THE ANNEX

Nina Levin . This is a picture of me from this summer in Beijing. I am hauling the smallest size of bubble wrap available from The Materials Market, back to my apartment in classic Beijing-bicycle style, to wrap and ship all my delicate souvenirs back to the US.

Bloomfield Hills, MI

Comparative Literature and Romance Languages & Literature; Senior

First Year on Council

IF YOU COULD HAVE DINNER WITH ONE PERSON, LIVING OR DEAD, WHO WOULD IT BE (and where would you go?)

Last week’s answer or next week’s answer might be different, but this week the answer is SiLyA. Goddess of the Ocean, diva of the future, pin-up of the past, this woman has got it all and it is all on fiya!. I saw her perform live last week at NYS’s ‘Piano’s’ where she has a weekly gig. I have never been as bulldozed by an onstage sing-and-dance the way that I was by this woman. After her show, I told her she was a Goddess of the Ocean and she laughed and we took a picture with my disposable. I camera. I fell a little bit in love that night and have been streaming her music nonstop all week. Get a taste of her on Facebook.

And where would we go to eat? My favorite sushi in metro-Detroit, Noble Fish (classic grocery store style). Or , if we’re dreaming big, back to Japan; there is an inexpensive  stand-up sushi joint in the Kamakura train station that my hosts took me to. I witnessed most opalescent pieces of raw fish and other sea specimens becoming edible at the talented hands of plump and seasoned chefs. Theses creatures’ etherial existence is something I had only ever imagined.  Such a treat!

REVEAL THE INNARDS OF YOUR MOST RECENT BAGGAGE and DESCRIBE TO US WHAT IS WITHIN

1. My high school copy of Ariel by Sylvia Plath. currently in my bag, but still unread since back then.

2. A blank-paged sketch book that I also have not started yet.

3. The wallet I have been using since I bought it in Kyoto.

4. The journal I most recently started after complete my previous one during my travels.

5. Cracked screen.

6. Ear plugs that my dad gave me last night at a jazz performance at Cliff Bells with a message saying ‘Always use protection.’ Below that, the holy disposable camera containing the undeveloped photo of the Goddess of the Ocean SiLyA.

7. Wise words printed from the Internet for me by my mother on how to be a mature adult human being as well as a glorious woman. Beside it, an excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s famous inaugural speech. Also printed by my mother.

8. Speaking of Africa, Giraffe-shaped hair chopsticks that my friend David brought from his travels in Kenya. Below that, twist and pop sunscreen to protect my pale skin from the safari of Ann Arbor.

9. A vial of fairy dust. A thing I am sure never to leave the house without.

10 & 11: Receipts- groceries from Holiday Market and a cocktail from Cliff Bells.

13. Fresh breath/nervous habit

14. Spare change and drawing utensils.

15. A bag my mother gave me recently (TJ MAXX for back-2-school, best bargains I can offer!)

16. My library checkout list reminding me to return Mad Men Season One by Tuesday, also an oddball romantic comedy I rented called ‘I Want Someone to Eat Cheese WIth.’

17. A reminder from the Women’s Health Clinic about my next appointment.

18. A tin of Rosebud salve and a piece of garbage I picked up on a nature walk in the E.L Johnson Nature Center. Lastly, a pin that awaits being snail-mailed to the friend I just visited in New York City, along with the remainder of my unused metro cards. His famous words, as it says on the pin that I could not help purchasing for him as a thank you for hosting me are ‘Just sayin…’