Becoming an adult

Feline update: after a few days of uninhibited mingling, Nancy and Cornelius are still obsessed with staring each other down, hissing, and making manly, guttural sounds when they aren't practicing avoidance. I still haven't figured out their pecking order.


The bus to/from Woodstock has become my best friend; today was no exception.


I arrived in town around nine am for a meeting.


I like to spy on Gaela while she helps customers at The Golden Notebook. She is truly amazing and perfect upstate company.


I caught the noon bus back to Manhattan.


And I arrived home with a new, tall stack of books to consider as I plan my curriculum. Such fun!

Highly recommended summer film: Somers Town
Highly recommended summer soundtrack: music from Somers Town
Highly recommended summer reading: The Collected Stories by Leonard Michaels

In case of emergency

I would have no idea what to do. I like written instructions; diagrams don't work for me. I spent about half an hour on my bus ride home from Woodstock yesterday, trying to discern the message in this equation on the windowsill of the bus. It's fine to have pictures for those who are visual learners, but what about something for readers like myself?

Friday:
Woke up early to catch the 9:30 bus to Woodstock. Arrived in Woodstock by noon. Hung out in town until 2:30. Borrowed car to drive to the school. Came back to town around 5:30. Dropped car off. Took 6:52 bus back to New York. Back in Brooklyn by 10:30. Rooftop for beer and pizza. Sleep.

Day three: Contempt on screen and in house

Last night, we biked to Socrates Sculpture Park to watch Contempt on the big screen. I'd watched it once before, but it made such a difference to see it again. After the film, Joe and I biked back to Greenpoint. It was a perfect night for a movie in the park and a bike ride.

Back in Brooklyn, we switched the cats (to give Nancy a chance to sleep in the bedroom with us and Cornelius an opportunity to investigate the other half of the apartment). Everyone seemed fine at bedtime.

We woke up early in the morning to Nancy and Cornelius rolling around and hissing at each other. Apparently, Cornelius scaled the barrier and then got into trouble when she realized Nancy was on the other side.

We separated them again, but decided we can't wing this feline-merging without some professional help.

This weekend, we're going to try an organized plan created by a vet technician to (fingers crossed) integrate the beasts once and for all.

The theme of this summer: Making the impossible possible.

Day two: adapting to conniving cats

Last night's barrier was cumbersome, and somehow surmountable by Nancy. Tonight, we adjusted the plan. Joe has an old canvas (with a ferris wheel print) and he built a dowel-lined top piece which is now attached to the canvas. He hinged the whole contraption to the door frame.


Will Nancy find a way? Will she claw through the canvas? Will she leap over the dowels?

Tonight we will receive more answers.

Adjustment begins

Cornelius moved to her third borough, Brooklyn tonight in a successful cab ride across town.


This is her first encounter, living with another cat.


Joe and I quickly learned that Nancy could jump over the initial barrier. The two cats made horrible groaning, manly noises with some hissing thrown in until Joe grabbed Nancy and put her back on the other side of the wall.


Joe added more planks.


We're hoping this proves to be impenetrable.


The new construct stood the test of Joe's head.


Nancy knows Cornelius is just a few planks away, but for now, there's no contact.


Including Brooklyn, Cornelius has lived in eight homes. Such a globetrotter!

Day one seems to be a success.... We'll see if the four of us get any rest tonight.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but...

Kellogg's could have tried a little harder. Their "gift" of appreciation for my dad's years of service and dedication to All-Bran is just about the least they could do.

Items enclosed:
* Kellogg's oven mitt
* Tony the Tiger key chain
* Kellogg's refrigerator magnet
* Easy as Pie recipe brochure
* Morningstar pamphlet with list of products
* Kellogg's holiday recipe booklet (complete with all the Christmas foods my father knows and loves)
* Generic thank-you note: "Thank you for contacting Kellogg Company. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our company and products. Please accept the enclosed with our best wishes. Kellogg Company. Consumer Affairs Department."

I hope the Kellogg's gift was full of much more exciting presents pre-recession.

Maybe it's time to switch to Post? I wonder what Post's thank-you package includes.

Hippie Birthday, Rivka!

Riva = 30 years on Planet Earth


Joseph realized his dream in Phoenicia.


That's when we began the spoon-themed birthday celebration.


Mahalia was our spoon-nosed guru.


Everybody fell into line.


Riva, spoon, jazz hands.


Then we drove back to Shokan for birthday party prep.


Gaela's perfect cake and cupcakes.


Joe and I gave Riva an ice cream maker plus accoutrements for the big thirty.


Served, dinner.


Beautiful Merle, my Aikido soulmate with beautiful Riva, my ice cream soulmate.












And then the spooning began again.




Pooped.


Joe and I baked challah,


and made challah French toast for breakfast.




With the help of the adults, Eden made mixed-berry muffins.


Still waking up.




Happy birthday to my Best Friend, Riva. I love you profusely/wildly/unabashedly/blazingly/blatantly/verbatimly/literally/sans hyperbole.

Packing it in

Weekend Chaos:

Friday-
Homophobic movie screening of the year, Bruno with Matt B. and Joe.
Commiserating about the movie over drinks at the Old Town Bar.

Saturday-
Scrub apartment with Joe for four hours to prepare for subletter's viewing.
Show apartment.
Go to the Whitney Museum to see Dan Graham and Sadie Benning.
Dinner at Odessa.
Screening of Lake Tahoe.
Stay for Q&A with Writer/Director of Lake Tahoe and one of my favorite films, Duck Season, Fernando Eimbecke.

Sunday-
Joe and I meet up with Kasey, Amy, and Sara for brunch at Cheryl's Global Soul.
After brunch, we all roll over to the Brooklyn Museum to view Yinka Shonibare and the New Feminist Video shows.
Joe and I go back to Brooklyn where we spend the evening making an instructional video for work.
We fall asleep, fried from the weekend, watching a cheesy gay movie from the early eighties, Parting Glances.