in L.A. for a few days and mexico city for a few more and now back in new york for a few more until i meet mona and we fly to lima.

brief and belated impressions:

L.A.: the mountains and the ocean redeem the city.

mexico city: laden with history and sudden bursts of colonial architecture and oh! so crowded. pyramids. an old man in an orange blazer - whom i remember as a magical willy wonka figure - stopping us along avenida de 5 de mayo to tell us about some building with carved anguished men holding up pillars that used to be named for Atlantis (the building, not the men) and then running across the road to the statue outside the cathedral, the one of the explorer whose name i've forgotten, which says how high that point is above sea level and the longitude and the latitude...mexico city is the capital of the world, he said, and in those few minutes it seemed that it might be.

new york: i've forgotten how annoying it can be to live here. i need a place to live in, first of all.

*tired.* more to come. probably.