Today was an achingly beautiful September day, the kind of weather where you know it is fall. It was not unlike this day 5 years ago that was being commemorated so much… Sunset Park offers a straing view into Lower Manhattan. I hadn’t even heard of this place when the skyline was changed, having just moved to New York two weeks previous. Today makes me feel like I “should” reflect on what’s changed, but the fact is is that it has infused my daily life so much now that reflection catches me at odd moments, emotion and shortness of breaths, flickers of memory coming when I least expect it. There’s nothing too different I have to say on the actual “day of” that I haven’t been saying “since”… racial profiling, torture, deportation, war, curtailment of civil liberties, all this continues on a day-to-day basis, so I don’t feel like I need to commemorate this day particularly (I understand the need if a loved one was lost, for sure…), but I do want to say that we can use it as a place where we can keep struggling, working, hoping for truth, peace and justice. Is another world still possible? Most days I am not sure, but we have to keep believing so.
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Hell Kitten
I realize I am reaching into the stereotypical dregs of personal blogging by writing about my cat and what I ate for breakfast (toast and orange juice). L. and I have been catting sitting L’s brother’s kitten Max, aka “hell kitten.” Be not fooled by his peaceful sniffing of my flowers , moments afterward he grabbed my leg with his claws and sank his teeth into my ankle.
Brooklyn Bridge in the rain
Reading excerpts from Susan Sontag’s diaries in the New York Times magazine today I came accross an entry she wrote when she returned to New York from Paris in 1959 that seemed to mirror some of my thoughts and reactions upon return perfectly:
“The ugliness of New York. But I do like it here… In NY sensuality compltely turns into sexuality- no objects for the senses to respond to, no beautiful river, houses, people. Asful smells of the street, and dirt… nothing except eating, if that… Adjusting the self to the city vs. making the city answer better to the self.”
And in reading her journals it raised a question so elequently posed last year by C.C. in my office… “How does one become Susan Sontag?”
Charles De Gaulle
My last view of France before boarding my flight to Geneva and then JFK… after the rainy, cold August my sister informed me that since I left, the weather has been perfect… what can I say about leaving a place that treated me so well for two months? Where I learned so much and got to explore? How can I keep that sense of exploration, of openness to new ideas and learning everyday in my day-to-day life in the US?
Opera and Monument Bastille
G. and I went to a ballet here earlier this summer. I like the juxtoposition of the old and the new in this photo. This is where the Bastille prison, which was destroyed by a group of angry revolutionaries, once stood (of course, there was only 6 or so prisonners there, so it was more symbolic of the “spirit of the french republic”). In the metro station here you can see some of the foundation stones from the prison.
St. Catherine’s Market
G. enjoys a tea on a rainy evening (which soon turned sunny) in St. Catherine’s Market, a quiet, enclosed square in the Marais away from busy streets. Usually it’s clogged with people, but the cool weather kept most people away. It was a peaceful way, and felt very Parisian, to enjoy and reflect on my last evening in Paris.
Opera Garnier
Just walked by and thought it made for a nice shot. I went to the ballet, but at the more modern Opera bastille. I am a little updated out, but the last few photos from my two months abroad will be up in the next few days. In the meantime, you can click on any of the photos which will link you to my flickr account to see more photos! (if you are so inclined)
Princess 4 Eva!
An accidental place of tourism for me, but maybe planned on G.’s part as we walked to the Palais de Tokyo, the tunnel where Princess Di died, decorated with flowers and adoring graffiti. The heart I am pointing to proclaims that she is “Our pricess 4 ever!”
Rouleau De Printemps!
This is an abolutely fantastic, cheap, delicious restaraunt in Bellville. 5 euro tofu vermecelli, the most yummy sushi I have ever tasted, ample vegetarian options, I always wanted to go and eat there! From the Belleville metro stop walk up the hill on Rue De Belleville and take a right on Rue de Tourtille (I think it is called, your second right, the first one being almost an ally). They are closed on Wednesdays.
Magic Passion
I have no idea what this place is. It is right accross the street from G.’s apartment and I spent most of the summer looking at it. It has never, ever been open and a previous attempt (before I was there) by G. to break in amounted to naught. A store for magicians? Wizards? Or…?
Killerfemme 