Out and about

I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art today to meet up with a friend and see the Vermeer they have on display there. I am a big fan of Vermeer and his peers. Some advice: if you are going to see a famous artist's painting that is just on loan to your local museum, go on a Tuesday, just about when everyone is having brunch. Because the scene will be like this: 

When did these fountains last run? I always ask myself.

What is not featured in these photos of the front steps is the pair of tourists taking turns snapping pictures of each other running up the steps and doing the Rocky pose. It just so happened that they were done just a moment before I had my camera out. What a pity. (Can you feel the sarcasm dripping?) Visiting the PMA is an interesting and sometimes stomach-churning meeting of worlds. I think Rocky was a fine movie (I will not speak to its sequels) but these kind of pop-culture displays leave me lactose intolerant - I simply can't take the cheese. Add to that a woman who thought the pediment by C. Paul Jennewein was Jesus and the Canaanites, and I was really ready for some art.

Because obviously, I am an art snob. In a fuzzy hat.

Witness all the open space.

I can't resist a curtain wall reflection, even if I am rushing to catch a trolley:

 

 

Also while rushing to catch the trolley:

Pretty leaves!

In other news 

I've been commissioned to knit up some hats for the holidays by a friend who spins and knits and sews and, well, doesn't have a doppelganger to help her to do all of those things simultaneously in time for Christmas. I am the stand-in for her doppelganger. So far, I have knit 1 7/8 earflap hats out of her handspun and hand dyed yarn. (7/8 because all it lacks is edging and ties.) They need blocking, but here is the one I consider done.

 

My expression is serious to belie the fact that I am not wearing any pants.

I think it has a nice mossy look to it.

 

Neighborhood Murals

Philly is a city big on murals.Personally, I think this is because there are so many row houses that have been demolished, leaving blank sides, like amputated limbs. They get stuccoed over and often a mural gets put up on it. Some are good, some are bad, some are high  end and others are more DIY.

This is a pair that I pass every day on Baltimore Ave. The people in them are real people who live in the neighborhood. They face each other across a parking lot where a house used to be. (Click on the images to enlarge if you would like a closer look.)

About the mural

East mural

West mural

I was carrying V. when I took these photos this morning. I still feel like napping half the day away, I'm so exhausted, and instead of getting up at 6:30 AM like I am accustomed to, I am up about 10 AM. I get to bed really late. But as far as endurance toddler carrying, I am getting stronger. It takes about four blocks now for me to start feeling put upon - which means I can walk V. about four blocks, stop for coffee (or the playground) and then usually carry her back. I'm not sure if her endurance is building, but she certainly is learning to hold on better for a piggy back ride.

A week or so ago...

I was in Chinaown. It's much lovelier in person.

Morbid, Me?

Today I:

• had the same thing as yesterday for breakfast - exciting me!
• had a banana and two bean and rice burritos for lunch - hungry me!
• drank a cup of green tea
• passed over the whole pineapple and grapefruit on the OFC (WTF?)

Saturday I went to the Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities in Philadelphia before heading off to X-mas Eve dinner. Joe and I had our first date there and haven't been back since. Not much has changed: the giant skeleton still stands next to the dwarf skeleton, the soap woman is in her glass case, the fetuses are still lined up along the wall, and the Before and After shots of syphilis are still up, giving hope to us all that yes, there is a cure! This time there was a special exhibition on conjoined twins, the illnesses of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, and the medical history of US presidents.

I must admit that one of the things I like about the Mutter is the decor. Lots of dark wood paneling and brass railing.

I wanted to go there the first time because I had heard about it during my move to Philadelphia and was curious. Joe wanted to go there because it was somewhere I wanted to go, and was willing to go with him. A museum of medical oddities probably sounds like a strange place for a first date, but let me tell you, it certainly does make you feel life is short, precious, and above all, unaccountably weird, which is not a bad mind set for a first date, come to think of it. What is that funny feeling in my stomach? It must be love... or fear or dying. Hmmm.

Well, we've been together five years.

This time, Joe bought the T-shirt. And the calendar. And eyeball candy. (His enthusiasm is growing on the subject, which is surprising, considering his childhood hypochondria.)

Last night, I:

• had a eggplant parmesan sub and an Italian beer while doing laundry
• ate a couple Terroni
• drank a lot of water
• finally got a plant light for my dying plants
• found myself strangely attracted to its light
• knit under it for an hour - or rather - unknit an entire sock and started over
• got more sock yarn in the mail

I Came, I Saw, I Nearly Vomited

Today I :

• had corn/flax/amaranth flakes with soy milk and coffee for breakfast
• am having a bean and rice burrito for lunch
• should have stayed home (almost everyone else did!)

The Dreaded Philly Trip

I made it back alive! Whoo-Ee!

The cat was alive when we got back, too, thanks to our trusty catsitter.

Joe swears he will never pressure me into going to Philadelphia again. I'm not sure I want to go anywhere again. I get nauseous in the elevator at work, on trolleys, you name it, it will make me puke. It only took a couple incidents to convince selfish older cousins that to bully me out of the window seat on road trips was not in their best interests. I could tell you how many times a 45 lbs five year old girl can puke within twenty minutes, and it's a lot more than you would expect.

Anyway.

I forgot to buy Dramamine. I spent 16+ hours on various Chinatown buses trying not to relive my childhood. I packed an entire bag of knitting projects and only managed to pass the heel on one of the Lion Brand Magic Stripe Toe-Up socks between boughts. I tried the sock on last night, and you know what? I really hate what happens with the heel. The easiest thing to do at this point would be to RIP OUT THE WHOLE DAMN SOCK AND START IT OVER FROM THE CUFF.

So, yeah, big -10 on the knitting scale this weekend.

I also got my wish re. hearing Mandarin on the Chinatown bus, but it was torture. It was right behind me. Two guys were talking to each other, one rather hesitantly, but I didn't think anything of it at the time since Mandarin is often a second language to Chinese (the first being their local dialect.) However, after about an hour of this the guy who spoke fluent, natural Mandarin started explaining the history of Taiwan and the Sino-Japanese War to the other guy. My head whipped around, and yes! Dammit! Argh!

The hesitant guy was American. A red head.

Jealousy gnawed at me for the next couple hours. (That, and motion sickness.)

I really need to either 1) resume studying Mandarin or 2) give it up altogether.

There are some positive things to report, however.

For instance, I did not, in fact, lose my wallet in New York. It was on my coat pocket. (There's a reason why I wore a wallet chain for ten years that has nothing to do with fashion.)

Also, I got to see an awesome sink in the spare bathroom at Bob's house:

I want this sink so badly I can taste it. The bathroom tile is rather common for West Philly, but this sink! The house is Late Victorian and this could possibly be the original sink. (The basin itself is porcelain, a replacement.) If they installed this sink in the '20s I'd be very surprised. Most of the 1920s sinks I've seen are enameled cast iron, either wall-mounted or pedestal style, but never like this. This is straight-up Edwardian, possibly Victorian, in my opinion. (1910s at the latest.) This bathroom also had a wooden wall-mounted medicine cabinet over the sink and a claw-footed tub. The toilet was newish (last forty years).

Sad to say this bathroom was the single most exciting thing for me all weekend. That and Rosalie.

This is Rosalie. She is a very small, very squat cat, and she likes to climb ladders.
Rosalie belongs to a couple people we know in Philly who let us crash at their house Friday night. Their house, like many Philly houses, is what I like to call "in transition".
Stairwell outside the room we slept in. Watch that first step!


The room we slept in. Our hostess was very proud of her newly sheetrocked walls and loft bed. I covet the little red table.
Kitchen wall, with the Madonna and Baby Jim painting. Very festive. Did I mention we stayed with artist types?

Last night, I:

• had cheeseless pizza for lunch
• drank much coffee
• ate tater tots and Tofu Pups for dinner
• had half a croissant for breakfast
• drank a beer
• watched Amelie twice

Later: I did more research and yes, indeed, that is the original sink!

First Snow

Today I:

• had toast with nutritional yeast, cream cheese, artichoke hummus, and two cups of coffee (got up earlier) with chocolate rice milk. Wouldn't you?
• am having veggie pizza, apple juice, chips, and a banana for lunch (drafting works up an appetite)
• scored the apple juice from OKC*
• have a laundry date tonight. Hot stuff.
• nearly lost this entry while publishing it! Eek!

Yesterday I bounded out of bed at the early hour of 9:30 am to roam the neighborhood, snapping pictures. I did not even pause for coffee.

This is intensely out of character, by the way. Typically, I am not a snow person. The most common remarks on the weather to be heard from me during these East Coast winters are: "What is all this white stuff everywhere? Somebody should clean this mess up!" and "Snow should be visited, not lived in."

That is because I am Californian, dontcha know. When I originally arrived on the East Coast, it was the day after a storm that left TWO FEET OF SNOW EVERYWHERE, like all over EVERYTHING, dude. It blew my mind. So much snow and no skiing.

Five years later, I am getting somewhat accustomed to these little quirks of the weather. I realize I am not a Winter Person. I used to sincerely believe I was a Winter Person. (Of course, this was before I knew that winter back home was actually called autumn everywhere else - it was just happening from October to April, is all.) This year, I really will be. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's why:

• For the first time in five years of East Coast winters, I have bonafide, strip-to-your-longjohns-as-you-step-in-the-apartment heat. And it's included with my exorbitant rent!
• I have nothing whatsoever to shovel, even if I wanted to.
• Most of my basic needs are within easy walking distance, including work.
• I have a real winter coat this year.

Life is good. Snow is pretty, but you shouldn't eat it.

Here are lots of pictures.

You see the snow falling in this photo. (That's Paul Revere Church.) More falling snow! Whee!
My sweet alley. I won't have to shovel this.

Cemetery in snow. Makes the dead look extra peaceful.

Paul Revere Mall. I have a picture of this after rain, too. (Compare and contrast. Five page essay due Weds.)

Yesterday I :

• had pasta, coffee, popcorn, green tea, a banana, and beans and rice. Can you guess which was breakfast?
• looked at every single knitting pattern Jeanette owns. Thanks!
• drank half a hot buttered rum. I was so busy knitting, I plum forgot about it.
  
  *Office Kitchen Counter, the source of much of my calorie intake.