Monday, December 31, 2001
weirdness
The holidays bring a sort of tension, the tension of juggling friends and obligations. People in town, people out of town, parties you want to go to, parties you have to go to. So much interaction, packed into so little time. So much meaning (or at least reading of meaning) with regards to hanging-out priority. Soon it'll be over, the sociological blur that comes with this strangely hectic time of the year.
my resolution this year . . .
. . . is to drink less coffee. Or at least less caffeinated coffee. That's it, a modest resolution for a modest gal. I'm just tired of getting caffeine headaches when I don't get my daily joe.
it occurs to me
It occurs to me that I am doing fine, just fine. Better than in a long while, despite my various dissatisfactions and complaints about the city. Being able to hook up without needing to explain that, well, thing is good. And re-realizing the potentials of life in general is good too. My god, there's a whole world out here! What a fabulous thing to remember.
so cool
Multidimensional scaling is so very very cool.
gossip
It's hard to do anything in this town without someone else finding out. I'm not even talking about me. But it's funny how fast news travels.
On that note, a tiny list of movies that really should not be, but apparently are, hookup movies:
* Harry Potter
* Lord of the Rings
Thursday, December 27, 2001
wow
Where did all this good music come from? Of Montreal. Beulah. Preston School of Industry. And, though people've recommended them much earlier, I've finally listened to The Shins and Stephen Malkmus, and finally really really listened to Built to Spill. Mmmm.
Monday, December 24, 2001
a question
And I'm hoping someone will run across this and answer it for me -- where in the states can I buy Takashi Murakami T-shirts? I already know about MOCA-LA and Giant Robot. It's just that I think there's a much bigger selection of shirts out there, and I have no idea where to find them. I specifically want a light blue (or white) shirt with the flowers (or mushrooms) with the funny eyes and happy smiles. Or the eyeballs, I really like the eyeballs. What I don't want is a DOB shirt.
Argue as you like about the depth (or non-depth) of Murakami's irony (or non-irony) -- I just think his stuff is visually fab.
Friday, December 21, 2001
dopplegangers
There are dopplegangers all over the city this week -- all over, I say. I've met JWW, who looks an awful lot like Ed's brother Tony, only with Ed's height. I saw someone who looked just like (well, a bit pudgier) DJL at the Black Cat, dancing like a madman. And this guy DT, he looks like a hybrid of JCC and XS, with mellower mannerisms leaning more towards XS. It is uncanny.
And those are only the examples I can think of in my (usual) sleep-deprived state. I know I saw tons more. Do people just not look all that different here? Is that it?
Thursday, December 20, 2001
wrong
Oops, I was wrong. Still no time. Email over the weekend, maybe.
mmm
Finished my brief, had a really random, but nice, night. Had a fun night last night as well. Will be replying to a lot of email (aka "admin other") tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
a random link
A guide to fake meats, courtesy of Dahlia Lithwick. Though there are much better ones out there than the ones she reviews. For instance, there's the great stuff you find in Chinese groceries (vegetarian pork fu, anyone?). And quorn, which isn't sold in the states yet.
For someone who's not a vegetarian, I sure do spend a lot of time keeping up with fake meats.
Sunday, December 16, 2001
still
Still in a good mood, despite being in a work deadline crunch. Lots of one-on-one hanging out, which is really what I'd rather be doing. Dinner with Ed last Thursday (talking about how we stayed mellow in law school, and running separately into various section 3 1Ls and also Wendy Williams), drinks with Lily last night (complaining about the state of fashion in DC, as well as the absence of cute people to ogle, at least within our immediate realm of acquaintances). We'll see how long this good mood lasts. As long as I can avoid big parties, I'll bet.
oh man
W.G. Sebald just died in a car accident. Sure, I wasn't a fan of his, but I am a mourner of lost literary authors.
grr
Gun sales are up, apparently because people think that guns will help protect them from terrorism. Stupid and annoying.
Saturday, December 15, 2001
this is not a diary
You know this isn't a diary, don't you? There are tons of things I don't talk about--can't talk about, even--because I know people are reading. Or because I'm lazy.
Friday, December 14, 2001
more disconnects
That I forgot to mention. Not only do I not have a television, I also don't have a radio. So I'm missing out on all radio commercials (as well as NPR, sigh). Basically my main form of news is online newspapers (though I much prefer the newswires, because they're faster). And my main association with pop culture is through art-house cinema (if you can call that pop culture).
The weird thing is that I don't usually notice how much my failure to watch television or listen to the radio disconnects me until people start talking about ads. I mean, reading is a fairly good way of keeping up with events and stuff. But without television and radio, I've ended up cutting most of the ads out of my life.[*] Inadvertently, even, because my lack of television and radio wasn't started as an intentional, deliberate effort,[**] but, rather, as an attempt to save time and money. Anyway, I barely see or hear commercials these days. Which in general is fine, except that people keep making references to things I've never heard of.
And it makes it extra weird when people complain about commercials, or pop culture. Because usually I haven't seen or heard of the things about which they're complaining.[***] So it's hard to relate to the complaint, even though I can imagine that if I could see what they describe, I'd be pretty durned annoyed myself. But it feels so . . . distant now. Like listening to college students complain about the politics of funding different student orgs. I mean, I know in my head that once upon a time I cared about that stuff, but really, it now feels so far away.
Like I mentioned earlier, I can't say I'm not enjoying this distance.
[*] I suppose ads appear on internet pages as well, and in the metro trains, but as Ilana points out, I'm terribly terribly inobservant. So, honestly, I barely see them.
[**] Okay, I'm exaggerating, just a little, the nondeliberation of Ilana and me. I mean, we first decided not to get a television because we didn't feel like spending the money. But after we made the decision, we refused several offers of free televisions from Liz, Ed, Jayesh, and probably several other people I can't think of now, all of whom thought it'd be nice if we had a television (and VCR) so that they had something to watch if/when they came over. But by the time they made those offers, Ilana and I were already addicted to all the time we discovered we were saving. Plus we got DSL, which means we didn't want to be tempted to pay for cable in addition.
[***] But wait, you say, isn't that stuff all discussed in the entertainment / culture section of most newspapers, even the online versions? Yes, but I don't read them. I'm lazy. Unless they happen to mention a book/movie/musical/play group I think I might be interested in. Even then, I usually keep tabs on my favorite groups and authors through fan pages. Much easier. I'm all about convenience.
remakes
Vanilla Sky is supposed to be a remake of Amenabar's Open Your Eyes? But Open Your Eyes was so good, and Vanilla Sky looks so . . . bad.
quote of the day
From Bob, whose office is next to mine, after I mentioned that I live north of Chinatown:
"Oh, I love those Chinese restaurants there, you know, Fuddruckers, that Texas Grill..."
Thursday, December 13, 2001
intimacy
I've been thinking a lot about what got me so whiny last week, and the week before. For awhile, I thought maybe I was feeling lonely. But when I really thought about it, that wasn't quite the right word. I wasn't feeling lonely. I wasn't lacking for company.
It was something . . . else. Wayne actually made a good observation about it, too, how this one party we went to seemed to be missing just one teeny something to make it really good, how this other party, though not nearly so energetic and rocking, did have that certain something.
And what that certain something was, I now think, was intimacy. The lack of which is not quite the same as loneliness. The lack of which was what I think I was feeling. And no, I don't mean (just) physical intimacy -- you can have that without any mental intimacy at all, as portrayed so well in that Hanif Kureishi film/story collection of the same name, as exhibited so acutely in that one party. (Though perhaps others may not have felt this, perhaps it was just me and my crew.)
I'm talking about the absence of long conversations, the absence of -- and gawd it feels so silly using this word -- bonding. That's kind of what I'd been feeling.
This week was much better. I've had the long conversations, the small-group hanging out that I had really really been missing. This week's been pretty good. Hung out -- really hung out in that close, familiar, bond-ey kind of way -- with some old friends, met some new people, hung out with an old someone I hadn't really been in touch with, spent chatty time with the roommate.
how very awesome
California's thinking of requiring its air quality board to fully consider how every decision it makes affects low-income and minority neighborhoods.
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
posses
As in the plural of posse. Didn't realized how I missed having one until Jayesh was talking about how they're the best, how they let you wander everywhere and not feel bored and lonely. But yeah, I miss having a posse. Used to be, I had me, Wayne, Ed, and Grant. Then later it was me, Ed, Wayne, Ivan, and Zoo. We'd go everywhere together, lying and making fun of people. Now it's just me and Ed, which is totally not enough for critical posse mass. It was fun, those nights of hanging out.
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
no television
It's been a month-and-a-half without television, and I love it! No, don't get me wrong, I'm not actually one of those I-hate-everything-associated-with-tv type people. I don't think everything about television is bad, and I can recognize the value in it, sure.
But wow do I have so much more time now to do other stuff! It's incredible how much time it frees up! And I don't have to feel those pangs when I miss my favorite television shows, when I have to stay at work till 11:30 like I did last night. Oh, this is so great.
The weird part of being without a television is what happens when you actually see one. Because it's a shocker, seeing those ads after a significant period of time without them. Like there are all these Buy Cars and Show Your Patriotism ads! And these Be a Tourist for the Nation ads! They freaked me out, when I saw them on Saturday at Edna's. They also made me even more happy I don't have a television.
It's an ostrich approach, I know. Oh well.
Monday, December 10, 2001
christmas is about ham
All three holiday parties I went to this weekend had ham. Is that what holiday parties are like when you're out of school? Before this, I'd always thought Christmas was about chips and beer.
more on my neighborhood
So last night, I went to a "neighborhood holiday party," which, really, is not inclusive of the whole neighborhood, but mainly had people who regularly attend the neighborhood committee meetings. Which, in turn, is made up mostly of property owners.
This is understandable, I know, as people who own the places they live in are more likely to stay here, and are more invested (figuratively and literally) in the neighborhood.
Still, it makes for an interesting mix of people. Because, really, only certain people came to this party.
First, there are the looong term residents -- families or couples who've been here for twenty, thirty years. Lots of them have lived at various houses on the block, rather than stayed in the same house the whole way through. Lots of them had stories to tell about how much more dangerous the neighborhood used to be, with shootings and muggings and stuff. Lots of them are older, and their children have left, and now they have all this income saved for, well, renovations.
Then there are the partnered gay architects. No, really, I don't mean to oversimplify, but that's how this clique seems to know each other, from the architect community. This crew makes up a large part of the homeowners I've met here, and they'll probably get to be an even larger part, because they're actively trying to get their friends to buy here, so that they can all renovate together. They seem to have started moving here about five years ago. Some of the friends were at the party as well, scoping out the renovations.
Then there are the new (ugh I have to admit it) yuppie-but-trying-not-to-be renters, like me and these atmospheric scientists (yay) who live up a few blocks and these various artist folks, who I'm not sure really count as yuppie renters.
Even though there are many low-income apartment complexes in our area, none of those residents came. Because it was that kind of party.
But it wasn't the usual form of gentrification. No, don't get me wrong, this wasn't like U Street or Adams Morgan, with all the people redecorating with the help of IKEA or Crate and Barrel. Oh god no, this was totally. Totally. Different.
Because the architects (and the long-time residents, possibly inspired by the architects) are doing some incredibly cool things. It's hard to describe how cool. Basically, the holiday party was held at three different houses, all of which had been redone by the owners. All of which were beyond anything I'd ever seen before.
Most of them had totally redone their places. And I don't mean just put in a counter here, paint a wall there. No. Totally redone. Knocked away several floors. Put in bizarre openings in the roof, or between floors. Stuck in inset shelves. Put in antique door frames and old-time stoves. Made huge, shiny, two-floor architectural workspaces. No, this was far beyond boring gentrification.
And I was in awe. Because part of what I don't like about gentrification is the dullness of it, the IKEA and Crate and Barrel and boring boring niceness of it. This, this was unique. This was beyond anything seen on those home renovation cable shows, the ones that people seem to be so into these days. People here put a lot of themselves into the design, and did some really incredible things. It wasn't ostentatious, or posh, really. Just . . . amazing. It is hard to describe. Really, truly, the insides of these houses were awe-inspiring, and I don't say that lightly.
Ilana said that they probably didn't even spend more on their places than the people in those other areas (Dupont, Adams Morgan, U Street) just because the buildings themselves went for so cheap around our place, that they had all this extra money to spend on renovating. And they seemed to know what they were doing, too, where to go and how to shop.
There were, of course, the elements I didn't like about gentrification present here as well. We talked about this a little bit, the atmospheric-scientist renters and me. How we felt uncomfortable with how they felt uncomfortable with the lower income apartment buildings in our neighborhood, or the transvestite hooker scene just two blocks away. What a difference it made, owning property.
I have to say, though, if the neighborhood goes, this is a better way to go than the awfulness of Adams Morgan and now U Street. Because this, at least, is not cookie-cutter. This, at least, is actually art.
Friday, December 07, 2001
two really sexy things about this is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about
* the low "yeah"s in the "hell yeah"s of Breakthrough
* when Isaac Brock's voice peaks in the "a" of "bad-tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance" in Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
random fun stuff
You have to check out this week's I Saw You ads in the Washington City Paper. There are at least two pairs of ads that match up, if not more (I didn't go through them that carefully.) This cannot be for real, I keep telling myself.
if
If you read this page, and you notice that, in turn, someone from usdoj.gov has been browsing *your* site, don't get all paranoid about government spies. It's probably just me, being distracted. And I'm no spy. Honest.
It's creepy, I know. Sorry.
whoa!
I just woke up from a dream in which no less than three exes played major roles. That's a record for me.
Wednesday, December 05, 2001
some apropos song lyrics that are terribly fitting for my week of whininess, because, really, everything can't be as bad as i'm making it out to be
talking shit about a pretty sunset, by modest mouse
oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
looking kind of anxious in your cross-armed stance
like a bad-tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance
and i claim i'm not excited with my life anymore
so i blame this town, this job, these friends
the truth is it's myself
and I'm trying to understand myself
and pinpoint where i am
when i finally get it figured out
i've changed the whole damn plan
oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
talking shit about a pretty sunset
blanketing opinions that i'll probably reget soon
i've changed my mind so much i can't even trust it
my mind changed me so much i can't even trust myself
Tuesday, December 04, 2001
other things i like about life
(again, trying to keep myself off this big whiny streak)
* Books, because words on paper are the best things ever.
* Music, and discovering new music that I like. (On that note, currently Red House Painters, Kings of Convenience, and a ton of stuff out of Kindercore.)
* Long conversations, even though they're often long-distance these days.
* The people I like (and you know who you are.)
Monday, December 03, 2001
things i like about dc
(to try to pull myself off this big whiny streak)
* My apartment, which is big and bright and not in a gentrified (yet) neighborhood.
* My roommate, with whom I get along pretty well.
* My core group of friends (you all know who you are).
* My job and my coworkers, who, like me, are earnest and honest, but, unlike me, are also super-smart hardworking litigators.
* Saloon, with its hominess and its Scrabble board and its Belgian beer and its great owner Abie.
* Soho Tea and Coffee, which has as its clientele artsy fartsy young kids seeking their true identities, rather than the usual DC movers and shakers.
* DC CD, with the people there who've always given me good music info.
* My walk to work, how it doesn't traverse too much yuppie ground, and how it takes me past both the National Building Museum and the old people practicing tai chi in front of the Wah Luck House.
* Black Cat, which has good bands.
Sunday, December 02, 2001
more on missing boston
(a long-distance conversation with my friend Andy, who's working for a Boston law firm)
Me: I miss Boston.
Andy: I miss Boston, too.
I suppose I should be grateful to at least have the time to walk around a city I don't love.
Saturday, December 01, 2001
more thoughts about this town
The best music store I've found here is DC CD. It's all right -- there's enough stuff there for me to explore my burgeoning kindercore kick. But it still doesn't measure up to the lovely concentration of music you can find in Cambridge. This makes me sad.
|
...about
blog
me
:::::
...mylinks
archives
dahlia
email
home
livejournal
record
:::::
...daily
blade
citypaper
lawdc.com
mcsweeneys
nyt
salon
slate
spinsanity
tnr
washpost
:::::
...law
acsblog
bag and baggage
bureaucrat by day
courtside
ernie the attorney
findlaw
gideon's promise
greenbag.2d
greenwire
halfthesins
how appealing
how green
jack balkin
jason rylander
legal ramblings
nfgl
nick daum
nikita demosthenes
lawsites
lawrence lessig
netlawblog
statutory construction zone
sam heldman
scotusblog
sub judice
supremecourtus blog
talk left
tin man
this month's contents
unbilleablehours
univatty
weblogsforlawyers
wrm
<
?
law blogs
#
>
:::::
...pop
allmusic
darla
epitonic
insound
jpophelp
kindercore
nerdmagazine
pitchfork
pollstar
splendidzine
tomlab
tweekitten
:::::
...books
believermag
complete rev
dalkey
globe
nyt
post
raintaxi
:::::
...forums
cafezeitgeist
infirmation
livejournal
bulkymailtruck
rustyblog
:::::
...regulars
+ diana
geegaw
+ mimi
miromi
peebles
saltbox
:::::
...semiregulars
danzig
dfan
emilyjustin
iiiii
jason
jen
juked
lizzy
manda
markp
+ * matt
mike
+ * moose
+ pylduck
ray
rusty
seanod
son
:::::
...dc
black cat
corcoran
dc lit
9:30 club
pollstardc
resassoc
smithsonian
usda
visionsdc
wp fed diary
wp full court press
wp ideas industry
wp in the loop
wp special interests
wpfs
:::::
...orgs
aaas
aba-env
aba-sci
acs
another acs
apaba-dc
dojpride
eli
gaylaw
nbm
shawdc
ucs
walkdc
:::::
...status
:reading
paris peasant, louis aragorn
:writing
ellen
:planning
modest mouse, 7/18
stinking lizaveta, 7/24
rilo kiley, 7/30
acs convention, 8/1
acs convention, 8/2
acs convention, 8/3
bumbershoot, 8/29
bumbershoot, 8/30
bumbershoot, 8/31
:::::
...dcblogs
dcblogmap
:::::
|
