Teenaged Friends Enjoy Pasta Lunch, Stroll Thru Mall

Later, at home, they draw mobile phones and attend college

With the annual Dance Parade washed out, Kina turned to her friend Runa for a little day on the town in more sheltered environs.

Learned: Malls just suck for kids—or at least the small number of malls in New York City.

Learned: The kids will nonetheless make their own fun.

Learned: Sometimes, that fun takes the form of the kids pretending to be in college, where the seats go up to the ceiling, and (in Kina’s words) they have “chalkboards and stuff”.

Illegible chalkboards and stadium-style lecture halls: The dream of modern youth.

This is an unusually stark Parade—no colors, no flowers, no snowflakes. This is the moment at which Laurea and I got married, apparently. The spirit of Kina hovers above us and actually, now that I look at it, is carrying flowers. Our beady little eyes suck up all the light. It’s sort of terrifying. I have to look at this in our kitchen every day for a week now. Kina loves us!

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