Now it's a day later than when I started compiling this entry, and now I will complete it.
Some of you may be worrying where I've been -- it's OK. I was worried, too. I've been busy, it seems, but not just doing work. I've been busy relaxing from work, which sounds trivial but is important. Actually, this may not sound that trivial at all to the 'grown-ups' reading, because from what I gather of adult life, the post-work wind-down is a critical part of the day's cycle. Well, I'm just now coming to realize that, so I've spent the last week trying to be better prepared for my various works by not exerting myself after I get home from pre-school, so that I am sleepy by pre-midnight and am able to sleep more than five or six hours, seeing as how I have to wake up at 6:45 a.m. at the latest. Does this come across as tinny whining about negligible obstacles? I hope so; that means I'm growing up.
And so but1 here is something that will make the wait worth it for you readers I hope. A gigapost with all the worthy pictures I've been taking, along with commentary, all arranged chronologically, to provide the bones and meat of the narrative of my life here recently to you, My Reader. These pictures in fact range from around September 20 to yesterday. I only realized I ought to size them large after I'd begun uploading them. If you want to see them in gallery form, here is a page with every picture I could afford to upload, up-to-date, upon you. I will organize the following into bolded sub-sets of photos and commentary, hopefully for ease of navigation, because I'm aware of the prospective length of this post. Further ado avoided:
[EDIT: Turns out that the large option is in fact too large for the width of my blogger template, SO a good portion of each picture bigger than medium is cut off in its displayed form, here. I recommend clicking and opening them in a new window, maybe, or just opening a sister window of the Picasa Web Album and browsing it coincidentally. So much for further ado avoidance:]
i. principal perambulation w/ pictures
I went to the grocery store, the Albert that's down the road from my flat, one morning by myself. I took these pictures as I walked what I thought would be an interesting, if less direct, back way to the store. As you can tell from the photos, the weather was very agreeable and I remember enjoying my time alone with the creaks and sniffs of Prague.
This is a park-ish area that is pretty close behind where I live. These benches, and the clear space they inhabit, is about all there is. I particularly like the crane in the background (I think that was intentional).
Turns out there are actually a lot of things in the small clearing. Pilsner Urquell is the beer of tradition here.
Some electro-organic deutritus adjoins a bench.
Someone somewhere is colder than they used to be. I like lost things.
I also like this tree; at least, I like the light this tree catches.
Wedged into the corner between two horrible looking ash-gray blocks of communist-era residential concrete is this chipper little locksmith. I haven't been inside, but I imagine it is staffed by a single very dour man with the only kind of nose that can balance his broom-like mustache. Undoubtedly beady eyes, pulling the lines and creases of his face toward themselves.
The least impressive tower in Prague.
This man was washing the storefront with a rag, I believe. I found it poignant for some reason.
This, too. How does it make you feel?
Before I made it to the Albert, I came across this abandoned building in the middle of a huge, desolate post-deconstruction zone ringed by a wide orange wall. The building and surrounding dirtscape stuck out from the area around them like a cigarette burn on carseat fabric, and I wanted to get as close a look as I could. Unfortunately, there were construction workers active on the other side of the building, so I had to be stealthy and brief in my stop.
This used to be a tree in the clearing.
Up close, this crap looked awesome.
This looks like a piece of art.
Voyage into blue.
This earthmover was in motion, and it had kind of startled me when it came around the side of the building. I wanted to capture the effect of its motion on the landscape, but unfortunately it looks like a still piece here.
Pretty much the opposite kind of structure. Look at the gray, gray-green, white and silver, though.
New golf open! Novy golf iiž otevřen!
A small, open-air fort of interesting trashcans.
The most Soviet looking waste receptacles ever designed.
Peeling wall, flies-eye-view.
Note the boot in the corner. There was only one boot. B o o
___________________________________________o o
Far-shot of the dilapidated smokestack.
"wtf" entertainment, indeed.
There is a huge white dome on this golf course, and I do not know why. The whole mini-area of this small section of neighborhood exuded an air of wealth and excess, so I have no reason not to believe that the dome is filled with genetically engineered goldfish bred to survive and thrive in aquariums filled with champagne.
ii. vaclavske namesti, round one
On the escalator up and out of the metro stop near my flat, the aglet of my neon green shoelaces got caught in the metallic teeth between undulating steps and suddenly snapped out and back up at my leg to then lay like a headless snake on the rivuleted surface of the escalator. R.I.P.
Vaclavske Namesti is one of the most tourist-y, commercialized parts of town, which is a shame because it's also home to some of the most ornate and beautiful buildings in Prague.
The roof of this building is sci-fi, with what I assume are solar panels? The big barrel in the middleground is an artifact of the large-scale construction going on in the square.
Little fish; big pond.
This is the building where I worked for three days -- Roberts Publishing is on the fourth floor. I cursed this building every morning and forgot about it every afternoon.
Like I said: some of the most beautiful buildings in Prague. This is the National Museum and it dominates Vaclaske Namesti. I haven't been inside it yet.
How could I not take a picture of this?
iii. around the house, part one
Meet Regina, Prague's resident sexy toilet-paper ant.
Naught but mischief could be on the mind of such a Megan holding such a showering-implement. This is out stand-up self-contained shower stall -- it fills up with water really fast and the temperature ranges wildly across the spectrum from H to C, but it's better than nothing.
Where my clothes go when they're tired of being in the hamper.
The "jacuzzi." The hand-held nozzle, sadly just barely not pictured, looks like the handpiece of an old rotary telephone, from like the '20s, and its cradle is formed such that you place it nozzle-down when not using it, so that whenever you turn it on, the intense water pressure this apartment sometimes sees fit to provide us with sends it snaking around the bathroom like a firefighter in a Loony Toon cartoon. I'm not kidding -- this happens to me once a week.
One of the views from one of our living room windows. I know you could see this anywhere in the world, but still -- it's cool.
Neato old shack across the tram tracks from the backside of our flat.
Another view of the city, roofs and tree.
A vine that grows around one of the ceiling supports in our living room. Mid-day.
Just a documentarian glimpse of the inside of our flat.
This got seriously cleaned not long after this picture was taken.
This is on the ground in our living room. I don't know why.
View from the "front" of our flat, out onto the more industrial-looking part of the neighborhood.
Same as above, but other direction.
iv. prague-rpg, night the first
This is Megan and I on our way to the first game of our Dungeons and Dragons group. In the metro.
We stopped to get snacks on the way, and I couldn't resist the garish mating call of the candy aisle.
Let me tell you -- 3Bit is the best native candy bar in Prague. Also notice how the Pepsi bottle is weird.
Behold! Tobbe, a.k.a. Torbjörn Johnsson, with the skeptical DM's look at right, and the very Czech Martin at left. Martin plays a psionic warrior named Cyrus.
Megan hammers out the details of Plink, her halfling rogue.
Pavel Olpt, another Czech, doubtless lost in his stock reverie involving his character, the voluptuous aasimar bard Dalia, and himself, sans garment.
Nnnnnneat!
Megan found this in the sink at the office where we played -- I can only assume that the caption is hilarious.
Daniel skulks out, with something to hide...
Post-DnD Foosball with Tobbe!
On the way back home, some a-hole decided it was a clever idea to prove to his a-hole friends that he can climb around the metro like a chimp. Here's evidence of his coolness.
v. the bead school, a.k.a. work, part one
Here's the main play area for the kids in my class. Pictured left to right are Miša, Christine and Štěpan (with horse in tow. That horse is his favorite toy/weapon.).
This is Vilem -- he's one of, if not the, weirdest kid at my pre-school. He is as picky an eater as I am and will only eat plain bread or plain pasta. More to come from him, I'm sure.
This is one of my favorite kids, a little girl named Michaelka ("mee-hal-ka") running around like a maniac. She is the twin sister of Filip, another weird kid, but she's just a fast learner and a kinetic organism.
In the corner of the stairwell, this piece of art gets ignored by everyone who works and attends The Bead School. Shortly after this picture, all the art on it got changed to mushroom men.
In the room for the slightly older kids in my class, I lead them in a lesson. They are coloring a worksheet about brown.
General mayhem as my kids finish up their coloring and start to disperse, despite my best efforts to point them in more academically rewarding directions.
View from the older kids' room, with beautiful vistas of communist concrete pre-fabs.
Amalka toys with the CD player while Filip kneels in deference. Vilem stands enthralled by his own existence
This song is actually awesome. Go listen to it in full-->
vi. going home
I'm always in a good mood when I walk this way, because it's how I get back to the metro from work.
The colors here are nice.
As are the slopes.
Graffiti pathway.
This is the name of the stop where I work.
My hand looks like that whenever I buy tickets.
From top of stairs down into main metro waiting area.
Inside out.
The ever-helpful and super-simple directional guide for the metro. Just find your stop, look at the stop you want to go to, and see which direction the arrow is pointing to get there. In my case, Luke points <-- to Palmovka. E-Z!
The metro arrives, blessedly scant of occupied seats.
OK so this is cool. It's the stop right after Luka on the way back home, called Lužiny ("loo-zhin-ee"), and there are trees inside of glass tubes here. I got off here just to take pictures, to show you. Look!
So neat!
I wonder if there's a survivable ecosystem in there...
While I was waiting for the next metro, I took a picture of the interesting columnar architecture.
Returning home from work, I walk along this path every day. The graffiti is total.
Pastel buildings and public art-turned-open air trash can.
Local rooftop.
The footpath taken by many generations of Palmovkans.
Nothing says home like this. If you zoom in really close, you can see Megan coming out of the door to go catch the metro that was about to pull away. She has to catch a tram to work right when I get home, every day. It's sad :[
See? She had to run to catch it. Good luck, Megan!
A view from near home.
Tram wires dissect the sky at most busy intersections.
vii. photos from nearby
This is what the outside of our outside door looks like...
...and this is what it looks like from the inside.
This is the "backyard" of out apartment is like -- it's a sort of industrial courtyard with detritus galore.
I feel a strong affinity for this picture, and I'm not sure why.
Rusty door.
Hidden compartment.
Inside the compartment.
From the bottom, near a brick.
I wonder whose stuff that is...
Shot of the empty ceiling.
Beyond these bricks are tram lines.
Beyond these bricks are more courtyards to which I have no access.
Sky shot.
Don't forget the flatbeds of toilets.
From courtyard to front door:
Three layers of roofing.
Inside the "foyer" there is this:
From the second or third floor, the window overlooks the courtyard, and the sun was coming in comfortingly.
viii. en route to / at the prague post
I was called in for an interview at The Prague Post, Prague's premiere English-language newspaper, and this is what I was wearing for the occasion. I was a little late for the appointment with Frank Kuznik, head honcho over there, so I was rushing. I was afraid that I didn't look professional enough, so I snapped these two pictures to try to self-evaluate on my way. I was in Vaclavske Namesti at this time.
While walking up the sizable side street that leads from Vaclavske Namesti to the Post's offices, I encountered this.
It's the most amazing thing: the way to get up to the offices is via an antiquated porthole'd metal door that leads to a lift the like of which would never be seen in America. The following video illustrates why.
Then after my interview Megan and I went to eat here. A handful of men were engaged in some sort of activity with a pile of chopped wood on the street.
ix. the bead school, a.k.a. work, part two
I brought my camera to work with me again the next day. Look how dreary the morning was -- fog not to be trifled with.
These are scarecrow men that I had the kids make out of cardboard toilet paper tubes -- I'm a genius! (I cut out the arms and legs.)
Otto! He's playing with some plastic man.
Otto! Now he has a car -- he brings a different toy car to school every day.
Otto! This time with another car -- not his.
Otto! Looking inquisitive, or maybe just supplicative.
Otto! Auto! Chaos captured.
Adam, pictured here, reaching for the pull-tab of the ladybug craft that is engineered in such a way so that the weight of its thick wooden wings oscillate up and down versus the body of the bug, making it look like it's flying. A delight.
Light dawneth...
Otto! You can do it, buddy...
Otto! Reach!
Yeah, kid -- you're flying.
These three kids were making antler-like gestures with their hands and heads, but here they look like they're just goofing around. Pfft!
They're not nearly this imprisoned-looking, most of the time. Trust me...
I feel too creepy taking my camera outside to play, where everyone can see me, so I resigned myself to shooting the playground through the window. Sigh...
Oh, you'd better believe that we sing "The Muffin Man." E-v-e-r-y day.
x. nightlife
Megan's coworker -- a girl named Serena -- at the pre-school where she works happens to also be in a band, and Megan received an invitation to one of their shows one night last week. I had something to do, I forget what, but when I was finished I went to meet her there. I mostly took pictures of the bathroom, because it was so delightfully lit and colored.
I forget which corner of the stall this was, but isn't it spacey?
And of course you have to love these:
"Down the rabbit hole..." is what I think when I look at this picture.
Look closely -- BOO!
The band! There's Selena on the right.
Rawk --
-- and droll...stupid Americans.
The music was bass-heavy and weirdly rhythmic.
And she was a good frontwoman. I think the band's name was ISM, as in "-ism."
Bassist feet.
Bassist groove (nerdy).
No groove, just nerdy.
After the dank, womblike warmth of the show and its crowds of buzzed hipsters, the sterile lighting of the metro reminds one of a dentist's office, or a tube of toothpaste.
Plastic bubbles!
xi. around the house, part two
This might have been the same night, or a day or two later from the night of the concert. We were just relaxing on the big square couch in the living room area.
And laughing!
Ceiling supports -- very "ski lodge"y.
xii. roaming around town
We went to Tesco to buy a memory card for Megan's deluxe camera for an afternoon on the town, but what we found was so much more rewarding than that:
Bat penis!
Encouraged by our chiropterological discovery, we took to the mean cobblestone'd streets of Prague to document its many and ancient architectural wonders. This here is the Astronomical Clock, which dates back to 1410. Cool!
Horses, for tourists -- they stink (ambiguity!).
Horse face (hah!).
Oh, man.
More oh, man.
Old Town Square.
Just some amazing more buildings.
In Prague, the beggars often line the streets in these positions, face down and ballcap out, to receive alms from good Samaritans. It is indeed quite gauche to take pictures of them. I did it anyway.
Just an arch.
Just a tree -- but what a tree it is!
The tree is in face directly outside Anagram Bookshop, one of the two most prominent English-language bookstores. For those keeping score, yes we did finally find it, but it took us awhile, and actually the first time we found it was way after it was closed, the night of the rock show. This marked our first actual visit.
Later that night: =P
I met up with Daniel and his wife, whose name I think is Sofie or Sofe? Something along those lines -- she is from Shanghai and is very very energetic and talkative. The two of them make a very odd but endearing couple. She wanted to meet Megan really badly, but Megan was not there. I don't remember why we are making scary noises.
xiii. miscellaneous pictures that defy easy categorization
This is a worksheet I used to teach a lesson to the younger group of kids in my class about vegetation of autumn. I had -- with Megan's help -- actually sliced this sheet up into three separate sheets, with added fruits and vegetables, one sheet for each realm, but I had banked on there being a printer at the school to print them off with. Well, turns out there is no printer, so I ended up just having to teach from this worksheet, which I was underprepared to do, and it was traumatic. I stumbled and stammered in front of a measly four of the lower-end-of-the-English-proficiency-scale Czech kids while my co-worker looked on in disgust. Every time I tried to deviate from her idea of the right lesson track, she scolded me, but when I stayed on track, I did a horrible job. It was a train wreck, but a few days later I performed much better with the older kids. I think this job is working out for me, but it's just a huge pain to get my sleep schedule right. I imagine that soon -- what with my added responsibilities with The Prague Post and Provokator -- I will be driven insane by the lack of time I have to sit and do what I want, including more frequently updating this blog.
I find these next two pictures capture a certain almost-Biblical flair for hidden-message imagery.
Once more -- this is where I live. Really.
I had to go collect acorns for the class lesson the next day, so I went searching in the small, scattered fields and woods behind my flat. While picking through the stunted foliage, I nearly impaled my ankle on this: a severed collection of wires jutting out of the ground. Yikes! Here's what could have ended up in my leg:
OK so I went to find a Copy General to sidestep the calamity of the previous lesson, and ended up winding through some of the most picturesque avenues of downtown. My camera sucks for night pictures, but please try to imagine that this is breathtaking instead of grainy. Megan's camera will do them justice sooner or later.
And THEN! I found what few can appreciate -- a hobby gaming store. It's called Ogři Doupě ("og-rzhey dowp-yeh"), which I think means "Ogre's Den." It was closed when I found it, because I had to sniff it out with very scant directions from Daniel. He told me roughly what part of town it was in ("Between the Karlovo Namesti and I.P. Pavlova metro stops") and that it was between two men's erotica stores (turns out they're just regular old Erotic Cities!), and that's all he could remember. Sooooo I went searching and eventually, despite all my realistic hopes, actually found it. From what I could see through the window, they seem to be predominately a model gaming store, specifically devoted to Games Workshop products (i.e. Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000). Needless to say, I am excited. I haven't been by in the daytime yet, but I hope to familiarize myself with the store and its options thoroughly. I think they have DnD stuff there, too, but just to surround myself with the articles of gaming nerd-dom will do my soul good. Check out the pictures -- though dark -- that I took of the models displayed in the front window case. Ogr!
God, how cool is that?
Fantasy troops.
Bad-ass.
Look at that Space Marine! He's like the size of a Barbie doll!!
I took these pictures in the I.P. Pavlova station, just to capture the flavor of late night metro riding for you. I thought it was interesting that the Misfits had made it all the way here.
My book got wet and now it's coming apart :[
Neato.
OK so this is the last section of somewhat related pictures -- the kitchen, post cleaning. Megan and I, in anticipation of this past Monday's DnD gaming session, which we're hosting at our apartment now, decided to clean up the unfortunately dirty kitchen as best we could. I did a crapton of dishes, and set out a whole new clean dish drying area, and basically we moved all sorts of stuff around to try to quarantine Chris's gross coffee and food preparation stuff into a different area. Well, our efforts were countered almost immediately, as the following sequence of photos will demonstrate. What appears at first to be a very clean and tidy clean dish drying area is soon revealed to have horrid coffee stains and food and, ugh, it's just a total shame. Also see the chunk of butter let to soften on the bare hot plate of the gas stove.
Oh, yeah. To cap it all off (which, we did eventually get a lot of it cleaned), we found a bag with...well...just look. Don't puke 'til after you're left a comment.
Now for an assortment of the least connected images -- just pictures I took as I was walking. This is a complementary doggie doodoo bag by the sidewalk I take to get to the metro.
Nature-y.
Lonely dog.
Secret ensign on the back of the tram stop.
Where I enter to get anywhere.
Down the line, toward down.
Well that was a very long post. I'm sorry that it has been such a great number of days since the last time I added any update worth reading to this blog, but I have been trying to balance adjusting to my new sleep schedule and work/energy demand while not collapsing at home and forfeiting actually enjoying this city. I will try to update on a smaller scale more frequently, as I gather that reading a huge update once every ten days is less satisfying or convenient than reading seven small ones every day.
It's 5:15 a.m. now, here, more than a full day since I began actually writing, much less uploading content for, this post. So I say it's about time to wrap it up.
In sum: things are going well. I am happy. I miss you all -- mom and dad and Sara and Rosey and Leslie and Katlat and Lauren and Will and Sean and Erica and Stacie and Amy and Kate and Annie and everyone else who it's 5:17 a.m. I'm too tired to actually write it all out. I need to finish this. Here's what I look like right now:
I love everyone. BYE!
1- Ripping off DFW shamelessly, here, twice
1 comment:
ZOMG, I can't believe you found DND people. Actually, I can. That game unites people. Wow.
That's the nicest looking metro I've ever seen.
And who is this Daniel? This isn't the same as Megan's Daniel is it? He looked cute!
K
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