Philadelphia Weekend with High School Friends

I made a last minute decision to go to Philadelphia last weekend to spend time with three girlfriends from high school—especially to support Jes, who is pregnant, stationed in Germany with the Air Force, and don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies and Amy, who had recently lost her aunt and grandfather.

FRIDAY

I knew this was going to be a great weekend, because on the way to work I came across what looked like a pig’s shoulder in front of my house. [Seriously. Enlarge that sucker, you'll see.] And you know how the old Chinese proverb goes: a pig’s shoulder in the street means good luck for the journey home.


I took some photos of my office for the ‘rents to see.


My office has amazing views on a rainy day. Here’s the Old Granary Burying Ground.


Park Street Church.


Here’s the corner of Park and Beacon. The State House is hidden on the right.


Here’s my office. Kind of boring, but oh the windows!


Here’s our office manager. He’s in a punk band.


I picked up a lame ass Saturn Ion that smelled like pot when I left it in the sun for more than five minutes. Helpful hint: the Government Center Enterprise is not in Government Center. It’s across the street from the Haymarket T stop.

I stopped home to pick up my bags, and Mos the Dog, as is his habit, freaked out. He looked at me with these eyes.


Our neighbor David has a special connection with Mosley and always says, “Mosley and I have tasted the streets, and we don’t ever want to go back.” That’s what Mosley was saying to me. “Don’t leave me! I ain’t goin’ back on the streets, Mama!”

This was my music selection.


Unfortunately, at the time I didn’t realize that my selection was 40% Wu-Tang or Wu-Tang solo projects. This got old really fast. So I listened to a lot of radio. That’s what these Philly trips are for anyway-a chance to get up to speed on current pop music and hip-hop. More on this in a minute.

I stopped by the CT office to do some more work. They’re super stressed down there, so as a stress relief, they decorate the office with pirate accessories. It’s pretty funny.


So, let’s take a moment to reflect on current radio hits. By far the song I heard the most on the ride home was Jordin Sparks’ / Chris Brown’s “No Air”. This song is ridiculously catchy, and I love that it includes about a half dozen mixed metaphors relating to breathing and air (floating on air, drowning, take my breath away, etc.).

I heard two new Akon songs, one with Shaggy and one with 50 Cent, and surprisingly liked them considering I hate everything Akon and 50 Cent stand for. Seriously, folks. Akon owns a diamond mine. Could he be any worse?

I will never get over the fact that Hartford, CT keeps it more real than Boston, NYC and Philly put together. 93.7 is one of the best hip-hop stations on the East Coast. IN.SANE. Somehow they scored the new Jay-Z / Timbaland song “Ain’t I”, which you can hear on my very first muxtape over here!

93.7 plays another song I’ve never heard elsewhere with the chorus “I ain’t no sucka’ for no nookie.” I think it might be a Mobb Deep song, but I’m probably wrong. Speaking of which, I think Mobb Deep has directed all of their payola to 93.7, because it’s the only station that plays them, and they play them all the time. P.S. How good is that song “Got It Twisted”? The one with the sample from “She Blinded Me With Science”?

Other musical road trip highlights? Driving through NYC, I enjoyed a long set of Lost Boys’ Freaky Tah. Hot 97 was commemorating the 9th anniversary of his death. I should really listen to more old-school hip-hop.

I also discovered that I somehow know all the words to Stroke 9’s “Little Black Backpack”, probably the most asinine song of 1999 (which says a lot). It must have been from that time when I wanted to start a Veruca Salt style all girl pop-punk cover band.

I rolled into West Chester (birthplace of such greats as Bam Margera and Matisyahu) and found my parents enthralled by some Matt Lauer 20/20 type news program. I felt like a terrible, terrible person, because I ignored the personal interest story and laughed at how Lauer faked interest during the interviews. This kind of thing happens every time I come home. I get so distracted by my parents’ ginormous tv and start commenting on everyone’s botox and whatnot, and annoy my parents. They recently got Verizon FIOS with over 300 channels. Did you know that MTV has at least five channels, at least one of which actually plays videos? How do people with cable ever leave the house?

SATURDAY

Saturday morning I hung out with the ‘rents. Aren't they cute?


My sister’s mother-in-law sent a sort-of Easter basket, and my dad got a kick out of this slime stuff. Gross!


As always, we talked about the fact that my parents are the only Democrats in all of Chester County (seriously, we talk about this every time I’m home). It stresses them out, because all their friends are conservative. Actually, I think my dad is registered Republican, but rarely votes that way. They’re both torn about Obama and Clinton, yet excited that their primary vote actually matters (though, at this point, that’s not really true).

Saturday was one big happy girl-bonding day in Media. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a lot of photos.

First stop: delightful little French café. We caught up on the basics: work, school, families, living situation, blah blah blah. Being around high school friends is so weird, because you start mentioning things you haven’t thought about in ten years. Certain phrases pop up like “senior lunch” and “AP classes” and it takes a long pause before you’re like, “oh, yeah… I remember that.”

Second stop: Ten Thousand Villages. Media is America’s “First Fair Trade Town.” Cool, no?

Third stop: 5 and Dime for 75% off Easter candy. I bought chocolate dessert cups, so we could do SOCO shots, just like at Amy’s fancy-pants wedding. More on this later.

Fourth stop: Amy’s favorite clothing boutique. As we walked in, we passed four impeccably dressed and adorable ladies in their 70s, and we all looked at each other, like “Woah. That is us in 40 years.” I hope so!

Last stop: Amy’s house for cocktails, cookie baking and more bonding. Amy started pulling out tons of alcohol, and was like, “I don’t f*ck around.” She really doesn’t.


We only had one drink plus these lovely chocolate shots, but somehow we were all buzzed for like 10 hours. It was ridiculous.


Making cookies.


Amy freaked out, because she put the eggs in warm water, and she swore they started to chirp. We heard it, too!


Baby kicking!


When we were lounging around, I asked Jes how it feels to be part of the military during an unpopular war. Totally innocent and sincere question, right? Well, 2 conservatives + 2 liberals + martinis + SOCO shots + war talk = bad news. Woops. Fortunately, all was saved when we realized we were tipsy and hankering for some Indian food.

Like my parents, Amy has a gazillion channels. We were messing around with the music channels, and I came across “Adult Alternative” which at the time I thought was hilarious. The channel mostly plays the Shins and Sufjan Stevens. It’s like, music for people in their 50s who want to be hip to indie music but are scared of Yeasayer and The Liars.


After dropping Jes back home, Amy, Meg and I stopped by this monstrosity.


Could you imaging going to this place, being anxious about having your first child and seeing this photo on the wall? Aaaaaah!!!


Meg looks like she’s hitting this doll, but really she was patting her head. I won't tell you what Amy did to the doll, but I was laughing so hard, I couldn't take photos.


This place was so big, we lost each other, and had to use cell phones to reunite. Sheesh.


Got home, watched the Louisville / UNC game, and off to bed!

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, I found these beauties on my mom’s dresser.


Every once and awhile my mom has a stroke of fashion genius. She said I could keep them-yeah!

I made my bed exactly like my mom likes it. Think she’ll remake it, sis?


The four girls had fancy brunch at Pace One like we were rich old Chester County ladies.

Then, it was time to hit the road, to try to make it home in time for the No Kids / Dirty Projectors concert at the MFA. My whole trip home was one big FAIL. First, because I’m an idiot, I forgot to get on the PA Turnpike and didn’t realize this until I drove by the Philadelphia Art Museum, and was like, “Why am I in Center City Philadelphia?”


Second, I hit loads of nasty traffic in NY. Devotchka got me through the Cross Bronx.


I also listened to a piece BBC4 did to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the death of my great-uncle, who was a highly regarded mid-century English composer. It was such a lovely piece, and I got a kick out of hearing my uncle being interviewed (who sounds and looks just like my father, but 10x more British). I felt guilty thinking about how I come from a legacy of great musicians and artists, yet have such a shallow appreciation for the high arts. New goal: if I still want a piano in five years, I’m going to buy a Steinway from the Symphony’s annual piano sale.

Here’s a sculpture of my grandmother, who was a traveling concert pianist.


Here are some of my great-grandfather’s oil paintings.


You can listen to some of my great-uncle’s compositions here.

The only advantage of getting home so late is that I perfectly timed driving through western Mass when “This American Life” came on. It was an excellent piece on how the Bush Administration has overly used presidential power. One of the stories featured a friend’s sister-in-law, who was denied a green card when her U.S. citizen husband died before their interview was scheduled. Really thought-provoking and alarming episode—much more political than usual for “This American Life.” See more here and here.

I got home just before 9, got right back in the car to rush to the MFA, but only caught 5 Dirty Projectors songs (so good, though!).

All around, it was a great weekend. Since I had a lot of alone time (Ian stayed in Boston, if that wasn't already obvious), I did a lot of thinking about what it means to grow up in the suburbs vs. my current life in the city, how friends change over the years, parent/children dynamics, blah blah blah. I'll spare you all the philosophical stuff. To summarize, the trip reinforced how content I am in Boston and how leaving Boston would be very, very difficult. The City, the people, the lifestyle, the unique challenges--they're all such a large part of my identity as an adult. That being said, I love where I grew up and I love Philadelphia. I just don't want to live there anytime soon.