I see orange people

[angelchicken]

Really, only two crappy things happened. Two and a half.

1) I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm went off. Not because I was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to face the day, no. Because I had to pee. My body couldn't have waited twenty freaking minutes??? *stabs bladder, but only metaphorically 'cause I actually kind of need it*

2) There was a diet coke incident. It was Not Good.

Normally I have water with lunch because its free-er and healthier than soda and the lab is usually dry and, with the massive construction going on, dusty so water helps. But yesterday I was thinking that I was in the mood for diet coke with my lunch. Call it retaliation against my bladder for waking me up twenty minutes before my alarm went off!!! (I'm not getting over that any time soon) So I got out my plastic shopping bag (to put my lunch in so it stays together in my canvas bag) and threw in my lunch and a can of soda, la la la.

As I leave my apartment I feel damp, but think it's just my water bottle dripping, which sometimes happens. So I right the bottle and walk the eight blocks to the subway, stopping to get coffee on the way. When I get to the subway I realize that the dampness has actually become a deluge and the entire bottom my my canvas bag is soaked (canvas bag is not, by the way, the same as my purse, thank god. If this happened to my purse I probably would have called the day a wash at 6:30 in the morning and gone back to bed).

So somewhere between the interior of my apartment and the stairs down my diet coke can exploded all over the inside of the freaking bag. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Not only was my lunch and waterbottle soaked and sticky, so were the following: My umbrella (which, fine), my sunglasses, my favorite book (A Trip to the Stars bu Nicholas Christopher- everyone go read it!) , my cell phone charger and my freaking bills. Also, my jacket and pants from where the bag rested against my right side. If I had been in one mood I would have been irritated but dealt. I wasn't in that mood.

2.5) For the past week my tummy has been feeling off. I don't like that. And, as half of the lab has been gone at some point with a massive flu that's going about, I felt that my tummy bothering me was perfectly justified for my leaving early. So I did. My tummy feels better. I think.


* * * * *

This afternoon I took a nap and had a dream about my friend who is pregnant and how her grandfather killed this little girl by having her strangled and eaten by a boa constrictor and then throwing the body in a swamp in an elaborate plot to get his wife back. He wasn't convicted b/c there wasn't enough evidence, but years later he killed himself from guilt. This was a disturbing dream. Let it be known, also, that I don't know my pregnant friend's grandfather. My friend was also smoking a lot and I was upset because of the being pregnant.

Last night I had a dream about knitting and going to a knitting class with my friends S & V, and having a stodgy, old Watcher-type as my instructor. We disliked him so much we got him fired despite his tenure. Then we were flung into some eighties Rob Lowe/Robert Downey Jr./ Ally Sheedy type movie involving vespas and cocaine and wacky polka-dot ties worn with fedoras. I have no idea what that means. There may have been church involved as well. In the knitting part, of course.

* * * * *

This morning I woke up at 5:45 when my alarm went off. I debated whether or not I wanted to go to work and realized that whenever I thought about going to work today I got a tight unpleasant feeling in my chest, so chose not to.

But my body works in mysterious ways, and I realized that while I didn't want to wake up to go to work, I kind of did want to wake up. Eventually. So I lay in bed a while and thought about my (diet coke soaked) bills and, using the illumination from my cell phone to find the numbers, called my banks to get a feel for my financial situation. As it turns out, I'm broke. But I knew this so it's no big. I'm not so broke that I can't afford rent/bills (though I may be in credit card debt for the rest of my life)/ occasional nights out with friends. Situation normal.

By the time all that was over it was about 6:30 and I realized that what I wanted to do was go see the unveiling of The Gates in Central Park. For those of you who don't know, The Gates is a massive art exhibit that spans the whole of Central Park. I knew about it in passing, but I read about it in lj last night, and it seemed like too cool an opportunity to pass up. I mean, I was awake, it wasn't freezing out, and I had easy access to the park, where I could easily be by 8:30 when they did the unveiling.

So I went. You can read about the overall project here and here What's really cool? Those articles are actually from the future, unless I took a 26 hour nap instead of a two hour one. But my computer says it was two, and Ginger wouldn't lie.

Anyway, it really is quite spectacular. The gist of the exhibit is that this artist couple set up these tall orange archways - gates, if you will - about twenty feet high and nine to eleven feet wide over every single walkway in Central Park. And this morning, at eight thirty, orange banners/curtains were released from were they were rolled at the top of every banner so that they fluttered down about ten feet.

SO COOL!

this is why I love New York. Because for all it's jaded-ness and problems and stupidity there are these incredible opportunities to witness something a little bit magical. On a grand scale. I felt this way when I saw the Queen Mary 2 last spring and I felt it again today. It's a good feeling.

Anyone in the New York area, I would definitely recommend giving it a look-see. Just for the novelty, if nothing else. giant orange curtains spaced about every ten to twenty feet on all the Central Park walkways (except the Mall/Promenade/Literary walk, though I kind of didn't expect them to be spaced there). 7500 total.

After meandering about the park for an hour or so, watching the volunteers pull down the curtains so they fluttered in the breeze I decided to make my way down town while window shopping on Fifth Avenue. I was thinking of skating in Central Park, but the rink didn't open 'til ten (and by the way- Trump is such a whore. Is there anything he doesn't put his name on?) and the guard was kind of a jerk so I window shopped. Went to Boarders on 57th and Park, but they didn't open 'til ten. Wandered around looking in all the jewelry store windows and feeling a bit of smug superiority. Created little smug scenarios in which I walked into Cartier or Bvlgari and the sales people were all snobby towards me and I whipped out my mondo diamond/ gem knowledge and my impressive employers, and made the sales person cry and feel like a peon for daring to judge me. It was fun.

Then I went looking for MoMA which, apparently, isn't on 52nd between Sixth and Park (which is three block span). After that I decided I didn't want to go to MoMA after all so there. I had already had a Modern Art experience this morning, thank you very much, and if MoMA wanted to be all elusive and not where I thought it was, well, fine. One less patron today. I hope your happy.

So I came home and knitted while listening to the first two disks of Storm Front



I had my first knitting class this week. How much do I love it? SO MUCH! It is very fun and zen and I can cast on and to a knit stitch and pearl stitch and alternate the two row to row! I love it! And I love that my class is six people, five of which are under the age of 35 (not because I was against older classmates, but because my work friends were all 'you are going to be the youngest person there by, like thirty years'. Ha! I showed them!). And it really is great and meditative and I have already done and torn out the homework about three times because I want it to be better and it is and I want to keep knitting, but I don't want to use up all my yarn yet, and it's so easy to just start over.

To sum up: I love it!

So, long entry, but there was much to share. The little things of note in my life: Whole Food is the greatest supermarket ever. They sell a creamy butternut squash soup that is very delicious & healthy. Also, a tasty vegan peanut butter, which, go figure; I still haven't started going back to karate. Bad AC! No cookie; I'm doing okay at double checking which is great. I expected my q/q to go down, but I think I am not just horrid, which I feared, so that's a treat; when my tummy was bothering me, my friend Y got me a ginger ale when she went for lunch. I love her so much. She is such a sweetie; I would like some new fic, please; Remember psycho E and the house selling debacle? I'm invited to her oldest son's wedding. I really like the oldest son, so that's very cool. It's in August; Apparently, when I was six months old, my parents went to a holiday party to which I wasn't invited so I was dropped off at a friends house. I was so well behaved and cute that everyone wanted to hold me. They still call me the Christmas Baby and talk about me. Hee!

That's all for now. I leave you with this:

Comments

[sunbrae.livejournal.com]

Oooh, pretty picture. :)

You sound like you're doing well, aside from the Diet Coke debacle. I'm happy. *hugs*

[angelchicken.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And I am okay. Good, even. Thank you for being happy I'm happy. That makes me happy. *hugs*

And it really was pretty to see all the gates. It'd be cooler, I think, if there was a big snow in the next week. Seeing all of that against a pristine white background? I think I'd have an artgasm. :)

*hugs*

[certainthings.livejournal.com]

They still call me the Christmas Baby and talk about me

You're like their personal Jesus.

The Gates sounds really nifty.

[sunbrae.livejournal.com]

I meant to mention the knitting. I need to learn to purl so I can make more pretty things. I did make a scarf for SunSis, but I only knit row after row. Knitting is fun!

[eee1313.livejournal.com]

That's really just so gorgeous. I'm so jealous that you go to see this up close and personal, and at the unveiling, too! Dammit, why does this kind of stuff never happen in Chicago? I mean there's Millenium Park, but oh, that's all copyrighted so we're harassed if we take pictures. The art whore in me is just super envious that you're getting to see this. It must be beautiful.

[angelchicken.livejournal.com]

Knitting is great! I'm so happy I'm doing it! And purling, once you get the hang of it, isn't so bad. You just have to get the hang of it is all. We learned after knit stitch and so it was all confusing. I prefer knit stitch.

[angelchicken.livejournal.com]

You're like their personal Jesus.

DepecheMode even wrote a song about me . . .

The Gates are really, really cool. Really cool. I want to go back this week when they are all unwrapped.

[angelchicken.livejournal.com]

Dude, Millenium Park is copyrighted? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Way to ruin the enjoyment, city of Chicago. Feh. there should be more art for arts sake. Like the cows. Ahhh, the cows.

But dude, the Gates really are that cool. I want to go back sometime this week. and the color is perfect, especially since it is all gray and February here. I'm not a huge art whore, but I was really blown away by this. So. Cool.

[certainthings.livejournal.com]

That reference went right over my head.