the secret to life/non-death...

... is to listen to your favorite song whilst doing ANYTHING. mine, coincidentally, is "once in a lifetime" by the talking heads. today i did pretty much everything in tandem with this song, and today was a good day. coincidence? most likely. but who cares?

so much to catch up on!

so the last time i posted, i ended up playing darts with everyone in the pub where i was pirating wifi. i came in second behind a man who was aged no less than 150 years. his son/great-grandson/friend/employee bought me a glass of wine so i felt obliged. it is fun pretending like you don't know how darts works and then pretty much kicking everyone's ass.

since then i lose track of the days. does my diction sound weird? when i was abroad with my mom last year she would do this hilarious thing where she would try to emulate the accent of a region (as if they were speaking english) instead of actually trying to speak that language. i think maybe i am starting to do that, at least in writing.

anyways, since the last post i have:

1) been to the vienna modern art museum, aka the MUMOK. it was amazing. i starting feeling faint and having heart palpitations on the second floor. at first i thought i might be truly sick, but then i rationalized that i am probably just an art pussy. their main attraction this month was "good painting, bad art," which was nothing to write home about. but their residence exhibit was basically everything interesting and avante garde that happened in austria 1968-1971. most of it was superbly brilliant, and a solid half of it was simultaneously superbly brilliant AND stomach turning. all kinds of "utopian architecture," which i suppose means "art that is not painting and also makes you very uncomfortable - please don't bring your children." 8mm videos, giant inflatable "sculptures"/penises/living areas, paintings of chairs with boobs coming out of them. you know. just art.

2) been to an american pop show: a band called "portugal. the man." honestly, they kind of sucked. it was like a cross between journey and blonde redhead - which might sound great, but trust me; it wasn't. afterwards i introduced myself to the band members, because from my research they appeared to be from portland, but they seemed a bit put off because no one in portland has ever heard of them and everyone in vienna wanted their autograph. i was apparently dampening their fabulousness by talking about berbati's after they just played to an international crowd of 500 (woo-hoo?).

after this show i met an american and potential friend. her name is meaghan and she went to yale ('06). she studies cello at the conservatory here. i think maybe we could hang. it was so relieving and wonderful to speak to someone in english, especially about austria.

3) been to a balkan disco show: a band called bucovina club orkestar. they were good! they threw full bottles of vodka at the audience mid-way through their set. i was too far back to receive any of these delightful attendance gifts but whatever. everyone was dancing, as it is impossible not to do at any balkan music event.
on the subway on my way there, a strange young man kept asking me if i would have coffee with him at the next subway station tomorrow morning. i said "maybe!" but i said it in english and he did not speak english. i think i am thus relieved of obligation?
also on my way home from the show, two teenage boys asked for cigarettes in return for a swig of gosser bier. i said take the cigarettes; i don't want beer. they were apparently very offended by this, as they followed me 3 blocks down the street (though they clearly had a bus to catch), all while thrusting a half empty, teenage-saliva-swathed beer can at me. how very tempting!

4) been to a viennese laundromat. so amazing! in the first half hour i made friends with an old viennese lady because even she thought it was confusing. in the next hour and twenty minutes i made friends with one young couple from houston, and another older indian couple from lansing. now i know when i am lonely that i should just go to the laundromat.

nothing is funny right now. i am too tired. write more later.



this is the mumok


this is my new favorite cleaning agent


i too like sex more than gender!


this is the band i saw tonight


this is me in my sprockets uniform


xoxoxoxoxoxox
ashley