The House of Mirth

Hello friends,

To Anna, my deepest condolences. The death of a loved one is never easy, but it is inspiring to me to see that you had a truly loving relationship with her.

To Jenna, you sound like you are having so much fun! And I want you to know that I read your entire post in my best approximation of your French accent (which I miss hearing randomly mid-conversation).

This weekend provided a much needed reprieve from the monotonous cycle I've settled into at Amherst and I feel entirely rejuvenated. My weekend began at 4 PM on Friday, when I had the pleasure of taking the Peter Pan bus into New York with Rebecca. Our trip was marred only by the incessant noises spewing from the mouth of a small human in the seat behind us. For nearly the entire bus ride this little thing (child, I suppose) would just not fall asleep and babbled on and on. I am so serious. Aren't children supposed to be sleepy once it's dark? I am pretty sure that is how it works with birds anyway.

The one positive thing I can say about the presence of the small boy that had both Rebecca and I tearing our hair out is that it brought forth Rebecca's super-snarky side. As the long torturous bus ride finally draws to a close, Rebecca looks at me and says, this is still well within the hearing range of the mother, "Best anti-pregnancy ad, ever." Truth.

On Saturday I enjoyed a late, light breakfast with my mother consisting of Folger's instant coffee (very gourmet, I know) and a few pastries. There has always been a huge language barrier between me and my parents; to alleviate this, my mother has at some point purchased an electronic Chinese-English translator. We had a very pleasant discussion regarding my work this summer. My mother is now aware that I am no lowly secretarial assistant to my professor, but a man of science.

After breakfast, I met up with my dear friend Alice who some of you may remember from her visit. We were feeling particularly adventurous that day and took a trip into Brooklyn, commonly known as “The ‘Hood.” Since the both of us have been suddenly seized by a love of all things vintage, we headed over to the weekly flea market in Fort Greene. I don’t know how authentic our experience of Brooklyn was; while the subway stop we got off at was sufficiently sketchy and dirty, the neighborhood itself was what I can best describe as very hipster yuppie. We passed by the greenest block in Brooklyn (there was a giant banner proclaiming this, which means it has to be true) and rows of very pretty and well-kept townhouses that could have come straight from Madison Avenue. The flea market was really cute and brimming with vintage-y things. There was a very nice leather handheld suitcase for $25 that I was so tempted to buy! But in consultation with my mother, I was advised not to. Also, I realized that while it was easy to carry when it was empty, it would not remain that way once I had stuffed it with all my things. So, the vintage leather suitcase is still out there, waiting for the arms of a stronger person than I. For dinner we went to one of the many Japanese noodle bars in St. Mark’s place. Cheap and yummy, just the way I like it!

On Sunday, my plans to visit Hannah, Rebecca, Murphy, and Maggie fell through. L Instead, I went with some of my rugby friends to the Rainbow City installation at 30^th Street and 10^th Avenue. We went into the bouncy castle and it is THE BEST bouncy castle I have ever been into. We could jump so high! A little girl and a group of teenagers who snuck in were also with us, so it was rather crowded. I was mildly scared for her safety. We then explored the Highline, which is a boardwalk that’s been converted from an abandoned railway. It’s very nice actually; I really like the juxtaposition of the landscaping against the neighboring buildings. There are buildings on either side of the Highline and balconies and windows where you would literally be able to leap from to get onto the walkway. It might be kind of awkward once people start living in those buildings (it’s all new construction) but for now it’s awesome. Also, everything is still new and shiny, and has the new-car (read: clean) smell. For lunch we went to a burger place where I had a mini turkey burger with Maplewood-smoked bacon, blue cheese, and avocado. Omnomnom. Then, I rushed home to make my dinner engagement with my brother.

He took me to a Greek place where we shared souvlaki with rice. I found out he loves his job and I am very happy for him because this might be the first job he’s actually really enjoyed. It was fun, us bitching and moaning about past jobs we’ve had. We also talked about how the apartment hunt was going (my family is looking for a new apartment) and he told me we were going to go look at a place on Monday.

So on Monday, the 4^th of July, we pull up to this house that is conveniently located for everyone. There are two floors and some outdoor space. The kitchen is great, with lots of counter space to work on. We ended up committing to that house that day actually, because my brother really likes it and it is (well, could be) everything we’re looking for. I’m not thrilled with the general appearance of the at the moment. It could use some TLC. But I do see a lot of potential in it and I think once we settle in and fix things up, we’ll really like the place. Still, it’s such a relief just to know where we’re moving to. Our lease on our old apartment had been up for awhile and August 31^st had been our absolute deadline.

After our house tour, I went to the city with my elementary school friend to check out the fireworks for the first time ever. And it was AMAZING. I can’t believe I hadn’t gone more. My only other experience with fireworks was at Disneyworld when I was like seven. They were really loud and I got scared. But OMG SO PRETTY in real life. I’ll be sure to head over again next year. And to think, I wanted to go back to Amherst on Monday and watch the fireworks at UMass.

Which brings us to today. Currently, I am stuck on a Peter Pan bus en route to Amherst. It broke down in the middle of the road. Sigh. Well, I didn’t think I’d be able to get into work today anyway.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Karen

Ps. The title of this post comes from the Edith Wharton novel, which I am currently reading and it is pretty awesome. I urge you all to get on it.