we wandered around today...

it's weird to live downtown in such a touristy city. to walk past the alamo on the way to the post office. the mall within walking distance is maybe the most confusing place i've ever been, since you can enter/exit on the street, from the river and from neighboring hotels. the city is strange in itself, in little ways, it's odd and weird and sometimes creepy. 

here's some random snaps from today...

inside ripley's believe-it-or-not:

part of the berlin wall:

disco cowgirl mannequin:

a pretty window, with a weird scene going on inside...

look closer, it's a precious moments astronaut-girl with a skull and rocks: 

kids working on a busy street downtown. the little girl took the money, the boy made the cotton candy. you can't tell, but they were like 8 and 10:

camping...

camping, during the day, was wonderful. fun, exciting, beautiful. we kept saying, i can't believe we're so good at this! we cooked everything over the camp fire (even coffee), told ghost stories under a field of stars, and hiked to the bath house to pee. it went so smoothly. 

camping, during the night, was tortuous. horrible, terrible, painstaking. freezing cold, rock-hard ground under our sleeping bags, and loud music from neighboring tents kept us awake all night. it rained all night one night and slightly soaked through our tent. i was so tired i cried.

but in the morning, after the sun came up and warmed us a little, it was wonderful again. would i do it again? absolutely... but not without an air mattress and long johns.

new york

in my dream last night i had a dog and was buying christmas presents.

here are some long overdue pictures from new york. this city - i want it.




subway stations are still so rare to me as to be exciting:


as are taxi rides:


don't they look happily ignorant of the surrounding world, safe inside a bubble of love in the east village? or something like that? they were so cute.


view from the hotel:


view inside the hotel:

this is my favorite ever donut. pity texas for not having dunkin donuts. (actually now that i think about it i have seen one or two. but not right next to my hotel.)

and, look, this is their k-mart. a kmart! if you lived there, people, even your kmart would be awesome.

santa monica

cotton candy and crazy waves and salty lips and sand castles and people every where.