the underwear drawer

last day off

Two weeks off seemed like a long time when my vacation started, anyway. So tomorrow morning I'm back on the wards, and on call the same night. You know, to make me forget that I ever had vacation at all. But I can't complain. Despite the fact that I didn't end up going away anywhere, I had a fantastic vacation. I saw many many friends, went out almost every night, enjoyed the summer weather. It was like having a mini-summer vacation. It reminded me of how summer vacations felt when I was a kid, actually. The city and heat and noise and bus exhaust, the people all pushing together into a huge chaotic melange. That feeling of stepping onto the asphalt when crossing the street and feeling it give way just a little, because it's so sunny and hot that the tar is melting. It's funny, the strange associations that will trigger memories of childhood.

Perhaps related: do you know what I could really go for right now? Some Spaghetti-Os.

Yesterday Joe and I went out to get some breakfast, and then stopped by this poster-and-frame shop in our neighborhood that's going out of business. He's slashing his prices to the bone (or so he would like us to think, anyway), so we picked up a couple of prints for our house, figuring it was a good opportunity to cover up some of our bare walls. I do think we ended up getting a pretty good deal, considering how big these prints are, and the fact that they're already framed.



This one is a vintage "King Kong" movie poster, Fay Wray era. We thought it especially apropos because you can see the Empire State Building out our window.



And this one is a vintage Pan Am advertisement. I don't know if you can make it out, but the scene is that of a plane approaching Lower Manhattan. This is all before the World Trade Center was built, so ironically, there's nothing jarringly anachronistic about the view.


The last print we got is a vintage Euro booze ad that we're getting framed, so we haven't picked it up yet. Yesterday we put up all our new prints, looked at it from all angles, and felt proud and adult somehow. It's not so long ago that we were sticking up bare posters on the walls with Fun-Tak, remember.

Later in the day, we met up with my sisters to have BBQ at Duke's, and then headed over to Union Square to watch "Harry Potter." I'd forgotten how big that theater was, and how their chairs are like La-Z-Boys with fold-up armrests to permit you to make one giant couch with your viewing company. (Or maybe in this day and age, to permit you so spread out your considerable girth more comfortably.) I enjoyed the movie, thought it was probably the best of the three, and even though they didn't waste a lot of time with the exposition and left out some important plotlines, I guess they trusted that most of the people in the audience had probably read the book already.

Today, I'm going to the supermarket to do some shopping so that I can make dinner for my call-night tomorrow. This afternoon, we're heading to Central Park for the big Joe's Medicine Department Softball Game. I'll cheer dutifully when Joe's up at bat, and then bring a book for the rest of the time. Then, after we get home, I'm going to go to bed. Projected wake-up time tomorrow morning: 4:00am. I'm back!

Currently reading: "Aching for Beauty," a sociological analysis of foot-binding in China. Because sometimes I like to pretend I'm a Women's Studies major.

Support The Underwear Drawer! Shop at The Scutmonkey Store!