Weekend Review

So New York was excellent, and Agent 66 was so fantastically cool as to both join me for the Academy of Art University runway show on Saturday and to let me stay at her house as well.

The show was a blast, with a lot of great designs that were really inspiring. It took a lot less time to watch than it did to wait around, but that’s all part of the experience, I guess.

Other highlights of my short weekend trip were walking miles and miles in my quasi-pointy-toed high heels until I thought my toes were about to all squish together into the tips and stay that way for life. (Walking down ramps to the subway at that point was not fun. But I guess if I wanted to be comfortable, I would have brought flip-flops.)

Part of the reason I walked so much was that I wanted to save on Metro fare, and also, being from the small city that Boston is, I’m not accustomed to vast lengths of street. I looked at the map, and I could see that a north-south block is pretty short, and so I figure it’s a straight shot up 5th from 42nd street to 82nd. Why pay for a ride when I can walk to the Met? My feet were comfortable enough then, but I think that’s what did me in later. Several days later, my toes are still smarting, but at least I didn’t get any actual blisters. And it was worth it, because it was the Met. Even if I only had time to see the Medieval art and a glimpse at the Oceanic bits, it was still great. Now I can say that I’ve been to the Met, which I figured at this point it was sort of a travesty that I hadn’t.

The other highlight of my weekend was the air mattress at the abode of Agent 66. “Air bed” is really more accurate, only when she said that on the phone, I didn’t take her seriously. I expected some little rolled up vinyl pad that I could just casually crash on, but this turned out to be a highly involved affair. First of all, it looked like a piece of furniture already when it was all zipped up, and could potentially double as a coffee table. Then, when we finally figured out the zippers, we weren’t quite sure what to do with the neatly folded collection of metal brackets under a blue mass of plastic. Searching around, we found the electric cord, and 66 called her roommate to ask her what we should do. And then it was very simple. We plugged it in, turned the knob to “inflate,” and listened and watched as the motor churned and the blue lump of plastic slowly expanded, pushing the metal supports outward and sideways. It looked like an uncurling monster spider with 26 legs. But I also thought of secret spy devices and bat-cave-like machines as I watched the smooth efficiency of the mattress unfolding and building itself without our having to move our little fingers. Not only that, it was very comfortable. I was prepared to be sleeping on blankets.

So that was my New York weekend. And it was great, but I can’t say it makes me feel like I need to move to New York City. No, because I’m moving to San Francisco! And I mean, why shouldn’t I move to a city named after the patron saint of animals? As another friend pointed out, that’s perfect for me, since I love animals – and what with my small menagerie and all.

But anyway, as I come back to Boston and sort of relax into what I’m doing here, it almost feels comfortable. And I realize November is not that far away at all, especially now that September is half over. So much to do! But I hope I can get it all done soon.

And luckily, my family still knows nothing of my plans…