from march 18th --
I took a stroll through uptown tonight. I have to say, I do love uptown. I love living in it; i love that i can walk downstairs and out the door and into the streets of uptown. It's no New York, no Chicago, no London. It's insulting to even list those cities here. But I still love this little urban playground, where feeling attached and detached all at once is the feeling you crave.
I walked up 6th street, which is always vaguely nostalgic of my walks to work at Hearst, proof that you can be nostalgic about anything if you've done it enough times. Cut over before the Holiday Inn parking garage past the Bobcats arena (i am still amazed that Jordan has decided to invest in charlotte hoops like he has. v. good news for charlotte.. or v. bad news for MJ. i have hope for the former..). Walked past the spattering of people waiting for the light rail -- mainly african americans, one white lady reading a hardcover. The smell of cigarette smoke made me laugh at the thought that i also get slightly nostalgic about the smell of cigarettes and day-old beer, a disturbing truth.
Walked up the ramp to the Epicentre. Surprised at the number of people eating outside at Libretto's. Caught a glimpse of the new Kazba place on the 2nd floor - stupid spelling.
ohh, watching Pulp Fiction (intermittently with bball), and travolta just took a sip of uma's milkshake.. "goddamn this is a pretty fucking good milkshake." ah, that has no effect in writing, but so much goodness on screen.
Walked past the Fudgery, wondering how they stay in business, then past the 'secret' back door to Blackfinn that Brett took me through one night (i think that is the last time i've been there.. might stay that way since RiRa is open again), and then past the little CBS studio - looks like they've doctored it up a little since I was last there.
Walked to the corner that still evokes bad memories of getting stuck at the crosswalk with jesus-freak dude yelling through a megaphone. Walked past Aria, peering down into the restaurant, watching innocuous people enjoy their dinner [added note - ate there about a week after writing this - and sat about 5 feet away from MJ himself. Needless to say, we became as giddy as a babies in jumperoos].
Up past the fountain - lots of pennies to look at and an excuse not to make eye contact with a homeless guy. Left at Trade and Tryon onto Tryon. Walked behind a guy that reminds me of an old boss. He stopped to watch the McDevitt video next to the Emerson barber shop place, which Joe and I have done before.
favorite part of pulp fiction on now - uma and john twisting in their socks. i love it.
Walked past the Wachovia Plaza, imagining the throes of yuppies there at old AA5s, the people watching, the boy spotting, the cover bands that were perfect for that type of event.
Walked to the Knight Theatre and said hello to my new favorite thing uptown - the Firebird,
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That's it. That's as far as I got. But if I were to add to it, the end of the sentence would be, "which Joe thinks is ugly." We went jogging through Uptown tonight, and it was just as nice as this walk a couple months ago (well, except that I would have rather been walking). Hotter. The trees are filled out, and the smell of cut grass is back. Not bad. I voted in the primary elections today and actually had a candidate picked for every race on my ballot. It'd be silly to deny that I have a stake in this place, and I can't imagine it underwater. So, I feel you, Nashvillians (?). There you go. I'm no CNN, but you got take it and run... you know, like Katrina victims after an incompetent FEMA response.
