Thursday, September 27, 2007

Talented friends...

...paint you funny pictures of your pets. As proven by this lovely work of art by Nicole, which now hangs in our bathroom:

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

You know you are a New Yorker when:

- You have no qualms about yelling at someone for rubbing all nasty-like up against you on the subway. (I forgot that years of actor training left me with a voice that has absolutely no problem carrying throughout the entire train car, thusly warning all those around that the pree-verts are lurking.)

- You are walking up the stairs to exit the subway station and a rat comes scurtteling (new word) down the stairs as though he is trying to catch the train, and you look at which ever person happens to be closest to you and you both dissolve into laughter. A little gross, but a lot funny. Only in New York.

- Every week, for the past year, you have done a wedding invitation with the Brooklyn Bridge on it. Of course, that didn't happen so much in Chicago or DC. Chicago didn't really have a set landmark that people over-used, but in DC people used cherry blossoms a lot.

- You wear the comfy shoes for the walk and change into the cute high heels once at the destination.

- You recycle obsessively.

- You eat street hotdogs without fear.

- You aim for certain cars on the subway trains because you know they'll drop you closest to the exit that you need.

- You walk into your morning bagel shop and fall instantly into a conversation about the Mayan Cosmogenisis and the possibility of the world ending in 2012. With the oaf-ish, goofy bagel guy behind the counter and the UPS man waiting for his coffee.

- You see TV shows where, in other parts of the country, people live in houses with, like, 3000 sq/ft and you think "Who on earth needs that much space?"

Note: Doggy seems to be doing better, although she is still on pain meds. She doesn't flinch when you touch her face anymore, so hope for the best!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Doggy


We spent the morning at the vet with Jacky. Our poor girl has something wrong with her non-eye. It is very tender to the touch and aside from that, she is very lethargic and sort of just sits around, hanging her little head with her other eye half closed. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with her, and since nobody wants to go trying to open a permanently closed eye we can't really see if there's anything wrong in there. His best guess is that she whacked her head, and it's sore. But I'm not sure. Something just doesn't seem right.

So keep your fingers crossed for our furry creature the next day or so. Her mommy and daddy won't sleep well until they know she's healthy again.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Things for which to be glad...

1. It is Autumn. This is grand, grand news. Crunchy leaves and crispy air that smells good. (Most of the time. This is Greenpoint, after all. You have to expect some nastiness in the air now and again.)

2. Delicious pizza slices on the walk home from work. And for only $1.75. A steal, especially since I know that next door to the pizza place you can also get a decent cup of coffee for fifty cents. Sometimes it pays to live in the out-there neighborhoods.

3. Travels to California - the northern part. Rick and I spent the weekend at my cousins wedding in Livermore which was lovely. Warm evenings and sea breezes and a beautiful party in a picturesque location. Not to mention spending time with my fabulous family.

4. Public television. Thanks to them for broadcasting Lincoln Center's opening night live and allowing me to watch YoYo Ma play my favorite cello works from Dvorak's cello concerto -- right in my living room. Stunning.

5. The girls at the doggy daycare for taking such good care of my furry girl while we were away in Cali. I think Jacky loves them more than me sometimes. But i don't think she knows that I pay them to love her, so... don't tell her.

6. Brooklyn Academy of Music's presentation of The Royal Shakespeare's King Lear. Sir Ian is playing Lear, and this is sure to be one extraordinary performance. Tickets are so hard to come by that Rick and I don't even get to sit together. Saturday (Yom Kippur! No work for me!) we will prepare to be stunned.

7. Bangs. Lunatic fringe. I cut myself some bangs a few weeks ago, and I don't hate them. Yet.

8. Whole fruit strawberry popsicles. These are crazy, addictive little things with no added sugar and packed full of pure deliciousness. We buy them 3 boxes at a time.

9. New seasons of The Office and 30 Rock coming up next week. These shows showcase some of the best writing in television these days.

10. As I said before, fall is approaching which means that winter will soon be here and that mean Christmas cards! Yay! I am the only atheist I know with a wicked addiction to sending holiday cards. I have already chosen my card for this year and will be ordering them this week. Viva la Holidays!!!

Monday, September 10, 2007

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Has anyone read this gorgeous book lately? I finished it for the first time and it left me with same euphoric sense that "To Kill A Mockingbird" did. I already miss the characters, especially the main character Francie. It's exceptional, and the story happens to take place in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Here's a tidbit:

When they got to the Brooklyn side [of the bridge], she said that he was not to take her the rest of the way home. He'd get lost if he tried to find his way back to New York from her neighborhood. Brooklyn was tricky that way. You had to live there in order to find your way about, she said.

In truth, she didn't want him to see where she lived. She loved her neighborhood and wasn't ashamed of it. But she felt that to a stranger who didn't know about it the way she did, it might seem a mean and shabby place.

For what it's worth, I totally agree with Francie Nolan.

Fall(ish)

The trees in the park are just starting to turn. But it's been dry as a bone here, so maybe they are just dying. No, I think they're turning. Last year, upon arriving in Brooklyn, I tried to photograph the same part of the park each day in hope of capturing some time-lapse tree-turning escapade. I gave up about three pictures in. I will try again this year. But it is my renewed mission to continue into the winter and through the spring, so perhaps -if all goes right and well- we will have a photographic tree extravaganza of McGolrick Park. Does that sound so exciting?

We go to San Francisco this week for my cousin's wedding. This is the first wedding in our family in gawd-knows-how-long. My wedding was non-existent; we eloped. I am not big on overt displays of sentimentality nor am I big on dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a party, so eloping was the way to go for us. Plus, when you work in the wedding industry like I do, you get a warped perspective of it all. All that being said, I am not above celebrating other people's happiness and cannot wait to see my family. I plan on having a fantistic time, and will accept nothing less. Plus the wedding is at a lovely winery with delicious scenery, so you can't go wrong. We fly on Virgin America, which is a new airline. Swanky.

Our landlord gave us some New York Jets season opener tickets for yesterdays game. I (thankfully) had to work so Rick took a friend and off they drove to Jersey to watch some football. Not my favorite past time, but the had a good time and got plenty sunburned.

In other news, I have re-enable comments on my blog. So feel free to comment. But don't get too bitchy; my mom reads this blog and she'll ground you.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Two days in list form:

Wednesday:

1. Woke up.

2. Cleaned house (swiffered dog hairs off floor.)

3. Played music on piano and sang.

4. Went to movies alone (saw Once. Highly recommended.) Left theatre with a sad, euphoric sense.

5. Met Husband at Bryant Park. (Bad idea. "Fashion Week" is happening in Bryant Park and thusly this section of Manhattan is crowed with tons of tall, anorexic women and boys is skinny pants.)

6. Scowl at anorexic women (and yearn for days past when these thighs could actually wear size 2. )

7. Send Husband off to class and buy super-cute grass green jacket for half-price at Macy's. (Only after dodging mass of people crowed on main level of Macy's for a Celebrity Engagment featuring vocalist Fergie. Ferie, by the by, looked suspiciously like a porn star.)

8. Some how end up at home, tired and falling asleep ont he couch as usual.

Thursday:

1. Got up.

2. Played with doggy in park.

3. Practiced cello.

4. Got pissed off at cello and played piano instead.

5. Met cousin Mica and Friend (in town for 4 hours before heading to JFK) and noshed at the Veselka.

6. Took the boys to the best book store ever, The Strand.

7. Sat in Union Square people and squirrel watching.

8. Crack-head girl wearing a TuPac tshirt asks Mica for a cigarette. He makes her tell him what her favorite TuPac song is first. She is deemed legit, and given a cigarette.

9. Send the guests on their way to JFK via A train.

10. Cello lesson.

11. Present moment.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Rag weed and bitters.

On Sunday we went on an outing to the Poconos to have a BBQ with some of Husband's collegues. They live in a charming little mountainy villiage next to a lake so we brought Jacky with us to explore the wildlife. She was on her very best behaviour and enjoyed being petted by all the guests, as well as getting scraps of ham and pasta. The good behaviour ended when a deer charged through the backyard stream and up into the mountain side - I had to physically restrain our dog as her "nature, tooth and claw" instict kicked in. She really wanted that deer. Anyway, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and we had a good time.

In other news I am suffering from the Worst Allergies Ever. They got suspicious st Target when I asked to buy 3 boxes of Pseudoephedrine Generic Brand ClaritainD, but jesushchristonabike, people - I am miserable here. I only was allowed one box (lest I cook crank with the tablets) and honestly, even with the drugs coursing through my rushing blood, I am still sneezing like a freak. I am not sure how I will sleep tonight, but I think whiskey will have to be involved. I have managed to get by by constantly sucking on Fisherman's Friend cough drops (very mentholy, helps dry out the nasal passages) and relaxing into a zen state that lets me forget about clawing my nose off with sandpaper.

We hit Ikea today to get a desk for Husband's new office at school and had to push through the hordes of Back to School dorm shoppers. Once on campus, I proceeded to build his desk in record time. I am an Ikea Furniture Building Master of the Tenth Degree.

Cheers, peeps. Hang in for Fall... I smelled October in the air when we were driving through Pennsylvania, and the tips of the trees are starting to turn.