How Sweet It Is

Distance Traveled:   60,170 kms (BNE-MEL-SYD-BKK-PKT-BKK-CNX-BKK-PP-SR-BB-PP-HCMC-NC-TH-HA-H-L-MR-AG-SV-TF-AC-LL-ML-CZ-TF-CZ-SV-L-BP-ZG-SP-LJ-VN-PG-SZ-MN-ZR-GV-ML-FC-RM-FG-MN-VC-CT-RM-PDX-NYC-DC-PH-NYC-HP)

Time Difference: -14 hours (from Brisbane)

Soundtrack: Loads of barbershop, Them Crooked Vultures, Eva Cassidy, Burt Bacharach, Soundtrack of Jersey Boys

Currently Inspired by: Emily Warren Roebling

Stacks: A carelessly banged head - pride rather than flesh wound
Words written: 96,080.

So, when I sent out my last blog after a three week hiatus I promised not to have another break before the end of my trip and then on Tuesday I went “ahhh crap”.  I plum forgot to do one again last Sunday!  This is what happens when one breaks one’s routine.  I’m sure you all don’t care, but I feel bad for not doing what I said I would.

Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy (not mine)

I’m in Cape Cod at the moment in a little town called Yarmouth, visiting with one of the Driscoll “cousins” met over the years at our clan gathering in Ireland.  We’ve not seen each other for years, so the meeting was merry, made even more so by my pure joy at being somewhere clean and green, with ocean nearby.  On my first night we visited the town of Hyannis, which is where Taylor Swift is currently residing according to the gossip mags that have her hooked up with one of the young Kennedys, America’s royal family.  They live on a compound here and even though I wouldn’t recognise one if they asked me to afternoon tea and a game of badminton, I’ve nonetheless been keeping a lookout for any fanfare.  Sadly, there is none to be seen.  It would seem that my celebrity spotting luck ran out on my fourth day in New York.  I haven’t even seen a reality show star since (as far as I’m aware).  So much for all of my stalking plans.  I shall have to return the night vision goggles for a refund.  

Marconi Beach (still not one of mine)

Yesterday we hit a huge national beach by the name of Marconi, which stretched further than I was able to see in either direction.  High sand bluffs separated it from the carpark and despite the swathes of people sunning themselves upon the golden sand it had an eerie, edge-of-the-world feeling about it.  The water was freezing.  Too cold for me to brave any higher than my calves I’m afraid, but I was simply so blissed out to be away from the city and out in nature I couldn’t really have cared less. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been keeping me company with their adventures. I read Kafka in Prague and Shakespeare in the UK so I figured I should finally get around to reading Twain, as I'm in the US.  He says nigger a lot.  My understanding is he was kind of satirising society back then but still... he says nigger.  A lot. *squirms*

Provincetown (Also not my photo!)

After the beach we visited a little village by the name of Provincetown for a stroll and dinner.  A cuter place is rarely seen.  Although a lot of it is quite contrived and kitsch (think Byron Bay: started off cool and hippy, turned into lots of expensive tiny little stores and tourist traps)  there was some genuine Ye Olde type architecture still around and also a smattering of sweet and homemade icecream stores still in existence which were a pleasure to see (and eat at).  Fresh saltwater taffy is to die for, and is also seriously addictive.  I bought four pieces as we were walking down the main street and in about five minutes and with a few less fillings in my teeth I was like “OK. Right.  I need more taffy”.  It’s like crack.  A large bag of it was duly purchased on the way back (taffy, not crack), but I am sorely concerned about its lasting capabilities.  The white paper bag has gone from being crisp and pristine to sadly deflated and crumpled around the edges with the constant raiding, but still looks oh so tempting.  I can hear it rustling now “Natalieeeeeeeeeeee… come and eat more of meeeee *rustle rustle*”.  NO, bag.  I’m writing my blog.  Sheesh.

Magnolia buttercream cupcakes

I don’t know what they put in their desserts here but my whole life I’ve had a savoury tooth over a sweet one, and now I get cranky if I don’t get my daily fix of cupcakes / icecream / candy, and I’m not happy about it.  Imagine developing a sweet tooth at this age!  The sugar makes it difficult to lose weight and I detest being a slave to addictions, as my not-so-dearly departed nicotine habit would gladly testify.  This morning I resolved, once my taffy is gone, to work out a way to cast off the sugar addiction that has crept up on me here.  If anyone has any suggestions apart from just “stop eating sugar”, like tips to ease the process or help the cravings, then please send them through.  It doesn't help that I now know where Magnolia Bakery is.  Two of them, in fact.  And a self serve soft frozen yoghurt place.

BUNNIES!!!  There are bunnies everywhere here.  Literally. Just hopping along the road, or munching away in the gardens.  I feel like I’ve shrunk and fallen into one of those little mail order ceramic villages where all the kids wear stripy pants and suspenders and the old men have pipes, whiskers and pink cheeks.  Here there is street after street of tiny little clapboard bungalows with mailboxes that actually have those little red flags on them.  All the green front lawns are cut in neat straight lines and everyone says hello when you pass.  If saw a pie cooling on a windowsill I wouldn’t be at all surprised.  The gorgeous little yorkie terrier Niles, who belongs to the cousins I am staying with, doesn’t seem to care a fig for the bunnies but he’ll bark heroically for half an hour at an old shell, or - and I hate to say it - black people.  I kind of see why he would be confused: after the mixed bag of New York this place is like a loaf of white bread.  Jim claims he has seen him do it several times and Joan insists it must only be when he’s with Jim as she hasn’t seen it.  I’m just hoping he doesn’t do it around me, because I’ll fall over and die of embarrassment.  Can you imagine?  I shall start calling him Twain if he does.

Unfortunately I did not bring the cord to connect my camera to the computer, so I have no way of sharing with you my photos from the Cape. Hence the silly and / or stolen ones above.  I will post mine when I get back to New York and let you know when they're up!

Finally! One of mine!

The wait at Grimaldis

Back in crazy ol’ New York… The Brooklyn Bridge is a pretty amazing piece of engineering with a fascinating history.  It was the first ever steel wire suspension bridge built and at the time of its completion (1883), was the longest suspension bridge in the world. I imagine that it was probably the only bridge in the world to have been constructed mainly under the supervision of a woman.  If you are curious to read about how that all came about, click here.  I’ve never been one for bridges really, but this one caught my fancy to quite a degree, and as such I took a walk across it after making a disappointing visit to both the famous Grimaldi’s pizza and the equally hyped and lackluster Brooklyn Icecream Factory.  If these institutions were once famous for their comestibles they are now famous for their fame, because the food was not good at either of them, despite the fairly decent wait at Grimaldis and the moderate queue at BIF testifying otherwise.  Still, the bridge walk was fun and afforded some terrific views.  You can click here to visit my Brooklyn album.  If you have seen it before, go to the last photo and click previous to see the most recent ones.

Dessert!

My birthday was fun.  Some of my new friends and I went out for a decent dinner and then went and waited for aaages at a famous patisserie for some dessert.  This was one place where the wait was justified.  The chocolate covered cannoli (here we go again with the sugar) was one of the food highlights of my trip.  Damn the desserts in this place!  It’s like France.  You don’t even want to be bothered with dinner, it’s like “two desserts thanks”.  After dinner we walked to a club but had a fairly tame one.  I knew I was getting old when I caught myself saying for the fifth time “I wish they’d turn the music down!”  Midnight is really it for me these days!  Despite how lovely everyone was to me I did miss Australia on my birthday however, and the friends I normally spend it with.  One of *those* times I guess.  

Travel Tip:  When in New York, GO TO A STAND UP COMEDY CLUB.  It will be money well spent.  Make sure you go to a pro place though.  You will not regret it.  I cried laughing.  Click here to see my latest Manhattan adventures album.

With regard to the book, I still do not have a draft that I feel comfortable sending out to agents, and as such I haven’t done anything with it.  I have slowed down my touristing (I know it’s not a word, but it should be!) in order to spend more time writing but I seem to spend the same amount of time writing and then just more time procrastinating, so it hasn’t helped.  I plan to write some tomorrow and then later in the week once I’m back in the Big Apple, and we’ll just have to see how it goes!  Patience, my pretties.  

Til Next We Speak

*LOVE*

N