That’s what she is

I went to Baltimore with Peggy in April. The impetus was her prospective student orientation day at Johns Hopkins Public Health School (you gotta lingual-train to pluralize “John”). It’s no surprise that she got into the #1 program in the country.

We tried the famous jumbo lump crabcakes at Faidley’s in Lexington Market (a rough n tumble place), saw Edgar Allan Poe’s grave, hung out in a scotch bar owned by a tough older Asian lady who likened her rescue dog to Cujo, and Peg had her first authentic east coast blue crab meal.

It was a whirlwind handful of days filled with nights of reality TV I’d never seen before, and we were so lucky to be able to crash in Jenelle’s ultimate bachelorette pad. Was lovely spending quality time with her. Walking around Old Town Alexandria, VA in perfectly comfortable, sunny weather was just unbeatable. Colonial architecture, a clean and sane waterfront area (only one portraiture artist!), and an old torpedo factory converted into a sensible art center…topped off with my first Five Guys experience, and almost even better, the most incredible, dreamy collection of vintage jewelry I’ve ever seen .

I’m really behind. Sorry.

Here are some favorite shots from a lunchtime quickie assignment today. Perbacco asked if I would take some pictures for them to accompany a Reuters NY piece on it being one of the busiest lunch destinations in the world. Sorta true; it’s a real power luncher’s dream, and I wholeheartedly vouch for the food. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my entire album, but what can you do. I’ll be grateful if any of the photos get used.

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Not too far into 2010 and there’s already been a slew of birthdays…

Regina, whom I’ve known for almost 20 years

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A good friend will occasionally sing “cherry pie” in the slowest, saddest way, steeped in ennui and maudlin tones. It usually happens at night, when he’s lazily surfing the web, laptop propped atop his supine chest. It’s probably not how Warrant ever intended their hair-rock sex anthem to be presented.

Still, it’s pretty adorable.

I think anti-congratulations are in order here, for this is the longest lapse I’ve ever had in updating. Apologies to my readers, all two of them (hi mom, hi sis). I don’t even know where to begin on what’s happened since November.

But I did find this particular monk from the famous Songshan Shaolin Temple in Henan, China (by way of Shaolin Temple USA SF and Fremont) rather charming. He and his band of merry monks performed an astonishing set at MATCHA a couple weeks ago. My obnoxious photo-taking warranted an intimidating glare:

But then…he slowly raised his “gun”

The imperceptible smirk gave way to a hammy, playful, almost flirty smile. Endearing.

It was disarming. A nice, calming moment that sorta helped re-align everything that night.

One of my favorite things about fall is the sudden overflowing abundance of persimmons. Any stand at any farmers market proudly boasts baskets and boxes bursting with them. Persimmons are one of my beloved fruits. They are so delectable and autumnal. Just a few weeks ago, I started eating them with the skin on for the first time. “Like an apple,” as some farmers market vendors have said.

ps – speaking of persimmons, here’s a gorgeous haunting poem that features them somewhat. Introduced to me by Peg. Here’s an excerpt:

“Some things never leave a person:
scent of the hair of one you love,
the texture of persimmons,
in your palm, the ripe weight.”

Ideas of mortality, the body’s vulnerabilities and frailty, and corporeal suffering have been plaguing my mind lately. These things slap you in the face when you cut yourself while slicing tomatoes and proceed to bleed like the dickens.

Then others share their horrific kitchen accident tales (please be careful when you wash glass tumblers).

Then you see your dad’s elderly (but perfectly “functional”) neighbor sitting on her own front steps covered in blood because she fell and hit her head and the wound is so bad you can see the bone of her forehead, and there’s a thick gelatinous sheet of coagulated globular blood just jiggling off her chin. You ask her if it hurts and she calmly says no. She’s perfectly lucid and not flipping out.

And your roommate gets hit by a car while riding his bike (any day now it’ll be me too). Even the video from first aid training at work, though funny, had me a bit spooked.

It’s terrifying how in a blink of an eye, injury can happen. The most mundane, habitual activities can wreak havoc in a split second. Even leaving the house can have grave consequences. Anything can happen!

Uh, I guess what I’m saying is. BE CAREFUL out there.

Highlights! And I’m not talking about the Scholastic magazine either…

* I enjoyed the splendor of breathtaking Big Sur with the San Hos earlier in the month for our annual local getaway. We had a spacious (though slightly creepy) cabin, in which we overdosed on junk food, magazines, and soulful conversation. Photos.

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