i live the ultimate urban romantic solitude. the kind glorified in television shows like ally mcbeal and at the end of the second act of most films. the kind with the twin platform bed in the middle of an honest-to-goodness loft in the heart of DC's social scene. the sole inhabitant of the kind of iconic place that people want to live and be in, but rarely are. the kind where i walk around the city at night and write narration in my head so that i can come home to the mac on the platform twin bed and write blog entries to capture the romance of it all.
i find that good and bad decisions seem to come in clumps. tonight was the bad clumps' turn, causing the urban romance to turn slightly sour and the city to become a passive aggressive antagonist in the narrative.
it started innocently enough. having just finished watching a 1996 romance ("beautiful girls," which i'd bought on sale at the local dvd store that just went out of business) in which i didn't quite get enough of natalie portman in her supporting role, i decided to go out and see a movie. this is my blog, and i can write poorly constructed sentences if i feel like it.
i IM'd my sister a bit too long and cut my metro travel time a bit too tight so i decided to drive instead (bad decision) to the E St. cinema. i was to see "paris, je t'aime," and it was to start at 9:40. i punched in the wrong E st address into my car without realizing it and found no parking on the street, so i pulled into the garage under the verizon center (bad decision). i parked and walked 3 blocks to E st, only to realize i was 5 blocks too far east. by the time i got to the theater it was 9:55, but the cashier said i'd only missed two minutes. not a disaster.
the movie was good (the one good decision of the evening) - the perfect collection of short stories about love in paris to underscore the solitude. i had come in late and hopped over the railing to sit between two couples. only after i arrived at the theater did i start to wonder if maybe it was a bad idea to leave the house on a whim without showering. i was distracted throughout the film wondering if i smelled unsociably bad. as the film ended, the scene in the theater could have been straight out of another movie - the part where the woman is sitting alone in the empty theater watching credits that have gone on so long that even the music has stopped. silent, dark, theater. me. credits.
i wasn't so worried about the 8 block walk back to the car, but was slightly concerned that the garage would be closed, so i didn't faff around. my jaw fell on the floor when the parking attendant said, "that will be 17 dollars." !!!! it might have been cheaper for me to go to paris this evening. needless to say, i'll be taking the metro to that theater from now on. jeez.
the route i took back home was the last mistake. up 6th was no problem, but over to 14th on U st was a big mistake. bad decision. U st on a saturday night is SLOOOW going. drunk and excited groups of people and couples barhopping and looking for parking.
getting back to my peaceful haven above the chaos brought back the romance and made it all ok.
i'm writing about the evening to get my $25 worth. at least this way i might have something to remember. a perfect scene sometime in the second act of this urban solitary romance.
