Ekim’s name is of course really Mike. That was a grade school thing, the kind of humor that appeals to 10 year old boys. He’s got a lovely house in the woodsy burbs of Chapel Hill, which I have visited on each of my epic trips of the last eleven years.
It’s one of those split-level plans, where it’s a half-flight of stairs up to the bedrooms and the (often ignored) living room, and a half-flight of stairs down to the kitchen, tv room, my spare bedroom. And my favorite feature, two stories of glass looking out at the little bit of forest between their house and the next one down the hill. So, sitting here on my birthday afternoon, I see nothing but trees.
I got here Tuesday so I could watch election results. Some masochistic urge made me do it. Pretty sad results, although the races closest to me in Cali and Nevada went my way. More women in office is generally a good thing, but these three women – Angle/Fiorini/Whitman are all really bad people, and the country is better for having them not in office.
Wednesday
I explored the nearer parts of the tri-cities megapolis today. First was Carrboro and a search for a hipster cafe for morning coffee. I found the perfect place (I think called Eye Full), where I could hang out and be cool for an hour or so. Carrboro is pretty nifty, there is plenty of free parking and the entire downtown has wifi courtesy of the City of Carrboro!
Then I drove into downtown Chapel Hill, which is pretty dull by comparison, and not just because I had to pay for parking. I had exactly one hour to “enjoy” it. I went to the UNC Art Museum and it was ok. The art wasn’t much, especially five days after the National Gallery, but it was sincere and a pleasant way to spend an hour.
Thursday
Happy Birthday me! Carol is gonna make me a birthday dinner early tonight, and it is raining pretty hard, so I decided that the best birthday thing I could do for myself is hang out and watch the rain.
Friday
I meet Mike for in Raleigh for a “genuine southern cooking” lunch – fried catfish, collards, mashed potatoes and … peach cobbler – genuine enough for me. Then spend the afternoon at the North Carolina Museum of Art, which is quite nice. Pretty good art – a couple of the same artists that have showed at the Nevada Museum in the past year (the wavy tree video thing, and the log hut on the roof), but mostly a great physical setting, lots of space, trees and grassy spaces and a nice set of trails to wander around in. And a big amphitheater.
We go out that night, there was some kind of multi-band mini-festival in Durham, we hung at his son-in-law’s brewery (now, that’s a son-in-law!) in the generation X scene for a while, then went to a small gallery where some old dude friends of his were playing, and got the old folks scene (i.e. my age) for a while.
Saturday
I really, really should be getting out of their hair today, but it’s raining again, and it’s gonna be cooooold tonight, and my next stop is going to be the beach, where I would just be sitting in my van waiting for the rain to be over, so I just can’t get going.
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