Happy October.
It’s been a weird start to the month. It feels more like late August or September outside, lately. The restaurants still have their outdoor seating in place, and I am always tempted to eat outside in fear that it will be the last time I will be able to until the Spring. My sister and I even took a trip to Newport, Rhode Island, thinking October is “off season” — if you didn’t look at the near-empty beach, you would have never known it was so late (if you just stayed around the marina and historic area) — there were so many people around. (Is Newport ever empty, I wonder?)
It was a nice trip, though. Very last minute, for myself, at least. We spent most of the time wandering around aimlessly, only really concerned with trying out some of the restaurants and bars (one of which I was denied service because I had an out-of-state ID and not license. Mind you, I turn 29 in ten days, and although it should be a “compliment” it was more of an inconvenience since we walked so far out of the way to get away from the hotel bar which we just ended up going back to), looking out at the marina from the balcony off our room (another note, it made me feel kind of awkward, since the room was supposed to be for my sister and her boyfriend, just recently broken up after a year of seeing one another. It was a decidedly romantic spot, and I thought it would have been so nice for the two of them to hang out together, watching the sunrise or sunset or whatever), and really, just experiencing being out of town and not having to worry about time for the entire weekend.
Highlights?
- Getting up early on Sunday morning (the day we were leaving), getting a Pumpkin Spice latte (shut up!) from across the street and bringing it back to the deck in the back of the hotel that overlooked the marina and boardwalk to sip while I relaxed in an Adirondack chair and wrote in my journal (cliche!). But — alone, before my sister or just about anyone else was up and out and about.
- Flo’s Clam Shack.
Seriously, you need to go there and you need to get the “Bottle Moet and 2 Hot Dogs” special. Only $50! heh. But, really, we had the clam strips and fries ($8.95) and those were too awesome for me.
- The Cliff Walk. My sister wasn’t really up for the 3.something miles, (and I wasn’t feeling great either) but on any other day, I would have walked to the end and back. On a clear day, such as the one we experienced, you can see out for miles, and it’s fun to gawk at the mansions and fine restaurants I can’t afford to eat at.
- Tim Fucking Horton’s!!! I can’t get these donuts were I am. The closest Tim’s is about 50-so miles away from me… (really, the only time I have it is when I visit Canadia) but when I found there was one near Newport, I made my sister drive me there. She rolled her eyes at me, but when she tasted that Honey Glazed you KNOW she thought it was worth it.
And mildly amusing: The Sleep Number bed in our room. It was a trial to get up out of bed, but it was comfy to sleep on.
Other things not related to Newport:
Reading She Came to Stay by Simone De Beauvoir. I adore this story, but I adore SB, liekwhoa. She’s right on when writing about relationships (and I guess she should be, it’s based on her relationship with Sartre. And Sartre! oh!). This is my 49th book this year, so close to my (year) goal of 52 and it’s only October!
For nostalgia’s sake (and because I saw the movie on television at 4 a.m. when I was wide awake thinking I was going to vomit all over. But, uh, not because of the movie) I reread Interview With the Vampire for the 34,938,932,846th time. Another story I adore, not in the same way I did when I was sixteen, but it still has a special place. Anne Rice writes truthfully about codependency and just like the first time I read it (——spoiler ahead, thx ——-) I DIE when Louis doesn’t rejoin Lestat after Lestat asks for his help. And he shouldn’t have, he makes the right choice if he wants to be independent but DAMN if it doesn’t break my heart.
Another vampirey surprise came in the mail today — the first season of Forever Knight on DVD, but from blockbuster and of course I have to wait for the FIRST disc, but it will be so good to watch this again.
In other news:
Bruce McDonald + Broken Social Scene + Maureen Medved = The Tracey Fragments = I want to see, plz. Broken Social Scene are also coming out with a book, This Book is Broken, but it seems just a LITTLE too soon. Let’s try in the next fifteen years or so, k, Kevin Drew?
AND if you already haven’t downloaded it, stereogum blog has a tribute up for R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People, Drive XV. It’s surprisingly good. AND you can download all the MP3s that they feature on the site, here. Saves from actually having to read each article. J/K guyz.
I’ve got a show to go to every week this month, it’s insane. AND I will be in Torontooooo, so that makes me all sorts of happy.