Sometimes my life here feels like a series of events planned by other people. Which is absolutely wonderful — there is always something going on — but of course one important part of life is maintaining friendships on one’s own time and in one’s own way and not under the rubric of an “event.” In that respect, the last 26 hours or so have been wonderful. I decided to let that stack of seminar papers sit and take some time off. We caught up with a friend and couple whom we haven’t seen in too long and did so at a leisurely pace. We also got some culture: we caught The Prestige, which I would certainly rate as the best movie I saw in 2006. Unless something else really brilliant comes along in the next two weeks. The plot twists and combination of 19th century mise-en-scene with science fiction were completely engaging. I hadn’t given Tesla much thought in quite awhile.
Today, we went with friends to see the Rodney Graham exhibit at the Musée d’Art Contemporain. “Lobbing Potatoes at a Gong” was perhaps the most delightful thing I’ve seen in an art gallerysince moving here.
I’d like to write more about each thing, but this will have to do for now. I leave you with some pictures of monkeys sent along by a friend in the know.