désolé

it's all moving so fast. literally. had a formula one style race through the heart of the city by a hell bent and friendly cab driver. i felt like bill murray in the opening scenes to lost in translation, the buildings, the signs, all zipping by, slow enough to carve out their borders, to see their shapes, yet fast enough to have difficultly register it all, to organize the surreality into something tangible. an incredibly unsettling though very welcomed disjointedness (I can't sleep on planes. ever.). god, this is all real.

meet up with Alain and got our apartment. realized he would have been an amazing portrait. still, the whole "letting-it-all-sink-in" -ness negates the "i-must-capture-this" -ness of the scenes and the people.

so we unpack a bit, bundle up some more, and head out into our neighborhood. art galleries with mexican wrestling masks, countless faces at high tables, motorcycle hand warmers, giant round-topped doors, railings, wet pavements, store-fronts, street-spraying. sensory overloads. a store that sells only tiny, perfectly arranged succulents. we get one for the room, i reach for it and get reminded not to help myself (I'd told Leah the cultural quirk there at a store front window with these high-end, spiked wingtip shoes), yet forgot my own advice. butchering the language, but making the effort. our server at the restaurant acknowledges this, her English is effortless, her work-pace highly enviable. we laugh with her, she understands. we buy pasteries later, and I had the change to the girl at the counter. fuck, that's right, that's what the tray is for--I did read that somewhere once too. lines build. need to relax, relax. realize, lack of sleep is starting to take it's toll. we head back up, nap for a few hours. awake now. our colds have progressed but hot showers await before we had back out into the rain, bon soir, deux pour diner s.v.p. I'm ready, I can't answer any follow up questions, but I'm ready. désolé, my french is not good. i penciled it in. it will take into the sunrise. we drink, we eat.