Another Train Ride, Heading Back To Bean Town

It’s hard to believe I won’t be seeing Aimee for two months.

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions (not because I’m Jewish and we have our own calendar, but because...

(WHAT?!! I just passed this gigantic mall-type metal church with a big banner hanging from the outside that said, “Is it nothing to you? Lamentations some number: some number." Weird.)

...Anyway, back to New Years Resolutions: I don’t believe in them because they’re stupid. Still, I have one this year:

I need to make my home in New York a place where I can refuel with my writing. (We’re passing the Bronx now.) Not just blogging and emailing, but work. Real work. I need to get back to my characters.

I can’t believe I’m leaving New York. I know it’s only two weeks but I’m going to miss my new home. The chaos, the distractions, the extremes.

I’m going to see Kimberley in fivish hours and we’re going out with her friends for dinner (this is going to be fun, stop worrying, Kimberley!) and celebration. I feel like I haven’t seen my sister in forever. And I’m going to give her a red kettle because she doesn’t have one.

Aimee and I had brunch at 9th Street Market; don’t believe the hype. It’s way too expensive and they’re all over the place with their ambiance. The food was not memorable. When we left, the word “WHO” had been written in the clouds above us by one of those sky-writers. I wonder what it means.

We walked around, enjoying the sunny day, with a quick stop at Angelica to make a you tube video for E. Then I gave Aimee my shooties as a final farewell. We walked to the R and Aimee went to Brooklyn while I went to Penn Station. We took pictures, so dad, don’t be surprised that I have digital pictures to share. (Happy birthday, dad! Love you! Did you know you can eat the entire apple except the seeds, just like a pear?)

It feels like the end of an era. A very concentrated era, but isn’t everything like that in New York?

Hanging out with Aimee reminded me of summer camp. The city became a gigantic jungle gym. Now we must go out into the world and kick some art ass!

Twenty minutes until New Haven.

Movie of the day: Sliding Doors

Haircut Happiness

This morning, the bookstore needed my help up front. So I went upstairs and started chatting with this volunteer, a microbiologist from Romania. She also has hair like mine and I loved her cut.

So we ended up talking about hair and she offered to cut mine. At lunch, she cut my hair in the basement bathroom. I love it! It's way cuter than the way the woman on 2nd Avenue cut it, and today's haircut cost me nothing (as opposed to almost ninety dollars on 2nd Ave).

I'm really wishing I had a digi-cam today. (If have extra time in Somerville, I'll get one.)


E told me she's reminded of Mary Tyler Moore throwing up her beret when she reads my blog. From one Minnesota woman to another. (Maybe when I get a digi-cam, I can reenact this picture.)

I leave for Boston for my next residency in two days...

Bogosian and The Theater Girl

Yesterday I saw “History Boys,” which was the highlight of my day. If you want a really great story that feels like a really great book, this is the movie for you. I can’t tell you how happy I was to end my day with this movie.

Two days ago, something happened and I never went into detail about it, so here goes:
Eric Bogosian came into Housing Works and one of my coworkers pointed him out. Well, I misunderstood who she was referring to, so I started flirting with this older guy for a solid twenty minutes. I learned all about his life in Hastings, his eleven year old daughter, his ex-wife, how he felt about parenting, etc. He was ready to give me his phone number. Finally, I had to go help someone else. I said to my coworker, “So that was Eric Bogosian?” and she said, “No, Eric Bogosian left twenty minutes ago.” I spent all this time trying to hook up with some random 40 year old! He must have been so excited and confused to have so much attention from me.

Fast forward to today. Jessica, the real magic bullet owner came to pick up her package. First of all, she thought Aimee and I were lovers because Aimee was hanging out in her pajamas (actually mine) and why else would two grown women be lying around in their pajamas at 10 pm if they both didn’t both live there? Then I spotted her theater ring (you know, one of those comedy/tragedy face mask things) and she stood in my apartment telling us:
1. She graduated in 05!!!! from BU!!!
2. Her dad lives in the West Village and he’s lived there for 35 years and she’s from New York and she’s a real New Yorker and did she mention her dad’s from the West Village and he’s lived there even before it was SAFE and that she loves the West Village and, you know, the Meat Packing District, and did she mention she’s from West Village?
3. She went to a theater high school. I think it was in the West Village.
4. She has a shih-tzu. (Later, we got to see her apartment, which has a painting-- Aimee thinks it’s a photograph-- of her dog that she can look at while lying in her bed (weird and creepy and not very feng shui, let me tell you).
5. The only good thing about Jessica is that she told me which phone reception is best in our building. Verizon.
6. Did I mention she’s from the West Village?

So the cycle of the magic bullet has come to an end. On the upside, Aimee got a free cardboard box, I got a potential cat sitter, and I met the only person in her adult years who wears a theater ring.

Aimee feng-shuied my apartment some more. Now she’s all drugged up and we’re off to sleep. Good night lovely people.

Song of the night: “You’re Getting Too Smart” by The Detroit Emeralds

p.s. Jessica isn't that bad. Aimee just hates her because she's jealous and thinks Jessica will be my new Aimee Replacement.

My Vengeful Christmas: Part One

My whole schedule has been reworked and I may end up missing “For Your Consideration.” I think I’ll only see four movies. Movies make me forget my head. I’m very disoriented, but I’m going with it.

I’ve made a pit stop home in between movie number one (Dream Girls) and movie number two (Volver).

Dream Girls gets a four out of five stars in comparison to other big budget movies/holiday films and I’m SO wanting to see the original Broadway production that is available on video. Jennifer Hudson stole the show. She’s stunning. The audience applauded a lot. That was fun.

Volver gets three and a half stars out of five in comparison to other Almodovar films. The mother, who used to act in Pedro’s older films, was kind of weak in this one. But this was one of Penelope’s best performances by far. Bravo.

I had movie seat karma issues. Before the second movie, I was pretending to be saving seats for people so nobody could sit near me. When push came to shove, I gave up the two to my right to what seemed like a nice 40-something lesbian couple. But wait! They decided to talk through the movie. I kept asking them to be quiet, which they refused to do. Mind you, I had done them a favor by giving up the seats, but anyway, when the film ended, I got up and promptly placed all my weight on one of their feet. I paused, letting the pressure dig in, and she yelled, “Excuse me!” I ignored her and moved on. I know that karma may catch up with me at “History Boys,” which I am running out the door to go see, but what can I do? Revenge is my middle name.

Other things:

I want patent leather shoes kind of. The old ones, what were they called? With the white and black. Oh! Saddle shoes.

I think New York is a city of over-abundance and I am totally susceptible to this problem.

I love New York Christmas!! I’ve been bonding (when I'm not being vengeful) with other movie-goers about my marathon.

My Christmas Itinerary

10:10 am: Dream Girls
noon: Borat

Lunch Break: Snacks

3:15 pm: For Your Consideration
5:15 pm: Volver
7:45 pm: History Boys

Dinner: Chinese Food (Take-Out)

Home for three hours of writing

1 am: Sleep

It's traditional to go to The Jewish Museum on Christmas and this year they are having an exhibit of Jewish comics, which I would love to see but I don't have time with my movie schedule. Plus it's all the way uptown. Usually, there's a line down the block and they serve Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa while you wait. What do you think, Jewish Museum or movies? (Here's a picture of Christmas 2 or 3 years ago.)

p.s. I think I might like to meet my next lover at Trader Joes.

the difference is clear:

i am not like new yorkers. i am flamboyantly happy and here is a visual aid to demonstrate the difference between me and others:


(thanks to kimberley for the jeans pictured above. i think they're a little baggy on my chicken legs, but I'm going to keep wearing them.)
(my head looks gigantic in this picture.)
two nights ago, i was up the whole night minus one hour of sleep. last night i took sleepinal and went to bed at 7:30 pm. some day i'll get it right. (have you ever noticed how so many of all of our posts revolve around the topic of sleep?)

fun with a digital camera! here i am trying to appreciate my profile. this is very much not my favorite angle, so while i had that ridiculous disposable camera, i tried to work it out.

happy last night of hanukah!

p.s. In my theory of hyper-connectivity, i came up with a possibility while falling asleep last night: maybe the faces of people you can remember are the people you consider sincere and the faces of people you can't remember are those that aren't. maybe this theory is too simplistic. it made a lot more sense while i was drifting off...

It Would Be Wrong To Keep It... A True Story

Dear Jessica,

Today I came home to find two UPS packages at my door. The smaller one contained more treats from my sister. The larger one contained this incredible As Seen On Television Magic Bullet Blender Mixer System. The thing is, this was a gift sent to you. I don't know who you are or where you live, but the package had my mailing address and your name on it. As much as I would love to have my very own Magic Bullet Blender Mixer that purports to make chicken salad in six seconds, I cannot, in good conscience, keep this gift that does not belong to me.

I have sent you an email and left a message at a random number that I'm hoping is yours. Please let me know where you live and I will personally be your Jewish Santa and deliver your MBBMS.

For some reason, I'm worried you're not going to fully appreciate this amazing gift in the ways that I think I might take to it, but that's no reason for me to withhold handing it over.

My biggest dream would be for you to either tell me you don't want the MBBMS and give it to me just because and/or for you to give me eight million dollars just for doing the right thing and going to all this trouble.

Or maybe you live in my building and you can be my second friend that lives on my block (Robb is number one).

Happy Hanukah! (I saw from your last name that you are a member of the tribe.) I hope you make lots of yummy latkes in your MBBMS and don't forget to leave some for your friend in the basement.

Love,
Gili

I Think I Found My New Favorite Book Series...

On my lunch break, I ran over to Moishe's Bake Shop to purchase sufganiyot (jelly donuts) for Tara's Hanukah party. How great is it to live in a cty where I can ask for sufganiyot and they not only know what I'm talking about, but wish me a happy hannukah on my way out?! Jewish cities rule!
I didn't want to use this picture of sufganiyot because it's from Martha Stewart (could you be more waspy??), but it's an accurate representation and as we have all learned, far too clearly, I does not own a digital camera.



The best thing that happened today is I sold the "Bridge To Terabithia" book to a book dealer in Georgia, so I got to personally deliver it to FedEx. It was like seeing my baby off at the ferry. It was hard to see her go but I know somewhere in Georgia, some young child is not going to understand the magnitude of the Christmas present they are about to receive.... And that's how I sleep at night.



During the White Elephant part of Tara's party, I got this amazing young adult book, which was regifted by Emily, who I've met before. (Emily basically brought all the junk from her house that she didn't want.) The book is written for me. And I quote:
"The Phatom reared, silver power against the white fury of snow.... Sam walked toward the hidden home of the wild horses. She was one of them now."
If this woman (or ghost writer) can get published, I feel pretty good about my chances. Maybe I'll start a collection of frightening young adult horse books. It turns out that the one I got is number 24 in a huge series. What if I tried to read all of them?

Tales of A Teenage Loose Cannon

I have been accused on more than one occasion of being a loose cannon. Which is why I’m worried. (I know I’m not a teenager anymore, but I still feel like one.)

I visited Aimee at lunch today and everyone was so calm and under-excited. Enter Gili, The Tornado, and dear G-D, please don’t let me have embarrassed Aimee. Oy, I talked about my double periods. I worry I did damage.

It is truly gift-giving time!!
Today I received:

*Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Season One DVD from Mom and Dad
*A beautiful green rug for my apartment from Kimberley
*An amazing print from Aimee that says, “My Name Is Not China” (I know there was some confusion about this issue and my name.)
*A mix CD from Aimee
*The biggest surprise ever: A package from Aimee with handmade greeting cards (These are a reason in and of itself for me to have a digi-cam), a beautiful necklace/bracelet, a tiny tree print, AND another homemade card.

At the post office this morning, the man behind me told me I have beautiful eyelashes. I had been staring at another person wishing I looked more like them and it was so nice that he just came out and said that. I was thinking this world would be so great (if not slightly creepy) if everyone gave everyone else the compliments that they are thinking.

Dispelling A Rumor:
I’m here to announce that Aimee and I are not a couple. We are not lesbian lovers. Enough, people.

I’d like to go see Yusef Komunyakaa read tonight at KGB, but we all know I never end up making it to readings.

Biggest hope:
I will finally talk to Riva today.

p.s. My mom thought that Tompkins Square Park was called "Munchkin Square Park." How weird would that be? And SO not approrpiate!!

Hanukah Treats

My blog swap food person sent me a package that arrived last night. Inside I found cystallized ginger cookies, rugelach with hazelnut peach filling, gelt, a moon hanging thingy, a hanukah lollipop, and mango tea. How did she know I love tea?? I have not been able to stop the intake of ginger cookies. Either has Cornelius. They are so freaking good!! Thanks, Beth!

Ah, home

This week has gone on too darn long. Here’s a list of things that happened today:

1. A tree fell on a woman on 10th Street on my way to work this morning. It’s a long story, but the point is, a man was driving a truck and basically hit a tree and then the tree split in half and the branches fell on a woman. She’s okay, I think. The driver didn’t even get out of the truck. This is how I started my day.

2. I held a first edition, signed copy of Bridge To Terabithia that’s worth 750 dollars. I might be shipping it off on Monday if the book dealer that I spoke to today wants to buy it. This is my favorite young adult book. Ever.

3. Talked to an angry man (actually, I was talked at by him) on the phone today (he had a right to be angry) who kept calling me “lady” over and over again (he didn’t have a right to be calling me “lady,” especially the way he was calling me it).

4. Met Corrinne Bailey Rae and watched her practicing for her show at Housing Works tonight. I didn’t stay because Aimee told me I needed to go home. And also because the thought of watching some woman (that I’ve never even heard of) sing while being squished between three hundred other people sounded like a bad way to end the day.

5. Came home to my blog swap package. I have to take pictures of the food, which I will post tomorrow. In the meantime, I have been stuffing myself with ginger cookies all night.

6. Took another shower and tried out the honey all over the skin thing the way I’m supposed to do it. So far, so good.

Tonight’s plan: Two hours of writing, one hour of reading stuff for workshops, reading fun stuff until I go to bed, which will hopefully happen by midnight.

Ah, home.

Q: How Many Ways Can I Entertain Myself While Never Getting Any School Work Done?

A: A lot.

I have blotches of honey all over my face and arms. After spending the last five hours hanging out with Aimee, I stopped by Trader Joe’s and bought a 3 lb. can of honey. She convinced me that it would be good for my skin. I think I put too much on because I’m all sticky and keep leaving little dabs of honey all over my apartment. Did I do it wrong, Aimee??

Today, Sarah Michelle Geller was at Housing Works. The store was closed and the street was closed off for the movie shoot. They’re filming “A Girl’s Guide To Hunting And Fishing,” which was the dumbest book ever but I might go see the movie to see Housing Works. Aimee witnessed a lot of really bizarre interactions that I had during the filming of the movie. I won’t get into it, but at one point, this strange Italian woman seemed to get angry with me for not speaking Italian even though she was the one trespassing.
I don’t care about Sarah Michelle Geller, but I need to say this: She is very, very skinny. Make no mistake. She is so skinny, she’s almost not there.


I was supposed to go to a reading tonight, but Aimee and I played hooky. We stopped at Black Hound and ate lots of dessert samples. They were playing Delilah After Dark and I was way happier about it than the guy working behind the counter. I don’t know why. And get this, Aimee had never heard of Delilah. Wow. I am really exposing her to a whole new world. I like to think of it as my form of community service. (Just kidding.)

We had a late dinner (post-bowls of cereal and free samples and yummy ginger dark chocolate) at Souen. I stuffed myself with bok choy and rice and other macrobiotic treats. I had written “Eat Healthy” in my planner for today. Maybe tomorrow.

I got more Feng Shui tips and what I'm learning is that I am the opposite of Feng Shui.

One last thing: on my walk home, I saw a man dressed in completely in tinfoil with only a pair of striped boxers on top. I’m not even sure he was a man, since his face was covered. It was for a photo-shoot. Again, wish I had a digi-cam.

Music: “All Night” by Damien and Stephen Marley

The Glow In The Dark Stars on My Outer Space Pillowcase Are Keeping Me Awake

...kind of. But maybe I’m just scapegoating my pillowcase. The time is 2:15 am. I’ve decided to make tea.

Today was a bad day, and I am realizing that I have to be more honest with my workplace when I’m frustrated. I can’t keep it to myself because it will find a way out of me and it’s better to be direct than pent up. I don’t do pent up well. Never have.

I’m not anywhere near tired. This is the pattern: begin my week pretending to be healthy, then stay up really late several nights mid-week, and finally, drag myself through the last days of the week. This is not a good pattern. Note to self: work on this.

Aimee Feng Shui’d my apartment. It’s a really big improvement. Someday I’ll have a digi-cam and harass others with pictures. In the meantime, just know she made it work in a major way. Dad, the big tall bookshelf is now lying on its side and it looks way less precarious and way better.

I’ve been wondering lately why it’s so satisfying to read incredibly real-to-life fiction, but living incredibly real-to-life nonfiction is not so satisfying. Seriously, explain this to me.

Tomorrow, the store is closed and we will be supervising a film shoot. At night, I’m going to a reading. (Tomorrow is actually today, but later.)

Right now, it seems much more important for me to be in the habit of loving things-- like writing, New York, my apartment, random strangers-- intensely and not worrying so much about having things love me back. There’s a part of my brain that decided I need to actively pursue what makes me excited and happy and curious. So that’s what I’m doing.

Music That’s On:
Birthday mix from Riva.

New Club I’m Starting Right Now:
Conspiratorial Artists (I’m not sure what we’ll conspire about, but I’m now accepting members. We can discuss our thoughts on conspiring at our first meeting.)

Pressing Question:
Which is worse? Listening to Britney Spears or Nelly Furtado?

Busy Week With Blood

That's right folks. I'm doing such a bad job of taking care of myself that G-d served me up a second period. Believe it. Needless to say, I'm not a fan.

On the upside, Aimee slept over last night!!! Yea!!! How fun. For dinner, I wandered the streets looking for pumpkin soup. Everywhere I went, the cafe staff looked at me like I was out of my mind. Like, why the heck would we have pumpkin soup? So I gave up, went home, got in my pajamas, and ate cereal.

This week is busy busy, as usual. Plans: reading to attend tomorrow night, next night is some singer that's supposed to be AMAZING, then party with Aimee's artsy friends, then ice skating, then hanukah party with Tara.

Must make time to write. Have I learned nothing???

Paulette: come visit NY and we can have sleep over parties and be silly. Wish you were still here.

Sandra: call me again next week!! I want to hear everything!!!!

song of the day: anything but "New Year's Resolution" by Nick Lachey. Grrrr.

Not Peter Dinklage

Guess what? I saw another famous person on the street five minutes ago. I was heading to my brow wax (FINALLY!) and Wallace Shawn was trying to break down the Village East Cinemas doors. What is up with me seeing very short men? Okay, it's only two, but still. Lots of people looked excited to see him. I didn't say anything. It was a magical moment, so I knew the brow wax would be great. Loved him in "The Princess Bride" and in "Sex and the City."

Turns out, I'm pretty sure I've been to this brow wax place before. I think Ellen took me once a long time ago. It might have been my very first time ever. They were fast and furious and I'm happy with the results.

All my errands are complete (except I'm mid-laundry right now) which is a miracle. Today is beautiful and sunny and I'm loving running around.

Song of the day is dedicated to Ellen:
Rollercoaster By The Sea: Jonathan Richman. Here are the lyrics.

The Cure For Winter Blues=

1. Sierra Designs down booties. I have worn mine down, but they are still part of my indoor winter uniform.

2. Dagoba Hot Cocoa. See previous post.

3. Trader Joe's Honeybush tea. See previous post.

4. Trader Joe's Red Pepper and Tomato soup. See previous post.

5. Scarves.

6. Strolling around New York. Yesterday, a stranger told me, "Transcend the nonsense." I'm working on it.

7. Fingerless gloves. It's still not cold enough to have the fingers completely covered; they just get sweaty and suffocated.

8. Sleep. Last night I slept for twelve hours. If I'm not a bear, I don't know what I am.

9. Coffee. Today I got up at 2 pm, so I didn't have any coffee. That's right, no coffee. A clean and sober day to detox. But in general, coffee is my main ingredient for curing those winter blahs.

10. Hot showers. Lots and lots of hot showers.

Truth: So far, winter blues haven't really happened. There's still too much to do and to love in this city.

Tomorrow's goal is to get myself a New York Public Library Card.

quarantined

Paul Muldoon read tonight at Housing Works. I stayed for a while, but the guilt I felt was too great. Or maybe it was too much to listen to someone who spoke so slowly. My brain just isn’t that patient right now. I hurried home to work more on my writing. It’s official: I’m the last person in my class to upload my manuscripts for workshop. Sigh. Maybe next semester, I’ll be better. Probably not.


I’m taking tomorrow off to finish up my second piece. It’s got to go out, no matter what.

This is an official apology: Hanukah gifts will be late. Sorry.

New York has gotten a bit colder, but I still love it. Everything’s better here, and I’d love to expand on this, but writing beckons.

Thanks to Aimee, I’ve begun a jumping jack regimen, which is a nice way to end the day, but doing them kind of makes me feel like I’m in prison. I guess I sort of am until I get through with this frickin’ story.

Grocery list (hopefully this can happen tomorrow once writing is complete):
Bananas, cherry tomatoes, carrot juice, soy milk, apple sauce, soup, tea, cereal, carrots, spinach, tofu

Plus I need a brow wax big time. And a hair cut. And black tights. And a new printer cartridge. (This is what happens when I never allow myself to leave my house.)

Music: Ray LaMontagne
Obsession: Dagoba Xocolatl (Hot Chocolate w/chilies and cinnamon)

Please Leave Me A Message And I'll Get Back To You As Soon As Possible

Work, coffee, school, coffee, repeat. Running just as fast as I can...
I'm so ridiculously busy and it's totally my fault for putting off school until the last minute.
I'm on lunch in the middle of a New Hire Orientation and I've come up with a self-diagnosis/new vocab word:
I've decided I have Neurasthenia. Not really, but it's always fun to find new possible illnesses.

One of my pieces I'm wokring on is getting to the place where I want it to be, but the other one is very stubborn (okay, it's me that's stubborn) and it refuses to conform to my wants (actually, I think the problem is, I really have no idea where I want it to be going). Unfortunately, it's due today. I'm ignoring that part because I'd be ashamed to turn it in and call myself a writer.



Along with Alice Munro, I'm partaking in some light reading. I finally got my hands on a copy of Rats which is perfect-timing for moving to New York. It's my subway and lunch reading and so far, I think it should be required reading for moving to this city.
Back to orientation....

Thoughts from the 12th Annual World AIDS Day Reading of the Names Vigil

The reading at City Hall takes place from midnight to midnight today, and consists of five podiums in a semi-circle with five people simultaneously reading names. You can read for as short or as long as you want and for people who don’t like the sound of their own voice (me), the good news is that we are all reading different names at the same time.

Here are my thoughts that I scribbled during my four-hour shift at the reading:

First time reading:
*Whose lips have touched this microphone besides mine?
*What if I read names incorrectly and people ask me to stop reading or start laughing at me?
*Maybe I need to read louder to give the people who’ve passed away respect.
*Slow down, think of each person, each life, each meaningful existence. Who were they? What was their life like?
*Listen to the other people reading around me. What are they thinking about? Who are the people that they are naming?
*What if I accidentally skip a name? Will they be remembered? Will their name be spoken aloud before next year’s vigil?
*This is being broadcast live on NPR. I hope the families are not disappointed with the way we’re pronouncing the names.

-When I sat down after the first reading, I realized some of the same names are at different podiums, so if I accidentally skipped a name, someone else would read it.

Second reading:
*I’m more distracted and I keep messing up names.
*I touched my lips to the microphone again. I ended up at the same podium again, so it’s the same microphone.
*This time, I’m trying to take my time, breathe, and read louder.

-And then the rain came. At first, it was gentle:
*My coworker, Eddie was holding an umbrella for one of the women reading. It was time for him to leave (his shift had ended) so I offered to hold the umbrella.
*The wind picked up and the woman kept going. We got soaked, the rain flooding in from every direction.
*I huddled closer, and one of the volunteers handed us another umbrella so I was trying to shield this woman and myself from two directions.
*The wind kept picking up and I wasn’t strong enough to hold the umbrellas.
*I liked huddling next to this woman, watching her read from the list of names. I don’t know her and I may never see her again, but standing under the umbrellas with her in the pouring rain, I felt so close to her and so good.
*When we finally got off the podium, she turned and said, “Thanks” to me. Stupidly, I said, “Thank YOU.”

With an hour left until my shift ends, I’m standing under the tent with other volunteers and employees, protected from the rain. My jeans, shoes, and socks are soaked. But I’m alive and listening to the names and the rain is finally letting up.

tired of the long haul (or maybe just a little sleepy as i try to settle in)

I was lying in my perfect bed, not sleeping, but trying my darndest. The Be Good Tanyas were playing on my CD alarm clock and I was listening to “Midnight Moonlight,” which got me thinking about all the moving around I’ve done in my life. So I drew a map of the U.S. in my journal and made arrows going from place to place. (This doesn’t include summer camps or trips/semesters abroad.) The goal of this visual aid is to help me sort through my scattered brain. (Thank goodness I get to sleep in tomorrow.) I don’t have a scanner, so I’ll try to do it through pictures.

Minneapolis, MN: 0-5

Miami, FL: 5-8

North Palm Beach, FL: 8-16

Interlochen, MI: 16-18

Oberlin, OH: 18-22

San Francisco, CA: 22-26

Again to Minneapolis, MN: 26-27

New York, NY: 27-??

Nope, still not feeling like I can sleep. Maybe I'll turn the lights off again...