my own private kentucky

— छह हज़ार चौरानवे — I rode my bike home from work yesterday, and was home shortly before Shobhit even finished his rehearsal in Belltown. I made chai, and also, at Shobhit's request, I chopped a few things for the dinner he planned to make when he got home: a bunch of bell peppers; three potatoes; a large onion; some chanterelle mushrooms. He put on rice when he got home. Being Monday, he put on his MSNOW news programs. Later though, when he was working on the puzzle and I asked if he'd be listening to those shows all evening, he said I could turn it off. I then put on the DVD copy of a movie I checked out of the library, the 1991 Gus Van Sant movie My Own Private Idaho. I am almost positive I watched that movie with Gabriel and Suzy when I was in college, which would narrow the possibility of when I saw it down to sometime between 1996 and 1998—at minimum, five years after it was released. Watching it now, it's kind of stunning how homosexuality is depicted in the film. 1991 was a very different time, so this was genuinely shocking, this narrative that refuses to judge homosexuality in any way. Granted, this was far from a "mainstream" movie and is the very definition of an independent film, particularly a nineties one. But, it was also pretty critically acclaimed, which means it got talked about a lot, and was kind of a breakthrough for Gus Van Sant. All that said, I still found the movie's meandering narrative odd as hell. It's only that heartbreaking campfire scene—indeed, the one that makes explicitly clear that we are meant to feel compassion for the main character's unrequited same-sex love—that saves it from being almost indecipherable. Of course, it's too bad it has to end so sadly, although we are left with no idea who the hell that is who picks Mike's sleeping, narcoleptic body up off the street. This is also kind of a stupid pet peeve, but: I was a little annoyed to learn that the couple of short scenes ostensibly set in Idaho were actually shot in Oregon. Not that it matters. It was still shot in the Pacific Northwest, a fair amount of it in Portland. The bigger tragedy, of course, is that River Phoenix died of a drug overdoes only two years after this movie's release. Keanu Reeves, on the other hand, went on to quite the storied career. He had already been in Parenthood playing a teenager two years before this; he was in Point Break the exact same year, as well as Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey which was a sequel. Hell, I totally forgot he was in Dangerous Liaisons in 1988. Dracula was one year after My Own Private Idaho; Speed was three years after it; and The Matrix would immportalize him in ways nothing else could by 1999. One wonders how River Phoenix's career might have compared, but we'll never know. — छह हज़ार चौरानवे — — छह हज़ार चौरानवे — It suddenly hit me last weekend how soon we're leaving for Albuquerque. We fly out on Friday next week! That's only ten days away. I have to admit, after the two-and-a-half-week trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, it feels a little soon. Albuquerque isn't nearly as major a trip, but it's major enough: four nights, a three-hour flight. And don't get me wrong, I don't regret booking this trip—far from it—and am still genuinely excited to be going. But I think I'll actually kind of like having an eight-month break between out-of-state travel, the next time being Boston and Provincetown in June. (My Birth Week will involve just as much planning, in some ways even more, than an out-of-state trip, but at least I'll still spend most of it sleeping in my own bed.) Funnily enough, the break between that trip and the next one won't even be as long: our aim is to go to Australia in December 2027, which will only be six months after Massachusetts. That's still a pretty solid break, though. I do have the couple of nights to spend in Vancouver, B.C. earlier in December, but even though that's out-of-state it's kind of barely and not that huge a trip. The thing that might break that up more is if Jennifer and Matthew wind up with a destination wedding next year, which is totally up in the air. Oh wait. Shit, I almost forgot! I was also hoping to visit Barbara in Louisville again in the spring. So never mind on that whole eight-month break thing—that is, if this actually happens (and I hope it does). Last time I went in March, which was really tricky with the weather; that was early March while Shobhit was in India, though. Maybe I could aim for late March instead, which could make a huge difference. Or, I could go way earlier, like in January, while Shobhit is in India—all the working activities I have on my list (State Capitol tours; libraries; that kind of stuff) are indoors anyway. Nevertheless, it would be more pleasant not to be freezing my ass off, and not have any risk of driving a rental car in snow. I would actually have four cities to be exploring on that trip: Cincinnati for the second time, just because I learned my lesson last time and would rather fly direct to Cincinnati and drive to Louisville from there than have to fly all the way to Charlotte just for a layover; Louisville itself of course; Ftankfort to tour the Kentucky State Capitol (only an hour drive from Louisville); and a day trip to Nashville even though that's a three-hour-and-twenty-minute drive from Louisville—but still close enough for a day trip in my book. If Sachin is still living there then, then it's possible we could stay the night at his place, but I am not at all banking on that. I've been working on check lists for so many trips already—Albuquerque; Birth Week; Boston and Provincetown; Hong Kong and Singapore and Perth and Adelaide and Sydney—I was kind of sleeping on Louisvile / Cincinnati / Frankfort / Nashville. I need to start working on those lists! Although if I can find a workable itinerary with a layover that's actually between Seattle and Louisville and not clear on the other side of the country then I might scrap Cincinnati. But we'll see. Anyway even in March that would be a five-month break between major trips, and I'm good with that. As of right now it's only been a month and a half since we got back from Amsterdam. I should keep this more in mind, at least when possible, while planning other trips through the year in the future. — छह हज़ार चौरानवे — [posted 12:35pm]

a beach in september

— छह हज़ार तिरानवे — On Friday Shobhit and I did a new thing, albeit very much an extension of the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square: when we had stopped in at N°85 gallery, they told us the artist being featured there this month, Kathryn Bilharz Gabriel, would be there in person for an artist's talk on the 18th. So, we signed up for it. I really expected a much more packed event, but aside from the artist, her family (a husband and two preteen or teen daughters), and two staff from the gallery—that alone made six people—I would guess Shobhit and I were among six people who actually showed up. I want to say one of the women from the gallery said this was their first artist showcase like this at the gallery, so maybe future ones will have more? I don't know. Nor do I know if this was just normal for this sort of event. No one there gave any indication of any kind of disappointment in the turnout, though I certainly wondered how much would have been invested in shipping all the art (not in frames, but still) from Upstate New York, and whether the gallery sprung for the family's plane tickets or if they flew themselves out. Either way, the paintings and drawings are quite expensive, so I suppose if she sells even one or two then any investment might be worth it. None of the pieces were marked as having been sold, but they are very cool, and it was even cooler to hear the artist herself talk about her process and what things from her life and background are referenced in them. The pieces are very abstract, with flowing lines integrated into very angular sections that look like diagrams of a sort, very much integrating her family lineage of engineers. I was really glad we went, as it was super interesting. Of course we didn't buy any of the art, so we just added to the small number in attendance and drank some of their sparkling wine. When the artist was done with her talk, which was very informal, Shobhit and I were the only ones who asked any questions—Shobhit by far the most. Shobhit asks a lot of questions that kind of reveal his ignorance of the process of making art, but that's not a bad thing. As with any subject, the more questions you ask, the more you'll learn. — छह हज़ार तिरानवे — — छह हज़ार तिरानवे — Shobhit had his play rehearsals from 1:00 to 5:00 both Saturday and Sunday, and I spent even more time than that on Saturday hanging out with Tracy. She suggested we get lunch at this vegan takeout place called Quickie Too, and then eat at Own Beach at Point Defiance Park. I was down with that, and I caught the #594 bus down at 9th and Stewart in Seattle at 11:41, and was at the Commerce Street Station in downtown Tacoma at 12:45. Tracy picked me up there. That takout place won't accept online orders until their operating hours have started at noon, and their website notes that it will take about an hour to prepare, "and often sooner." Maybe they get a rush of orders at noon or something, because I got my order confirmation at 12:06, and then the order was ready for pickup at 1:13. And we got to the restaurant at maybe ten till 1:00; we stood at the window and after a while a lady came, and when Tracy said, "I haven't gotten another email yet—" the lady said, "Because it's not ready?" She wasn't a bitch about it, I should stress. The website makes it look like it's just run by these two Black women. They have tables and chairs inside but the door is closed with a sign saying they are takeout only. I can only surmise that they are still easing in and probably are not yet ready to hire the added staff they would need if they opened the dining area. Who knows? We finally got our food, and then drove to Owen Beach, which was a roughly 20-minute drive—a bit too long, as it turned out: I had a burger and Tracy had a club sandwich; we both got fries, and all of it was pretty cold by the time we actually sat down at a table to eat. It was still good, though. I just have a feeling I'd have liked it a lot better had I been able to eat it while it was still warm. That said, both my burger and Tracy's sandwich were huge, easily fell apart, and made for pretty messy eating. Also, the fries are on the menu as "spicy fries" and they aren't spicy at all. They're very well seasoned and flavorful, but not spicy. I was fine with it, but someone like Shobhit would have been very disappointed. Once we were done eating, Tracy and I walked along the shore from Owen Beach down to the Point Defiance Marina, a bit past Anthony's Restaurant and back—we barley stopped short of the "Shoots & Ladders" that I went down when she and I hung out on Dune Peninsula, which was right across a bit of water from where we walked to Saturday, back in April. We even went into the Boat House Bait & Tackle Shop, which doubles as a gift shop, where I bought myself a hot chocolate, and my new favorite sticker. Four dollars is way too much for a little sticker, but whatever; I really wanted it. It's a fantastic mashup of two things I love: the Pacific Northwest and the movie Jaws. I brought it to work today and put it on my laptop, alongside many other stickers that are now on it. We walked back again, and then sat on logs for a while as the day turned from cloudy with a bit of fog on the water to quite nice and sunny. We saw a seal swim by. I saw a hunky shirtless guy walk by carrying a boat. We saw two women in strange hats actually get in the water and swim, which was bonkers. Another woman wearing a lot of gear carried a scuba diving propeller out of the water. There was a lot going on. I haven't even mentioned the two different anniversary special event gatherings happening there. According to the time stamps on my photos, we were there about three hours. Then Tracy drove me back to the bus stop, where I barely missed the northbound bus so had to wait another 20 minutes, which we killed by going into her friend's local store of vintage furniture and knick knacks. I always forget the woman's name, but I really clocked this time how she talks in a very similar way to Tracy. I wondered: do all of her friends talk like this? Maybe it's a Puyallup thing. — छह हज़ार तिरानवे — The rest of my weekend has been mostly catching up on TV, and yesterday while Shobhit was at rehearsal I took myself to see Resident Evil, which, to me, really did not live up to the hype, and certainly not to the standards set by Sach Cregger's previous films. Lots of people disagree with me and that's fine. It was still plenty entertaining and gave me something to do that was not a waste of time. — छह हज़ार तिरानवे — [posted 12:33pm]