hello 2013!

i am sitting in the atlanta airport loving the free wi-fi. another adventure under the belt and back to my other life. you know, the one involving law school, the nation's capital, and the world's best baby sister. it feels appropriate that i spent the last few weeks of the year of music and movement making my first solo international adventure, meeting people - young and old - from all over the world, and quite literally dancing into 2013. 

as i took in the last of many blessings received during 2012, i pondered what theme might keep my superstitions at bay during the incoming year. let's face it: the kid that used to beg not to get out of bed on friday the 13th for fear of bad luck still keeps a cabin in my soul. i thought about the ways in which i have grown and changed since leaving detroit. i considered all the things i want to do this year - skills to acquire, people to meet, sanity to keep. 

my theme started to take form as i listened to the lara bravo family repeat in unison a prayer for safe travel. talking with chike, luz, and jordan further convinced me i was on the right track. i have long believed that god is in each of us because he is our creator. and it has often been my experience that i can see god most clearly through people who have differing beliefs about his existence and identity. still, my faith often fails in trusting that god - the one i pray to and the one i see in the world around me. so as i aim for a year of improved stillness and compassion, i am renewing my effort to put my confianza en dios continuamente. this language comes from the spanish translation of a book of mormon verse (alma 57:27). although the english version says,"trust in god continually," confianza can also mean confidence and faith. this mix of meanings is exactly what i will be looking for in my 2013 adventures. so my spanish-learning adventure ends, or continues? 

until the next blog-worthy expedition: may you encounter sparkles daily and love it every time!

a mighty power for foreigners

"so how many months will you be staying with my family?" alonso teased this morning at breakfast. my death stare prompted a spanish translation for his family. then, five heads turned to see my response.

"pienso que...siempre," i returned with a smile. originally, i had planned to visit guanajuato for a weekend and to stay with alonso's family in silao at the same time as two other wcl guests. but as well-planned excursions often do, it fell apart and i ended up making a solo visit, friday through sunday. on saturday, i got the grand tour of guanajuato. i came after a long line of international guests who have followed up on alonso's hospitable invitation.

i met alonso last fall when he applied for students united's mentoring program. from early on, he made it clear that he came from a beautiful part of mexico, near the city of guanajuato. i didn't think much of it because i'm from detroit and find it to be one of the most beautiful places in the usa. but my interest piqued as my winter adventure drew closer and other people - kate kelly, the friendly tapatio on my flight from atlanta, wouter from the language school - informed me that guanajuato was a must-see. even so, i was wholly unprepared for the potent arrow that struck me when i finally arrived. after maybe a dozen reverent praises - wow. you weren't lying. guanajuato is amazing. - alonso responded with clear satisfaction: "it has a mighty power for foreigners."

my visit took a turn when, on sunday morning, alonso informed me that his mother would like me to join the family for new years in the mountains. he explained that i could go with his family and return to guadalajara late on tuesday evening. ever-adverse to unanticipated changes, i protested:

"i have classes and a bus ticket i have already paid for."
"you want to practice spanish, right? why not practice with my family in the mountains?"
"i don't want to impose. it's your last few days with your family."
"mamí! un momentito, porfa!"
"alonso, no -"
"mamí, puedes explicarle sobre tu invitación a las montañas, por favor? christiane está ocupada porque ya ha pagado por cursos y una boleta por guadalajara."



i emailed wouter about monday classes and asked him to let the bustamantes know not to worry about me before piling into the car with victor and marisa (alonso's parents), alonso, ilse, luís, mariano, our bags, and two remote-controlled helicopters. the ride started out in silence. then rufus wainwright's cover of hallelujah came on the radio. i began sing along quietly. then mariano's pre-pubescent soprano voice came from the backseat. luís and ilse joined on either side of me. after dancing it up to el sondito, the ice was officially broken and the ride passed quickly with stories about mexican artists and legends. what followed was the magic life is made of: stepping into someone else's life for a brief moment. observing religious practices, family jokes, vacation mishaps. then listening as a friend confides about their perspective on what is transpiring. and occasionally stepping away from the wall to participate:

"christiane, conoces thalia?" marisa asked at new years eve dinner.
"sí. un poquito," i replied, happy to have a captive audience with which to practice past tense verbs. "cuando tenía diecinueve años, mi padre trabajaba en alemania. por eso, viajé a -"
"christiane," alonso interrupted with a chuckle, "my mom was asking about thalia - the singer who is playing right now - not italia."


collective laughter covered social shame and the festivities continued. at midnight we ate twelve grapes to reflect on each of twelve months. then the dj turned the music up and we danced our hearts out until 2. un mil gracias to the lara-bravo family for making my farewell to 2012 one for the books.

a playa-ful weekend

there are three sure-fire ways to bring a smile to my face. the first (put me in a room full of people) and third (birthday surprises) are not relevant to this story so i will skip directly to number two: drop me on a beach near a large body of water.

which is why i rode buses for 19 hours this weekend to spend another 36 on mexico's pacific coast (please don't spend too much time going over the math). on the way, i met fernando, a law student from guadalajara who was en route to meet family for la navidad. he made a few suggestions for finding fresh seafood and quiet beaches in vallarta. unfortunately, in my enthusiasm to touch the salty west coast, i neglected to write down fernando's recommendations or any information about my hostel or how to get there from the bus station. which is why the weekend got off to a rocky start. but don't you fret, dear reader, that is the lowest part of this story.

first thing on saturday, i learned the bus route to sayulita and made my way to hippie heaven. think pacific northwest meets mexico. as in: over half the people i met were from the pacific northwest and vacationing in mexico. i played fat dog on the beach most of the day, occasionally diving into surf-worthy waves to cool off. when i came to the painful realization that i had not seen real sun in over 12 months, i threw on a dress and headed into town. after chatting up some trabajadores who were sharing a table with me at the fish taco shop, i wandered through the hills to find signs of human dwelling.

per the usual, i returned to the beach for sunset. then caught a bus back to vallerta and made it to the hostel in time to catch a late dinner with south carolina dillon - who is midway through a seattle-to-southern-mexico bike ride - and uk grace - a graduate student doing research on the volcano in calima for the next several months. feeling satisfied with my lack of physical or intellectual ambition, i fell into a deep sleep. 

on sunday, grace and i headed south to boca beach. the 8-peso bus ride paid for itself in vistas alone. but we didn't stop there. we took a boat ride around some islands (whose names i have forgotten)

where we were met by whales and waterfalls and all things water-fabulous.

and so i concluded my perfectly beachy weekend, boarding the guadalaja-bound primera plus mere minutes before departure.

lucha libre

it is difficult for me to pass over delightful moments like waking up to a pumped up version of "killing me softly" and a dance class in the courtyard of my home this morning. or recounting the time david kelly, my adolescent - and very secret - crush, totally busted me on prank calling him in the name of learning my past tense verbs. or giving an impromptu english lesson to a group of terrified teenagers in a guadalajara plaza.

it is even more difficult to brush past my first time in el centro de guadalajara. visiting the cathedral just in time for my favorite part of catholic mass - the peace in christ handshake. stumbling across a giant paper maché nativity in the middle of a plaza. seeing two diego rivera paintings up close and personal.

but it is necessary because my day culminated in lucha libre. think: nacho libre meets derby girls; a competitive extrovert's paradise. the fun started before we got into the arena. jeff pulled out his mask and i took a picture.

then i took a picture of jeff and a random kid.

then i took a picture of jeff, seth, and lots of randoms. it was tough to get a good shot because everyone was jumping up and down with excitement.

inside the crowd was rowdy, the lighting poor, and the sense that i was at a theatrical performance rather than a sporting event lingered in the air. like the grinch's heart, my spanish vocabulary grew three times that (or this) day. unfortunately, most of it would be absolutely inappropriate for use in any other context. half the time, the crowd got so caught up in hurling creative - and sometimes musical - insults at rival sections that i completely lost track of what was going on in the ring. other times, wrestlers would repay insults shouted from the crowd with inappropriate gestures or colorful language. The matches were just as much about telling the story of a battle between good and evil as they were competitive athletic competitions. did i mention the wrestlers often wore capes?

although cameras were prohibited in the arena, i snuck in a picture so you too could be a part of the lucha libre experience.

que te vaya bien!

well, friends, it's my penultimate day in chile. this summer...errr, winter...errr, whatever has been one for the books: first time in south america, visiting brazil with dad and jim, living abroad without family, facing my fear of language-learning head-on, trying chirimoya and other foreign foods, getting my shoes shined, and working in a legal internship. and then there's the things that follow me on every adventure: chasing down buses, talking to anybody and everybody, dancing up a storm, and finding myself in the middle of nowhere without a return plan.

after living in three apartments and two neighborhoods, i'm happy to report that santiago and i are officially pals. i've scoped out every indie cine in the central city and found plenty of cafes and hilltop parks in which to unwind. i imagine that if i were to live here for a year, my santiago-love would only grow. when i get frustrated with my language progress, i start listing words and phrases that i have learned since june. one of my favorites is: que te vaya bien! it roughly translates as "fare thee well" and folks say it all the time: when you're going back to the U.S., leaving on a weekend trip, getting out of a cab, going to the grocery store, leaving the grocery store, making a trip to the restroom...

i've used that phrase a lot this week. sunday, megan took off and i said goodbye to my favorite chilena from church. mike and marie left on tuesday. kristel, wednesday. i said goodbye to alberto yesterday. sarah and work friends, today. and i'm not quite finished. paula and i are going out after spanish class tonight. then camila, melissa, and i will squeeze in one final carrete. tomorrow, roxana and i nos juntaremos before meeting elizabeth (a fellow mormon extranjera who has been studying spanish in santiago for the past two months) for almuerzo.

then it's back to regular life. trading blog entries for last-minute internship interviews and knowledge of all things criminal. thanks for joining me on this adventure. 'til the next time: que te vaya bien!

almorzo

i can´t believe i figured this out so late in the game: i can watch mujeres apasionadas while i eat pollo a lo pobre at any lunchette worth frequenting.

una entrevista conmigo

(this one's for you, lyd). i just wrapped up my first week of interning at catholic university, living in an apartment with a stranger who doesn't speak english, and generally being independent-ish in santiago. i figured it's about time to dust off the good ole interview myself technique:

goooood afternoon, this is cap'n sparklepants - a.k.a. sparkle - on smx radio. today we have christiane in the studio to tell us a little about her chilean adventures. cc, you've been in santiago almost six weeks now. what do you make of it?
like munich in '02, santiago has been more of an acquired taste than love at first sight. my happiness seems to be directly related to a modest amount of structure and finding people i can connect with. i didn't start loving munich until i began taking capoeira classes at martinho's studio and became friends with philip and sara; i really got excited about staying here after enrolling in spanish conversation classes, having an animated conversation with my roomie about the atacama desert, and meeting a family friend who is studying acting and screenwriting here. 

so, how's the spanish coming along?
the receptionist at my internship was out sick last week. two staff members stopped by my office to make a request. i thought they were asking me to cover the phones. so i started having a full-fledged panic attack. my heart was racing and i could barely put together a sentence. they seemed thoroughly perplexed and quite insistent. ten minutes later, i realized they were saying that i should call them if i needed anything...so i have a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnng way to go. but it summoned my super-competitive spirit and the game is on: me v. chilean spanish. last week i enrolled in spanish conversation classes and started chatting up my coworkers. on saturday, i turned to dad and liz for a little encouragement, then hung out with locals most of the weekend. i'm not going pro anytime soon. and i am not going home without skillz either.


i can see that you're working hard. are you having any fun?
please. before starting work this week, mike and i spent an afternoon at the giant cemetery and la vega - an open air market - where we ate scrumpdiddliumptious fried fish and rice. and, of course, we stopped in at the mini-arcade to spend all our change before acquiring groceries and parting ways. now that i working, i have been taking advantage of long lunch breaks, free evenings, and weekends to scope out centralized neighborhoods like lastarria, bellas artes, and bellavista. new friends have been helping me navigate the less-touristy spots. camila and i have karaoke-and-dancing plans in the works for next friday after her last exam. return trip to the slopes should be happening soon and (fingers crossed) a trip to atacama. so, yeah. the fun is on.


sounds about right. now, if i'm not mistaken, you moved recently. how are the new digs?
much better now that i mustered up the courage to ask roxana about a space heater. utilities are super-pricey here so it seems like most people keep their apartments pretty cold. and by cold, i mean bone-chilling. that said, my roomie is super-nice, doesn't speak english, and i didn't want to offend her so it took a full week to find the moxy (and the words) to solve the problem. fortunately, she has a kerosene space heater so i put it in my room for a few hours tonight and now it's chilling in the commons area so that it will be warm when i get ready in the morning. the apartment itself is cute and we have a lot in common - roxana loves bike riding, nature, and composting. roxana knows i'm trying to learn spanish so she speaks slowly and answers all my vocab questions. i live in providencia - close to the temple - amidst lots of extranjeros and families. it's very cute by day, and dead at night. fortunately, it's a short metro or cab ride from the city center with more lively options for the night owl.

there's a good nightlife then. in what other ways does santiago rule?
first, the metro. there's a train every 1-2 minutes (even on weekends), it's cheap (roughly $1/ride), and there are stops every 3-4 blocks near the city center. and metro vendors. need nylons for work and thick tights to keep warm? no prob, just select 1 of 50 varieties in the metro station. hands were freezing? no prob, just get gloves in the metro station. second, soups. there's a bajillion different words for soup here - creamy soup, brothy soup, chowdery soup, stew...because chile dishes them all up. and fixed menu lunches. brilliant idea. want to sit down for lunch outside the office and get back within 1-1.5 hours? no prob, just answer "do you want lunch?" in the affirmative and your appetizer, entrée, bev, dessert, and coffee/tea will appear. third, raspberry juice. why mix it with other stuff? it is so bomb by itself. and chirimoya is a great consolation prize for the general scarcity of maracuya. fourth (bonus!), independent movie theaters. santiago is no la, but there are 4 places to watch indie films within a 20-minute walking circuit. fifth (another bonus!), the hilly parks. actually, all the parks. like athens, santiago seems to have embraced the notion that high places = holy places. so cerros throughout the city are vast parks, often with shrines or meditation spots near the top. and there are tons of non-hill parks, too. one of my favorite features are the cafés literarios, which rose up in the early days of post-pinochet democratization.

seems like you've acquired quite the taste for it. now tell me, what are you homesick for?
first, black beans. or beans in general. you can't buy them at a standard grocery so forget about ordering them at a restaurant. second, vegetarian food. i know i went carni for this trip, but between limited winter produce and the abundance of animal flesh, my body has been freaking out a little. third, reliable restaurant delivery. it's been my consistent experience that when i order food for delivery, it's going to take twice as long as they predict, and will only arrive (luke warm) after a follow-up phone call.

well, we're almost out of time. thanks for coming into the studio, cc. before we sign off: any parting words?
while i was out wandering with camila and co., a few folks approached us with a banner and t-shirts that said abrazos libres. i did a double take. then threw my arms wide open. we got our fill of hugs and i explained free hug fridays to the best of my linguistic abilities. the only thing missing in santiago these days are my friends and family in other places. so friday or not, please throw your arms open and let someone give you a giant hug for me.

thanks for being here with us, christiane. that concludes our program for the day. join us next week as we learn about new trends in mapuche rock carving techniques. 'til the next time, this is cap'n sparklepants with smx.

hello, goodbye

i went snowboarding on saturday. this is noteworthy for two reasons: first, it is june. there's been record-breaking heat in dc and detroit. but santiago scraped together just enough snow to warm my heart and open the slopes. so i went snowboarding. in june. in the andes. second, my winter sports track record is bad. correction: i'm great at snowball fights, capture the snow shovel, and sledding. but when it comes to downhill sports, inability to control my velocity and an instinctual aversion to colliding with young children has really interfered with my progress. but i am happy to say that snowboarding attempt #3 proved to be a success. i successfully controlled my speed with that weavy technique (what's it called?) and am planning to return to the slopes later this summer...errr, winter. and rest assured that, despite open mockery, i wore a helmet. because it's empowering and i have a knack for knocking the noggin.

i've also come to terms with the obvious: of the two operative terms in "study abroad," one is significantly more interesting than the other. which is why i'm constructing this blog post mere minutes before my first exam. it's not that i dislike learning. au contraire, mon frère. i just prefer to learn on my own terms: after a good rain cleared the santiago skies, mike, marie, and i took a gander at cerro santa lucía. our group visited the constitutional court, chatted with one of the chief justice, then meandered over to museo nacional de bellas artes. i finally cashed in on the free tour at palacio falabella. george, mike, and i posed as fútbol fans for the u. chile-boca juniors. sarah and i went to check out a movie at cine alemán en la universidad católica. the name should have been a giveaway, but in our enthusiasm for cinema, we neglected to note that we were buying tickets for a german film with spanish subtitles. fortunately, the plotline was predictable. i felt right at home with a cruiser bike and josé miguel of la bicicleta verde to explain about history, architecture, and culture here. and yesterday, i hung with the education protest parade for an hour, asking questions of folks ages 16 to 60 (more on that later).

the official study part of my trip abroad is coming to an end. i have tests today and tomorrow. then, i will pack up my belongings and move in with roxana, a chilean yoga instructor, from whom i am renting a spare room for the rest of my stay here. i will have a few days to kick it and explore before starting an internship with the general counsel at pontificia universidad católica, where i will be reviewing best practices for university legal teams. collectively, our group has had a lot of firsts here: eric - holding a baby, niki - shoe shine, me - casino gambling, sarah - getting deported (guhl. it worked out in the end), vicki - skiing, megan - eating a hot dog. it's been an eventful month and i'm going to miss my school friends a lot; for the 7 staying here, aquí vamos! to the next chapter of chilean adventures!

miel means honey

i will never forget the spanish word for honey - miel. i was craving stir-fry real bad so i went to the store to buy some fixings. i found rice, peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, eggs, soy sauce, basil, mustard, and vinegar without trouble. but the honey eluded me. unfortunately, i did not know the word for honey. or bee. and i (erroneously) thought i knew the words for sugar and sweet.

me: excuse me. i am looking for something that is [gibberish] and comes from a bzzzzz.

the grocer stares blankly.

me: i don't know the word exactly, but it is dirty and it's a product that comes from something that says bzzzzzz.

grocer 1: limpieza de aerosol?

i stare, making a half-hearted wing flutter gesture.

me: maybe...

grocer 1: it goes "tst tst tst?"

me: yes. i think, yes. 

grocer 1: aisle 4.

me: thank you!

when i got to aisle 4 - the cleaning supplies - i knew something had gone seriously awry. so i approached grocer 2.

me: excuse me. i am looking for something that is like [gibberish] but is a liquid. and it comes from an insect that goes bzzzzzz.

i make a wing fluttering gesture as i buzz. grocer 2 tries, unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh.

me: haha. yeah, ummm...it's a liquid that is [gibberish] like [gibberish] and is a product of an insect that goes bzzzzz.

i am flapping more fiercely. grocer 2 laughs openly.

grocer 2: hmmm...

me: bzzzzzzzz...?

grocer 2: una abeja?

me: i'm not sure. in english it's called honey.

grocer 2: i don't speak english.

me: right. well...it comes from an insect that is yellow and black...

grocer 2: miel?

me: i'm not sure.

grocer 2: follow me. 

grocer 2 leads me to aisle 7 and presents me with a selection of honeys.

grocer 2: (confidently) miel.

me: miel!

grocer 2: miel de abeja.

me: miel de...gracias!

grocer 2: (chuckling) no problem.

me: thank you. very very much. miel. miel. miel. thank you.

turns out the best recipe for conversational success is a wicked appetite, a strong dose of shamelessness, and a dash of charades.

argentina, you're okay after all.

despite the unshakable sense that i was somehow betraying my brazilian allegiance, i loved loved loved buenos aires. you know, that step-off-the-plane-and-feel-at-home kind of love. i know it's supposed to be the paris of latin america, but - at least in ambiance - it reminded me of berlin; a city objectively beautiful and poetically resilient. i decided to take the omnibus public 8 from the airport to get a city tour on the cheap. a friendly airport employee took it upon himself to narrate the first 20 minutes of the bus ride (the outskirts of town): there's [insert species name] trees. there's people barbecuing by the roadside. and there are the mormons. sure enough, there we were, constructing a temple:

after passing a large street market and several downtown-y areas, i hopped off the bus about 50 blocks early in a effort to find internet access (i neglected to write down any clues as to where my hotel was located) and some good eats. hot chocolate and dulce-de-leche-filled churros followed:

i got back on the bus and enlisted some local riders to signal when i should get off the bus. when they pointed me toward the national congress, adjacent to the plaza below, i knew it was pointless to resist loving this place. by the time i reached the hotel, i'd purchased a pair of much-hoped-for ankle boots, passed a series of parks and plazas, and discovered an imposing cemetery (ala new orleans).

among impressive stories and sights i encountered during my visit were the madres de plaza de mayo: a group of women who have been weekly demanding information about the "disappearance" of their children by members of the military dictatorship during the dirty wars since 1977. although there continues to be debate about how many civilians were disappeared by the argentine government between 1976-1983, current estimates are around 30,000; that's approximately 1 in every 1,000 people. at its outset, these women continuously paced in a circle (thus, circumventing anti-protesting regulations about standing in public) and risked their lives in hopes of protecting - or getting justice for - their children. 

photo courtesy of www.neeerd.com

today, they are honored in la casa rosada's (executive palace) gallery of influential women.

truth be told, i had much more fun than sleep in buenos aires. thus, my ability to form coherent sentences is somewhat impaired right now. so i will try to sum up the rest in photos.

i saw lots of government buildings and talked about lawyer-y stuff:

la casa rosada (executive palace)

the balcony form which juan and eva perón gave public speeches, overlooking plaza de armas

and filled most of my free time with theater, music, and dance:

el teatro colón

el ataneo: theater-turned-bookstore

la bomba de tiempo at el teatro konex

señor tango: kitchy, no doubt, but also really good tango

detroit grocery quest

al-haramain, photo courtesy of stephen mcgee

this isn't the first time i've posted about grocery shopping in the d. and, realistically, it won't be the last. i'm slowly discovering that buying food can be a hobby in its own right. tonight leslie and i braved the cold to check out al-haramain international foods in hamtramck. a historically-polish community, hamtramck now boasts a significant arab population (primarily yemeni) and is culinarily-known for kebobs as much as kraut. while les was scouting out bargain produce, i got lost in the olive oils and fresh-baked laffa bread. all told, the damage was about $40 and i walked away with specialty items like falafal, laffa, olive oil, local dairy milk, graviera cheese, and sumac in addition to fresh produce and dry goods. did i mention it's open until midnight (unheard of in detroit) and features an olive & nuts bar?

previously on detroit grocery quest: kim's produce delivered groceries to my doorstep. no service charge whatsoever. gotta love living at the park shelton...

next adventure: little asia mart at third & forest. walkable. bikeable. totally likeable? only time will tell.

cycle chic

my friend, christyn, sent me a link to this blog. so much for afternoon productivity.

my new favorite blog

hipster girls in mustaches.

bp before bp was

i'm not talking oil. the theme for this week's top 100 picks is robert redford (a.k.a. brad pitt, when the boy himself was still playing four-square on the playground). here's what i have to say about it:

all the president's men: if you're a succor for cynical mid-century political thrillers a la the manchurian candidate (1962) and the parallax view (1974), this is your flick. also tempting as a double feature with frost:nixon. this movie artfully captures the quiet intensity and indignation surrounding watergate.

butch cassidy & the sundance kid: simply stated, i love scoundrels. from robin hooding to hoodlums robbing, i find myself rooting for criminals to the dire end. and a little ole fashioned hollywood storytelling never hurts. sound like you? grab some popcorn. let butch and sundance take you for a ride.

the sting: from a competitive standpoint, this was a complete waste of time considering i watched it 3 years ago. but butch cassidy got me craving more paul newman-bob redford magic. if you haven't seen them work the streets of chicago - of if you haven't seen them in awhile - the sting is well worth a watch.

double indemnity: confession - neither robert redford nor brad pitt are in this movie. the film noir masterpiece, which took some teeth-pulling to make, raked in 7 academy award nominations in 1944. shocking, witty, and suspenseful, it's just what the doctor orders for a rainy autumnal eve.

the top 100 update

i'm up to 45 on the top 100 movie challenge. the theme of this week has been war movies. here's my take on the latest views:
on the waterfront: holy marlon brando. i don't care if he was difficult to work with or a jerk off-screen. he was one talented hottie. besides, it's nice to know that anti-snitch culture has been an urban battle since at least 1954.
the african queen: all those katherine hepburn jokes i made in college actually played out in this flick. it was pretty sweet that some of this movie was shot on location in africa, though.
schindler's list: never again is right. though well-crafted, this movie reminded me why i swore off holocaust films (and war movies in general) years ago. watch at your own risk.
the general: okay. forget what i said about war flicks. silent movies are an exception. buster keaton, the unlikely hero, proves that there is comedy in every situation.

i coulda been a contender

a few months ago jay dropped this list on my coffee table with check marks next to several movie titles. "how many have you seen?" he challenged. to my surprise, we had seen exactly the same number of flicks from the american film institute's 10th anniversary edition of the best 100 movies of all time. boring.

so i took it to work. mark, tony, julie, jenn and i each chose a color and meticulously marked each of our have seens. our progress varied from the teens to 40-somethings. then it got serious. jenn came in on a monday morning bragging about movies she could check off the list. roommate leslie started to notice a trend in our netflix queue. tony was staying up late for classic reruns on showtime. it even made the agenda for our weekly department meeting once.

now icecream and pride are on the line. the race is on. i cordially invite you to join in the "who can watch the top 100 movies of all time first?" competition.

don't let yourself fall behind, left only to ramble on about how you coulda been a contender.

jane austen's fight club

i love it and the people that made it.

banksy in the d

i spied the headline banksy was here on the cover of last week's metrotimes and immediately set to work scheming. a few weeks ago, banksy allegedly tagged 4 locations while visiting the d for the local release of exit through the gift shop. 2 are no more, 1 is in an art gallery, and 1 is still intact north of the city. jay and i set out to find (and re-create) the goods:
kid draws his garden (r.i.p. power-washing property owner)
a girl holds a diamond (r.i.p. botched excavation attempt)
a boy paints (relocated to the 555 gallery on w. vernor)
tightrope rat (showing off in warren)

grocery shopping

my love for the d can be summarized in three words: calder's horchata icecream.

see, it's like this: there are no grocery store chains in detroit unless you consider family dollar or save-a-lot a grocery. which makes food acquisition interesting; or decidedly suburban. i generally opt for the former.

if i'm feeling fancy, i shop at eastern market for produce and specialty items like cheese and nuts. otherwise, i stay fresh with kim's produce and go to either food pride or university foods to get dry and canned goods. then sometimes the smell - or simply the memory - of fresh tortillas and salsa lures me into honey bee market for a one-stop shop plus surprises like coconut soda and giant strawberry-flavored marshmellows.

which brings me back to calder's horchata icecream. my partner in crime and roommate, leslie, recently informed me that my favorite local dairy sells their icecream at honey bee market. it's not cheap, but as i am a witness, the sweet sensation of farm-fresh icecream in the freezer section of a city grocery lingers.

as if canada needs another reason to pique my interest

sings like devendra banhart meets early bob dylan
plays violin, guitar (acoustic and electric), piano, and harmonica
speaks english, french, and icelandic