miike with two i's

when you get out of the metro at farragut north there's a man in a bright green vest selling papers. he yells out the news like an old fashioned paper boy. he's selling a newspaper called street sense. it's written for and by homeless people and published by a small staff. i remember watching the video while i was in taiwan, obsessed with all multimedia projects. i think i'm going to start buying it a couple of times a week.

there's a homeless man who plays the trumpet on the corner of 18th and pennsylvania. he plays at full volume at 8 in the morning, one-handed with his cheeks puffed out and his head tilted back. he's usually bundled up in coats and layers with a hat on. although today i was surprised to see him in a full suit. it seemed like more people than usual were stopping to chat with him. he stops playing if you give him money so he can shake your hand and chat with you.

i usually go to work with my ipod playing but my signal to turn it off and put it away is when i can hear him playing when i get halfway down 18th street. he's one of my favorite parts of the morning. just beyond him, on the other side of the park, is a homeless man who says good morning ladies or good morning sir to everyone who walks by. he's a friendly face to see every morning.

p.s. totally unrelated, how beautiful is this outside "tablescape"? found on simplesong today

i just want four walls

not a lot to say today so i present pictures in lieu of words..

this is the sunrise from my new window. pretty pretty.
new room
grandma joan was telling me about this weird problem some people have where they can't leave a flat surface alone without putting something on it. i think she was joking? but grandpa mannix, uncle john, aunt pam, my mom and i all have it.. real or not. i literally can't help but pile little stuff everywhere.
this was from library of congress day. we walked down to the capitol buildingthe architecture in DC is so fancy. this isn't DC, this is koh tao, where emil, tess and steph are. i could use some time in thailand! who came up with this silly idea of only being able to take 2 weeks of vacation in a year. luckily, i'm not locked into that schedule yet.

life the sun into the sky

spent the day with grandma joan, joanne and a bunch of monahans. my extended family on my mom's side is pretty interesting. they're all outspoken, fun, earthy, drinkin, crazy people with lots of stories. we grew up in texas/california/arizona while all of our relatives live in upstate new york and new hampshire, so whenever we visit there's always a bunch of stories and family friend connections.

it's fun for me to get together with them because they always tell me the stories about my parents when they were young and family history i haven't heard. tonight joanne told me that my mom said she had a feeling she was going to find whoever she was going to marry when she headed to california from new york, and that's where she met up with my dad. my parents dated when they were in high school and my mom wasn't old enough to drive so my grandma would have to drive my mom home. but they reconnected and got married in their late 20s.

there's something about dinner parties with my grandparents generation that's so much better than our dinner parties. the stories are the best part. tonight one woman who i don't think i'm related to by blood but who's in the circle was telling me about how she and her husband come from italian families so they made wine every year for the town. they received shipments of zinfandel grapes from CA and then they'd squish them all and go through this elaborate barreling process and make tons of wine. it sounded like fun.

well i broke out the flannel jammies tonight. it's fall!

zha nan gua

this is mrs. chan a long time ago. it's funny how much she looks like amanda. this picture makes me laugh because every day i bothered her about always wearing pants and how she would never wear a dress with me. she says you can't wear a dress and cook at the same time and she's too thin.
i just called the kuo's and she answered and she speaks a mile a minute. it reminded me that she's on facebook now. love her.

mr. kuo is playing mahjong at his sister's because they have a typhoon. some days i feel like i'm in taiwan. skype is so cool.

two truths and a lie

have you played two truths and a lie? ..i'm pretty sure of the people who read this, half are under 30 and half are between 30 and 86.. sometimes we just have generational differences. but if you haven't played, you tell 3 things about yourself. 2 are true, one isn't.

ready?
1. i got a library card at the library of congress today and had to pretend i was doing research on american presidents
2. i tripped and fell down half of the stairs on the metro center escalator
3. i was wearing my dress inside out for 10 minutes in H&M before realizing it, throwing on a coat and rushing back to the dressing room

if you said two was the lie, you were right. though tumbling down the escalator is a major fear of mine in DC, thankfully i haven't fallen yet. i diddd get a library card though, woo! they make you promise you're doing research so a bunch of people don't just get them for a souvenir. i've been told there are amazing reading nooks there, so we will see. i'd like to read both of samantha power and both of the president's books.

then i went on a shoe/pant hunt. found some sort of ugly but sort of comfy shoes.
note the GIANT elastic band and velcro. but they get the job done and they don't make it feel like i'm walking barefoot on concrete. and they were $20.

the only other ridiculous thing today was at H&M when i noticed a couple kind of looking at me oddly while i was trying on a coat in the mirror.. then i saw that the lining was sticking out from under my dress. i tried to pull it down but it wasn't budging. thenn i realized the big lacy pattern that's supposed to be on the outside was missing. then i realized my dress was on inside out. then i watched in the mirror as my face went from white to red. i booked it to the dressing room, with the coat on, and fixed it. embarrassing.

i'm going to continue the online search for comfy office shoes. if you feel so inclined, you're welcome to leave you own 2 truths & a lie. i'll guess.

p.s. let's talk naturalizers.
are these screaming '90s [or '70s] to anyone else? their whole collection is like that.

baby it's cold outside

it's hard to warm up in this town. it's cold outside, it's cold inside. thank goodness for sweat pants.

it's going to be 78 tomorrow so i'm going to wear my pink sundress. i think from here on out it's just supposed to get cooler and cooler. i've been told i need a good pair of gloves. this weekend my big project is better shoes. i need at least one pair with more than 1/8 inch of padding on the bottom.

i'm exhausted. hope everyone had a nice week and plans for an american/taiwan/finland fab weekend

and so it is

i turned on the water in the shower tonight while i was brushing my teeth, waiting for it to warm up, and it never did warm up. i took a cold shower. that is unpleasant after you just came in from the cold and were hoping to get warm.

nothing today except this little exchange..
megan and old man get off bus at the same time
old man almost gets run over by an erratic scooter driver who clearly hasn't mastered the art of balancing at slow speeds
at the intersection, megan goes one direction, old man goes the other
megan contemplates taking front entrance to building but decides she's freezing and takes the side entrance, which she thinks is a slight short cut
megan walks down the long hallway, only to meet up with old man in front of the elevator
both laugh as they make eye contact
me: you beat me!
him: i'm a fast walker
me: i always take the side entrance because i thought it was a little faster
..i forget what we said after that, but it was nice. we were both laughing. what a nice way to end a very long day.

i think i'm supposed to be some kind of teacher. i really like helping people when they have questions and training them on how to do things and telling them the trade secrets.

4 minutes to midnight. goodniiight