tales in mono


the statue of liberty: is more petite in reality than in those ariel shots in pictures.


dog runs in parks: this was at the wharf before the boat trip. watching dogs socialise in nyc is such a therapeutic experience. my favourite time was dog-watching at union sq park with mingyao. we stood there for nearly twenty minutes. in san francisco we theorised that the dogs were less friendly because of the proportionately larger amount of homeless people roaming the streets.


lego.


bridges: seeing manhattan from the waters.


the flatiron building: across from madison sq. park.


the subway: here i went uptown to have lunch with dionne near columbia uni. train time is good for looking, pondering and trying not to look like a tourist - displaying the look with the seemingly vacuous eyes but in actuality, admiring those red shoes or tracing the lines on somebody's wrinkled face.


in queens at grandaunt's house, we walk to the bus stop to take the q65 bus to the subway at flushing before taking the subway to manhattan. i met my grandmother's eldest sister for the first time, and her family. she took out her old family albums to show me treasured sepia prints. she studied in japan when she was young. her husband was a striking lad with broad shoulders and smart dark spectacles. she's 90. he's 97. they don't look it though, being all feisty verbally. i was humbled in some way i didn't understand.




yale courtyard: the sun, the trees and the archaic stonewalls are whispering around students sprawled on the grass. academia. in the universities, i felt that i missed school a bit. i miss doing research in the libraries and preparing for theory presentations.