Every moment will be captured

I feel like I look like Sandra's dance instructor. "Good work today. Try to get a little higher with your leaps." Sandra went to town picking out weird clothes for me to try on at American Apparel.

My new green shorts.

I don't miss the Bay Area, but

I do miss Sandra a lot.

Post-It To Do List on Sixth Street.

If the person who wrote this spent more time working on losing their virginity and less time writing about it, there would be no more virginity to lose.

Sandra's To Do: Call her dog, Chip.

Why did I take you for granted?

I am very sad to say that tonight was the last night of Collins Bar.

This is the best bar in Manhattan and the last good thing in Midtown. Collins will become more soulless condos.

Kim introduced me to Collins and she camped out at the bar for tonight's farewell party.

A happy, but sad get together.

love her.





I finally met the adorable boyfriend. Very sweet.

goodbye.

such a dumpling.

thanks for the tank-top, Jen G.

see you in my dreams, collins.

In the words of Heart, "No answer on the telephone."

Other Nick, not roommate Nick, and Jen met me for lunch.

I took them to the city below.

My weirdest fake smile ever.

Best blue cheese and bacon burger in New York.

My friend, Denise thinks that after wearing the same nail polish color for most of my life, it's time for me to try something different. Jen and I discovered that we both use almost the exact same shade. I tried a bright orange and I was completely overwhelmed by my toes.

We settled on red. I put it on this morning and I'm pretty sure after I've shown Denise, I'm going to go back to my regular color.

poor kaleidescope. what a sad, little disaster.

sing it, Heart.

beautiful stoop.

Before we figured out what we were going to do, Jen and I followed these two guys around. We had seen them earlier and wanted to know what they were up to. I predicted that they would get on the train and head to Williamsburg. That's exactly what they did.

The Arrival

Jen and Tyler were starving. We met at S'MAC.

Much texting ensued.

Jen was proud of my composition. I'm still getting back into the swing of digicamming everything I see.

Gross polo shirt bar on 7th and B. Not a good first impression.

Luckily on our fourth try, we ended up at one of my favorite bars in my neighborhood. I don't think it has a name. It's on 7th and 1st Ave. I took this nice shot and then knocked over my beer. Who's surprised?

Caitlin McDonough-Thayer (left) and her sister were at the bar! She was one of my best friends in high school and I haven't seen her since 1997. She's still in touch with everyone including Mr. Caszatt, who I had a dream about a couple nights ago. She's still acting. Currently, she's starring in The Lacy Project. She's in touch with way more Interlochen people than me and a ton of them are crawling around the streets of New York. I told her that my mom still follows her theater career.

What's a post without a picture of myself? Nothing I tell you.

So boys really do wear contacts. Mystifying!

Jen's first four dollar toothbrush.

Why I'm Flipping Out!!!!!!!!

So much good stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hanging out with David (Paulette's friend and my neighbor) tonight.
Isaiah's coming to town tomorrow for brunch.

And And And And

Jen Girdish is staying with me this weekend!!!!!!!!

Talking To Myself

Gili 1: Hi
Gili 2: Hi
1: What have you been up to?
2: Not very much.
1: Oh.
2: Yeah, that's why I haven't been writing on my blog since Florida.
1: I was wondering. So nothing's new?
2: Not a whole lot.
1: Hm.
2: Well, there is one thing.
1: Do tell.
2: I started my novella.
1: Wow, you must be really excited.
2: Excited, overwhelmed, happy, worried, all the biggies.
1: What's it about?
2: I can't really talk about my writing while I'm in the early stages, but I will say that a lot of the themes that come up in my short stories have already appeared in the first pages of the novella. I'm beginning to realize I have a pretty specific type of character that is asking to be written about.
1: Right. I heard that you have a new imaginary friend named Jersha. Is she related to the novella?
2: No, not that I know of, but I wouldn't close any doors just yet. You never know.
1: Well, this is great news.
2: I think so. Other than that, life has been rolling along. Maybe I'm still adjusting to being back in New York.
1: Sure. Makes sense.
2: I got a monkey lamp. The monkey is holding a human skull and sits on top of Huxley and Darwin's books.
1: I see the picture! Looks life-changing.
2: I'd say.
1: Time to get back to your writing. Any final words?
2: Enforcer! Um, I'm reading Things You Should Know by A.M. Homes. So far, I think Safety of Objects is better. Raymond Carver breaks my heart with his brilliance. I'm comparing his two short stories, The Bath and A Small, Good Thing for my annotation. Martha Wainwright's on repeat on the Itunes. Watched Being There again. Now that's a real movie. I started wishing there were more movies like that, but...
1: Okay, Gili, I'm cutting you off. Get to work.
2: Thanks for talking with me.
1: Good luck with the novella.
2: You, too.

Regression's almost over. About to return to my life as an adult.

In honor of Aimee (or I guess in memory of her, since she's gone for two weeks) I decided to copy her photo and post one of the fish in our family room. Lovely, right? There's some story my dad would love to tell about catching this fish but I can't remember it. I know our friend the fish moved all over Florida with us and originated in Minnesota.

I'm finished with the Schulman book, and working on writing a fair review. Now I'm reading my last fluff novel for the semester, Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood. So sad to know my days of learning about the Traveling Pants are numbered.

For fun, which of the sisters are you (Bee, Lena, Carmen, or Tibby)? I'll start things off. I'm a combo of Carmen and Tibby with a little Bee in the mix. Ultimately, I think I'm most like Tibby.

Fascination! Tonight I found out that my mom sleeps with a bar of soap underneath the sheet at the foot of her bed in order to prevent foot cramps. It's worked for months. (She used to get a lot of cramps. Apparently this was published in the local paper. Breda, any medical thoughts?)

Tonight we played our last round of Scrabble before I return to New York. For most of the game, mom was in the lead, though even dad was ahead at times. Then I used all my letters to make the word "suction," and I soared forward. In the end, Mom had 203, Dad had 230, and I won with 243. I can go back to New York as the champion (although technically Mom won 50 percent of the games and I won the other half).

All in all, a good visit. Helped me get over my post-residency depression. Thanks, parents.

The Heat Is On: Scrabble Tourney Journey

Dad and I saw a dolphin jumping in the ocean today. We also spotted a yellow crab peeking out of its hole and a beautiful blue heron. (Check out dad's cool clip-on shades. This guy's got style.) Later, Dad got really excited when he witnessed a lizard catching and then consuming a moth. Ah, nature.

It's so hot here that my legs were covered in little beads of sweat like condensation on a glass. I swam in the ocean, which was calm and warm.

Mom and I took on the mall and went to Nordstrom (YEA! I miss you, Nordstrom!) for some serious bra shopping. We had a no-nonsense woman named Robin measure us and we were both lovingly schooled about not knowing our correct sizes. As far as I can tell, sizing is a science. I ended up choosing two bras in a different size than the one Robin suggested, and I ran away from the counter while mom was paying for our things because I was afraid Robin might strangle me with her pink measuring tape. But she should be happy for me, because these bras feel better than any that I've ever had.

Who will religiously comment on my blog while Aimee's trekking through the monsoons of Mexico? I promise to try to stay out of trouble while you're gone. Come back in one piece please.

I know you all care a lot about our family Scrabble games. Here's the latest: Mom kicked things off with a 78 point word, "beeping" (50 points for using all her letters and 28 for the actual letter values) and I spent the rest of the game unsuccessfully trying to catch up. Mom won with 282 points and I trailed far behind with 211. Oy vey.

I Never Want To Not Be On Vacation

This is the life!

Woke up and went running. Packed the car and drove to the beach (my first time in a car since Thanksgiving), but before I got there, the rain started, so I turned around and came home.

Spent most of the day reading, napping, and tanning in the backyard in between thunderstorms. I forgot about lizards and jumped out of my pants when I saw a giant reptile run by.

As promised, I won Scrabble tonight with 228 points. Mom came in second with 204. Dad said there are two sides to every story, but look, I'm not publishing his score, so what's he complaining about? I told him that I'm preparing the family for my tell-all memoir that will someday expose our secrets to the world.

Stopped by the library to pick up some DVDs. I will be viewing:
*I Am Sam
*Taxi Driver
De-Lovely
*Enemies, A Love Story
*Motel (which I am particularly excited about since I've never heard of it).

This week's reads:
*Mary Gaitskill's Bad Behavior (As dull as I suspected, but I had no choice in the matter.)
*Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers (This book is haunting! I never thought I would enjoy reading McEwan. A beautiful and terrifying novella.)
*Robert Olen Butler's A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain (As with any short story collection, some of the stories are amazing and brilliant. Some are just so-so.)
*Next up: Sarah Schulman's The Child

Help! I can't stop playing with my template. Suggestions?