details: the patterns and stitches of my knitting, winding yarn from skeins into balls, listening to T recite the train schedules, watching for the subways, feeling the weather get hotter degree by degree and then cool again, listening to Deb Talen's music, thinking about learning German, how I'll ever construct a schedule to make that (oh and my larger writing) a reality.

I'm returning to old friends. I want to pull all the books down and read pages then skip to other books. I've been having a hard time concentrating on reading lately because all the words are just exciting and inspiring me to the point where I have to stop and let the moments brim over.

Good thing that acoustic guitar of mine now lives with my brother. I might pick it up and start playing again. That might not please the neighbors (or the roommates). The clicking of needles and yarn is just loud enough for these muggy nights.

leaving so soon? yes.

I'm packing up my bags again. That's right. Time to leave town. I got the all clear from the captain and this time I'm taking T. We're going to Vermont on the 4th, spending a couple days with friends from Dartmouth and then taking a bus to his Gran's on the 6th. We'll swim, play games, catch up, I'll probably drag everyone back to Harrisville Designs, maybe some sailing and canoing. Monday, T promises he'll drive me to Shelburne Falls, MA. I haven't been in years and years and I really cannot wait.

I'm zipping through the cardigan so that I can show it to Gran. I am almost done with the left front panel after which, all I'll have left are the sleeves, seaming, picking up stitches and ribbing, then sewing on buttons.

That's all!

Summer?

It's so hot tonight. Granted, I did use the oven and the stove and I did also use the iron to attempt to block the back panel of my cardigan and the right front panel, but all those things withstanding, it would have still been way too hot.

A nice tete a tete dinner with Riri here in Park Slope. We made plans for Friday. Sprout and I are going to Queens for Dosas and then to Chinatown for grocery shopping. Afterwards, we will head over to Riri's studio for a little wine and perhaps dinner?

I got a haircut today and it couldn't have come at a better time. I think I'm also ready for my second shower of the night. Am I in NOLA or NYC?

Follow me to Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade!

knitting, knitting, edith wharton, knitting, knitting, michael ondaatje, knitting

So I finished my vest today (photo TK) and I am a good foot into the back panel of my cardigan. Other developments, I'm gobbling up Edith Wharton's "The Custom of the Country" and I heard Michael Ondaatje read from "Divisadero" tonight. I need to reread "Divisadero." But then again, I also want to read "Anil's Ghost" which everyone seems to be raving about as of late. Hmm, a little reading for my upcoming trip to New Hampshire, where I will inevitably get more yarn for more knitting projects. This time, though, I need to find yarn to make all these baby gifts for all my dear friends who are now mothers (the mind reels).

Thank you for being a friend

So while I was in San Francisco, I saw two friends from Sacred Heart, my alma mater in New Orleans. One friend practices family law and specializes in domestic abuses issues. Another friend is studying for a masters in Entomology.

I knew the two of them lived in the Bay Area.

What I didn't know is that two other friends--friends that I have known since we were all three years old and wearing smocks in Nursery School together--were in San Francisco as well. However, they were more concerned with the earlier part of their trip to California as they were there on pilgrimage to see a taping of THE PRICE IS RIGHT with Bob Barker, during his final weeks on the show.

We just figured out we were there at the same time. Man, I think the class of '96 needs to create a blog so that things like this do not happen again. Also, why am I totally not surprised that I would know people who would go halfway across the country to see Bob Barker? There's a reason my parents didn't let me skip a grade; I love my classmates.

Almost there!

I'm ALMOST done. I have to block the ribbing at the armholes and then seam up at the V-neck. Of course, today is probably the last day until October that I will be able to wear this beauty, but so it goes. It's still lovely and I have a little yarn left over for the stash. See, I *knew* I didn't need two extra skeins, but it's hard to fight the yarn store proprietor...

scenes from SF: 2

for the record

When people try to pretend that they didn't know about this, you can say you knew.

scenes from SF: 1

golden gate bridge

Back in Brooklyn

I'm back! Yes, that time is right. I just got back to Brooklyn (via air train plus the A and 2 trains and a jog home with luggage in tow) and I'm going to work in a mere, hmm, 6 hours? Awesome. I'm on California time and have a West Coast state of mind at the moment.

That said, I enjoyed watching the Tony Awards on JetBlue as I flew home. Hey, Athena, I saw Christine and Cynthia together on TV after Fantasia sang a song from "The Color Purple!"

Photos and stories to come. I got to see so many old, dear friends. Rachel, thank you so much for having me! I had the best time and felt so at home in your home.

Picture postcard charms

Too much going on to write about and life is supposed to be lived anyway. More from NYC.

more vacation stories

The Anchor Steam Brewery was a blast. I highly recommend it should you ever go to San Francisco. And do bring a friend. I would have enjoyed it on my own, but had a wonderful experience having gone with a friend. They have one tour a day and take no walk-ins so do make a reservation in advance. It's a small group which is nice because after you tour the entire complex (where they, from top to bottom, brew and bottle the beer), you get to sample six of their different beers. Everyone gets a half-pint glass (reminding some of their time in the UK), and cheers. I had to drink less than a half-pint a sample as I was not going straight to bed, but everything was delicious and it was such fun to try the various brews having learned all about them.

Afterwards, Michelle and I went to North Beach and hit City Lights. What a bookstore! And I loved the poetry room. I got a call from my friend Paloma while I was there and she indeed lives very close to Rachel. We're hopefully meeting up this evening. I got Diane DiPrima's memoir, "The Subterraneans" by Kerouac and a book of collected poems by Denise Levertov. I could have stayed longer and bought more, but I tried keeping the book buying to a minimum.

That night, I went to dinner with Rachel's colleagues, one of whom lives in SOMA in a building that looks like Erdman (for those of you in the know). Clearly, we lived on the cutting edge of design. Being mawrtyrs, we preferred collegiate gothic. Oh well.

Yesterday, I had breakfast on Valencia Street with my old friend SW from Sacred Heart. She is doing so well and her fiance is very kind and warm-hearted. It was great catching up. She's the same person she was when I met her at age 6, but so much happier and full of life. It's so great to be in touch.

Afterwards, I headed downtown to the SF MoMA and roamed the entire museum. Of note was an exhibition of photos by Martin Munkacsi. I wrote a lot in the museum and really enjoyed that time of contemplation.

After, I wandered around and ended up at the Ferry Building after going to Stacey's bookstore which was excellent. I love bookstores that provide recommendations written up by the staff. These recs filled the cards. Always a good sign that you are in the presence of people who love books.

At the Ferry Building, I not only admired the view of the Bay Bridge, but also combed over all the food and specialty items. I came away with a Cowgirl Creamery teeshirt and a lavender eye mask for napping. I've ALWAYS wanted one of those.

Tonight, I'll probably see Paloma and hopefully Rachel will be able to leave work early. I'm not sure what I'm going to do but it's still early and I'll most likely spend some time writing and reading over coffee and pastries at Tartine.

it's a small world after all

In addition to Rachel, I have three other friends in the SF area that I need to see. (In addition to friends of friends whom I would like to meet) One is from NOLA, another from Bryn Mawr and another from Dartmouth. Turns out my friend from Dartmouth lives about two blocks away from Rachel. We are planning on ringing her doorbell tonight on the way home from a party. My friend from NOLA called this morning, but didn't leave her phone number (ah, I have everyone's email and no one's phone numbers anymore) so I am still trying to track her down. Connection was made with my Bryn Mawr friend KMichelle (with whom I stayed and traveled with during a wonderful trip to London and Paris in 2002) who is meeting me at the Anchor Steam Brewery at 1 where we will go on the tour and catch up over some beer tasting afterwards.

But the very interesting thing is that I struck up a conversation (as you know I am wont to do with strangers) with the nice young mom sharing a table with me at Tartine and learned that she and her (now) husband lived for years in what is now T's apartment building. They lived on the floor above T. The crazy thing is that this woman had never been to Tartine before, lives in Nob Hill, and rarely comes to the Mission. What were the chances that we'd end up meeting and having this conversation? What else is going to happen during this trip?

And in the meanwhile, my friend EMF got engaged outside the Cafe du Monde in NOLA. Congrats!

everything's coming up roses

From last week's trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. I'm off to SF!

ciao, brooklyn! hello, san francisco!

I'm heading off to SF tomorrow for 8 days with my dear friend Rachel. I expect lots of fun for my first trip to Northern California. If you have any recommendations, please post in the comments.

It must have been a slow news week...

...because this is old news. I knew it was time to graduate from Bryn Mawr when I saw women "playing Quiddish" on brooms in Erdman. Additionally, it's also a bit unnerving that Gothic is now "Harry Potter." Architects, take note!

That said, it's nice to see the college and, in particular, the Dalton Hall renovations.