New tumblelog

I rarely posted anything on this site. It's been quite awhile since I was last here. I should be posting to tumblr pretty regularly.

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This way and that way

A friend and I drove down to North Carolina this past weekend to attend a wedding. He did the driving, actually. The day before the ceremony we stopped off in Wilmington, NC. Its beautiful little town. I'll definitely go back at some point. We saw a children's show that was directed by an old girlfriend of his. It was a variation of "Where The Wild Things Are" done with some puppets. It was clever and original and I enjoyed it immensely. We stayed in her house that night (along with her son and husband).

After the show, the three of us went for dinner and drinks at a local pub. It was fascinating watching the two of them together. Although they're now both married to other people, there's still a very strong connection between them. I was told the story of how they met and their first date. They filled me in on the ups and downs of their relationship. Unfortunately, life got in the way and certain circumstances drove them apart. It's now 12 years later, though, and they still remain a very important part of each other's lives. She said she is who she is because of him. Their first date was one of the best days of her life, something she'll never forget. He said it was the same for him. So we started talking about some of the most memorable moments of our lives. What would make our top 10 lists? Two sexual experiences I had immediately came to mind (Sorry, that's just the way my mind works). But they're good stories so I told them (among others) and our conversation continued. The three of us talked and laughed and had a great time. It was more fun than the actual wedding.

Watching the interaction between these two amazing people, I thought, "This isn't fair. They should still be together." Maybe in some parallel universe they are.

So my friend and I continued the Top 10 discussion on the ride back to NYC a couple of days later. It was great fun going back and forth with stories. It was an eleven-hour drive so we had plenty of tales to tell. We talked about that time our acting class went for dinner at that Indian restaurant on Second Ave two years ago. We were allowed to bring our own alcohol. I seem to remember running down the street every 20 minutes to the liquor store for more wine. We all laughed and drank and ate and danced. It was perfect. That night made both our lists.

It's interesting. Before this past weekend, I never really thought about making a list of the most memorable moments of my life. I don't think it occurred to me. I certainly don't have all 10 locked down, that's for sure. I may never get that far. I'll never post them.

I will share Moment Number One with you, though.

It's my 30th birthday party. We're at a Mexican restaurant on 14th Street. There's an outdoor seating area in the back. It is the end of June and the weather is great. We sit at the largest table they have. Everyone who is important to me is there. I even get presents. I'm so happy I could cry. At some point, I do.

Thanks for driving, T.

My photo blog

I'll be posting to it pretty regularly, I think.

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(Pretentious) Literary Quote of the Day

This is from "The Sheltering Sky" by Paul Bowles. It's pretty much the only thing from the book that stayed with me. One of the main characters has just died and his wife is remembering a conversation they had.

She had quite forgotten the August afternoon only a little more than a year ago, when they had sat alone out on the grass beneath the maples, watching the thunderstorm sweep up the river valley toward them, and death had become the topic. And Port had said: "Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It's that terrible precision that we hate so much. But because we don't know, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless." She had not listened at the time because the idea had depressed her; now if she called it to mind it would have seemed beside the point.