Ever since, Mike and I have been great. Which brings up the question: were all the issues I had really just me? My lack of self-esteem? Perhaps. The power dynamics have changed, whether it lay in my perception or his as well, I do not know. And for now, I do not care. What I do see is that it has had a positive domino effect, especially combined with the other good stuff...weight loss, not being under the thumb of my PhD advisor, living in a fabulous 18 foot tall apartment etc.
On the downside, we have to move so that I can be closer to work. We have been living in Lowell, and this place has really grown on us. At first glance, its not much, but its got grit and a lot of potential. It has a growing art scene and a very chilled out vibe, not in a hipster way, but in an India way. No ones putting on airs, and you have all sorts of people, of varying income levels, just bumble along. Mike thinks it will get gentrified within the decade, and while that's a good thing in general terms, I hope it retains its gritty charm.
The other thing is that we traveled over the winter break. We did Vegas, New Mexico and Denver. The morning after we reached Vegas, it was wet and cold, a rarity in Vegas, we later learned. We walked along the Strip and the place looked desolate. A larger than life playground with nobody in it. We went in and out of casinos. Again, somehow very sad to see people sit in front of slot machines with glazed eyes. The noises and colors from the machines were similar to something from an 80s video game. Then we browsed the malls. Walking around the Venetian was fun, with a sincere attempt at imitating its namesake - gondolas, painted blue skies with fluffy clouds, the works. At some point, Mike said he imagined that Dubai must look a lot like Vegas. And while there are similarities, such as the desert-like aridness and over-the-top bling, I felt otherwise. Vegas, on close-up, looks a bit cheap, Dubai looks opulent. It could be that one does a lot of neon lights while the other does gold tiles, or it could be that Vegas has no original architecture. One thing is certain, there aren't posters of naked women everywhere in Dubai.
The second day in Vegas was probably the highlight of the whole trip. The weather was better, so there were people out and about. We ate at a rather expensive buffet, which had amazing food and desserts. We engorged ourselves on sticky toffee pudding. In the evening, we went to a cirque du soleil show- the Beatles Love. All along, I kept chiding Mike for booking the Beatles. I mean, yes, they have great songs, but how can you make a visually engaging show of it? You can apparently. And it was spectacular! I am very much a plant-myself-firmly-onto-my-seat kind of a person, but there were times when I just wanted to jump up and down.
The drive to New Mexico was hell. We were on the road for an extra 13 hours. I was so bored that I wrote my own episode of Murder, She Wrote (coming soon?). The actual drive and scenery however is lovely and the same applies to Denver.
I enjoyed the architecture in New Mexico. It blends in with the environment and has that reassuringly rounded, voluminous feel.
We also went to one of the many lights festivals they had going, which was fun. One night, Mike decided we should go check out the stars because the land is vastly undeveloped, meaning no light pollution. I thought it would look like Kerala, when there is a current cut. But I was pleasantly wrong.
We drove to Denver on Mike's birthday. He contemplated on being 28 and being more of a young adult than a twenty-something, while my 31-to-be self smirked. I took hideous photos of him eating his weird pistachio-lemon-white chocolate (and I suspect, green tea) cake. We wandered about the city and to be honest, as a city, Denver isn't particularly unique. Also, winter in Denver is not fun. But they do have a neat contemporary art museum, which I liked better than MoMA. Beyond that, lets just say, Denver was a haze.
After that, we flew to Chicago and hung out with H, Snoop and the chipmunk. It was a welcome change of pace. H, I and a common friend went for a play, and though we were supposed to go to a fancy place for drinks later, we decided we were too cool for queues.
As soon as Mike and I were back in Lowell, we both fell sick, and our grand anniversary plans were foiled. Once we were well, I worked on Mike's belated birthday gift, a painting to remind him of a place that moved him once. I will post it later sometime. Last week we celebrated my birthday. I am all for celebrating birthdays, and I will continue to do so, but they are increasingly melancholy. Its an occasion where I particularly feel the absence of my family and loved ones. Oh well. In ways, its a reminder of all that love sitting far away.
No comments:
Post a Comment