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Showing posts from March, 2011

Wherein My Kitty Photos Appear

Just when you think you're unique or smart or have come up with something new, you find out that it's been done before. This happened to me recently when I stumbled on the blog Friends Through Glass .. .It's written by a girl  living in Philadelphia, who has a blog of cats in windows. I thought I was the only one! Anyway, she commented on my blog recently, and so I sent her some two kitty photos I had taken yesterday, and now I am famous, as she has added these photos to her blog and attributed them to me. Thanks very much! Check out her blog. It's great.

In Fashion

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I judge people all the time. Mostly on their fashion choices. For instance, I wondered what made this woman think that this was a cute bag. Does her family own a ranch? Is she from New Mexico? Does she think it's cutting-edge to have a dead bull head on her purse? But then I reminded myself of what I happened to be wearing. These shoes that make me look like I am a Bratz doll. This woman with the blond hair was exclaiming to her friend, "And then the crackhead that she is, she showed up at my house at like 4 in the morning! Can you believe it? F-ing whore!" This boy is wearing three sweatshirts--a maroon one covered by a blue one covered by a gray one. And paint-stained corduroys. And then, three hours later, I saw him again, walking on Penn's campus. I recognized him from the corduroys and from the wallet chain.

Hair

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I wish, wish, wish I had the confidence to just walk up to people ask them if I could take their pictures. Instead, I end up pretending to be looking at something on my phone which requires me to hold the phone up in an odd way and squint at it. It is so obvious that I'm taking a picture. I should just go with it.Today, the focus was mostly about hair. Saw this girl with really great, awful, California-style, reality TV hair. See: And then so that made me start to notice the other hairdos around me. Here is an older woman that briefly sat in front of me. This style seems to require some maintenance. She may be one of those woman, like my grandma, who goes to get their hair "done" at the beauty shop once a week, usually before church. And then the next person to sit in front of me had the quick ponytail/bun look: And from afar, you can sort of see this Del-Co lady's hair. And long, shiny hair: Just a couple of more photos that I took. Please tell me if t

Killing Time on the Subway

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Most people either read or are on their phones on the subway. Or some just sit there staring off into space or surreptitiously sneaking glances at their own reflections in the windows.This woman was reading. She sat across from me, so I was able later to get the title, The Informationists . Never heard of it, but now that I've looked it up online, I can tell you that it's a captivating thriller. She did seem to be pretty engrossed in it. But you can also do any other number of actives on the subway, such as beating your child (I see this one often), nodding off, providing music for the entire car, talking on your cell phone about personal subjects such as feminine hygiene, or this: In case you have trouble seeing what this is, it's a pair of knitting needles and the beginnings of a blanket. I wonder if she will wash it before she hands it over to some young mother without telling her it's full of subway germs? This photo makes it seem as though this is another d

Too Close For Comfort

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God, remember that sit-com? It was on in the 80s and had what's-his-name on it...The guy who played Ted on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Anyway, sometimes on the subway, I rediscover what that phrase means in practice, as I'm smooshed up against another several human beings.Here is what it was like this morning. Before taking this picture, I had been standing next to a twenty+ girl dressed in black and she had extreme halitosis or else there was something dead stuck to her coat. I'm not sure. It was painful. I don't want to smell someone else's breath ever, not ever, but especially not a stranger and not at 8 AM in public. Then I started to worry that it was me, maybe I smelled and everyone else was thinking the same thing. Here is what the tunnel looks like going from the orange to the green line. A pair of red boots I like. And friends with matching tri-tone hair.

Crazy Cat Lady Smothered by Cats

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Ernesto has been sick for a couple of weeks. At first, I thought it was Henri. Henri is geriatric. He's around 16-20 years old. I can't remember exactly, but he's old. Ernesto is about six. And he's very calm and dandy, so seeing him throw up every time he ate anything was disconcerting for both of us. It was so untoward. I finally took him to the most expensive vet in the city and they ran some blood tests and took an X-ray and gave him a hydrating IV and anti-nausea medication, told me that the test were negative for everything, no parasites and no visible obstructions. The vet said that he may just have a bad gas of gas. $800, please. He was better on Sunday after 24 hours on a sensitive diet food, but it was a rough Saturday night. Anyway, I'm feeling a little better about it b/c he managed not to yak at all yesterday (that I know of. That's the fun thing about cats--they can find new and surprising places to throw up and surprise you!). This is the full b

Heroes of the Subway

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Dan and I saw this man get on at the Tasker/Morris stop. He looked to me like maybe underneath his demure raincoat, there might lurk a superhero. He just had that kind of chiseled, serious and humorless look I expect from my every day heroes. Trying to capture a clear image of passengers exciting off at Snyder. The view I see every morning waiting for the train. This girl reminded me of the central character in Muriel's wedding. View from the window at the Ellsworth stop, I think. I'm constantly trying to figure out new ways to take pictures without anyone noticing me doing it. This man didn't get into a car, but veered off the his right at the last second. Probably because he saw me taking his photo. Muriel again, still texting. I took this photo on Friday morning on the way in. The white guy in the white t-shirt and the black kid to the side of him also in a white t-shirt--you might guess that they're typical teenagers; into their phones or their music or

Underground

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I wish this photo had turned out. This man had such an interesting, solemn face. He also looks a little like Nick Nolte to me. I assumed that this girl is shy. She didn't make eye contact with anyone. But who knows. She was only on the subway for a short period of time. This blurry photo accurately represents how it feels to know you're about to miss your trolley if you don't hurry the hell up. A last minute photo before I got off at my stop. Didn't have time to observe this man. He had a man bag, so I guess that means he's nerdy or confident or both.

Happy Easter + Some Irish

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I took this picture last night on my way to the gym. It was a the first spring-ish day we've had in a while and the gnomes here seemed to embody that promise of good things to come. Or evil, gnome curses. And we have moved on to the next holiday around town, which means bunnies!!! And some elaborate scenes.For instance, is that a bunny carousel? This is my neighbor's house. They usually do something on their railing. They also verbally abuse their children, but I think the attention to holiday details balances out the yelling. Find the hidden leprechaun/Irish man and you win 10 points + the title of racist. Chick. Beautiful fake flowers and Easter eggs. Bunny who lights up. I like the spotted pink dog in this window. Oh, and a cat. Don't you just want to squeeze him until he meows? Cat face pressed against the window. I like the reflection of trees in this one. I wasn't sure what to make of this tableau--little schoolboy flanked by Virgin Mary a