Across the Universe
I don’t know how people who travel a lot keep sane. I’ve been away three weekends in a row, four out of five, and I feel like the threads of my life are unraveling.
I was supposed to be home this weekend, but ended up being away for a lot of it. Rich was involved in a project in Burlington, which led to a free hotel room on Saturday night. So Saturday afternoon I drove to Burlington, we saw a movie and had dinner. Sunday, after Rich went off to his meeting, I met my friend Abby for shopping and lunch. By the time I got home and took a walk, the day had disappeared.
The movie we saw was “Across the Universe,” which didn’t get great reviews (according to Rotten Tomatoes) but I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I guess I’m a sucker for the Beatles and love stories. I can’t wait to see it again, and then buy the DVD so I can watch it again and again and again. I highly recommend it, even if a lot of reviewers don't.
Oct. 26-28 was parents weekend at Brown. There were so many parents there! We met more of Caroline’s friends, and their parents, and we ran into parents who we went to Brown with (before any of us were parents). It was a somewhat dizzying intersection of parallel universes. We didn’t do many of the planned activities for parents but enjoyed ourselves anyway. No pictures to share -- I only took one!
The weekend before that Rich and I went to Philadelphia and celebrated our 30th anniversary of being a couple. Aside from a horrible flight down (lots of people reaching for the barf bag), we had a great time. It was gloriously warm and sunny.
Some highlights: We went to the National Constitution Center and saw an exhibit on the First Ladies. We were amazed at all the new buildings in this area of Philadelphia - including the new visitor’s center and this museum. None of that was around when we lived there 25 years ago.
At the National Constitution Center, they have the Signers hall, with statues of the guys who signed the Constitution. Here I am with Alexander Hamilton:
And Rich is making a point with these delegates:
We walked forever, eventually ending up at the Rosenbach Library and Museum, which has an exhibit of Bram Stoker’s original notes for Dracula. That was cool, and gave us a chance to sit for a while.
And we ran into an R2D2 mailbox!
We then paid a surprise visit on the teacher Caroline had in first, second and third grade, who moved to Philadelphia a few years ago. Funny anecdote: We learned that her nickname for Caroline and her friends back then was the Marauders, because they caused so much havoc in the playground. Neither Rich nor I remember that nickname - which evokes images of HP, of course.
That night, we walked down to South Street, which used to be one of our favorite places to wander, shop and eat out. The moment I got there, I sensed it had changed. It’s hard to put into words how - it seems cheaper, and younger. OK, I’m older, so maybe that second adjective doesn’t count. But the stores and restaurants seemed different. I just got a bad vibe, and we left. Meanwhile, the area around Chestnut and Market Sts., between Front and Fifth, has definitely gone upscale - many nice restaurants where there didn’t used to be any.
Sunday we had tickets to a Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum. We walked over there, stopping at the Reading Market (where I didn’t buy chocolate Tequila Shots for
hollywdliz and
yav_14, but thought about it). We wandered around outside the museum, enjoying the beautiful weather. The exhibit itself was quite good - the audio tour was wonderful. There was both a kids’ and adults’ version, and both were fun and educational. I learned that artists took advantage of the train lines to visit the countryside, and so paint landscapes. And also benefited from paint in tubes, instead of having to mix their own.
That night we went to a ghost tour of Philadelphia. It was definitely hokey. Then we ate at a Cuban restaurant, which was good.
When I’m not traveling I’m slogging through a horrible book called “The Madness of a Seduced Woman.” I got it because it takes place in Montpelier, more than 100 years ago, but I’m really disappointed. The author did little research to make it accurate. She has street names that don’t exist, the geography seems off. I was hopeful to get a better sense of what Montpelier was like 100 years ago, but that’s not happening. At this point, I just want to get through it.
No travel expected this month. Maybe I can finish the book and move onto the month’s worth of New York Times’ piled up in my dining room.
Finally, for the MHS graduates: The girls soccer team won the state championship!
I was supposed to be home this weekend, but ended up being away for a lot of it. Rich was involved in a project in Burlington, which led to a free hotel room on Saturday night. So Saturday afternoon I drove to Burlington, we saw a movie and had dinner. Sunday, after Rich went off to his meeting, I met my friend Abby for shopping and lunch. By the time I got home and took a walk, the day had disappeared.
The movie we saw was “Across the Universe,” which didn’t get great reviews (according to Rotten Tomatoes) but I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I guess I’m a sucker for the Beatles and love stories. I can’t wait to see it again, and then buy the DVD so I can watch it again and again and again. I highly recommend it, even if a lot of reviewers don't.
Oct. 26-28 was parents weekend at Brown. There were so many parents there! We met more of Caroline’s friends, and their parents, and we ran into parents who we went to Brown with (before any of us were parents). It was a somewhat dizzying intersection of parallel universes. We didn’t do many of the planned activities for parents but enjoyed ourselves anyway. No pictures to share -- I only took one!
The weekend before that Rich and I went to Philadelphia and celebrated our 30th anniversary of being a couple. Aside from a horrible flight down (lots of people reaching for the barf bag), we had a great time. It was gloriously warm and sunny.
Some highlights: We went to the National Constitution Center and saw an exhibit on the First Ladies. We were amazed at all the new buildings in this area of Philadelphia - including the new visitor’s center and this museum. None of that was around when we lived there 25 years ago.
At the National Constitution Center, they have the Signers hall, with statues of the guys who signed the Constitution. Here I am with Alexander Hamilton:
And Rich is making a point with these delegates:
We walked forever, eventually ending up at the Rosenbach Library and Museum, which has an exhibit of Bram Stoker’s original notes for Dracula. That was cool, and gave us a chance to sit for a while.
And we ran into an R2D2 mailbox!
We then paid a surprise visit on the teacher Caroline had in first, second and third grade, who moved to Philadelphia a few years ago. Funny anecdote: We learned that her nickname for Caroline and her friends back then was the Marauders, because they caused so much havoc in the playground. Neither Rich nor I remember that nickname - which evokes images of HP, of course.
That night, we walked down to South Street, which used to be one of our favorite places to wander, shop and eat out. The moment I got there, I sensed it had changed. It’s hard to put into words how - it seems cheaper, and younger. OK, I’m older, so maybe that second adjective doesn’t count. But the stores and restaurants seemed different. I just got a bad vibe, and we left. Meanwhile, the area around Chestnut and Market Sts., between Front and Fifth, has definitely gone upscale - many nice restaurants where there didn’t used to be any.
Sunday we had tickets to a Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum. We walked over there, stopping at the Reading Market (where I didn’t buy chocolate Tequila Shots for
hollywdliz and
yav_14, but thought about it). We wandered around outside the museum, enjoying the beautiful weather. The exhibit itself was quite good - the audio tour was wonderful. There was both a kids’ and adults’ version, and both were fun and educational. I learned that artists took advantage of the train lines to visit the countryside, and so paint landscapes. And also benefited from paint in tubes, instead of having to mix their own.
That night we went to a ghost tour of Philadelphia. It was definitely hokey. Then we ate at a Cuban restaurant, which was good.
When I’m not traveling I’m slogging through a horrible book called “The Madness of a Seduced Woman.” I got it because it takes place in Montpelier, more than 100 years ago, but I’m really disappointed. The author did little research to make it accurate. She has street names that don’t exist, the geography seems off. I was hopeful to get a better sense of what Montpelier was like 100 years ago, but that’s not happening. At this point, I just want to get through it.
No travel expected this month. Maybe I can finish the book and move onto the month’s worth of New York Times’ piled up in my dining room.
Finally, for the MHS graduates: The girls soccer team won the state championship!