Hey, munchkins. Safe…

Hey, munchkins. Safe and sound in Philly, if a bit groggy. I haven't really switched over time zone, and I had some trouble falling asleep last night, so I've only just gotten up. Luckily, I have no schedule. I finished reading Meena Alexander's Fault Lines this morning, which was just lovely all the way through. I think if I were to write a memoir, I'd want it to have a little more story and a little less poetry -- but maybe not much.

The plan for today is to finish my cup of tea and then go for a nice long ramble. I'm staying with my sister's boyfriend Ryan, who lives a few blocks south of South Street and almost at 2nd. So essentially southeast of the area I want to set my story in. I plan to walk north to South Street and then amble along it, taking lots of photos and stopping in at any interesting spots, jotting notes as necessary. I think I'll save the hospital for tomorrow -- today I'll just head west to where we used to live, 17th and Lombard, I think. Take photos of that neighborhood, since I think Shefali's going to be living there. Maybe go a bit further west to 20th and Lombard; I think Gabriel's apartment might end up there. Roshan's going to be closer to the hospital, so I'll get him tomorrow. Then up to Rittenhouse Square -- if I time it right, I might have high tea at the Rittenhouse Hotel; I have a scene set there, and it's nice to have an excuse to have scones and clotted cream. And I need to find a Japanese restaurant to have sushi in for another scene (oh, my life, it is so hard). What would be perfect would be whichever one where David first took me for sushi, but I don't remember the name of it; will have to see if he does, and if it still exists.

If I can cover all that today, I'll be pretty happy. I want to end up at a Borders, so I can spend 3-4 hrs reading in the evening; there are still several conference authors I haven't read anything by yet. There's no way I can get them all before the conference, but if I can read a few more, that would be great.

Oh, and given what I spent yesterday evening watching with Ryan, who is a huge fan -- go, Red Sox! Good job! :-)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *