— 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]
