Halloween in the Village

It's one of those *things*. It's on the list of things you should see, at least once. And nobody can really explain it in a way that does it justice. But I'm going to try anyway.

The costumes are creative. A bit odd. Cerebral. Mindless. And lots of fun.

Eileen said she'd pay real money to know how many men are making ER visits today with "sports-related ankle injuries". I've never seen so many men in drag in my entire life. And some of them had figures I would KILL for. :-P

There were some political commentaries. A pregnant lady with a sign that read "Pre-existing Condition" handing out fliers urging for universal healthcare. Lots of Clinton's, McCain's, WAY to many Sarah Palins. And my personal favorite political one - Joe The Plumber. I tried to get a good shot of him, he's wearing a plumber's shirt with Joe on the left front - and a plunger STUCK to his bald head.

There were also a lot of Star Wars groups - a herd of stormtroopers (that looked *real*) and about 20 people in jedi kight attire carrying light sabres marching under a banner that read "NYC Jedi Association". I'm not creative enough to make that up kids...it's just sad.

And to herald in the start of NYC Madness - there were lots of Santa Clauses, some of which you wouldn't want to show your child, let alone allow them anywhere near his lap. This one is my favorite. If you want people to throw their arms around you, just dress up as Santa. Works every time.

The Day the Music Died

Bill posted this picture today. I thought I had seen most of the pictures our circle of friends had of him. What a great surprise this picture was.

I remember sitting in a room with my brothers, but I don't remember where the room was. We all had our arms around each other, standing in a circle with a boom box in the middle. The box is playing American Pie. And we are all crying. All of us, and some of the guys who were closest to him could barely stand. It was such a profound experience that even at Michael's wedding, I cried when we joined a circle again. It was just too much - I know some people didn't understand why.

John and Michael and I drove to Arkadelphia, AR where Jarratt is buried. We drove all night and got some red carnations and some Molson and "drank a beer" with him. I remember that vividly.

Meg did a picture for John's 40th birthday - a bunch of the guys, including Jarratt and Zerbe piled on a girl - hard to see her face. John looked shocked when I asked him who the girl was - he told me it was me. I don't remember it.

I wonder sometimes about missed opportunities. There was a night in particular that I wonder about - if I had reacted differently what would have happened.

Time passes - and I can smile as I listen to the song now. Thinking about Jarratt, I remember that he Loved John Hiatt. Loved playing Air Guitar. Drank beer from a pitcher. Laughed a lot. I remember his white party hat. I remember his hugs.

I don't remember what kind of pizza he liked or what his favorite beer was. I don't remember what his favorite song was. I don't know what he wanted his career to be, or what his dreams were.

It's been years since Jarratt died. And I still think of him. And wonder what we all missed. Often.

"'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Though he said it in the 1700's, good old Ben Franklin had it right. It's tax time again. Not because it's April but because in April I didn't have my shit together enough to be able to get them done so I asked Eric to file an extension.

In April, my life was just barely out of boxes. I was five months into a move to a city that had always scared me. I was trying to rebuild some semblance of self-respect, a new sense of self when my world had literally been turned upside down.

I couldn't face my taxes. It was....Too Much.

I hadn't balanced my checkbook since April 2007 - I had months of data to enter into Quicken. I couldn't find all of the receipts in the boxes of things I needed. I had all the excuses - the cold truth was that I knew I would OWE.

And I was barely making it.

The cost of living in (and immediately around) NYC was staggering. My car was costing me $800 a month. The cost of my living space tripled - and dropped in size more than 60%. I stillk had the house in NC and the apartment for three months. My December electric bill was more than ALL of my utilties in North Carolina - and I was really cold.

I knew I would owe because I didn't take any taxes out of my unemployment money or out of my consulting money. I knew I was going to owe - a lot.

Fast forward six months. The house sold in late February. I got out from under the car in August. I got all the data loaded into Quicken back in September. Did I get the information to Eric as soon as I could?

Nope.

So I've spent the better part of a day - inside - when it's 75 degrees and gorgeous and not a cloud in the sky, stressing over this. Because today is literally the LAST DAY. I leave tomorrow afternoon (Monday) for Philly. And the taxes are due on Wednesday.

There has to be a better way.

And Meg is right - I end up here every year. Maybe taxes for 2009 will be easier. No mortgage, nothing massive to deduct. I could file a 1040EZ and be done with it.

But I still need to get through 2008.

So to get ready for 2008, I need to enter (you guessed it) five months of data in Quicken. And gather all the papers from the sale of the house. And figure out what Eric will need and start all over again.

Let's hope I do it in January - so I don't end up in the same place again come April.

US and the Economy

I wasn't going to watch the debates. I am so disgusted by politics at this point, I don't even watch the news anymore.

Eric reminded me that it was my responsibility to watch the debates. And he was right.

But I sit here and listen to both candidates talk about the war(s) and foreign policy. And what I don't understand is two things:

One: Why does the US continuously feels reponsible for "rebuilding (country X's) economy.

We pour billions of dollars into rebuilding the economies of countries that don't like us very much. Not that we have given them any reason to lately, but that's another subject. But why send billions into other countries when we borrow money from China (!) to keep our country running.

Two: Why, when we are in an economic crisis, so little was mentioned about it in the debates.

Bottom line- I wish I had watched more Tim Russert. He made everything easier to understand. He cut through the bullshit.

I hope someone steps up to the white board soon.

Menu thoughts....

Apps by request from Eric:
Shrimp and Remoulade. First time doing it without a grill - let's hope roasting them is ok.
Roasted peppers and goat cheese.

This will remind me of all those parties in Connecticut. It's been a while.

Entree:
John is brining some nice wine, and I have a bottle of Stag's Leap that I got for my birthday so that means beef.

No grill. That means tenderloin with bearnaise sauce. Pricey, but easy to do and perfectly celebratory. Oven roasted potatoes and asparagus.

Dessert: I miss chocolate. And I miss orange and chocolate because Eileen has anaphylactic allergic reactions to oranges. So I haven't made orange chocolate chiffon cake or bunnie's chocolate pie in ages. So I think a chocolate pie is in order.

Michael and Eric are both bringing beer, Eric is brining some vodka and Bill is brining a RISK board - we may decide to reenact Killer Risk from the End of the World Party in 1987. John is brining an air mattress...we'll need it. Five people in my apartment is a lot. But it will be worth it.

Breakfast (assuming we survive the night) I'll do a fritatta - I can prep most of the ingredients the day before and pop it in the oven.

Now - I just have to clean my room. Yikes.

First day at home....

Well I figured out what Nelson George does while I am at work all day. He Sleeps. All Day. Lucky little guy.


Today was the first day at home in a very long time. I did check my blackberry a couple of times, but didn't answer anything. I actually got some good things accomplished:

• Signed new lease (and yes, rent went up)
• Confirmed that the bastard security guy who wouldn't come help when I had drunk people banging on my door did get fired (and no I don't feel bad about it)
• Went through a PILE of mail
• Made the final payment on the Bug (ouch)
• Set up online bill pay
• Planned the menu for the Horsemen Weekend
• Ordered the groceries (OMG - this bill is gonna hurt)
• Took a 2 hour nap
• Caught up on Barefoot Contessa episodes.
• FINALLY saw the Burn Notice episode where Michael and Fiona do it.
• Vaccummed the place
• Got hide-a-bed sofa ready for people to sleep on it
• Cleaned out the fridge

Tomorrow I have to tackle the disaster I call my room, it's a total mess and overwhelming to even walk into.

Heathen!

My dog makes me crazy. He can be the sweetest little guy or a complete demon. And it always seems to be Demon Time when I am stressed or need some down time.

I try to remember that he waits all day for me to come home. It's not like he gets to read or watch tv or "work on his novel"...but dammit sometimes I just want some peace and quiet.

BARK. BARK. BARK. BARK. BARK BARK.

On and on...and he won't stop. If he's not barking, he's licking. The couch, the coffee table, my foot, the pillow. Doesn't seem to matter what it is - all that nervous energy has to go somewhere.
He can be really sweet. We have our moments. He knows great words. Out. Thirsty. Hungrey. Chewy. Cookie. Brocolli. Asparagus. (yes, he loves them both). Bed. Sit. Down. Off. Round. Enough. High Five.

Basic Necessities, Basic Communication, Cool Tricks.

What Nelson George doesn't know is Stop. Leave the the @*^& alone. Just give me five minutes to myself.

Jasper and I had different words. House. Dinner. Come. Stay. Snuggle was his favorite. And mine. Not fair to compare them, but it still happens.

I lifted these from Facebook......

So it's almost been a year since I moved to NYC/NJ. Some of these crack me up and are *so true*. Others make no sense to me or I can't relate yet....so not a "New Yorker"....yet.

SO TRUE - These I can embrace completely or almost completely.

1.You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan.

2.You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
12.You see nothing odd about the speed of an auctioneer's speaking.
15.You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent.
18.Your closet is filled with black clothes.
20.You pay $5 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28 cents.
26.You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form.

29.$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.
30.You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.
31.You don't notice sirens anymore.
32.You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns.
33.Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.
34.You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
48.You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
50.You know what a bodega is.
52.Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet.....

53.You cringe at hearing people pronounce Houston St. like the city in Texas

54.Film crews on your block annoy you, not excite you.57. Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it. 58. Your local news is national news.
59. You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7.66. You cross the street on a green light, and if you get hit by a car you blame the driver for "not watching where they're going.


NOT YET - These don't surprise me. But am not there yet.

4.Hookers and the homeless are invisible.
6.You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. 7.You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple".
10.You consider Westchester "upstate".
21.You take fashion seriously.
23.You have 27 different menus next to your telephone.
24.Going to Brooklyn is considered a "road trip."

28.Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

36.You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.

37.Your door has more than three locks.

39.You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

40.You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection.

42.You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.

46.When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels.

47.You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas.

51.You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats.

60. You know who Dr. Z is...

64. Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.

65. You order your dinner and have it delivered.. from the place across the street.

DREAM ON - Yeah, I've moved way too many times to get these. Luckily a lot of them fall into this category....

3.You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
5.The subway makes sense.
8.The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.
9. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard.
11.You think Central Park is "nature."
13.You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it’s a "steal."
14.You've been to New Jersey twice and got hopelessly lost both times.
16.You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid.
17.You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.
19.You haven't heard the sound of true absolute silence since the 80s, and when you did, it terrified you.
22.Being truly alone makes you nervous.
25.America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you.
27.You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise.
35.You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills.
38.Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it.
41.You're 35 years old and don't have a driver's license.
43.You're willing to take in strange people as roommates simply to help pay the rent.
44.There is no North and South...
45.It's uptown or downtown.
49.Your internal clock is permanently set to know when Alternate Side of the Street parking regulations are in effect.
55. People from other states cant tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from NY the second you open your mouth.
56. When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever.
61. You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do.
62. Yellow light means speed up.
63. Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green.
67. You can tell a gunshot from a firecracker and not get scared, but when you go to the burbs you get scared of hearing a cricket.
68. You know the lights above the skyscrapers is the closest thing we have to stars.

Jersey. And Stuff.

I moved recently to New York City. I still say that even though I live in New Jersey. But I work in Manhattan, taking the PATH train into World Trade Center every morning (a topic for another day). Surely that entitles me to claim NYC rather than effin' Jersey, right?

And I can't really say "recently" since it will be a year next month. True, I didn't move in until December 6th - but I started my new job in October. Amazing.

People ask me the same inane question I've always asked people from Jersey - "What exit?" and then laughed. I had a friend in college named Pete Legato. He was from Jersey and his license plate said "Exit 4". It's the unofficial state joke for people who don't live in Jersey.

Truth is - I don't know what exit I live off of. The Turnpikes are The Other Direction. Away From Manhattan. I've only driven that way four times since I moved here. And now I don't drive anymore.

Downsizing from a three story townhouse in North Carolina to a one-bedroom apartment in Jersey City has been horrendous. Liberating. Awful. Cathartic. Literally ROOMS of furniture went to Habitat for Humanity. Boxes of clothes that I hadn't worn in years went to Goodwill. I gave away TVs and duplicate DVD players. I got rid of my piano. My sewing machine. My car.

When I moved into my apartment, I had already disposed of more than 2/3 of my stuff. I knew I had a lot of stuff, but I had no idea exactly how much. Even after getting rid of everything other than what I thought was Necessary - the apartment was literally floor to ceiling boxes when the movers left. I spent weeks opening boxes and throwing things out, giving stuff away, and (being Jersey) having things stolen. My bike lasted about two months. Gone.

Now I'm here almost a year, and I look around and think - "Dammit Michelle, you have WAY too much stuff."

Case in point - I'm doing dishes tonight and I open the cabinet where the pans are. And - the metal strainer falls out. AGAIN. There's a hook I stuck on the side of the cabinet to hang the strainers (note the plural) and despite that, one of them ALWAYS falls out. It's so agravating.

Why more than one? How much pasta or veggies do I need to strain? Can I wash berries without one? What if I need to do both at the same time? Truth is - I can strain veggies in the metal bowl strainer, strain spaghetti in the mesh strainer, wash berries in the collapsable rubber one and seive a sauce. That's right. FOUR. Ok - Five. I have a small one that's about the size of a 1/4 cup measure that was my grandmothers. I squeeze lemons or limes through it.

So this metal bowl strainer? That I bought when I stocked my new kitchen in Tulsa back in 1990? I threw it out. Yup - threw it out and immediately felt better.

What astonishes me about this move is that I am learning how few things I really need. How it's changed the way I shop...the way I read catalogs...how I thought getting rid of my car was the end of the world. That I was a failure because I could not afford to keep it. The truth is getting rid of it freed up a ton of money each month I was paying to keep a car I drove back and forth to the grocery store on weekends.

I went shopping for clothes this weekend. I've lost some weight and am tired of looking at a closet full of clothes that don't fit. Or I've had for years. Functional - but no longer fun. I wanted to feel pretty again.

There's this amazing store in Brooklyn. A subject for another post. But suffice to say, Saturday I bought some Wonderful Clothes that I feel FAB-ulous in. They are still in the bags in the hallway. There is no room in the closet to hang them up.

I have too much stuff.