Bread and Butter

Occasionally, I’ll mock society unintentionally. It is often misconstrued as an inhospitable nature. Though I do strive to communicate with some people in as few words as possible: ordering my coffee with the single word, black, bypassing–nay, denying any possible exchange of pleasantries, small talk, or chit-chat, for the most part, I feel that it is generally appreciated since I am aware that there are people in line behind me and to prolong their coffee-less day would be even more inhospitable.

Today, when I approached the cashier at the grocery store, I cut off her “Hello, how are you?” when I blurted out, “No bag, please.” I had no intention of shutting her up, but that is exactly what happened. I only wanted to convey my desire to not use a plastic grocery bag and since her routine begins with preparation of the plastic grocery bag while she makes her forced greeting, I had little choice.

So she ceased communication throughout the remaining transaction, I paid, and walked out–and this is the best part–with a freshly baked loaf of bread tucked under my arm and four sticks of butter in my hand. Halfway to my car I realized how pedestrian this must look, me walking out of the grocery store with bread and butter, but then again, who would even notice such a common absurdity?

A Few Moments Ago…

A few moments ago, while walking home from the grocery store–my reusable grocery bag full of stuff for this eat me, delicious recipe for corn chowder and a six pack of Ithaca Nut Brown long-necks–I encountered a group of three: a woman and two men. As I approached I noticed they were looking at me. Barely within ear shot, I distinctly heard the word bomb. As I am about to pass them I tip my hat’s brim in acknowledgment. One of the men addresses me under his breath, “Your not Middle Eastern are you?” His intonation clearly indicating that to be middle eastern was a bad thing. I stopped and turned to look him in the eyes. “What did you say?” He looked away, I walked on. After a few moments he hollers towards me, “How are you?”

Some Things

Grenoble, France — So many things have occurred to me while on this trip. From the trivial, yet overwhelming fact, that the currency in my wallet, a mix of US dollars and Euros, are caught up in this twisted and public relationship. In moments of calm, usually after the US market has closed, I place my US twenties on the table and watch for signs of resilience, durability, rebound. Nothing happens. Currency is useless. It is also useless to try to read while listening to Jens Lekman. His songs are narratives. I love them. He will now forever be affiliated with this trip, as will the Kronos Quartet performing Phillip Glass. These songs demand attention like the girls in Grenoble demand attention. I cannot believe some of the beauties that reside in this town. But that is neither here nor there. Well, it is here, but soon it won’t be here when I am there which is not here. Does that make sense? I am tired.

If I threw my guitar out the window…

Grenoble, France — Starting to regret that I did not bring my ukulele. Last night, my advisor and I went to see three gypsy guitarists perform an amazing selection of music. Never before have I seen and heard a guitar played like I saw this evening. The show was part of the Grenoble Jazz Festival, which has an awesome promotional poster which I have been trying to steal from various establishments:

One of the guitarists is the grandson of the famous gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who fretted his guitar with only two fingers because of a injury he sustained as a child. He raised to fame because of his style and sound and when one performs his songs, they must be performed with only two fingers because otherwise they are not playable. Isn’t that something?

The trio performed a Django song. Afterwards I was laying in bed fretting my imaginary ukulele trying to recall the song’s haunting voices and jaunty percussive beats–like I said, never before have I heard a guitar sound like these guitars.

Some pictures have been posted, i.e.,

Seen at the Pompidou

Amsterdam, NL — The following images are from an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France.

First, science on the walls. This is a piece by Bernar Venet entitled “Interaction of stellar wind with diffuse nebulae”, I kid you not, and it is, as you can see in the second photo, a reproduction of an Astrophysics Letter from the 70’s, here is the ADS entry, priceless:

The following are pictures from the Richard Rogers + Architects portion of the center’s current offerings. It was filled with architectural models, a delightful show: