"I guess no one ever eats an ice cream cone at a funeral, or a fire. The Red Cross doesn't drop ice cream cones into third-world countries. If you're eating an ice cream cone, it's just very hard to believe that things have gone completely to shit. That there isn't still hope.”
Two consecutive nights of Philly sports...and two consecutive nights of disappointment, although both the Phillies and the Union know how to keep me on my toes. My first game of the season was exciting, with free ice cream, crab fries, and family to make the outcome more bearable. Supposedly the U were on a good streak until this game so maybe I'm the bad luck? We'll have to see next time!
The other night Elise and I were discussing the best views of the city--from the Mann, Lemon Hill, Franklin Field, the Schuylkill boardwalk, Belmont...And if you know me, I love my views. At the Phillies game, I wasn't disappointed. I spotted the skyline while we were getting dinner and, like always, I was in awe. And the view was even better when we rode the escalator up. The bluish tint of the skyline blends into the sky but then stands out against the green in the foreground. The view was probably one of my highlights of the night, considering the Phillies lost. But I did get my free soda for being over 21 and pledging to be the designated driver. And two donuts to celebrate National Donut Day. Our seats were 200 level, right on the third base line, with padded seats. It was unexpected and consequently great.
After not seeing Dan for 5.5 months, we were reunited at Ambler for a good movie. I was excited to Clouds of Sils Maria, what looked like a actress version of Black Swan. But it wasn't. I was a little disappointed after the movie because it didn't match my hype. But thinking about it, it begged many questions and was more complex than at first look. Essentially, the movie was about a middle aged actress who decides to be in the same play that launched her career, this time as the older woman driven to suicide by her young assistant lover. The movie and the play-within-the-movie crossed paths and meddled with my thoughts so I was never sure if the characters were just reading lines or if the play became their lives. It was a weird mix of reality and the play.
But I love going to the movies. Afterwards, we headed to El Limon, a Mexican restaurant down the street, The thick chips and guac were so good. So many people came and went while we were there. Dan talked my ear off about Rome and I loved hearing it, although I wish I could have been there. When I came back two years ago, no one really wanted to hear how my time was. All they wanted was a two sentence answer saying how I enjoyed myself. So I'm glad I was able to hear about his experience and be a person who went through it before. And we decided that we'll see the cloud formation (the snake) near Sils Maria one day (see 4:10 in the video below).
Elise invited me to visit the Art Museum with her after her internship so I jumped at the chance to get out of the house, see Elise, and do it all at pay-what-you-wish night. My train got in a little early so I meander down the Parkway, stopping in this little used bookstore. Nothing was more expensive than $3 and for those cat lovers out there, they have two in-residence cats! I love bookstores--I could spend hours just looking. But 5:30 was approaching so I paid my $2.16 for my book and headed past the Barnes, where I ran into one of my friends from school. Totally unexpected.
I finally met up with Elise after she took the extremely long way to get to the museum (100% out of the way). We saw Elise's favorite art (the Impressionists and European) and kept running into a security guard who was very talkative (it was 3 times, at least). Elise was impressed by the tea house and I always love seeing the Calder mobile in the atrium.
Tired and hungry, we headed out to Eakins Oval to experience "Future Sensations," a Disney World-like exhibition that celebrates the company Saint Gobain's 250th anniversary (a little commercialized). Everyone had the same idea as us so the lines were very long--we only got through 2 of the 5. Feet tired and still hungry (we never ate), we headed back along the Parkway to get our respective trains and said goodbye to a good night.
Looking beyond the tortilla chip crumbs on my fingers, tenacity is a good thing to have, although hard work doesn't always pay off. So maybe that'y why you need to have tenacity--working hard no matter if you don't succeed.
So a couple summers ago (at least one, maybe more?), Starbucks had a few download of a playlist titled "Summer Soundtrack." I recently rediscovered the CD in my car the other day and this Cold War Kids' song was on it. It's worth a listen.
