Cogitations: August 2006

Friday, August 18, 2006

I Heart NYC, and You Too

Goodness gracious, I'm giddy at the moment. As many of you know, I tend towards ecstatic silliness at times, particularly later on in the evening, and New York certainly nurtures this tendency. Right now, I'm typing these words from the Apple store by Trump Towers, and am being treated to really great music and loads of extraordinarily pretty NYC boys (skinny pants abound, there are plenty of chunky glasses, and dozens of pairs of hipster-ish shoes). It's rather packed in here since a DJ is in the house tonight, and I'm using a handy dandy MacBook (all the Arwen twins were occupied, Dad). New York is crazy mad goodness, but with this insane fun comes the desire to sleep in and bedtimes around midnight, which is quite bizarre for me. I haven't slept several 8 hour nights in a row in ages, but the continual walking around and sensory overload that we experience apparently necessitates it. New Yorkers are literally the loveliest people in any place I've ever visited. They lack the suspicion of those in London, the aloofness that characterizes the residents of Paris, and the ignorance that I imagined would be inevitable among any large group of Americans. That said, there are some hilariously absurd things that go on in this country, and especially in this city. Nearly every television program here is designed to give viewers some sense of terror and wariness about the world around them, unless it's a show about blind interior decorators who feel vibes to determine how a family should attire their home (I have yet to view this preposterous program, but Nicole and I joke about it frequently; only in America). Darwin the camera is getting quite the workout here, and anyone who is subjected to a slideshow is permitted to yell at me to skip photos at the top of their lungs when required. Muchos muchos muchos gracias to Mom and Dad for all the hassle you went through to get it too me; I pretty much have Darwin tied to my wrist at all times. It's such a gorgeous city, rich with culture, architecture, plant life, bustling crowds of people, diversity, and minute details in each and every square foot of the place. I could take hundreds of thousands of photos every single day, but sadly transferring memory cards onto CDs limits the amount of times I can fill up my oh-so cute 512 MB Secure Digital. I lurve it. Edmonton may seem even less aesthetically pleasing after this jaunt, but I love all you Edmontonians and my digs in McKernan a slight bit too much to remain here forever (but just a slight bit). Courtesy of my grandparents and parents, we got out to see Spamalot, the hysterical and excessively catchy Monty Python and the Holy Grail adaptation and 2005 Tony winner for best musical. It was overwhelmingly grand and fabulous, and I got a souvenir book that I'll have to show you all to see a bit of the magic of Broadway. The art, parks, neighbourhoods, shopping, food, night life, people, music, and subway system here are all superbly splendid, and it's impossible to feel that twelve days isn't close to being enough to take in all the splendour. It'll do though! I miss traveling with you Mom and Dad! I always feel like having you here to share in the discovery of some weirdo sight on the streets, or beautiful art, and I can't wait to bombard you with memories and stories. I miss all you friends too; Nicole more than makes up for my daily dose of silliness, intelligent dialogue, caring concern, equal appreciation of really pretty boys, knowledge of music, and wonderful use of accents and turbans, but it's incredibly odd not seeing all the people I love for an extended period of time. I hope Jess is doing well in Mexico; if you talk to her, tell her the obligatory-but-so-true (that I love and miss her bunches) and that I'm still praying for the last few days of the trip.

Les Choses We Have Seen

Empire State Building
dancing bicycle man
dangerously packed E-train
Radio City Music Hall
Rockefeller Centre
Apple Store
Central Park
really heartrending homeless people (soooo sad; I teared up)
every high end fashion boutique in the world
MoMa
Trump Towers
Madison Square Gardens
Grand Central Station
UN
Chinatown
Wall Street
New York Stock Exchange
SoHo
South Port
Greenwich Village
Times Square
PS 1 Centre for Contemporary Art
The Guggenheim
Queens
Astoria
Trinity Church
Broadway
glow in the dark pin/badge man
bubble machines and bubble men
zillions of knock off sunglasses
tourists galore
Bull Statue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Macy's
lots lots lots lots lots more! so little time!

P.S. Cheer for the Eskimos! Hard! Please

P.P.S. I loooooove you!

P.P.P.S. Only six more days! This is sad. But also good.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

A Little Update Before Fun Bonanza

This week is quickly becoming the Cait-giddiness week, as there's much to anticipate in the next little while. My beloved Folk Fest, which I've attended every single year of my life, is speedily approaching, meaning that in a couple of days the life of eating green onion cakes ad nauseum, dancing absurdly, and lazing around on a tarp whilst tapping my foot to gorgeous music awaits me. The acts this year are stellar, and several recent additions to the Canadian music scene will even appear on main stage, which I find particularly thrilling. My cousin Luke, his pretty voice, and lovely guitar are even bound for a stage with a few of his friends, something that my family is rather proud of; we plan on cheering for him in a very embarrassing manner, and throwing strange objects at him while he jams out. These four days of the summer are invariably among my favourites, and they afford me to fall in love with strange hippy folk, contemplate politics and life, exert myself in loads of card games and inflatale obstacle courses, hang out with a group of friends and family who I love deeply, and eat constantly. It's so encouraging to see others who care profoundly about the world around them, and who think intentionally about for what purpose they're living life. A lot of folkies are cooky, but I'm slightly cooky myself, and there's nothing quite as happifying as observing the dance of an elderly woman dressed in a gypsy skirt and decorated by henna designs. It's easy to feel kind of alone in being concerned about the strange things that I worry about, especially in a province such as Alberta, but I feel pretty comfortable with the thousands of Folk Festers. Many momentous moments in my life have taken place on the hills of Gallagher, Memories of sunburn, venturing around without my parents for the first time, pretending to be cool with friends, camping outside the gates to get a perfect spot for the tarp, winning the grand prize in the raffle, and Jess getting trapped in an outhouse will forever remain in that part of my brain reserved for the best festival of all.

Perhaps even more giddifying than the upcoming Folk Fest is the trip that I shall embark on in a matter of days, one that will take me to the centre of the universe, New York City. I'm meeting my lurvely friend Nicole there (after her time spent in France and Montréal) where we'll spend a dozen days enjoying the sights and sounds of the Big Apple. For my entire cognizance, New York has held a garnered my reverence and adulation, and I've always wanted to travel there, if not live there (I realize that I'll likely never reside in the coolest place on earth, but one can always dream). This city contains all that epitomizes weirdness, beauty, and ugliness, all of which I find fascinating. Over the dozen days that we'll be there, much art, city life, hopefully music, touristy sites, and great scenery will be taken in, as we stay with a bunch of nuns in Leo House. As aforementioned in the blog, Dick the Gnome will be accompanying me for the full duration of the journey, and he will hopefully appear in some pictures that I might post on Darwin at some point. Half the fun of anything, according to the ever-so apt psychologists, is in the anticipation of it; at least 40%, that is, and I anticipate things quite intensely. The countdown to New York is in full swing, and I imagine that it will be 12 of the best days of the entire summer, maybe even topping my inaugural experience of house-sitting. I think that my family thrives on escaping from the largely mundane landscape of Edmonton at least a few times a year, and since I missed out on Sanny Franny in July, my requisite respite from this beautiful place that I call home will be achieved through a jaunt in that beautiful place that I call NYC. I'm not quite the world traveller that many of my friends and family are, much to their chagrin, but this is my first true endeavour into the big wide world of the United States without my family, so with any luck Nicole has skills in restraining me from actions such as assassinating certain presidents of certain nations. I'll attempt to post a few updates on the trip on the blog, and send a few of you postcards (I know most people's postal codes, but if I don't hopefully you'll endow me with such knowledge). I suspect that I'll come back a changed person, wearing exclusively Marc Jacobs outfits and chain-smoking Marlboros. Scarlett will be my BFF, and I'll have developed an obsession with Woody Allen films. I will, however, not have a tan; if you expect such things from my encounters with the scorching sun, you have much to learn, my friend.