J'(coeur) Québec

J and I spent a relaxing thanksgiving weekend in Québec. Wow. I'm quite simply flabbergasted that that city isn't the most popular tourist spot on the continent. If you're a big city person (as we are) you're going to like Montréal better (as we do), but still, Québec is absolutely amazing, especially for North America.

For those who aren't in the know, Québec is about 100 years older than Boston and still has the walls and gates like any feudal French city would. Beyond all of that, you get a great bang for your buck, especially during the winter. Our bed and breakfast was great and way cheaper then anything you'd find in New England.

Anyway, I have some thoughts about design and planning from up there to put into another post (although, honestly, I'm so busy with finals stuff that I probably won't get around to it) but for now, here are a few pictures.

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Nine Parts of Desire

J and I went to see an awesome play for her birthday last night. It's a one-woman show called Nine Parts of Desire at the Lyric Stage Company in the Back Bay. The play was written by an Iraqi-American Journalist based on her interviews with different women both in Iraq and in exile. The actress does an amazing job of changing people throughout the play. Sometimes you even felt like her face aged suddenly. It was really quite amazing. The theatre was also quite nice. It's very small and intimate. I highly recommend the show. I think they do student rush tickets for $10 or so.

It's the first time since we moved to Boston that we've gone to a play, and I definitely want to do more. In Minneapolis, we would go about once a month or so. As a complete aside, if you are Minneapolitan and you don't go to the theater, you really should. All the fantastic small theatres are probably one of the best cultural amenities in the cities. I really like Theater Garage, Theater in the Round, Theater de la Jeune Lune and Mixed Blood a lot. Of course the Guthrie and the Guthrie Lab also have great stuff, but I prefer the smaller more contemporary and intimate shows. Theater Garage especially was wonderful (as I'm typing this I find myself really hoping they are still around... ok I just googled it and it is...)

So, to sum up, we want to see more plays. If anyone knows of any good companies in Boston, especially with student pricing, please let me know.

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I came across this interesting site, All Look Same, that I believe grew out of someone's frustration that no one in the western world can ever tell Japan, Korea and China apart. There are some quizes that show pictures of architecture, food, urban landscapes and let you guess which country is which. In a world of increased globalization of architecture and urban form it's actually a pretty interesting test. I'd be interested in seeing one of these with more countries. (btw. my picture is Viet Nam. Which is really a part of east asia, culturally if not geographically, so it should be included too).

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