Perfect Summer Tuesday Date Night:
Thanks to David for the pictures, off his phone!
1. Ride the Greenway to the Longfellow Grill for sweet potato fries and an apéritif
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| Longfellow |
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| Bike bridge at sunset |
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| On the Greenway |
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| First carrot! |
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| Arnold Palmers--the drink of summer! |
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| David at Old Arizona |
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| Me at Old Arizona |
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| Plotting our festival course |
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| On the Stone Arch Bridge |
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| Crowds at the opening ceremony |
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| City lights reflected in the Mississippi |
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| Pedestrian bridge on the just-established River Lake Greenway |
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| My new T-shirt |
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| David by the rolling bandstand |
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| At the southern end of the strip |
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| Hydrant drinking fountain |
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| Brunch at the Aster Cafe (patio!) |
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| David and his bike at the downtown farmers' market post-brunch |
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| Snapping the city skyline on the ride home |
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| Heading home after an evening ride |
I boarded the 18 bus outside the public library. As usual that far up Nicollet, it was nearly empty, and I sat by the window in the first non-priority row of seats. Two African-American women sat in the bank of three seats in front of me, perpendicular to mine. The one nearest me carried an infant, whom she partially unswathed from a huge bundle of blankets, so that just her little fleece-hatted head was visible.
I watched bundled people shuffle along the sidewalks in rubber boots and sensible shoes.
At 9th, which is always a busy stop, the bus started to fill up. One man asked the bus driver how she was doing, and she replied that she was "blessed." He laughed loudly as he took his transfer and said that was a good answer. A statuesque young woman partially undraped herself from the priority seat on the other side of the bus from me so that an elderly woman carrying bags could sit there.
At the next stop, with the bus almost entirely full, the bus driver called out that she needed a seat up front, and a middle-aged woman vacated one of the priority seats. A man carrying a cane and squinting through thick round glasses shuffled to the seat and sat down.
At the stop after that, things got even more crowded. A large, shabby white man wearing a bright orange knit cap and laden with stuff got onto the bus. It was clear that he wanted a priority seat, and he did appear to meet the criteria, which he would later list aloud: he was a senior, with a disability. It was equally clear that the two women in front of me did not intend to relinquish any of the three they were occupying. He stood in front of them, holding the overhead rail, while they sniggered and made faces.
When possible, I avoid riding the bus at that time of the afternoon precisely to avoid this sort of uncomfortable crowding: no one relishes close contact with strangers, particularly not when they're wrapped in swinging bundles and a clear cloud of crazy. I usually sit with my backpack on my lap, shoulders squeezed up to make space, and try to distract myself with the view out the window. None of us likes it, but we all want to get where we're going as painlessly as possible, so we deal with it.
As the bus moved forward and it was clear the women in front of him were laughing at him more and more loudly and were displeased with his presence, the man began a litany of complaints: "I've had two heart attacks and a pulmonary embolism and now I have diabetes and have poor circulation in my leg!" They were unfazed. "I am on coumadin! If I fall down, I could die of internal bleeding!"
"You back the $*(% up or I'll give you internal bleeding right now! I will beat you!" the older of the two women said.
"I could kick you out of this seat, if I wanted to--"
"You just try and kick me out! I'd like to see you try!"
"I have a disability, and I could kick you out--"
As the bus moved forward, a water bottle strapped to the man swung forward, and the woman shoved it away.
"Don't you touch my stuff!" the man roared, raising his voice for the first time, and the woman rose from her seat to shout back, "Keep your stuff out of my face!"
She grabbed her bag and began to dig through it, saying, "Okay, I'm going to get my magic $#*^ out and make you back up..."
"What, do you have a gun in there?" he asked.
"No, I don't have a gun! But I have something else..."
"I'm going to call the police!" he said. "I'm going to call the police, don't you touch me..."
"I'll give you internal bleeding..."
Another woman standing at the front of the bus joined in. "This is because they're black, isn't it? You wouldn't be doing this is they were white!"
"This isn't racial!" he protested. "I'm not racist, I just want to sit down!"
The young mother, who had been talking into her cell phone, giving a running commentary on the "bum" in front of them, ripped into him. "You need to leave her alone and talk respectfully to this woman! She hasn't done anything to you, so you need to behave like a decent human being! Now you need to stop &#$%ing talking to her and leave her the &#(% alone!" She started quietly, but ended shouting in righteous indignation, clearly pleased with her performance, which drew appreciative chuckles.
We had stopped again, and the tall young man sitting beside me, who could barely fold his legs up in front of him to clear the aisle grabbed his girlfriend and said, "Come on, baby, we can walk--it's only a few blocks from here." They left, freeing two seats, and the people crowded near the front pointed out the open spaces. The man squeezed through and sank down beside me. I stared out the window.
A few blocks later, the two women rose to leave. So did the man beside me. "Oh, is this your stop? Guess who else is getting off here!" he said.
Despite her earlier threats to beat him, as they got off the bus, the older of the two women said dismissively, "We're not going to hurt him. We're just going to go our own way."
The man, however, did not appear comforted, and asked the driver to call the police. She said she was required to do so when asked by a passenger, and so we sat there, waiting. The bus cleared out as people got off. Another 18 stopped behind us, and passengers from our bus transferred. I stayed where I was, and as the other bus passed us, saw that it was, as expected, packed to the doors.
Eventually the driver told the man that the police would be there momentarily, and we pulled away again. At my stop eight blocks later, the driver was still so flustered that she didn't notice me at the back door and had to slam on the brakes, already partway into traffic, to let me out after several of us shouted "Back door!"
"Sorry," she said. "My bad."
This story doesn't have a point, exactly. The bus is frequently crowded, and is usually carrying a mix of crazies, the exhausted, and occasionally the loudly obnoxious. This isn't the first time I've seen the cops called; the last time I saw the officers pull a man off the bus who (loudly) couldn't understand why the business card he was holding wasn't a bus transfer. It's not always bad, and sometimes it's even fun: last week my jovial driver announced the stops in a sort of late-night DJ voice.
There's a fair amount of crazy in the world, and a fair amount of really unfair life circumstances, too. The city bus provides a more concentrated sample of each than one might ordinarily encounter, and in a necessarily intimate setting.
I found myself angry at the two apparently able-bodied women on the bus for not being grown-ups: for not sharing, for picking on someone who was clearly physically and mentally challenged, and for exposing that baby girl to all of it. I was angry about the playing of the race card, which seemed unfair and uncalled for, and angry that this is what the discussion of race looks like in America. But I didn't say anything.
Internets, Montreal was awesome. It was unlike any other city I've seen; 
the closest equation I've been able to come up with is Portland + New Orleans + Amsterdam (or, rather, my imagination of the latter, as I've never been there!).
A few things, I apparently lucked out on: the weather was sunny, and relatively cool and dry (with the exception, naturally, of the quite warm and humid Tuesday, the day I climbed Mont-Royal); 
I was able to find good vegetarian food (which the city's tradition of French cuisine can apparently make challenging); and my hotel was in what appeared to be the coolest part of the city (the hip, young, Plateau).
The city was highly walkable--compact and with good sidewalks--but there was also excellent public transportation 
(I bussed from and back to the airport, and once the two miles back to my hotel from downtown). Had I been so inclined, there were also ubiquitous "Bixi" bikes, apparently a direct equivalent to Mpls' Nice Rides, but far more extensive (and with what looked to be a bike-friendlier infrastructure, with lots of dedicated lanes and conscientious drivers).
The architecture was consistently charming, not only in the historic, distinctly French, Vieux Montreal, but in the residential areas of the Plateau and elsewhere. There were a 
few free-standing mansions, but the majority of the residential areas seemed to consist of block-long rows of houses sharing walls, with exterior staircases leading from the street to the second and occasionally third floor. There were lots of very French balconies (frequently with bikes locked to them!) and lots of flowers. Montreal's citizens seem clearly--and deservedly--very proud to live there.
Wednesday morning I went to the studio to see the pieces and afterward had lunch with the artist's assistant and the latter's boyfriend, who is an artist and currently the pieces' conservationist. 
That afternoon I wrote and then had dinner at a vegan restaurant, Aux Vivres, which reminded me of Native Foods in California and was completely delicious with an adorable back patio.
Thursday I walked through downtown and Chinatown to Vieux Montreal, explored the quays, 
and then hit the DHC/ART gallery to see their Jenny Holzer exhibition/installation. After that I headed to the "Mac," the Musee d'Art Contemporain, which wasn't amazing but did have a cool music video exhibit. Thursday night I dined with my new pals the assistant and conservationist at a chic bistro in Little Italy, where we lingered over dinner and dessert until 11:00. 
We cabbed back to their neighborhood, and from there I walked the 15 minutes or so back to my hotel, feeling completely safe even at so late an hour--particularly because lots of people were still out and about, enjoying the beautiful evening.
It's probably crazy talk--kind of like how when it's sunny in Seattle and thus one of the most beautiful places on earth, I think about moving back--but I could see myself maybe living there. Maybe. I still have to figure out how their winters really compare to ours!
Here are more photos; click here to see larger versions and/or leave comments:
So I'm in Montréal this week, where tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I'll get to experience the two artworks I've been trying to see for more than a year! I got here Monday evening, and took today to explore part of the city.
Sunday,we took a combination of trains to get to Hakone, which is apparently a well-known getaway just outside of Tokyo.
On the down side, as it was a three-day holiday weekend for the vernal 
equinox, things were rather crowded and we ended up sitting in traffic for approximately half of our time there. On the up side, the weather was lovely; we had some fantastic views of Mt. Fuji; and we ended the day at the amazing Tenzan Onsen, where we scrubbed up and then soaked (nekkid and segregated) under the stars in the natural hot springs.
I think I'd recommend against getting whatever bus pass we got, at least for times likely to be busy: ours were ¥3900, which got us a city bus (in a nearly perpetual, if generally scenic, traffic jam, until we were dropped off to walk the last half mile up to Owakudani--and then back down the mountain) and a ferry ride, individual trips that could presumably have been had for approximately a third of that. In general I prefer trains, and would suggest that in Hakone, too.
An onsen soak, on the other hand, is definitely unmissable.
Here are pictures (full album here):
This little questionnaire has become sort of a year-end tradition here in the Kitchen, so I present now 2009:
1) Where did you begin 2009?
In Seattle with good friends and family! Highlights were Abraham's CD release party, Casuelita's Caribbean Cafe, fireworks at the Space Needle, and a kiss.
2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Officially dating my sweetie, who flew to Mpls that weekend.
3) Did you travel?
Ohmygoodness, yes. I drove from Palm Springs to Phoenix with my parents for the marathon in January and then flew back to Mpls. I drove to a conference in Milwauke, flew to one in New Orleans, and then flew to a third in Portland in May. The latter launched the first of two epic roadtrips across the country. In November, David and I flew to Portland and drove to Hermiston for Thanksgiving. In December, I flew to Vegas to run a half marathon, and then to Seattle for the holidays. Phew!
4) Did you lose someone or something you love?
Not that I can recall. I feel very fortunate in that.
5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
Nope!
6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
Nope!
7) Did you start dating someone new?
Yes, I did, and he has been one of the most excellent parts of 2009!
8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?
Not a single object--but the usual school fees, rent, and travel.
9) Did you know anybody who got married?
My neighbor got married; that was the only wedding I attended this year, and the only one I can think of.
10) Did you get in any car accidents?
Not a one. Here's to a year and a half of car-less living!
11) Did you attend any sporting events?
Two marathons and three half marathons, if those count. Oh, also, the rodeo!
12) Did you move anywhere?
I moved to Walla Walla for the summer, and then back to Mpls.
13) Did you keep your new year's resolution?
It was another year in which I didn't make any.
14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
The Nutracker, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Santaland Diaries, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Importance of Being Earnest (Bros Before Hos Remix), Abraham, Andrew Bird (x2), the Decemberists, U2(!!)...
15) What movies did you go see in the theater?
Including ones at my beloved second-run theater: Up in the Air, Up, King Corn and Big River, Revolutionary Road, The Soloist, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Angels and Demons, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (it was with my little cousin! Also, somehow, despite its extreme loudness, I managed to fall asleep...), Public Enemies, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, (500) Days of Summer, The Informant!, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Valkyrie, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Milk (this time with help from this site)
16) Did your hair color change?
Only from the disappointing Feria permanent back to my natural colors.
17) Did you get any taller?
At the doctor's office, they told me I was a little over 5'7", which would mean I had grown--but I think it was just the thick socks.
18) Describe your birthday?
I spent it in the desert with David and my parents. We ate a lot of delicious food, and enjoyed the sunshine and some antiquing. Later, David and I celebrated again when we saw U2 in Chicago--his big birthday gift to me!
19) Did you get any new pets?
None.
20) What has been your favorite moment?
Favorite moment, in a year this epic? I seriously couldn't begin to choose.
21) What's something you learned about yourself?
I can much more easily survive a Mpls winter with good company.
22) What has been your biggest worry?
That I might not finish this accursed dissertation, and my degree, and thus disappoint myself, my advisor, and everyone around me.
23) What was your best month?
Oh boy. May was pretty fantastic... but so were June, July, August... and January... and September, October, November, December...
24) What music will you remember 2009 by?
Abraham, Andrew Bird, the Decemberists, U2 and weirdly, maybe even Lady Gaga.
25) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
E&A, L, and D.
26) Have you had to call the police on anyone?
Nope!
27) Have you gone skiing?
Sadly, it was another slopeless year.
28) Did you miss work due to illness?
Not work, as far as I can recall.
29) Any like/love interests?
I know this comes as a huge surprise to Alert Readers, but I'm pretty taken with my current beau.
30) Get anything new?
Shiny red electronics! A phone, lappy, and Nano. Oh, and that beau!
Happy December, all!
It's extra happy here today, because David was offered a position at what amounts to sort of his dream job. 
It's a controller position, so he won't have the pesky tax season he's dealt with for the past several years in public accounting. His office is also in the Warehouse District of downtown, which, in addition to being generally awesome, is only a few miles north of my house and forms a neat little triangle with my East Bank office. (Yes, I've already become a total pansy this winter as far as biking is concerned--but it's so hard to turn down free rides, and when I don't have to bike I get to wear nice clothes!) Needless to say, after three months of rather daunting unemployment (curse this economy--as I told him this evening, he's a frikkin' accountant, after all, not a beat poet!), this is a huge relief. 
To terminate his unemployment with such an exciting prospect and great people feels extra fantastic.
We just got back from the west coast last night, after driving back through the gorge and flying out of PDX. David and I didn't get to sit together on the plane, but we did both have window seats, and it was one of my most memorable flights in recent memory. It was a gloriously clear day, and the view of Hood was spectacular. I was wishing I could identify all the peaks (Adams? Jefferson? Three Sisters?) when it occurred to me that as I could see clear across Oregon to the south, I might be able to see Rainier to the north. 
I actually gasped when I turned and saw it, larger than life and perfectly framed in the windows across the aisle. Amazing! It was especially interesting to follow our path east along the gorge, having just come the opposite way that morning. I recognized the dams and phalanxes of wind turbines (visible in the full-sized version of the photo), and even thought I could see Multnomah Falls, where we'd stopped briefly on our way in.
Tomorrow I board another plane, this one bound for Las Vegas. I get in late and then have Friday by myself before meeting up with April and Chris Saturday morning. We run early (6:15 a.m.! the pain!) Sunday, and if you feel like tracking us, you can find details about that here. I had thought at one point about running the full marathon, and I am very glad that I talked myself out of that rash plan and registered, along with the other two, for the half. 
I'm already feeling so much less stressed! My usual race voodoo--what I can and can't eat, what I wear, how I sleep, etc.--is significantly calmed when I know I'm running 13.1 miles, instead of 26.2. I'm not too inspired at the moment, having been on the ground in my home timezone for only slightly more than 24 hours and not particularly anxious to leave again, but I'm sure I'll be excited soon enough.
One inspiration: AirTran (for all their other, significant flaws [i.e. I fly through Atlanta on my way from MSP to LAS]) now has wifi on all their flights! It's not free (yet), but still--we're living in the future.
Because I am a sucker for punishment, today, exactly one week before the Twin Cities Marathon, I rode in my second Urban Assault Ride.
Last year, my partner and I had both been doing a respectable amount of biking (it helped that I'd actually been using my bike as my primary means of transportation, whereas recently I've become woefully spoiled by David's car!), but this year neither of us had really biked at all all summer.
Still, we had a great time (though I'm rather tender, and will doubtless be all sorts of sore tomorrow), and made it to all but one of our check-points (an improvement over last year!). Unfortunately, like last year, I did run into some mechanical troubles. It wasn't a spike through the tire, thankfully, but I did manage to bend my front fender when I stopped suddenly and caught it on my foot. 
That caused it to rub on the tire, which meant it felt like I was gently braking for most of our ride out(/uphill) to REI. Thankfully, on the way back I found a gas station garage that let me borrow their pliers so that I could remove and toss the offending fender, and had a much more pleasant ride thereafter.
This year, whether because the course was arranged better, because we'd actually completed the quiz and ended up in the first wave, or because the check-points were better equipped to handle large numbers of people, we spent hardly any time waiting in line for the activities (which included a toss/catch game involving wet sponges and a laundry basket that rested on one partner's shoulders [with a hole for the head!] and the "plunger paddle" where both partners sat on a longboard and paddled to stations using a toilet plunger).
Afterward, David and I went to a gamelan concert in St. Paul and then to Pancho Villa with my UAR teammate for burritos.
Oh, also! For the race, we made shirts. I couldn't find a "Ciao Ciao" graphic online, so I recreated one using the classic Coke logo. I thought they turned out really well. We're working our way up slowly; next year we'll make all the checkpoints and wear all-out costumes!
David's pictures (plus some of my partner's) are here:
A few firsts for today, in order of occurrence:
This past week has been a little nuts.
Wednesday, I gave a two-hour lecture on Picasso to the prints class for which I've been TAing this semester. (My friends at school said, "What do you know about Picasso?" The answer is, before prepping this lecture, basically nothing--especially about his prints. Now, after a whole lot of reading and PowerPointing, I know a little bit.)
Monday, I had to submit material to the dissertation workshop that met today, so I wrote a draft of my Portland presentation.
Today, in addition to presenting at workshop, I also had to return the 65 3-5 page papers my students had turned in two weeks ago, but which I hadn't really touched before the past few days because I'd been preparing that Picasso lecture.
They take their final exams next Wednesday, and I'll have 65 of those to grade in a single week, because I'm flying to Portland the next Thursday.
But, before then, I have a week of relative relaxation to make up for last week's craziness. I thus have time to catch you up on last week, which in addition to crazy lecture prep, writing, and grading, involved a VISIT! From David!
Wednesday after I picked him up at the airport we went to the Mall of America, ended up having the picnic I'd packed on the seventh floor of the West parking garage (my favorite place in the MOA, returned to school for my lecture, and then ate with my neighbors at Pancho Villa. Thursday, we had even warmer and more gorgeous weather, so we took the bus downtown, wandered Nicollet Mall and the farmers' market, explored Mill Ruins park, and enjoyed an appetizer outside at Spoon River before meeting a friend at a theater downtown for the live broadcast of This American Life. Friday, we went for a run around the lakes, biked to the Walker sculpture garden and back, caught a film at the historic Riverview, and had a lovely dinner at Jasmine 26. Saturday, we met friends for brunch, ate tamales at the Midtown Global exchange and poked through the booths, took the Greenway to the river and discovered a trail I'd never noticed before that goes clear down to the water, and then attended a friend's birthday party. Sunday, David had to fly home, but we got brunch at the Bad Waitress and still managed to get him on his plane in time (if only barely!).
You'll notice (especially those of you who have had the tour!) that I definitely have my favorites when it comes to showing people around town. It's slightly different without a car; whereas I took Paul and Ter and Ellen, on their respective visits, to my favorite Indian restaurant in the suburbs, that wasn't on the itinerary this time around. However, we were able to bus and bike pretty much everywhere else with ease--and the carless tour does present a unique way to see the city!
I had to work slightly more than I would have liked to, but David was a good sport and even helped me assemble and format the slide list for the final exam. I didn't do any of my own writing or grade any papers, which sort of caught up with me after he left, but now I'm caught up and won't be deluged again until next Wednesday! That's plenty of time to revise the Portland paper and pack for that trip.
If you're interested in pix from the visit, David has posted the highlights here:
Ride to school in the snow; arrive damp and muddy.
Ride home from school in the wind; arrive sweating and weeping because a spring gale is both warming everything up and whipping debris (liberated from the snow that has been collecting and covering it all winter) into my eyes.
Ahhhh, April.
In any case, thank goodness we're done with March for another year. I think things are on the upswing!
Here are a few more pictures of the Phoenix Marathon, courtesy of Action Sports International. I think the first two are at the halfway point, and the last two at the finish line. I seem to have some sort of tic that makes me throw my hands into the air when I see a camera:
In other semi-athletic news, today I broke my lucky streak where snow biking is concerned. Most of Franklin Avenue has been cleared, but I hit a rough patch, realized I was going too fast with traffic slowing ahead of me, made the mistake of braking (and probably turning my wheel), tipped, and slid. I was lucky, though; the snow and my padded jacket broke my fall, and I got away with just a bruise or two on my elbow and hip (and pride, of course). I'd been fine slowly surfing through the inches of snow left on the less-traveled streets; my mistake (and it's an unforgivable one under these circumstances, clearly) was slipping from snow mode to commuter mode when I hit a main, and better-cleared, thoroughfare. It pays to remember that the snow is always boss.
It won't be melting any time soon--tonight's predicted low is -6°, and we won't even hit double digit lows until Monday at the earliest--but someday spring will come. I can't wait.
Seriously, whose idea of funny is it to put a dapper little snowman as the picture for what the weather is doing right now? It's the penultimate day of February, after all; civilized locations are already having spring!
I'm not as worked up about this "late season snowstorm" as I could be, actually. I did a bunch of grocery shopping before I returned my rental car on Sunday, and so I'm full of spicy and delicious Thai peanut curry and have the makings for many more meals. Wednesdays are usually the only day I have to be on campus, so that's out of the way. This afternoon and evening's classes were even canceled at the U--the first snow (half) day I can remember seeing here!
Last weekend was a snowy one for me, as well. I was at a graduate conference in Milwaukee, presenting a paper on Sarah Palin, Saturday night Live, and the Tina Fey Effect. The house where I was staying (its occupants, as it happened, out of town for the weekend) was right by Lake Michigan, of the eponymous effect snow, which may have accounted for the dumping we received Friday night and Saturday. Thankfully my little rental car (a cute turquoise Corolla that I'd happily own if it ever came to that again) was able to navigate the drifts out of the driveway that morning, though I did have to do some pretty heavy shoveling to get it back in again that evening.
Here are the pictures I got--sunrise, the really awe-inspiring Lake Michigan, and the drive home:
