Sweet nothings

(A cab hailed for Harvey in the rain.)

After a very long day, it's time to take a muscle relaxant and lie down with no plans to move my body until the morning.

Favorite
current movie: $9.99
latest read: Once the Shore by Paul Yoon
pick-me-up: Billy's chocolate cake with mocha icing
escape plan: Turkey in August


Great news:
My story, "The Giraffe Knocking Over the Elephant Knocking Over the Leopard Knocking Over the Ostrich" was one of three stories nominated by the editor of the magazine where it was published for the 2009 Million Writers Award! More information is available here.

The Proud Folks of New York

Joe, Kasey, and I spent Sunday fabbing it up at the Pride Parade.




This year's theme was 40 Years of Heritage in honor of Stonewall's anniversary.


His shirt reads: "Ass The Other Vagina"


The parade lasted for four hours or maybe longer.


Though I've been to many Pride Parades in my lifetime, I'm pretty sure New York's parade was the longest and the most conservative.


Still, a few Leather Daddies managed to slip into the action.




Happy Pride!

Bulldogs forever!

Today I found out that some of the guys at Aikido call our fifth kyu group Bulldogs because we're tough and tenacious.


After class we had a rooftop party at the dojo.


We're all a bit socially awkward, but we managed.


Good friends and conversation.


I spent time with amazing people like Ilsa and Alex.


We stayed upstairs until the downpour.


After my time away, I'm glad to be back.

Today I learned that Sensei loves Scotch, Elvis, and cigars. Personally, I'm not a fan of these three things. But the love of Aikido is mutual.

15 Things About Today (in a less-than-particular order)

1. I had black-poodle-envy in Cambridge.

2. Farrah Fawcett died.

3. I tickled Brian Bouldrey's neck at Lesley.

4. I made peace over facebook.

5. Kimberley drank blueberry juice.

6. Valerie and I unintentionally wore almost the same outfit to the Camera Obscura concert.

7. A Claude Cahun book was found and purchased... USED!

8. Riva taught me that according to PBS, a person remembers more when they hear something in their right ear instead of their left.

9. Michael Jackson died.

10. Abbey sent me the most genius text ever (re: Michael Jackson): "I'll hold ya like the River Jordan."

11. A canvasser told Riva and I that we look like nice people; we adamantly disagreed.

12. I've come up with my new favorite ice-breaker: If you were stranded on a desert island, which personal issue would you take with you?

13. I decided to take my long-chin-insecurity with me to the desert island. I'd abandon my insomnia and anxiety in a flash.

14. I forgot and then remembered all four names of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' characters.

15. I could only come up with 14 things about today, not including this one.

Ah, New England Summers

First activity in Boston: Riva's sailing lesson.






Riva had things under control.


I entertained myself with the camera.


She's a natural.

Intersections

Tara and I have known each other longer than any other friend I have. This doesn't include Facebook "friends," like a certain old friend of mine from elementary school, who is now a youth minister and very publicly anti-choice and anti-feminist.

The nice thing about knowing Tara for so long is that in many ways, our lives have remained parallel. She's been away at school for the past two years, and I've been living in her sister's hand-me-down apartment. Tara's back in New York for the summer before she begins an MFA program in the Midwest, and yesterday we ran around town, catching each other up on the past two years. We fell right back into our friendship. I'm excited to have her company over the next couple of months.

I love how New York invites intersections. But for today, I'm escaping New York. I'm on the bus to Boston. Free Wi-Fi! Thinking about Sandra who is somewhere far away, enjoying the good life that the West Coast offers. I'm taking time away from New York for a short trip to see Kimberley and Riva, and to take some space from Aikido, which is currently causing claustrophobia.

There's a little girl in the back of the bus who is singing the alphabet out of order.

I can't wait to get a good night's sleep in Kimberley's perfectly curved futon, with a nook in the middle to hold my body in place.

Breathe out

A full weekend began on Friday night: Kimberley and Beth are in town for Grace's wedding. Joe and I met up with them for a delicious dinner in Murray Hill at a vegetarian/vegan Korean restaurant, Franchia Tea. Who knew there was such a thing?


Today I took my 5th Kyu test for Aikido, my very first Aikido test. I passed!


I feel like I've been running a month-long marathon.


All of us who tested for 5th Kyu passed!


I'm so proud of the 5th kyu group.


Then the rest of the levels took their tests. (5th kyu is the first test. Then there's 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st before blackbelt.)


Our test seemed so easy compared to the other kyu's, but it didn't feel that way during preparation time.




Me with my 5th Kyu partner, Marina; Elsa and her husband, Chris; Leyla; Indra (a blackbelt); Alex, who rocked her 3rd kyu test; and Andrea, who also holds a higher rank as of today.


There are so many young women who have started practicing at my dojo. In the fifth kyu group, six out of seven of us are women.




I'm completely wiped out from all the build-up. Joe and I treated ourselves to burgers and fries from St. Dymphna's


and (of course) a dessert stop at 16 Handles. No celebration is complete without a yogurt buffet.


Exhaustion consumes me. Tonight, for the first night in a very long time, I think I'll be able to sleep all the way through.

Finally, I can breathe again.

Answers to questions

In my last post, I asked for something. I put a question out into the world and yesterday at Aikido, my partner helped me receive an answer. I won't go into detail about what happened, but the lesson I learned is that I can be a positive force for myself; I don't need to look outward to find reassurance and acceptance.

I left class feeling stronger, having regained my peripheral vision. A mentor of mine said that everything has to unwind and fall away before rebuilding a sturdy and enduring structure.

In other news, we've finally made a decision: Joe and I will move into his apartment in Brooklyn next month and Alexis will take over my lease. I'm really excited about this step in my life.

A downward prayer

In my life, and maybe in everyone's life, I encounter people every day who want to share their stories, anecdotes, and advice about how to live better. During pilates this morning, I realized my feet looked like they were praying. A downward prayer. Courtnie, the instructor talked about listening to our bodies, going within ourselves to our cores. I choose to practice Aikido, which is the most humbling part of my daily routine. I try to keep my ego off the mat, opening my heart and head to learning how to strengthen and deepen myself.


What balances this practice of being told how to live better is having another strong aspect of life where we are accepted and understood as we are right now, the part of us that is allowed to be messy and awkward, sad and lost, immature and silly, sensitive and reassured. This is the balance between flailing and containment. I am looking for this side of the equation, the part where I don't need to do or be anything other than who I am.


Right now, I love learning about photography. Like Aikido, I am a beginner when it comes to taking pictures.

"Any discipline can help your writing: logic, mathematics, theology, and of course and particularly drawing. Anything that helps you to see, anything that makes you look. The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that doesn't require his attention."
--Flannery O'Connor

Making our own fun.

What can a person do with a trashcan full of plastic balls?


Maybe a better question is:


What CAN'T a person do with a trashcan full of plastic balls?


















And then we sent them flying into the Hudson.






Topped it all off with a little nun action.