![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
We actually had something to do on both Saturday and Sunday, which is kind of unusual. On Saturday, I had to go to Flushing Meadows to take a civil service test for Paralegal Aide positions. I'm not sure how well I did, as it seemed a little more difficult than most such tests. Afterwards, I met up with Beth to visit the Queens Botanical Garden, which is really quite small, and a lot of the gardens were closed for winter anyway.
Not that it felt like winter; I found myself carrying my jacket because it was too warm while wearing it. As much as I like being able to go outside without a jacket, it does make me concerned for the future. Like, are we all going to burn to death next summer? We'll all take turns; I'll get mine too.
Regardless of the unseasonable warmth, not too much was in bloom, but there were a few roses still intact.
After the gardens, we visited the old site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs at Corona Park. They Might Be Giants filmed their video for "Don't Let's Start" at the New York State Pavilion from the '64 fair, which is still there, but you can't go in it anymore.
Well, at least you couldn't when we were there.
It looked like they were doing renovations, which means they probably got rid of that chipped-up map.
Both Johns from TMBG visited the fair when it was a going concern, as did my dad and Beth's mom. All my mother-in-law will say about it is how uncomfortable her shoes were, though. Right near there is the Queens Museum, which had an exhibit about both fairs.
It's pretty fascinating, largely because I don't think they would ever have anything like that these days. I mean, nations and corporations getting together to present an optimistic view of the future? Who'd put money into that in our current climate? I guess Epcot Center preserves a lot of the feel. It's interesting that they still have the Omnisphere and some other stuff fifty years later.
I compared some maps of the fairgrounds to what's there now, and apparently there's a skate park where the Astral Fountain used to be. There's a message in that, but I'm not totally sure what it is. Another exhibit at the museum showcased the work of Zhang Hongtu, a Chinese artist who moved to New York in 1982. His art combines Chinese themes and criticism of the hypocrisy involved in Chinese communism.
We ate that evening at Kane's Flushing Diner, which wins points with me because they had free refills on soda and gave us garlic bread before the meal.
Yesterday was our friend Stephanie's annual holiday party. She knows a lot of people, so there were quite a few guests there we didn't know, but a few we did. It was held at a bar in Park Slope that has both indoor and outdoor parts, but due to the unseasonable warmth, we mostly stayed outside. It did get a little chillier after an hour or so, but never that bad. We won a few prizes for answering trivia questions.
I had a dream a few nights ago that John Flansbugh of TMBG and his wife Robin Goldwasser were my neighbors, but I was too nervous to speak to them. Not that I usually talk to my neighbors anyway, but I have to suspect that would be really awkward, especially if I ever wanted to listen to any of their music. Not to mention that I've heard quite a bit about TMBG fans who really didn't respect the band members' boundaries. Still, it's not like I've ever had even remotely famous neighbors in the past. Well, okay, the woman who lived across the street and dated my dad for a while wrote some children's books that are fairly well-regarded, so maybe that counts. The dream I can remember from last night involved my being asked to go to school (I guess it was high school) in the middle of the night to test some software. It turned out there were a whole bunch of people there and I had to wait in line. And even though I came alone, Beth and Tavie also showed up for some reason, as did our cats.
Not that it felt like winter; I found myself carrying my jacket because it was too warm while wearing it. As much as I like being able to go outside without a jacket, it does make me concerned for the future. Like, are we all going to burn to death next summer? We'll all take turns; I'll get mine too.
Regardless of the unseasonable warmth, not too much was in bloom, but there were a few roses still intact.
After the gardens, we visited the old site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs at Corona Park. They Might Be Giants filmed their video for "Don't Let's Start" at the New York State Pavilion from the '64 fair, which is still there, but you can't go in it anymore.
Well, at least you couldn't when we were there.
It looked like they were doing renovations, which means they probably got rid of that chipped-up map.
Both Johns from TMBG visited the fair when it was a going concern, as did my dad and Beth's mom. All my mother-in-law will say about it is how uncomfortable her shoes were, though. Right near there is the Queens Museum, which had an exhibit about both fairs.
It's pretty fascinating, largely because I don't think they would ever have anything like that these days. I mean, nations and corporations getting together to present an optimistic view of the future? Who'd put money into that in our current climate? I guess Epcot Center preserves a lot of the feel. It's interesting that they still have the Omnisphere and some other stuff fifty years later.
I compared some maps of the fairgrounds to what's there now, and apparently there's a skate park where the Astral Fountain used to be. There's a message in that, but I'm not totally sure what it is. Another exhibit at the museum showcased the work of Zhang Hongtu, a Chinese artist who moved to New York in 1982. His art combines Chinese themes and criticism of the hypocrisy involved in Chinese communism.
We ate that evening at Kane's Flushing Diner, which wins points with me because they had free refills on soda and gave us garlic bread before the meal.
Yesterday was our friend Stephanie's annual holiday party. She knows a lot of people, so there were quite a few guests there we didn't know, but a few we did. It was held at a bar in Park Slope that has both indoor and outdoor parts, but due to the unseasonable warmth, we mostly stayed outside. It did get a little chillier after an hour or so, but never that bad. We won a few prizes for answering trivia questions.
I had a dream a few nights ago that John Flansbugh of TMBG and his wife Robin Goldwasser were my neighbors, but I was too nervous to speak to them. Not that I usually talk to my neighbors anyway, but I have to suspect that would be really awkward, especially if I ever wanted to listen to any of their music. Not to mention that I've heard quite a bit about TMBG fans who really didn't respect the band members' boundaries. Still, it's not like I've ever had even remotely famous neighbors in the past. Well, okay, the woman who lived across the street and dated my dad for a while wrote some children's books that are fairly well-regarded, so maybe that counts. The dream I can remember from last night involved my being asked to go to school (I guess it was high school) in the middle of the night to test some software. It turned out there were a whole bunch of people there and I had to wait in line. And even though I came alone, Beth and Tavie also showed up for some reason, as did our cats.
