non-practicing family values

To begin my Thanksgiving vacation, Joseph and I met in New York for a literary treat at Billy's Bakery. (Note how sophisticated we are.)


If you feel like we're living in a post-modern society, you would probably relate to the lack of traditionalism when observing Thanksgiving in my family; this is how we do it in Florida.


Joseph experienced how we do Hotel-Buffet-Thanksgiving-Dinner firsthand.


At least the hotel had delicious sweet potatoes, which is about all that can be said for it.


I completed my Thanksgiving feast with a hike up Mount Construction Site in the parking lot of the hotel.


Documented by the ever-ready documentarian, Joseph.


The beach was a bit cold, but we still managed to burn.





Joseph and I made Key Lime Pie with a chocolate crust.


Here he is whipping the cream.


Eating the pie was overwhelmingly successful.


And then, too soon, it was time for us to go.

a quaint morning

Another indoctrination at Sweet Sue's.


And guess who got a new haircut?


I could be on the penny with all those sharp features.
Thanks, Veronica. As always, I'm very happy with the new look.

Upstate Tourism

As a new local, it is my responsibility to show city guests what Upstate has to offer. Today, Veronica and I visited Opus 40.


Apparently some guy named Harvey Fite spent over 37 years of his life building this structure, "using his hands and traditional quarryman's tools."


It's true what the natives say: it was impressive.


But neither of us are really nature people.


We had just as much fun shopping, dining, and going to the cinema as we did at the quarry.


Still, we got some pictures out of the deal.


And neither of us pass up a chance for a photo-op.

A pattern

Whenever I'm sad and withdrawn, I'm hit with a wave of people convinced that I'm angry with them. I'm not sure if this is just a part of living in a world of confessions and continual information overload or if I look particularly angry when I'm down.

Some people are so steady, predictable, stoic. Then there's moody Gi.

Today I made my creative writing students write obituaries for fictional dead people. I guess I've got death on the brain.

Time

Grandma Ruth, my father's mother died on Sunday night. She was 88 years old.

I don't remember when I last saw her.

The funeral was held in Minnesota, but I wouldn't have gone, even if I had known ahead of time.

My family history predates my sister and myself, and much of it is unknown to me. My grandma served as the family peacemaker-- as much as anyone was able to take on this role, or be taken seriously in this role-- and I am saddened that her passing feels like another confirmation that the rift in our family will continue throughout my lifetime.

I wonder what kind of a life my grandma would have led if she hadn't married my grandfather. I wonder what makes a person choose that kind of destiny. I hope that her legacy is a lesson to all of her grandchildren, my cousins whom I may never see again thanks to my grandfather's reign.

My father has worn the same watch since his Bar-Mitzvah, and it broke this week. His parents inscribed the backside of the watch before giving it to him, and he's wound it each day since he was thirteen to keep time. The symbolism and poignancy of the broken watch are transparent, but the complexity of the grief, which lives in my family, is much harder for me to understand.

Incidentally, we watched Harold and Maude in one of my classes today, a film all about learning to live. Maude says to Harold, "A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room."

A family weekend

My parents visited Upstate New York for the first time since I've moved here. Since they're not really nature people, our activity possibilities were limited, but we managed to keep the days pretty packed.


Joseph and I showed them some of the local food spots including Sweet Sue's.


We managed to eat all of the food we ordered, which is not an easy feat.


Joe and I hung out in the hot-tub and pool at my parents' hotel. I'm guessing that my folks won't be moving upstate anytime soon, but I think they had a good time.

Lucky number 36

Veteran's Day turned out to be not much of a holiday because today was Parent-Teacher Conference Day at my school.

Lucky me, the new teacher, had the biggest turn-out: 36 sets of parents wanted to talk to me about their children. Actually, a lot of them wanted to talk about themselves.

I sustained myself on coffee and pastries.

My exhaustion hasn't hit since I'm still spinning from the caffeine.

The parents, who were given approximately ten minutes per set, were mostly very nice. The parents began to blur together after the first three hours, and I began to say the same thing, "Your child is doing really well. What I'd like to do is gently challenge him/her to strengthen his/her writing skills. Blah, blah, blah."

I'm a little ashamed to say that by the evening, a student's name wasn't registering with a face, and I was a few minutes into the meeting with her mother before I remembered who we were talking about.

Remind me to NEVER enter the Marriage and Family Therapy field.

EVER.

moratorium (briefly) lifted

Once every six months, I allow myself the decadent pleasure of a pastrami sandwich. This weekend marked six months since my last indulgence. Joseph treated me to dinner at 2nd Avenue Deli where we each had pastrami on rye slathered in mustard; Dr. Brown's Cream Soda; pickles; coleslaw; some new free side item, which entailed greasy onions and fried mysterious substances; topped off with a shot of chocolate soda.


I can't wait for May!

Mini-Rebellion

This morning, I was supposed to attend a conference on Character Education in Albany with two of my co-teachers.


We made it through two propaganda-filled, conservative, and disconnected speakers before we decided to bolt.


It took a little convincing because one of my co-teachers was wracked with guilt, but once he was out the door, there was no going back.


We found an amazing diner downtown and spent breakfast talking about our students and real issues that actually pertain to our school.


This might be one of the best diner breakfasts I've had in a long time.


And the company was much better than it would have been if we had stayed for the free lunch at the conference.

Freedom!

playin' hooky

We took the day off


because we needed to run around


and be together just a little bit more.


So we spent the day doing touristy things like walking across the Mid-Hudson Walkway, exploring Historic Kingston, eating breakfast at a local diner,


and holding hands the whole time.