touristing

Lincoln’s visit is giving me the excuse and opportunity to play the tourist here in Atlanta.  Over the last couple of days, we’ve visited the World of Coca-Cola, The Varsity, Emory’s campus, and the Decatur Arts Festival, as well as checking out several restaurants (Savage Pizza, La Fonda, The Porter...yum!) and going to the movies.

Above is a photo from the lobby of the World of Coke, where we tasted 60+ varieties of Coca-Cola and other Coke products from all over the world.  I definitely enjoyed the ginger sodas from Africa.  Stoney Tangawizi rocks!  We also shot film both today and on Sunday at the Arts festival to make a short movie, and the results of that will be posted eventually.  Come back and check it out!

lincoln

I’m the oldest of five kids. We’re all really close in age, but with two girls and then three boys, you can imagine that there was a bit of a divide in responsibilities, activities and personalities. Right now I am being visited by #4 in line, Lincoln. He’s hanging out in my TINY Atlanta apartment until he has to report for his summer internship. It’s been fun (and dare I say it, lazy?), but consequences of two people trying to share this much (or little, as it were) space are by turns hilarious, annoying, and ridiculous.

Maybe I should explain a bit about Link. He’s almost 21, very witty, athletic, slightly introverted leaning strongly towards social, and a multi-talented guitar player, juggler, unicycle rider and reader of Ancient Greek. I also, by way of explanation to my friends, describe him as the sibling most like me, in pure personality terms. We’re both private people with serious social tendencies, we’re basically intellectual, and we like the same foods. There was a point in my childhood where I thought Lincoln was mine. Not as in, I thought he was my child, but I felt very proprietary about him. I would translate his toddler mumblings for my mother, make his sandwiches at lunchtime (we were the only two who refused to eat mayonnaise), and read to him from picture books.

Lincoln has grown into an interesting, humorous and amusing young man. He doesn’t dispute my assessment of our similarities, but to be fair and balanced (for posterity and for when he reads this post later and is horrified) I asked him the other night how he thought we were different. I, of course, proffered the question with the attending statement, “Beyond the obvious stuff. Like you’re a guy and I’m a girl, etc.” This is what he came up with. 1. He’s just plain better looking. 2. He likes camping more than I do. 3. He has different interests, including a different major (Christian Thought…I was Spanish), different musical tastes (he likes The Beatles and oldies in general, basically everything except and I quote “stupid rap and hardcore scream-o. And heavy metal.”), and he swing dances.

Lincoln is a self-confessed lyrical learner. Or something like that. Basically he knows all the lyrics to any song he’s ever heard, and will start singing at the least provocation if he makes a connection between conversation and song lyrics. He’s also been enjoying sitting on my bed, strumming his guitar and making up song lyrics. In the space of writing this post, he’s made up songs disparaging my pet rat, praising jelly beans, and disagreeing with my decision to see a movie later tonight. It’s a trait he gets from my dad, this making-up-nonsense-songs bit. You would think it would be endlessly annoying, but he’s FUNNY. It’s not fair. If I were bugging him this consistently, I would be the evil, nagging, bossy, boring sister. But he just has this quality that makes you laugh or at least smile and lose any anger you were trying to hold onto. Which makes him great entertainment.

So I’m enjoying his visit. We’ve been to a Braves game, out to dinner a couple of times, and around my neighborhood. We’re saving the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola for Monday. And no week would be complete without some misadventure. So far we’ve (correction: he has) broken the hot water tap on the shower, had to trek down past the airport to find a bank he could make a deposit at, and woken up most days at 11am or later. That’s where the lazy comes in. And last night we tried to go to Twain’s, a cool bar in Decatur to play pool, and got kicked out because the small one is too young (lest you think he is actually short, he’s 6’5”…"small one” is just my nickname for him). These events, combined with the fact that this must be the only 10-day stretch of the year in Atlanta without a predicted sunny day are conspiring to make his visit somewhat ridiculous. Fun, yes, but still ridiculous.

He's asking now if he'll want to read what I've written. The words libel and slander were bandied about. So little faith!

adventures in flight

It has been rather a long time since I last posted.  In the meantime, I’ve been to my brother Peter’s college graduation (from my own alma mater), and afterward road-tripped back down to Georgia with the next youngest sibling, Lincoln.  He is visiting me here in Atlanta for a week and a half before he goes off to his summer internship in South Carolina.  A state which is not that far from Atlanta, really.  At least, it doesn’t look like it on a map.  It’s a quarter inch to a half inch away, depending on how big your map is.

Anyway, with such goings on and traveling things, I haven’t been near a computer in a while, and am hopelessly backed up with fun little stories and adventures (many of which I have already forgotten or will forget and not post).  I likely wouldn’t have gotten around to blogging at all until Lincoln was gone if I hadn’t had the (bad) luck to get a cold.  So now, though I feel like putty recently scraped off a wall in a tenement somewhere, I have the time to write.  Er, blog.  In case you wondered, Lincoln is feeling well, and is out on the porch reading.  I am the invalid resting indoors on a perfectly lovely day.  Who knows what that fresh air might do to me!  I could get well!  Or something. 

The following is a bit of an entry that I started at the Atlanta airport when I was on my way to the graduation last Thursday.  It seems vaguely wasteful not to post a paragraph’s worth of useful material, so I’ll begin there.

The Wednesday night before I flew out, I went to see Star Trek (2009) for the second time.  I heartily enjoyed the film the first time around, when I saw it with friends on opening day, and I had to share the experience with Elizabeth, my fellow movie buddy here in Atlanta.  She was skeptical.  Said she wouldn’t go see it.  I offered to pay for her ticket.  She acquiesced (and drank cider in the theater!).  I think we both enjoyed it.  Last night I found myself at yet another showing of Star Trek with Lincoln, because he didn’t want to go alone.  He paid for tickets, and I really can’t complain, but please, oh please!, next time I go to a movie, can we see something new?  I was trying to remember last night if I’d ever seen another movie thrice in theaters, and the only thing I could come up with was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.  And that was only because it was playing on the $1 screen at my college campus the last two times.

Having said all that, Star Trek gets 5 stars.  It’s fun, it’s big, it’s action, it’s personal conflict and growth, it’s flashy, new and exciting.  In other words, everything you want a summer movie to be.  Elizabeth and I did go and see Wolverine, the first true summer movie, and it was mediocre and left me feeling unsatisfied.  Trek does not leave you feeling anything but full of excitement and maybe a little wonder at the glory that is big time film-making.  May all the rest of the summer movie lineup be as enjoyable.

Odd note:  Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the original TV series, makes an appearance in the new film.  When I was listening to his dialogue, a little sensor went off in the back of my brain, and I kept thinking, ‘Where do I know this guy from?’  He was strangely familiar, but I’ve never watched the TV series or anything… so that was a really peculiar feeling.  Then I looked up his imdb.com profile, and voila!  Nimoy is the voice behind Civ IV, my one admitted computer gaming habit.  It was his voice that is always saying things like “As the potter is to the clay…” and “I got pig iron, I got pig iron!” to me in the middle of the night from my laptop speakers.  Weird.  With a capital ‘W.’  He has a nice, deep voice that sounds very like the grandfather in all of the stories that I’ve ever read.  Well, you know how when you’re reading (to yourself, silently) you give the characters voices to differentiate them?  No?  I’m the only one who does this?  Yeesh.  Maybe I should talk to someone about that…

Now where did I leave off on the real storyline?  Oh yes.  So the night before I left I went and saw a movie.  That was not the best choice.  Because the next morning I’d made plans to breakfast with my mother’s cousins (they’re from Portland, but were visiting Atlanta for a week, and wanted to see me), and I wanted, hypothetically, to sleep at some point.  Between packing and a head that wouldn’t stop whirring (happens a lot, I’m thinking of getting it replaced.  Anyone have a spare brain floating around?), I slept a maximum of two hours.  And then went to a very agreeable breakfast at a place called The Flying Biscuit.  This restaurant has a couple of locations, and is something of an Atlanta institution.  We went to the one Candler Park.  I had an amazing raspberry French toast breakfast and listened and laughed at the foibles of the extended family, and was toted back to my apartment in time to head off to my flight.

I rode to the airport with Elizabeth (she keeps cropping up, doesn’t she?), because her flight left at approximately the same time as mine, and Why waste a good ride to the airport when there’s one to be had?, which isn’t my motto, but is probably someone’s out there.  There are enough people on the planet to practically ensure that.  The plane that arrived prior to mine hailed from Sarasota.  Watching the off-loading process was quite a kick.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many airport attendants (aka wheelchair helpers) preparing to greet a single flight.  The plane was absolutely chock-full of the elderly.  And when I use that term, I don’t mean anyone with grey hair.  I mean a physically impaired, possibly walking with a canister of oxygen at their side type of crowd.  Sarasota is a popular destination with the old, old set, apparently.

And then, lickety-split, I was on my own plane and off to Pittsburgh.  Star space, flying biscuits, and plane rides…that’s enough winging for a while!

pictures from the urban hike

These are the photos that Elizabeth took on the urban hike I mentioned a couple of posts back.

The neighborhood we started the hike in is called Inman Park/Reynoldstown, and they have some lovely community gardens and walkways.  This is just inside the Freedom Park.

The Plaza Theatre and nearby Majestic Diner are pillars of the Ponce area.  And you can see the little sign to the left of the theatre billboard for The Righteous Room, a cool bar with a $3 basket of fries and $5 vegetarian chili fries.  Beat that!

This urban folk art installation is at the corner of Ponce and Freedom Parkway.  Very interesting.

Me again.  The background is a tiled wall underneath a railroad bridge right next to City Hall East.

And finally...how could this happen?!  Ha.  Easily.  The steps leading up to City Hall East, and the police line sign that I was tempted to leave with.

coffee and historic hiking

It has come again: another rapturous account of a coffee experience.  Uh...but seriously, I did have a lovely cup of joe the other day, and since it’s semi-attached to an Atlanta happening/my weekend, I’ll share.  Idido Misty Valley coffee (look halfway down this page for a very in-depth analysis of this particular type), prepared in the ‘pour over’  method (which I’ve only ever seen in movies and once in Brazil) at Park Grounds coffee shop in Inman Park/Reynoldstown.   Delicious.  Rich, almost chocolaty flavor, with a hint of blueberry.  Thankfully not over-roasted, and made by dripping the water through a filter in a coffee cup to another waiting below…very slowly.  It made for one of the best quality cups I’ve had in years.  Before you wonder, I did spoil it a couple of sips in with a bit of cream.  It had to be done.  Just too darn rich without it.  I ordered the Misty Valley on the recommendation from the barista (or is that only a Starbucks term?).  I figure they know best, anyway.  I just asked…"what do you recommend in the way of coffee?” and there it was, that gorgeous cup I’m going to stop gushing about any time now…

I was at Park Grounds on Saturday morning because that’s the customary starting point for Urban Hikes Atlanta, as organized by Eli.  Elizabeth and I decided to do the May hike.  Subject: historic Ponce de Leon (a street that runs very close to my place) and surrounds.  We walked through Freedom Park up to Highland and Ponce, and then checked out the old motor hotels, historic restaurants, listened to stories about the glory days of the Atlanta 80s punk and rave club scenes, checked out the site of City Hall East (once upon a time a Sears and Roebuck factory/distribution center), an old ballpark, and eventually ended up in Midtown at the Fox.  We then took the MARTA train back to our starting point.  The whole experience lasted about 4 hours, and was by turns informative, boring, entertaining, annoying, and thirsty.  I might have been a little cranky.

It was definitely interesting to get a walking perspective of the city, and to meet people who were very much NOT graduate students or historians, but yet had an interest in the history of the city, and in seeing it from the ground, as it were.  We had an environmental educator, a journalist and radio personality, an amateur writer, an AmeriCorps volunteer who works with refugee women, and a former club manager among the group, to name a few.  The pace was slow enough for everyone to keep up, and though I wanted to speed it up at a couple of points, it was just right to be accessible to anyone who might want to join.  The other hikes that this organization puts on look interesting as well: I’d definitely go on a cemetery or graffiti hike, for instance.  Photos by Elizabeth to follow (eventually.  And yes, they are silly).