Friday, September 09, 2005

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

There's a lot of graffiti here - more than in the US. Yesterday a new one appeared on the floor at my train stop: "Playfield of Satan - Vladimir Nabokov." I have to respect any culture that quotes Nabokov in its graffiti.

I have a horror of feeling like a tourist, which means I don't really take photos of the images that interest me most - the shop windows, the amazing combinations of clothes and shoes, the preschoolers in the playgrounds, the espresso cups, the people and their bicycles. I've finally realized I need to be keeping a sketchbook instead of just trying to remember it all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The title of this post wins you infinity brownie points, plus one.

I love Nabokov. I've never read a book of his, not even Lolita, but I have done some of his chess puzzles. The Latvian Gambit is usually called the Nabokov (from Luzhin Defense) because Nabokov is an awesome name, and because he is probably better known than Latvia. (At least here in America).

Wishing his last name were Nabokov too...
Andrew

Anonymous said...

he he ---that made me smile!

Julia Wise said...

I thought it would, Sandy :)
Andrew, you just need to find a nice Russian girl named Nabokova and marry her. And the post was just begging for that title.