saturn return to sender

I’m knee-deep re-designing vt.com. Been in front of the computer very nearly constantly for about a week now. Must finish by Sunday.

I’m going to print this out and hang it on my wall.

There was a copy of The DaVinci Code in the Manhattan apartment in which I was staying last week. Predictably, once I picked it up, I could hardly put it down until I finished it. I was sort of embarrassed reading it in public, sort of trying to obscure the cover and such dumbness. No no, I am not susceptible to such a fad. Ha! I’m such a snob.

But in a coffeeshop someone could tell anyway, just from the open pages. “Hm. DaVinci Code?” she said, sitting down next to me at the window-seat bar.

“Ha. Yeah. Pretty freaking addictive,” I said.

“Have you seen the movie?”

“No. I wasn’t sure which to do first, but it seems, you know, the book has chosen me.” Actually I wasn’t quite so clever as to say that, but, um, I would have if I were.

“Yeah, you should read the book first.”

So I did. Thankfully I knew nothing about the particulars of the plot or theme beforehand. It was awfully entertaining, having it all revealed to me, trying to figure it out ahead of time. I think in spirit Dan Brown is right on target with the theme, whether the specifics of the theory are right or not. I’ll put a page break here, so I can talk without spoiling it for those who haven’t read it.

Continue only if you’ve read it or seen it …
(more…)

even old new york

I’ve been in New York for the past week and a half, and was in the city proper all last week. That’s the most time I’ve ever spent in New York.

I can imagine how people who grew up in the urban canyons could leave the city to visit someone in “the country” and have a feeling of discomfort — too much space and quiet. Personally I like the city: the energy, the diversity, the dirty, organic way in which everything is half-broken and under repair or dying or being renewed. There’s little that’s pristine on the outside and I like how honest that is. I like the anonymity and the freedom that comes from knowing that there’s always someone weirder than you are just around the corner.

But then I leave for the trees and quiet and breathe a sigh of relief.