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Sonic Scenery -- 06.13.06
 
In an effort to enjoy what might be my last summer vacation, I jumped on the Metro and went to the Natural History Museum on Monday. There's an exhibit, well maybe exhibit isn't the right word, there that I was interested in checking out. I wanted to go a few months ago, but school and work prevented me from checking it out.

I was disappointed when the end date came and went. But then last week I was checking out the Natural History Museum website and found that the exhibit, called Sonic Scenery, had been extended. I don't exactly know how to describe Sonic Scenery so I'll just quote what's on the site. "The Natural History Museum has invited a spectrum of innovative musicians and composers to create music inspired by our collections." So what you do is check out the collection while listening to music that was inspired by the exhibits. It was pretty cool, even though a couple of the songs weren't all that great. The ones for the gem collection were my favorites.

I liked the idea of the exhibit, though in a sense I have already experienced a similar thing when I walk around a museum listening to my iPod. I guess what needs to be done is to have better songs for these exhibits. Still, I loved going.

One of my favorite exhibit halls in the museum is the Marine Biology exhibit on the second floor. In elementary school my class went to the Natural History Museum. We got to run around the whole place pretty much unsupervised, which made it super cool to be there. There's an exhibit in the Marine Biology hall about the abyss that's dark and quiet. It was a nice hiding place for a bunch of crazed kids running around looking for buttons to push. Also, that abyss exhibit was pretty freaky because of the fishes that were displayed there. Seeing a fish that has its own lantern hanging from its head is way cool.

After the museum I went to my favorite cafeteria and ate a nice big meal. I topped it off with my new favorite desert at Clifton's, lemon meringue pie!

What makes this version so good is that they don't put egg whites on top, they put whipped cream. Mmm mmm! There was a woman strolling around with a guitar playing songs for anyone who would request a song. I don't know any songs that she might play, but I thought that I would still ask her to play me her favorite song and I could give her a couple a bucks. Well, she walked right past me and played for the guy near me. As I sat there eating my supper I thought about how fucking lucky I really am. I think I mentioned this in a previous entry, but I I'm going to say it again. Despite all the shit that happens at work, and in life in general, I love my life. I have no wants, I'm not hungry, I'm not unsheltered, nor angry, or lost. I don't have megabucks, but I have enough to eat, buy something I might want, and I'm happy. I may be completely unlucky in love, but everything else in my life seems to be picking up the slack for that.

So I sat in my seat at Clifton's listening to this woman play a little out of tune, while I looked at where I was and who I was, feeling completely overwhelmed by just how lucky I really am. At that moment I couldn't bitch about not having a girlfriend, or a million dollars, since the universe has balanced things out by making the breadth of my life a state of being without want or need.

So I sat there taking in the moment and thanking the balancing act that is this perfect universe. I walked up 7th street, jumped onto the subway, and made my way home with the knowledge that no matter how much shit people throw at me I have a great life, and that in and of itself is enough to make me smile.

Before I go I wanted to show you all this funny truck that was parked outside of Jerry's famous deli in Encino. I'm not sure if it was a truck owned by a radio station, or someone that's getting paid to advertise Toby Keith, but I found it pretty funny that Toby's face is plastered all over it. Here, check it out for yourself.

I wasn't the only one who found it funny. A couple walked by and just kept looking back even as they were nearly inside the restaurant. The food at Jerry's sucked but the conversation was good. It really made me happy to hang out with my friends. So happy that the rest of the day at work was not only tolerable it was enjoyable. More than one person commented about the big smile on my face. Yeah, it was pretty big. It made up for the lousy day I had at work on Saturday when every idiot came into the store. Whatever though. I'm off to clean my room and put up a shelf I bought last week while in Pasadena.
End Communication.

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