Strippers and Hustlers and Art…Oh my!
I met up with Randy and his friends again last night. I arrived home from work and they were already in my apartment making themselves nice and cozy. After some chit-chat, we decided to explore the new ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art). Getting there from the North End is no easy task despite the fact that from the museum you can see the North End very easily across the harbor. Unfortunately, there is no direct public transit option to get there. At North Station we took the Green Line to Park Street (there was a Red Sox game last night so it moved horrendously slow). From there we transfered to the Red Line. After two stops we transfered to the Silver Line. After one stop we got out and walked a few blocks simply to go around a vast parking lot (the museum was straight across, but we had to go completely around the parking lot because of fences).
The museum is an interesting building located on the edge of Boston Harbor. However, it was constructed very poorly. The building just opened a few months ago and already we found stair railings held together with tape and cracks in the concrete floor (this building is cantilevered so it’s somewhat unsettling to see cracks already). Anyway, the views are quite lovely and the space (outside) under the cantilever is interesting.
The man exhibit on the 4th floor was photoraphry of strippers and hustlers from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. Interesting stuff. But the most interesting part was when Randy headed off to the loo and I sat on a bench overlooking the harbor. A woman walked by who looked shockingly familiar. We stared at each other for a bit until she finally leaned over and said my name. It was the sister of one of my closest high school friends! She lives in Florida now and was visiting my friend, Carolyn.
Anyway, a few minutes later, while chatting, I turned around and there was Carolyn! Hugs, conversation, and laughter ensued. Oh, and Randy came back from the bathroom. The next thing I knew, two more of Carolyn’s sisters showed up (so in all there were 4 out of 5 sisters there). They all have an uncanny resemblence to each other and are prone to finish each other’s sentences. And then it dawned on me (actually, to all of us) that aside from Carolyn, I’d probably not seen these people in over 15 years (they were still in either junior high or high school abck then). Ugh, I’m old.
It was a great, unexpected reunion…and I discovered that Carolyn still reads my blog regularly (she knew things I’d posted just recently). However, she doesn’t appear to comment on here (HINT HINT if you’re reading this, Carolyn).
So after catching up, Carolyn and her sisters went to their car to put money in the meter and get dinner. We bid adieu and continued exploring the museum.
Afterwards, we headed into the South End for dinner at Addis Red Sea - an Ethiopian restaurant. I’d not been there in over a decade, but it was just as I remembered. The food was good (though I do prefer using silverware) and it had the most kick-ass hand dryer in the bathroom! You know those photos (or videos) of people skydiving where the wind blowing against their faces causes the skin to flap around? Well, that’s how strong these hand dryers were. I activated mine twice just for the hell of it.
Good times.
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I visited the ICA museum a few months ago. Building is great, but i found that there weren’t many pieces on display. They were setting up the whore thing so i missed that. My favorite part was that space station looking thingy. It was all multi colored and had little rooms you could look into. I had to go back and see it again before I left. I’m not a fan of modern art for the most part, but the space station thingy was amazing. Also it might have been easier to walk from your house, I remember doing it in under a half hour, I went to get a cannoli after the museum.
Sounds like a fun show - how long is it up? Well, the ICA got a LOT of building for a VERY cheap (per square foot) design, and it LOOKS cool, so it’s kinda to be expected that much of it isn’t going to age well, alas! I was looking at that cantilevered interactive computer-room thingie awhile ago and it was already getting to look REALLY beat - the whole thing will end up looking like a third-world airliner soon enough, I fear. As to the concrete cracking, that’s pretty normal in reinforced concrete - it all moves and it shrinks for quite a long time after construction - not to worry unless cracks keep getting wider and wider and/or chunks start falling off the rebar (eek!) - but we have a tunnel for that kinda thing, that cost, oh, what, several thousand times as much as the ICA.
Hmm…you shoulda walked there - much faster - public transit in certain configurations in this city, most particularly the Silver Bus, is a joke….
I finally caught up with your blog! and found your posting. My sisters were thrilled that we ran into you! We do finish eachother’s sentences way too much!