NTKOG #128: The kind of sunny-hearted pollyanna who turns to the simple joys of childhood by making her world effervesce with a thick foam of bubbles.
I am: whimsical, it’s true, but try to express it in ways that won’t convince pedestrians I’m developmentally challenged.
I am not: a manic pixie dreamgirl. More’s the pity, right?
The Scene: Roaming the streets of Boston, Brookline and Brighton, a crazed stream of bubbles floating in my wake. When I posted about quitting smoking, reader Danielle suggested I take up bubble-blowing to occupy my widowed hands when I went outdoors. Cute, huh? At work the next day, I picked up a 75-cent package of bubbles from CVS and during my mid-morning lull, left the office for a few minutes to take a bubble break.
I assumed I’d be the victim of some derisive snorting or eye rolls, but the vast majority of people didn’t even notice me — or at least pretended not to. Those who did only smiled or shouted: “Bubbles!” One Basset-eyed middle-aged man sat on a park bench watching me totally intent on my task, then said, as I walked away, “I wish I could do that.” I turned around: “You can, dude. You’re an adult. You can do things that make you happy.” I offered him my own bubbles, but he declined. Sad. Sad.
I thought this would be a short-lived lark, but the bubbles have been my constant companion for the past several days, and I don’t foresee a lull in the near future. Like smoking, bubbles give me something to occupy myself while I walk, force me to focus on my breathing, offer an excuse to get out of the office for a few minutes, make a nice conversation starter.
Unlike cigarettes, you can blow bubbles with impunity around children, pregnant women, and open apartment windows; instead of smelling like musty old death, my winter coat is now strawberry scented; when’s the last time you were out for a quick puff and a group of high-spirited undergrads shrieked, “Blow smoke on me!” or “CIGARETTES!”?
You know what it's nigh impossible to take pictures of? Friggin' bubbles. Pic borrowed with love from weheartit.com
The bubbles started as a cigarette replacement, but I think they are turning into something else entirely.
On Friday night, I walked from my apartment to my sister’s, and left a mile-long trail of bubbles throughout the streets of Brighton. It was that most vibrant time of a Friday night, when settled couples stroll home from dinner while animated undergrads troop out to begin their pre-pre-partying. Bubbles floated in front of me by the hundreds, limpid and eerie in the streetlights. I must have passed sixty people on Commonwealth Ave, and, weirdly, not a single group passed without comment.
“That’s beautiful,” a pretty 20-something girl shyly smiled. “I like that.”
A mustached hipster guy just pointed at me: “Cooooool.” A big bubble clung to the top of his houndstooth-print trilby hat.
As I walked down Harvard Ave, I eventually became aware of two sets of footsteps shuffling behind me. A cute young couple walked a few feet behind me, and obviously had been for at least five minutes. I imagined their date-night clothes stained all over in bubble-sized daubs and immediately apologized. No, the guy told me, keep going, please. She likes them.
For ten minutes, they walked a few paces behind me, downwind (or, more accurately, downbreeze) while I blew thousands of bubbles. Finally I paused at a stoplight and, when they didn’t come abreast of me, turned around to see whether they had left. The couple was standing under a streetlight a few feet behind me, surrounded so thickly by bubbles that the whole night was a Monet. In this iridescent haze, they kissed.
I looked away and crossed the street to continue my reign as the Mad Bubbler of Brighton.
The Verdict: So very yes. I couldn’t have imagined how deeply this strange hobby would resound with me, but once you do it, it becomes addictive. There are so many things I love about weaving through the drab streets, blowing bubbles by the thousand. I love that it’s sort of an absurdist commentary on smoking: it is a pleasure, yes, but instead of destroying your lungs, it creates an ephemeral moment of beauty. I love how being constantly preceded by streams of bubbles makes you feel like the grand marshall of an endless fairy parade. I love the way that the breeze can conspire to fill a whole alleyway or courtyard with a swarm of bubbles so thick that you can’t imagine it looking any other way. I love how bubbles, like a treasured friend or a tarnished memory of a lost love, never stop being beautiful.
If you happen to see a girl in Brighton, deeply focused on filling the streets with strawberry-scented bubbles, feel free to stop me and ask for a turn. I can almost definitely guarantee it will give you too a quick shot of joy.
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:D :D
Always remember that growing old is compulsory; growing up isn’t! :D
I now want to give up smoking, and take up bubbles.
Highly recommended! Also, if your drug store has started their summer section already, I highly recommend getting the slightly premium bubbles. My current favorite bottle was $2.99 for nine ounces and has already given me three packs’ worth of enjoyment!
Oh, and get hand sanitizer. Bubbles are sticky!
This gave me goosebumps. Bubbles!
This makes me unspeakably happy.
So cute!!
Hm, that’s all I was going to write but the computer just told me my comment was ‘a bit too short’
Let me try that again.
haha, I love that my spam filter is, like me, a prolix old fool.
I was just going to do the 2 smily faces, then I decided to add my motto and another one; looks like that was one of my better decisions today!
i have grape scented bubbles in my night stand but have not opened it in about 1.5 years. :) thanks for the reminder
This is so fantastic and has brought me all kinds of happiness in my day. I wonder if I can figure out a way to blow bubbles while biking…?
ah, in my head you are now all sparkly and magical. also, because your decision to take up bubble blowing coincides neatly with the release of alice in wonderland, you also look like johnny depp’s mad hatter, in business casual of course. i hope that doesn’t offend?
Haha. Oh, Sandy…I can’t seem to be able to bribe her to go see that movie.
Did I hear this correctly; you know a woman (the eponymous TKOG) who doesn’t want to go and see a film with Johnny Depp in it!? Do we know why not, and is there a possible NTKOG in it?
Full, unabridged list of Johnny Depp movies I’ve actually liked: Finding Neverland, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Edward Scissorhands, Cry Baby.
Alice is kind of a double-whammy, because I despise the not-twenty-years-ago works of both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. I think they should have the career equivalent of a suicide pact. Don’t even get me started.
Fair enough; it’s just that IME most women tend to be in some sort of lust with Johnny (and most men rate him as an actor so it’s a win-win for a date movie).
That said, in the specific case, I’ve heard that the Tim Burton “Alice” is disappointing from a number of “real people”.
Yuck! He’s greasier than Robert Pattinson! (another Hollywood guy I just don’t get.)
I’ll agree with you about the Twilight sparkly fairy being greasy, but the only time I’ve found Johnny greasy was in Blow (an ironic name for a film, since it certainly does).
I think I’m just more concerned with actors acting than their personal hygene?
Ah, but you were talking about Mr. Depp qua object of lust, an area in which greasiness is a huge concern. As an actor, I have other problems with him. I think he’s a fine actor, but he’s just not for me. I’m done trying with him.
Johnny is grungy certainly, and if you’re NTKOG who goes for that you’re not, but you can be personally grungy without actually being unclean; it’s a case of not getting your hair cut that often, wearing “used” clothing, cutting nails individually as when rather than being manicured, little things like that.
This is actually the first time I comment on your blog, but I’ve been reading this for a while (it’s inspiring!).
But this is absolutely beyond lovely! I have carried bubbles in my bag this summer, and friends used to borrow them while in library studying!
But after that I took them off (change of bag, you know…), and now they are sitting here on my desk, so close to my laptop… I HAD TO blow some into my bedroom!
Thank you!
I did this with a friend of mine once, and it was all kinds of awesome. Also they have a bubble blowing…festival? in NYC, in Times Sq. every year. Awesome fun.
Glad you’re not a manic pixie dream girl, though. I’d have to stop reading your blog if you were–nah, not really, but those MPDGs give me the vapors.
I never would have thought of bubbles as a way to quit smokin, but I’ll try anything at this point.. i just wonder how that will work when im driving!
What a fabulous idea!
And hey, as an added bonus — blowing bubbles forces you to actively use air, which may help you gain back some of the lung function you would have lost by smoking. :)
LOVE this story! I might have to franchise the idea and be the Mad Chicago Bubbler. . .
Do it do it do it! Then blog about it!
please do, katie. we need some mad joy in the midwest. please try to do it on el platforms during the morning and evening commutes–i.e., when we are most in need.
You are amazing and ridiculous.
It’s what I do best! Also, I wish you were in Boston. I just came up with a really cool street art idea, and you would be the ideal accomplice!
I really, really want to go outside and blow bubbles now.
Looks like even though you missed out on your movie moment in yesterday’s NTKOG you created one for a lot of other folks with today’s (especially that couple). One of my best friends lives in Brighton so I’m definitely going to tell her to be on the lookout for the Mad Bubbler.
This is probably my favorite post ever. I love acting like a little kid sometimes. Yesterday I went for a bike ride and pumped the pedals like I was 10 again. I actually had a bike race.
Keep up the bubbles. There’s a wonderful freedom in not acting your age.
This is most wonderful, and reading this gave me such a sense and love for life! Thank you for adding beauty, you are inspiring and funny as hell
<3 Thank you.
Now I want to take up smoking so that I can quit the habit by blowing bubbles everywhere.
I’m no doctor (TKOG Mom is so disappointed) but I think modern medical science would indicate you can take up bubbling without smoking! Although maybe just to be on the safe side, you should start out with a bubble pipe…
Bubble pipe!! :-D
This might be the greatest thing you’ve ever done on the blog. And this post has it all — the grown-up who thinks he can’t do it anymore, the kissing couple, the self-improvement (cigarette replacement), the sheer whimsy of it…
That’s excellent! And it sounds like a lot of fun.
I think this post brought a tear to my eye! It certainly made me squeal out loud when I realized that I had my very own TKOG post! Inspired by me! THE PRESTIGE!
But I’m glad that you enjoyed it!! I adore bubbles. Must go blow some later this week. And that story with the couple following you sound EXACTLY like something I would do!
Danielle! Thank you so much again for giving me the idea! It was a stroke of absolute BRILLIANCE! Both my sense of childlike wonder and my tantruming nicotine demon thank you.
I’m sure I have other childlike wonders that I do on a daily basis that I can share with you!
-rolling down hills
-bringing stuffed animals with you to travel and documenting said travels with videos and/or photos (then explaining to your significant other’s family why you bring a stuffed hippo with you to china)
-bake panda bread
-hula hoop as a form of exercise
-draw fantastic things on the ground in chalk and play hopscotch
-order off the kids’ menu and color on the menu in crayon
..by the way, I’ve done all of these sometime in the past year hahaha. I’m really just a 22 year old going on 5.
Oh! And have I mentioned how freaking awesome flash mobs are?? I particularly loved doing Thriller flash mobs at the mall in this quiet and superficial town of Orange County. Zombie crawls are the best!
This is your best yet. I am in LOVE with this post! I’ve emailed it to all of my friends and their responses are the same. None of us smoke, but I think we will take up “bubbling”! Thanks for this fantastic (and magical) write up! :) Keep bubblin’!
“I offered him my own bubbles, but he declined.”
Was he a eunuch??
This is such a great and uplifting thing to have done, and you had a wonderful weekend (weather-wise) to do this! Hope to see you out on Comm Ave with your bubbles soon. :-)
Just reading this post made me crazy happy. I can only imagine what effects the actual real-life bubble-blowing would produce.
You are awesome.
This is so awesome, I’m buying everyone bubbles so we can have a bubble party on the Common! You probably should officiate for being the inspiration for this idea.
I actually keep bubbles at home to entertain my cat and small children, but when was the last time I blew bubbles outdoors?
YES! Bubble party on the Common! I would be 9000% onboard with this! Seriously, we should set a time for after I’m back from Barcelona — maybe sometime in early April? I’ll bring cupcakes! It would be the best spring afternoon activity ever.
Oh my god, you muse! You have just offered me the perfect solution. I have a client who would love to quit smoking, buuuut… does it mainly because she’s bored. This is a wonderful alternative and I can’t wait to give her the idea! In fact, I’ll give her the idea and a bottle of bubble solution. Thank you, thank you.
Also? Bubbles rock. Thanks for brightening up the Boston area for my friends down there.
I’m so glad the idea delights! Although to give credit where credit is due, Danielle’s the one who turned me onto the brilliant idea. But my lungs and I fully endorse it.
So much of smoking is reflex — like, there are times I just plain ol’ want a cigarette, but 80% of the cigarettes I smoked, I lit up because I happened to be outside, and in my mind, outside equals smoking. At least bubbling cuts down the impulse for those boredom cigarettes, which leaves far fewer cravings to deal with.
I also highly recommend the nicotine patch, even though last night it caused me to spend six hours eating fried scorpions in hot dog buns at some sort of state fair. Honestly, where do dream ideas even come from?!
Oh, wow! That sounds like so much fun, and incredibly lovely! I’m going to have to go the grocery store tomorrow and find some; I’ll dance around the beach with them and look like a fool. It’ll be epic.
This makes me happy, and it’s fantastic that it’s making you feel insane-in-a-good-way! :D
This made me smile, and not just because I used to wear bubble necklaces during my freshman year of college. (Even though, yeah, I TOTALLY DID.)
this is so awesome! in college i lived in a loft apartment in our amazing downtown area, and a little shop on my block had a bubble machine in the doorway blowing bubbles out onto the sidewalk & street during nice weather, it was so great to walk through on the way to class or work, kiddos always stopped dead in their tracks, and adults sort of did too!
congrats on the cig quitting success so far :)
This entry actually introduced me to the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl.” So thanks. I know one in real life, and she’s not as attractive as her cinematic counterparts. She’s kind of cloying, and she’d never have the courage to blow bubbles by herself in public, although she’d like you to think that that’s the type of thing she’d do.
Sometimes I’m afraid to play the ukulele in public because it’ll make people think I’m trying too hard to be quirky. It’s fun to play and it’s easier to play than a guitar. People in Brooklyn, including myself, get burnt-out on quirk-for-quirk’s sake really quickly. But you know what? After reading about your bubble-blowing adventure, I think I’m going to do it.
PLAY THE UKULELE IN PUBLIC! I friggin’ love a good ukulele. One so rarely hears an impromptu uke concert.
Sometimes I’ll catch an outsiders’ perspective of myself — my bubble-blowing, my fedora, my bright summer skirts and flipflops and Russian medic shoulder bag, my Wodehouse slang and Nabokov references — and wonder, Am I becoming a parody of myself? Do people think I’m trying too hard?
The only conclusion I can come up with, though, is that the quirks are who I am, and I’d be miserable if I suppressed all of them. I figure if you have the strength of your convictions, then anyone who takes more than a passing glance will realize you’re just being true to yourself. Which, if I’m not misremembering years of children’s picture books, is, like, kind of the coolest possible thing to be?
What a great idea! That sounds like a lot of fun for you and the pedestrians!
Straight out of a fairy tale. Love it. Wicked good idea for kicking the habit!!
Wow. I gotta start blowing bubbles again. I was kinda like the Mad Bubbler of my town growing up. Wonder why I stopped. great post! :D
Wow. That sounds awesome. I HAVE to start blowing bubbles again. I was kinda like the Mad Bubbler of my town growing up, I wonder why I stopped. Anyway, great post! :D
how fun! what a neat way to add some unexpectedness to a neighborhood. good on ya!
What a great idea! I have gone to a few weddings where they had bubble mix on the tables for when the bride and groom left, and I have never managed to make the bubble mix last all the way until then. Bubbles are too fun!
I love bubbles at weddings! Totally doing that at mine (which is, admittedly, entirely theoretical at this point…)!
Whimsical and wonderful.
I’m sensing this pattern involving the guy who said he “wished [he] could do that” but didn’t. Only the other day we were emailing back and forth about the insanity of people wistfully saying “I wish I could go to California” when they TOTALLY CAN!
I feel like there’s an NTKOG in there somewhere: convincing someone who thinks they can’t do something to damn well sack up and do it?
This might be my favorite. Have I said that before?
Blowing bubble sounds fun. And it makes everyone happy. What kind of heartless person isnt happy with bubbles? so cute.
So sad that man wouldn’t blow bubbles. What must it be like to feel that confined?
Favorite bubble moment in a movie: Harold & Maude. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen the movie, what are you waiting for? Go netflix it. Right Now.
I always include a bottle of bubbles in bridal shower gifts. *Smirk*
My favorite NTKOG thus far.
In moving home, I have to quit smoking too… and bubbles sounds like an excellent idea!
I stumbled across your blog quite by accident; I don’t even remember what I was searching for, but I’m now a regular reader. I had to comment on this entry, though, because I love it so much. Your writing is really beautiful! And, just yesterday, I went out and bought some bubbles for myself. So far, I’ve only puzzled the cat and freaked out the dog, but when the weather gets just a little warmer, I’m taking a walk in public with my bubbles. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
bubbles? brilliant! :) i’ll have to suggest that to a friend of mine who always seems to be ready to quit smoking…
I… kind of really love this. A lot. I love the mental images I get of this, of a parade of bubbles – just floating, pretty. I think if I were to encounter someone randomly walking down the street blowing bubbles I’d probably go all squee on them and be giddy for a good chunk of the day afterwards.
Ah, but you were talking about Mr. Depp qua object of lust, an area in which greasiness is a huge concern. As an actor, I have other problems with him. I think he’s a fine actor, but he’s just not for me. I’m done trying with him.
Also, sorry for the comment threading fail! The site hates it when I attempt to answer comments from my phone.