Alexandra Harmel

Sitting with Rachel at this terrible vegan cafe to work on her resume, not realizing how long it has been since I posted on here. I wrote some personal things and am surprised how candid I was. It was covid.

Some in progress pics of things that have not been well documented yet. A "Fu Kai" design that has only been printed once, embroider that made its way onto a jacket, and qipao shirt that is currently very wrinkled after returning from Puerto Rico.

8.7.21- Harpswell

John texts me the night before saying he is working on getting us a ride to the old island. I immediately light up. Christian and I pack up the airbnb and meet John at his house. I hadn't realized how close his house was to our island. We drive down to meet his neighbor who has a nice new motorboat that he likes to drive extremely fast on.

John isnt sure if we will be able to go on the island as he hasn't been able to get a hold of him on the phone. We slow down and I dont even realize where we are at first. John has to clarify that, that is our old place. We see Charlie outside and John shouts, "Hey! It's John, I have Carole and Arthur's daughter with me!" "Come on up" Charlie replies.

I give Christian a tour of my old summer home, starting with the dock and how our cat would run up the dock as soon as we let him out and go hang out under the house. We walk through the kitchen and I point out the cupboards my dad painted and the painting of me and our cat in a boat. Still wish we could have taken those doors off the cabinets and brought the to our next place, but it is so nice that two owners have still kept them. Charlie even mentioned wanted to get them fixed up where the paint is chipping.

8.6.21 - spent the second day recovering from the drive and taking short walks around Bath. We tried going to the closest cafe, Mae's Cafe and Bakery, but it was too rainy to eat outside.

The cafe held a lot of nostalgia as I immediately remembered being there with my parents as a kid, overhearing a woman complain about how the waiter brought her water, first by gripping the mouth of the cup, and then again to ask for a straw. I thought she was very stuck up, but now with covid that makes more sense. As we left I remember starring at the baked goods and thinking "ew carrot cake, who would ever want that?"

Round 2

6/11/21

6/10/21

Can we celebrate something else on July 4th? Maybe the future of those who are not independent or free?

I always jam pack my days when I come visit Chicago. Field museum at 10 am and left the studio at 8:30. Hung out around grant park till 3 and then went to the Clare to have dinner with my parents. Smoked before I got on the subway and regretted it. Played "Buzz Words" with my parents, a good brain teaser game to get our minds working. My dad was pretty good and my mom can get it if I give her an extra hint.

White women

C. 2021

Sneakers, asian rice hate

Found in the city of chicago

Two women get tired and accidentally end up in china town, 3 stops too far south for them on the red line. Their pale skin starts to burn and when they see a cute hat. "Ooh a coolie hat. How coolie."

Meanwhile a Chinese woman has just left the field museum. She is disappointed in the exhibit. "It was sad to see how little funding the Apsàalooke exhibit got compared to the Jane Goodall, and that all those indigenous artifacts were stolen from their tribe."

As the women pass each other, the white woman shout in sync, "Hey that's my coolie hat!"

Happy 4th of July

Monday, June 28, 2021

Dinner with parents and Rachel. My dad has been going to Lago since the 1980s when he first was looking for studio apartments. My mom tells the waiter this two times and on the second time he lets us know that he has been working at Lago for 20 and at Kiki's bistro. Kiki retired to florida, but will be opening a smaller restaurant soon. Good thing my mom repeated herself. Now we have insider information.

"What has fatherhood taught you?" Rachel always asks the good questions, but my dad avoids the questions because there are too many things. He says, "I'll write an essay on it." I also avoid the big questions Christian asks me.

"I used to waiter at the Hawaiian hut in Maine," my mom shares a bit of her past. I ask how she ended up there and get to hear a little about her ex boyfriends. My dad has met both her exes.

"I like to talk, I just don't like to talk about ... things." Rachel and I are up till 4 am on the phone with Christian. For once I am not on the receiving end of Christian's criticism.