Knit Me Baby One More Time

I can't believe the beauty! The sun has been shining for two days! It's supposed to be another warm one tomorrow. I've been basking in the hot 40 degrees.

Last night was semi-productive. I read some more of McEwan (still not a fan). Also, I wrote my outlines for my annotations and reread my story.

Tonight, for the first time since I lived in San Francisco two years ago, I started knitting. Alyssa and I went to Happy Ending Music and Reading Series. It was craft night and the publishers of a bunch of craft books donated a bunch of knitting needles and fancy yarn. I got really into knitting during the music and the crafty people giving talks about their books and their crafts. Alyssa was convinced that this was going to be the ultimate event in New York and I can't say that it was, but we had fun. We even got yelled at more than once for talking during the lectures. The hostess, was weird and nobody laughed at her jokes, but that didn't stop her from trying. I felt like the bad kid in school. But I was also the master knitter of the night (not including the presenters). Here's the scarf I started. It's just like riding a bike, it came right back to me. The band that played, Mason Dixon was really good.

Big excitement of the week: Veronica volunteers tomorrow, which means I get another fabulous haircut!

Oh! Today at work on the radio there was some weird radio gimmick where people were supposed to call in and choose between Chaka Kahn and Whitney Houston. For a couple hours it was all Whitney and Chaka all the time. Ultimately, Chaka won the battle for most-played, which was a bit disappointing.
Whitney song of the day would have to be: All At Once
And Chaka song has got to be: Tell Me Something Good

*health restoration of the week: No coffee; just hot water with lemon

I Am Such A Nerd

Good old Richard Brautigan's poetry just landed on my desk. I forgot about how I used to memorize his poetry with Jen in high school.

Here's the Brautigan poem of the day:

Nice Ass

There is so much lost
And so much gained in
these words.

More news:

Went to a really fun Oscar party at my friend, Maggie's home. She's trying to set me up with her housemate. We'll see. So far there's mutual interest, but I have a feeling this one is going to take a while.

Aimee is gone again. I feel like I'm the housewife who pads around, waiting for her to come home from her business trips, worrying that she may be having affairs. Except in our case, it would be good for her to be having affairs. What with the fact that we're not lesbian lovers.

I had lunch with Alyssa and Eva today. That was kind of fun but I'm worried Eva thinks I'm out of my mind. I'm not losing sleep over it, but I have to say, I could get where she's coming from.

My Raw Food book finally came in at the library, but I don't see how it could happen. All the germinating and preparing and blending and words that end in -ing. Polarchip, sending you major props. On that note, I'm not drinking coffee this week because I want my face to clear for a certain date I have this weekend.

I'm not that into Ian McEwan's Saturday. Anyone want to help me out with that?

Aimee told me that maybe the reason I'm not doing any writing/schoolwork is because I'm acting out about no longer having Michael as my mentor. I think she's right. I finally got a little bit of work going last night and I'm going to try and keep up with it tonight.

Song of the day:
*Man Eater by Nelly Furtado

Perhaps of the day:
*Perhaps I like horses after all.

WHEEEEEEEE!

No big surprise, things have gotten out of hand. In the past two weeks, I have had only one full night of sleep (last night) and my life has become a series of over-stimulating events. I’m not really sure who this Gili is and how she got this way, but I’m mostly enjoying the ride and learning a lot about myself.

Riva came to stay with me for a few days. It was really good having her here. I can’t even remember all that we did, so here’s some things: ATE a lot, including at hummus place, café colonial, s'mac, angelica kitchen, essa bagels, around the clock diner, guss' pickles, economy candy, mud coffee; help me out, Riva, what am I forgetting? We discovered bars in my neighborhood, including my new favorite one on First Avenue in between eighth and ninth (I don’t think it has a name). We walked to the West Village, stared at puppies in the windows, strolled downtown along the Hudson, walked through Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side. We did cucumber facials (see picture) at three in the morning to try and relax. We listened to Radiohead because it was the closest thing I could find to music that sounded like we were at a Turkish Spa. In the famous Riva/Gili tradition, I gave Riva a ton of clothes that I no longer want. And in exchange, she helped me find romance.

The day that Riva left, I ran into Tara on the street at lunch. We caught up and she told me she’s applying for her MFA at a ceramic program upstate! Go Tara! I’m so relieved that she’s finally doing this.

That night, I ended up having a date, which was fun. I was able to make use of the bar on First Avenue that Riva and I discovered.

Yesterday, I went to work and Aimee stopped by in the morning. We caught up as fast as we could (this is an endless challenge) and then she flew off to the Mac store.

Olympia Dukakis came to my workplace yesterday. I adore here, but I was too tired to be excited. She hung around in the café with a friend. Still, it was cool.

I decided to take the night off and get my schoolwork going (I had an assignment due for my interdisciplinary study) and try to catch up on sleep. I’ve been completely neglectful of my writing, but I have a plan. It doesn’t start until next week, but I’m going to try really hard to stop all this slacking. Back to getting up early to write. (I could be doing that now, but I’m behind on the blog and wanted to put something up there.)

In the end, I had really mixed feelings about Coetzee, which basically came down to the subject matter being so overwhelming that it was hard to focus on his craft. Amy Bloom was nothing special, definitely not memorable. Next up is Ian McEwan’s Saturday.

I haven’t even opened the envelope from my mentor to read her comments. No time. But I will work on this next week. It’s on the planner; it will happen!

Tonight I’ve got plans to meet up with Aimee, Cindy, and Ivan for MOMA, Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Pan’s Labyrinth (finally!). Oh!! I saw Lives of Others. Go see it. This is my favorite movie that’s currently out in the theaters.

Tomorrow night I have another date after work. The next day I may have hang out time with Kim (hi, Kimmie!) and then Maggie’s Oscar party at night. Monday, I should be getting back on track writing-wise. I can’t believe this month is almost over. Sad!

I finally caught up with the 1990s (I know we’re past that, but I’m not) and upgraded to a new cell phone. The guy at Cingular made fun of my old phone. My new ringtone is also the song of the week: Bill Withers’ Aint No Sunshine.

Two pictures have been uploaded! More when Riva sends them my way.

One of My Weirdest Days In New York

Riva surprised me and showed up at my work with her posse. It was so fun to have her there! I'll see her again tomorrow night.

Then I had some difficult interactions with some people that I didn't want to interact with. (Back to the vague language.)

I ran into an old friend of mine, Erin, who I lived with in Amsterdam. She was on the street, visiting from D.C. and she flagged me down. I'll see her again in a month.

Finished "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee. I'll need some time to think about my overall feeling of the book. I DO like his writing style but the subject matter was a hard one. That's not a bad thing.

This coming week is going to be so action-packed, I'm already feeling over-stimulated. Or maybe that's just the coffee talking.

Life Is Not Linear

And neither are blog posts. Since there was some maintenance work that had to happen on my computer, I couldn't post pictures until Ellen swooped in and saved the day.
The day has been saved!!!

Here is my first attempt at photojournalizm (the "z" means that it's not real photojournalism; it's Gili's inability to take pictures, but trying anyway journalism).

You asked for it. Get ready for lots of bad pictures coming your way.

On Monday mornings, this is what my life is like:

I open my gate, recognizable by the silver graffiti, which reads "Noser." This tag is on other buildings in my neighborhood as well. I like to think of it as a kind of tag for the Jewish people, and I open and close my gate with pride.

Then I walk by the tree stump that cracked in half and fell on a woman's head right before my very eyes. Remember that? This is the belated evidence. I wasn't kidding. The stump is a constant reminder of the city's unexpected drama.


From the stump, I walk the short distance to Trader Joe's to pick up produce, rice milk, tea, cereal (notice the great cereal display in the window), and the like. This is like cleansing in the mikvah. It's my early Monday morning ritual and there is a certain calm that has fallen over all of Trader Joe's, which can only mean that the day before was chaos. I am beginning to know some of the members of the Monday crew and I have a great affection for all of them (hopefully this has been obvious from my other posts).


Once all groceries are unloaded, I gather my holds from the past week and return them to the Tompkins Square Library. It looks way prettier on the outside than it does inside. I am getting to know the desk clerks by severity of attitude. They seem to be having an ongoing competition to determine which one of them hates their job the most.


After the library, my day is open. These four pictures represent the constants. Thanks for indulging me in my first real use of my digicam. Hopefully, my pictures will be more interesting as I grow more comfortable taking them.

Snow, Mermaids, Beer, Squids, Cramps

I'm having digicam issues which is why I've been avoiding the blog. That and I've been somewhat busy. Ellen is going to fix everything, as she always does, so I'm not too worried about it. The digicam's great but my computer doesn't love me the way it used to.

Snow and ice pellets are real. I've lived to tell it. Walking to work is a new kind of exercise.

On Monday night, Kim won free Bud Light every Tuesday night at a bar in my neighborhood. She was nice enough to give me the prize since there's a better chance of me going there, but last night I missed my first free night due to a certain feminine cycle beginning. Too much information? Maybe, but oh well.

Recently, I've been told that I'm like Daryl Hannah in Splash. This is kind of true. I'm like this new person learning about people without knowing all the rules or caring much for following them.

The BBC put out an important study on giant squids. I was going to say that this isn't a metaphor for anything, but hello! I studied Queer Theory. Everything means something, right? So maybe there are moments in my life when I feel like a giant squid.

For Valentine's Day, I made a little shrine up in the bookstore for Judy Blume. I hope she accepts.

Will I Ever Get Used To This?

I was just walking home from my early Monday morning Trader Joes routine and sitting in Liquiteria (the cafe on 11th and 2nd, where Aimee and I shot a youtube video for Ellen, remember where the owner, Doug wanted to know if I saw "For Your Consideration" in my Christmas movie marathon) was PARKER POSEY!! I had my digicam in my pocket but I was way too shy to say anything. I smiled and kept walking. Now I'm home, unloading groceries and I'm thinking about running over there to pick up coffee.

I can't believe she's my neighbor. I am ridiculously star-struck.

Let's Save Our Troubles For Another Day

I've been slacking on the blog. Here's why: last week I had to deal with no heat and a broken computer. (Fixed by the handsome boy at the genius bar. See, E, I resisted calling you to help me.)

Plus my submissions for school were due. I feel semi-satisfied with what I sent out to my mentor. I really took the knife to my story and chiseled away at a lot of the scenes. A friend of mine said I must feel like I'm walking around without one of my arms now. Because the truth is, I think to myself, "ohhh, I'm so witty and smart, I can't get rid of this part, even though it doesn't move the story forward because I want everyone to know how brilliant I am." Maybe that's not something I'm supposed to admit publicly, but I'm not one to lie, at least not about art-related things. So, yes, I feel as though I'm operating with one arm.

This past week, this stupid show called Six Degrees filmed an episode at my work. I found out that the episode will probably not air in the U.S. but will be sold internationally because the show is going to be canceled. I didn't mention to the crew that I couldn't believe it's still on the air. They should change the name of the show to "Oops, Our Cast Is Wearing Way Too Much Makeup." That girl with the face (you know, the one in the previews who takes off her shirt on a garbage truck) was there all day. That's my encounter with a mediocre star for the week.

This weekend I'm doing a fruit/veggie detox (the first time I did this, I didn't put it on my blog because I knew my parents and sister would have a collective heart attack). I let myself have a cup of coffee and then the rest of the day I'm eating raw. So far I've had an avocado with garlic and tomato (a lazy-person's guac). E's right, this stuff goes right through you, so I've got to keep eating. (That's not really a complaint since eating is my favorite hobby.)

Other news... DRUM ROLL:

I got my digicam. We can stop all the debate and be happy for me. Naturally, it will probably take me another month or so to buy a memory card that can hold more than five pictures at a time. You know these things take me a while. (Please be patient with my inability to take good pictures.)

As requested, here's a picture of my new, beautiful desk. Thank you, dad and our new friend, Red, for rolling the desk ten blocks to my home. Thanks, Red for lifting it into my apartment. Thanks, dad for paying for it.

*Amy Bloom is so-so. She's readable, but I'm not in love.
*Song on my itunes right now: Escapade by Janet Jackson.
*Inspiring television show on DVD of the week: art: 21
*New comment poster who I love and needs to be acknowledged because she wants more attention on my blog: KIM, who I'll see tonight, right?
*Youtube video of the week: SJP endorses donating to the organization for which I work.

p.s. This morning I started working on a first draft of a story that's been crawling around in my brain for months are I'm so excited to finally get it on paper.

I Want To Be Warm

Today was not a good day. But the end results were as satisfactory as they could be:
1. purchased a space heater paid for by my broker
2. promised a new radiator in the next two weeks
3. told that my smaller ac/heating unit will be fixed at some point
4. given an allowance from my broker to pay my con-ed bill.

This evening I attended my mentor from last semester, Michael Lowenthal's reading of his new book Charity Girl. I liked comparing this reading to the one he gave at school last month. He read an essay about what led him to write the book, and this was just as valuable to me as his reading of the work. He spoke about how he was inspired to start researching the topic thanks to Susan Sontag's book AIDS And Its Metaphors. (Some of you may know that I think she's one of the smartest people that has lived in current times and I am incredibly jealous of those who got to know her while she was still alive.) Michael mentioned that he has an “eavesdropper’s queasy thrill,” which rang very true for me, too. Doesn’t every writer have a good dose of voyeurism in them?

Big thanks to everyone for supporting me during this lack of heat nightmare. Hopefully, it's coming to a close.

Favorite easy listening song played at work today: She’s Gone by Hall & Oates

Ahmed, send up the heat!!!

Remember in Beaches when C.C. Bloom has that shabby apartment in New York and bangs on her radiator with a frying pan and yells, “Ahmed, send up the heat?” Well, subtract the red hair, the frying pan, and Ahmed, and add brown hair, hours of fun with my super, and me walking around my apartment in my down coat, two pairs of pants, and my down shooties. This brings us to the present moment. My super is standing outside my apartment fixing something or other and I am praying that tonight things will be better.

Reality check: Cornelius has always been afraid to go under the covers and now she refuses to come out. We are not pleased.

I spent the day working on my submissions and trying to support Aimee as she sat on her plane for 5 hours that didn’t end up taking off for Japan. She’s in Astoria and if I wasn’t frozen in one spot, I’d go bring her books for her trip.

Hester sent me a short story by Junot Diaz from a 2001 “New Yorker” entitled “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” and after finishing Nathan Englanders 79-percent-thumbs-down book, this was a real pick-me-up. Some day I’ll get around to reading Diaz’s “Drown,” but it’s going to be a while.

Right now I’m starting Come to Me by Amy Bloom, and I’ll get back to you soon about how it’s going.

(Picture me taking a small break from typing to put on my mittens.)

My digicam arrived today but I didn’t answer the door because my doorbell is always ringing, so it’s living at the post office. Pictures of my new furniture will have to wait.

What I’ve consumed while homebound:
Trader Joes cereal with a handful of flaxseeds, baby carrots, Peet’s French Roast coffee (thank you, S), a cup of unsalted mixed nuts, and three cups of honey bush tea.

Song that I wish I had listened to before last week’s romance stuff:
Casanova’s Last Words by The Go-Betweens

Just in case there’s any confusion at all: I STILL love New York...frozen or not.

Vague Language

Hi everyone. A lot of things have been going on in New York. Mostly related to dating. Nothing seems appropriate for my blog so I haven't been writing.

Right now I'm drinking cardamom coffee, which is my newest addiction. The raw food diet will have to wait.

My school submissions are due at the end of this coming week so that might take up a lot of time too. But I'm going to try to get back to my blog as soon as I have something acceptable for the public.

Oh!! Aimee's back and we've been catching up after a month with only email. Too bad she's leaving so soon and I won't get to see her for two weeks.

That's all I've got.