Россия

Every day at work I pass a contemporary Russian art gallery. I've always liked it, not just one piece in particular, but the way the art looks through the window of the old building. I feel a weird kinship with Russia, thanks due entirely to my parents. My mom studied Russian in school and spent some time there before she was married, and my dad worked there for a long time (he is also pretty fluent). When I was little my dad was travelling almost all the time and was spending months at a time in Russia. Whenever he returned from a business trip he'd bring my sister and I each a surprise, so as a result I grew up with Russian toys and childhood stories. In the way that things remembered from your childhood are comforting simply because they were a part of your childhood, I fancy Russian names, sounds, places, people. (Also if you love letters like I do, how could you not love to look at the Russian language written with all their crazy backwards letters? GOOD STUFF.) I even have a misdirected fondness for Stalin because in my frenzy to read every book in our house as a kid, I read several Stalin biographies my dad had lying around.

All this has a lot to do with why I like the Russian gallery next door. I was thinking this morning, hey maybe I'll actually buy something there before I go back to school and then not only will it strike my Russian chord, but it will also remind me of this time in my life, this single working girl time. (Single as in not married, not single as in not attached). I haven't yet had a chance to go in and peruse prices, but reality did come crashing down and I have to admit I doubt I'll actually be able to buy anything at all. So instead maybe what I'll do is bring my trusty Canon down one day, shoot a photos from the street like a stalker, and frame one of those. These are from my phone on the fly today.

Yet another note on t-shirts: I check Shirt Woot daily, and about 80% of the time what they have is weird and not at all appealing. But today's shirt struck my funny chord and every time I think about it I laugh inside my head.

Also, TODAY IS FRIDAY. WOOP WOOP. We are leaving for Seattle tonight and I am bringing the Canon, so come Tuesday expect some Seattle snaps.