abreast of my week in review

why does everything happens all at once? then when you'd like something to happen, nothing does?

i am coming down off the enormous high of being thoroughly over-booked these past two weeks. my dad and his (lovely) girlfriend visited, i had dinners with friends, crit group, extra work shifts, weird dance events, library read-ins and very little sleep in between. it was marvelous and exhausting.

now it's over. here i am. corrie in her apartment. writing. as a dear friend constantly reminds me, it's okay to have down time. you're allowed to be in your apartment some nights doing nothing.

right. but that doesn't make for very interesting blogging. so since i missed monday's post (hair appointment) i'll jog back in time to something that makes for very interesting blogging -- the mermaid parade.

what is the mermaid parade? imagine if the tackiest, strangest, creepiest, fairly awesomest place on earth (hint hint: coney island) threw a party. the mermaid parade is what gets spewed out.

example? this guy:

he wasn't even the half of it. just the most confusing. since this post is four days after the event, chances are you've already seen pictures of the mermaid parade. especially since there were equal parts photographers and participants.

i was there as part of my hip hop teacher's dance troop. i wanted to be the free-spirited kind of person who loved the whole crazy thing. i really really did. but on only a few hours of sleep, with no coffee, waiting around in the hot sun in the early morning, with lets face it, some flat out creepy people milling about, i kind of really really hated it instead. you'll notice all my pictures are taken from a sitting down angle. i found some shade and stayed there.

still, it makes you marvel at people's creativity. anyone can march in the mermaid parade and witnessing it makes you proud that you're part of a culture that lets it's wacky out with such abandon (even if you're the wilting, pouting girl on the curb).

some participants have already started their costumes for next years parade.

but all of this is a huge preamble to what the mermaid parade is really about.

boobies.
at the mermaid parade they're everywhere! i mean, i guess they're everywhere all the time, but at the mermaid parade they're exposed! now, i'm no prude. okay, maybe i'm a little prudey, but where exactly do you cast your eyes when everyone's boobies are hanging out?

maybe if we were in france, you could wear an insane getup and go topless and people wouldn't only be looking at your chest. but here? no matter what else you put on there's only one reason the photographs want pictures of you. only one reason the men are whooping at you from balconies. probably only one reason half the people go to the mermaid parade to begin with -- participants and spectators -- boobies.

there's no getting away from them. por exemplo. see the above shark picture? i have about five on my ipod because every time i tried to shoot it, this happened:

whoops. boobies. let's try another shot:

gar! more boobies.

tiny boobies. pregnant boobies. man boobies. blue boobies. i loved the confidence all these women exhibited. but there wasn't much socializing going on, partly because topless women were mobbed by photographers (creepy) and partly because no one wanted to say this: it's very nice to meet you and your boobies.

will i be back at the mermaid parade next year? probably not. was it an interesting experience? most definitely. if nothing else, the mermaid parade underscored what i like best about parades...

the marching bands.