Dear Bummers # 1 and 2, for your consideration

I've let this one sit a while. I wrote these over two (three?) weeks ago. They seemed harsh. So I left them alone. Over that time these subjects have come up in conversation, and every time I say nearly what I had written prior. Thusly, I have come to the conclusion that these are my legitimate viewpoints on the events in question.

I think it's good to choose your jerky, self-righteous, grand-standing, chest-puffing, soap-boxing, finger-pointing moments on issues. You can't get mad about everything. Well, some people do. But you can't share them all the time. People would stop listening to you. So, after considering them for some time, I feel solid about these bummers. Bummers, #1 and #2....

Dear Bummer #1,
I don't know what was happening in your day. And yes, I acknowledge that. It would be shitty for me to assume that you are supposed to operate in "super nice" mode all of the time. I don't. Especially at work. And you, 1, were at work. So I get it. So I didn't expect you to engage in personal or perky conversation. But I didn't expect you to be kind of...well...the way you were. Maybe I was expecting civility and or courtesy before you decided I wasn't worthy of being kind to. Maybe that was wrong of me. Needless to say, when I came to you on an 80-some degree day and said "hey, there's a dog tied up outside. Do you think you have a bowl of water or something I could bring him?" And you responded to me coldly, and tersely, I was confused. This seemed to be a bother to you. You didn't understand. Why would I want this bowl of water?
I explained again.
"Well," you asked, "is it YOUR dog?"
No, I said. It's not.
"Well then I wouldn't worry about it," you told me.
"So you're not going to give me any water?" I asked, confused, yes, about why this would be such a weird thing to ask.
You repeated "I wouldn't worry about it."
I feel it's necessary to let anyone else reading this know that you made a point of not looking me in the eye throughout the conversation, and when you did it was a punctuation of condescension. Though a small detail, it is one that does not go unnoticed as I have long been around people who build social identities by letting others know they're not worthy of their time. But I digress...
"...mmm...ok." I was at an impasse. There I was, an admittant dog enthusiast, just wanting the hot guy to have some relief. Oh water, the horror! Maybe not everyone would react as I do to a dog being tied up in the heat, and I understood, so I made a joke:
"Oh, you're a cat person, aren't you?" But you were not in the mood for jokes and shirked me off. Snorting at me, then looking over, around, and through me you went back to your work.
I walked out of the restaurant, patted the dog, and went on with my day. My friends were waiting for me down the street.
What I thought of saying to you two blocks away was this:
I hope someday you are tied to a post on a hot day, and nobody brings YOU any water BECAUSE THEY DON'T OWN YOU.
You totally logical and caring person. You were so rude about such a little thing. I'm not a lunatic or an animal freak, I just know that many places will put bowls of water out on hot days when they have a dog-toting clientele. But sorry. That must've been my bad. How silly I must have looked. Fuck the dogs, RIGHT?! Better to keep having your crappy day. I hope things changed for you though. I hope a rainbow sprouted overhead and the sky rained chocolate kisses and everyone who crossed your path adorned you with hand shakes and butterfly kisses.
If you're ever stuck outside in the heat, you probably shouldn't ask me for help. I might just not find it my communal responsibility to give you a cup of water.


Dear Bummer #2
Oh you. You probably believe we all have a right to breed. As Americans, I mean. And especially as the monetarily privileged ones. I work for an affluent clientele, so I will be the first one to say that my views on parenting in that neighborhood can be somewhat skewed by my perception of their electives to not participate in the rearing of their children. It's not a part time job in my opinion. But I know I am in no real position to have such opinions as I have no children myself. "Oh goody. Kids are like gerbils. Clean their cage once a week, they're fine." But I digress....
Anyway, you seem like a nice person. A kind person. I actually mostly liked you on your own. But you came in with your family on a Sunday for brunch. Here I would like to say that my place of business is very family friendly--to its detriment at times--and so any day, especially weekends, are frequented by families with small children. I have a very high threshold for erratic behavior from children in public places. But I DO NOT believe they should be allowed to be banshees. Look, I don't have kids, so how could I possibly know how trying it is to raise them. But I do believe if I had them I would be sensitive to other's dinning experiences. And yes, you, this family, I don't mean to offend you, but your children were unacceptable. I am used to seeing fits, and fighting, and vomiting, and crying, and all of that, but these demons you let rule your life were rude, and inexplicably inappropriate in the cafe. Shrill screaming, tantrum throwing, right from the beginning, and you let them. You were sitting right in front of me and I watched you enable them while they cried and screamed and hit and made others feel uncomfortable. I know you made others feel uncomfortable because they told me. Your children offended me and I just get paid to make your coffee.
CORRECTION: Perhaps what truly offended me was that you let them behave in such a way. Especially the super ballistic one. How could you possibly let such abhorrish behavior happen for nearly an hour? That is inconsiderate. Anyone interested can be sent an audio file of a recreation of this terrible, unmonitored behavior. Just, just bad. Like really, really bad. So, 2, you thought it was fine your child(ren) were ruining everyone else's dining experience. Fine.
But here's the problem: When you went outside and left your banshees in a stroller while you chatted with friends, some shit went down. I watched this happen. There was a dog tied up outside. It was being barked at by a dog tied up across the street. It seemed stressed. This was unusual for this dog and I know because the owner talked to me about it while she was in line for coffee. I don't think she was just starting to make things up. While your screaming child was sitting in her stroller and you were chatting with friends, she started provoking the dog. She was pulling on his hair, his tail, putting her hand in his face, his eyes. And when you started to notice, and tried to intervene, the dog nipped at her.
The dog NIPPED at her.
You know how I know? If the dog BIT her, she would need stitches, not a paper towel with an ice cube. Know how I know? Ask for my credentials.
The dog nipped at her, and she screamed more (a surprising feat) and bled some and you freaked out. Of course you freaked out. Of course your baby freaked out. Those things are terrifying when they happen to young children, weather they're nips or scratches or gashes or tears. You spoke to the dog owner, and you left.
Hmm, I thought.
And then you came back today. You came back this morning. You talked to my boss and I stood right there. You told the story in a motherly way, as though no one--not even his highness jesus--saw it happen. Just what you wanted to see happen, through your mommy goggles. You said we shouldn't let dogs stay out front anymore. You know, maybe they'll bite someone. Maybe just a suggestion.

Well, I have a suggestion for you. IF YOU FEEL THAT POTENTIALLY INAPPROPRIATE ANIMALS SHOULD BE TIED UP AROUND THE CORNER, THEN POTENTIALLY INAPPROPRIATE CHILDREN SHOULD BE TIED UP AROUND THE CORNER ALSO.

WATCH YOUR SHIT. IF IT'S A DOG OR A BABY, WATCH YOUR SHIT.

The dog is sitting on public property, but you brought your baby into a restaurant, and then you let it act shitty. And then you let it be inappropriate to an animal in a public space. So that really sounds like your problem, lady. Get your inappropriate human in check. I'm not a baby hater, but get your human in check. I would. I would make it my responsibility. And you know one of the reasons I don't have one? Because I know I don't want that kind of responsibility yet. Shame on you. You can't blame that crap on an animal. Get your people in check. Buck up and take responsibility for how your offspring act in the world. Other people live in it, too.



Oh now, Mama. You sound so bitter, you sound so worked up. Well America, I will tell you. The longer I am in this world, and the harder and more I try to contribute to it, the more I build intolerances. But I don't think I'm totally fucking out to lunch about them. Most of them stem from believing that people can be kind and thoughtful and not entirely selfish--and that it's not really that hard. I mean, it's easier to be selfish, rude, and depressed. But that doesn't mean it's better.

All things otherwise, are on the up and up!
So here's to moving up together,
Mama

Dear, Breaking in the motherboard!

Eee! (pc)

After almost two years of not having my own computer, I do. IT's haaaaaaapening!

The intention of the purchase was to start writing more, and more regularly. It's just a little guy, almost personal pizza sized. Personal pizza pc. But it gets the job done. I think it's a he. Not sure yet...But pretty sure it means there will finally be more writing.

Back in the technology game, y'all! Emmer effers here I come!

Donny Osmond You Are Not A Little Bit Rock n' Roll

I mean, seriously? Was that for real? I'm not trying to rip on Donny Osmond, but did anyone hear that? The very nature of the way he sings those words is so wholesome and dripping-gooey-teen-sugar-vag-cresting-on-a-river-of-fruit-loops-and-chocolate-milk that it kind of is the exact opposite of what someone who is a "little rock n' roll" would sound like. But then, I'm also going on the assumption that rock and roll has a defining sound or look and is not simply a "state of mind" or "way of being". I have, in the past, been informed that it is and that is why "Green Day is the greatest punk band of all time". So. And I'm really not prepared to get into that kind of an argument, or "discussion". So.

Sorry Donny O. Maybe you are a little rock n' roll in there somewhere.

Keep On Chasing tha Paypah

Just Live yo life. "oooooh!" heey eyeey eyyeyyyeeeh.

Yeah.

Before Steven Bach died.
Before Steven Bach died I thought of writing to him. Funny that I thought of writing to him about the things III was doing---"please would you read this" or "what's new in your life, here's my new whatever"---and as much as I was thinking of him the past few years I was never totally selfless enough to just want to ask about HIM. I mean, the guy was a mentor of mine, and a saucy one at that, so it was always as much about him as it was about anything else. But he never made it that way. I usually thought the immediate universe revolved around him, but I don't think he ever thought that. That's one of the things that made him so amazing. You could never know Steven without thinking of him implicitly with things. But he never grandstanded himself. He really just WAS. Or, IS. Steven Bach IS quite a person, and my experience with him is a testiment to why you shouldn't sit around only thinking about the people you want to talk to or get back in touch with. Because they are brilliant and they might die. We have seen this is true. Before Steven Bach died I was thinking of him a lot. And then he died. And I never got to send the letter-emails I had wanted to send. But the point is I hope he felt full. And he was beautiful.


My personal stock in popular R&B/rap songs is only going up. "Blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol..." Then maybe T.I. and Justin Timberlake sing that song about trying to lead a better life, but still they sound kind of hard, and also a little relatable, and even some of the fainter-at-heart turn up their stereos. Yes, I feel good about this.

Dogs sitting on other dogs is a funny sight. Lucky for me I get emails of these things daily. These important pick-me-ups are the things that remind me "hey, you might not be getting much work, and YES, you might be terrified sometimes, but also sometimes you get to look at puppies and kitties cuddling on couches or uppon rolling fields and at least you have that to look forward to." And good meals. And great friends. And cuddling. As though I were sometimes a giant kitten myself.

So this means nothing. But maybe it could be a little, too...

xo mama

Sometimes don't we all just want to be giant kitties or puppies? (yes, either, but really puppies, correct?? I mean, come on here....)

stop...taking...my...brains...google

I don't know what's happening. I only know this: When I try to log into my harmless blog, the website tells me I now need a google account.

When I enter my google account it tells me to make a new profile. No, I say. I have a profile. I'd like that one please.

When I enter my blog profile it tells me I'm wrong.

We go around in these flirtatious circles until generally I give up or reset something in the desparation that I'll make the problem go away.

It never works.

Now I don't know what I've done, but I'll tell you it just informed me I'm not ALLOWED to make a google account (make up your fucking mind, you fucking machine). Not allowed to make one when I already have one, and not allowed to use the one set up to this account because it's NOT google. I don't even know how I logged on just now.


So if you don't see me blogging for a while, America (all 2 or 3 of yalls), please help me defeat the google.

That nasty, nasty computer machine.

Shame on you, google. BIG, big shame.
mama

Dear Heyyy, no need to melt down, freak out. at least you have your health, mostly

Oh the joyous woes of growing up and learning lessons and trying to keep thinking that becoming an adult isn't one of the shittier things to happen to a person.

Let's see...while stuck in the transition of not making, as my father would say, "squat" as far as american currency is concerned, only so many things can make that time feel more freaky. One of those things is more bills. Huge bills. Bills that won't go away. Bills that appear almost out of nowhere but also not considering they piled up due to a silly misunderstanding between you and your landlord. But really just you. Because only you are held accountable. Oh, silly kids.

The silly missunderstanding in question has resulted in a back log of gas and electricity bills. For the last six months. "Now mama," you might be saying, "Surely this has to come as no surprise, surely you knew you would have to pay for these things when you moved in." and friends, I couldn't agree with you more. But let me say that this was the Giraffe and I's first time renting a house; rules for such dwellings are different from, say, apartments. and when our landlord quoted us a figure to pay him each month for "utilities", making no mention of needing to register for gas/electricity separately, and in fact making mention of things to the opposite effect.


So, rightfully so, we thought all was well.

UNtil our gas was shut off on a Friday afternoon in January, leaving us with no choice but to go without heat for 3 days.

Now friends, we will never make this mistake of assuming again, but the delightful little penalty for such an error is a costly neglect charge and reactivation fee, and a sumptuous bill (correction: TWO bills) for both gas and electricity for all the months we already thought we were paying for them.

We got the first of those two bills this afternoon. The Giraffe called the "people" and they put us on a payment plan. Kind of makes it more bearable, but the bills are still higher than I could have even afforded before I got my pants let out at my job. Now? Fugghet about it. as my dad would say, "ain't happnin'". Not just a pain in the ass, but now just plain not possible. Yum.

So there are these bills. I'm sure I'll get another job eventually, hopefully sooner than later, but friends, I don't have one today. Today there's a cute little melange of things wrapping up the crap ball wrapped in bacon stuffed in the Going To Fucking Come Out ahead Of It in The End Oven of my life.

Billsbillsbills. added bills.
freetimefreetimefreetime. free time with a kick of insult.
pantsthatdon'tfit. ones that haven't fit for months, but even the big-person pants I bought don't fit anymore and I am nothing if not muffin topped, and gushing over.
dogcoveredinpuke. walter barfed, and poor man did it all over his beautiful colored coat. and our couch.
beerbeerbeer. Back to beer. For a good number of months I cut way back on beer in hopes of taming the gut. But that didn't work, and I'm too poor and fed up to drink anything else now. Yum, Olympia.
burstingbustingveins. Veins are popping left and right in my legs. either busted or trying to float right out of my body, my stems look like aunt Dottie's on a cruise to Bocca Raton. I might as well wear a plastic visor and learn bridge.

But you know, friends, it's dinner time now. The Giraffe and Uncle Cousin Brother were great enough to go to the food bank up the street and cook an awesome looking dinner. So I'm going to eat it. and stop complaining.
we got each other. and food. so it's only almost February. We got eachother. IT's still anybody's game.

--mama

p.s. anybodyknowadoctorwhocanlasertheseshitsawayIwouldlovetoreturntolookinglikea20somethingagain

This Just in: Hole in Free Time Now Suddenly Blown Wide Open

Dear america,

as many of you know, for the past little while we, as a nation, have been going through what some are calling an "Economic Recession".

Many are going without jobs, many struggling to keep them, and many are just loosing them all together.

Until recently, I was one of those more fortunate. I was a worker. Granted I wasn't a full time worker, and paying the bills had become near impossible, but Gosh Darnit, I had a job.

and then, america, a beautiful kaleidoscope of events and information came whirling my way, and I was let go from said job. Well, not exactly. To be fair, what really happened was I was cut down. Cut back. Let "out". Like a beautiful pair of my pants.

What was once a part time job is now more like a financial hobby. a life infidelity. a sweet little thing I'm doing on the side. My most lucrative days of employment were taken away (temporarily maybe, maybe not), and while I do not have it in writing, I am fairly certain--nay, confident--that this action was not because of the need to save money. This action was more because I am the least competent person in my job title at my place of employment. My shortcomings were brought to my attention right after the news about the schedule shift. and america, I don't have the desire to over exaggerate this point. Whether I was surprised, confused, simultaneously not surprised, hurt, internally protestful and internally wishing those shortcomings were brought to my attention say, as they came up--doesn't matter. What matters is what they see and hear. and that person is not a very good worker. Or maybe just a "fine" worker. Who knows? We don't know these things. When we are told we need to do better and we are working less we say yes we understand and we leave.

We do not wish to inquire about undisclosed details, or make a case for why we need/want more money. Because those things, in this situation, are not necessary. and we, as an employee understand that some of our punishable actions, like tardiness, are indisputably true.

OH america, what will become of our economic crisis? What will I do with my further plunge into pooritude and gaping pockets of free times? Look for jobs, yes, that one is true. Hope my average skill set on par with every other "artsy" 20 something college graduate looking for a job is somehow viewed as "better" or "special" enough to earn me another service job? Yes, also true. Worry, stress, feel bitter at people who take their money and job security and important skill sets for granted, go back to drinking more cheap beer and assume that an ever expanding gut is now just going to be a new feature in the real life action doll that is me, try desperately to make my crafts and career important (and god willing lucrative), do more artsy shit that will never see a financial return, cry so that I look like an overgrown puffy tomato fetus that makes people ask "are you ok?", face some of them demons that don't seem so bad when you're a loser with no money, write more letters n emails n phone calls, clean probably maybe hopefully, do IT more and more (history shows that rates of sex skyrocket in troubling economic times. Free entertainment! We'll flood the streets with our fluids!!), work off some of this cellulite which--america, I fool you not--has worked it's way all the way to my calves and wrists (the gut, you see, will continue to grow but perhaps some muscle could return to the other long forgotten regions of my soft sloppy body. additionally I would wish for a hard belly, perhaps in exchange for the buoyant cottage cheese), build a home studio, spend a lot of time with the people I love (and stalking them on the interweb. I'm talking to yooooouuuuu, east coasters...), get weird, get funky, get it together, get down, get down on myself, get into some theaters, get craazy, get good, get real. THESE are all things I will do.

Let's get real, america. Let's do this together. america, we can do it. If some of you out there have free time blowing through your schedules like I do, let's get together and make some things happen. Let's cut costs. Maybe learn how to make Q-tips and moonshine and dog food and tree houses and latrines.

andifanyofyououttherehaveameshapedjobopeningpleaseohdeargodpleasehireme

Love,
Mama

a brief note of things with a broken keyobard

Long time, long time. Sucky typing with a broken keyboard, hence the not doing.

I am ok with my body saying "I enjoy life" but not so much "I don't fit in pants". Thank you, holiday season, for "piling on" the unavoidable temptations in a carb-cheese-dip-fried-something-gravy obssesed life. and let's not forget the beans. Who could forget the beans.

Something happens when you get to the age and proximity with your family when they have the potential to stop being the people you've known them to be for the last almost three decades, and morph into totally realer most realest people with more flaws and baggage and confusing spiderman webbing than ever before. Now with more webbing! It makes one wonder if sometimes it is better not to know. "But this is reality," some would say, "no one's perfect". "They were never perfect," I say, "But they are my family." Feel me? Oh, the holidays...

all my tights have runs in them. The temperature in my house is hard to regulate. It's either tropical and rosy, or cold and numb footed. Reminds me of college.

Uncle Brother Cousin B moved in a couple months ago. It's been awesome to have a house full of friends and doggies. Except Cousin B's old smelly boxer Jackson is such good friends with Walter now that they are often playing , and all Jackson's drool makes Walter crunchy, dreadlocky, and smelly. Such is the price of big dog-little dog love. Probably the best thing is that Jackson is one of the kindest sweetest dogs there is (though very forceful with the cuddling and spooning) and so is very respectful of playing with little Walter. The action you'll hopefully one day be able to catch in the "youtube" is where Walter does his favorite manouvers: the "chewing Jackson behind the knee" trick, and the "flying off a chair or bed and biting Jackson on his giant flappy cheek" trick. It's like if Danny DeVito and arnold were dogs. But if arnold were cooler. Sorry, Gov. you got nothing on this smelly smelly dog. Jackson for office!

Welp, here we are, at the one year anniversary (or there abouts--who really keeps track of such dumb shit?) of not having a computer. Strange. I guess it goes to show that as long as you have kind friends with their own technology you can safely avoid the libraries you're affraid of, stave off the bad habits of getting nice things dirty, and safely confuse yourself if you try and write anything important (where is it? PC? Mac? Disc? Email? Oh well, better just stop writing then.) Yep. Getting a new computer is right there on the list, right behind visiting friends, building an office to put a think box in, going out to eat, probably bowling, christmas shits, and probably even under "getting new hairdo". Basically, america, getting a new computer is as far away as saving a couple thousand cool ones. and with this job, you can imagine. and what with trying to be one of those "artists" you can really imagine. You know Mama don't do credit cards.

Thank God for the Giraffe and his computer. Were it not for him, you know my ass would be in a library somewhere sweating bullets, checking my "internet profiles", and crying on the inside. His key'board is wonky, which makes it SUPER easy not to want to type for very long. But this is unimportant.


Meanwhile, life has been moving. In the general everything is, and has been on the up and up. I feel like I don't see many people that often, but the ones I do see I am grateful for, and the ones I don't it seems I think about often. But I'm still not sure how to be the person I want to be with the people I love when some of them are so far away and some of them are living in monday to friday schedules, and pre-determined couples hang out nights. I like those nights. Not sure I get the memo on those too often. Kind of been doing that thing though, where staying home and drinking and organising and movieing and high fiveing is actually that really rewarding thing I always saw it being. Domestic Meca. Too dramatic? How about "making a house a home". Too cheesy? How about "less anxiety about being where i am than ever before". It's a nice thing to enjoy.

Do you ever feel like you're getting an overdose of yourself? Like possibly Quickly dissappearing into a gentle crowd would feel nice, recalibrating, and reimerging a neutral party is just the thing to do? Or hermitising, or shutting up, or saving orphans, or writting letters, or just a little something to take you away from the ready and loud voice of your head which is always, invariably, a worse version of what you sound like when you speak. I think everyone could use a vacation from themselves every now and then. I remember Florida. I still, and again, want Disneyland.

EDIT: Not so brief note.

Winter coats can be really warm or maybe we're just drinking.

Life with the Giraffe and the Flat Faced Chinese Dog is never nothing. Often a lot of saying "thank you" and "how can I be getting where I want to go and know that I am getting there". That last one is really about life with myself. But it'd still be nice to see the progress you're making. If you're making any. If we're making any. But we're all doing something. We all made it through some of the weirdest times, surely? Surely.

and, wine for dinner means I've gone on too long, and that I felt that about 30 minutes ago. Gonna put on my neon coat and smoke in the cold.

Mama

p.s. OH HEY!!!!!!! what I was going to say up top somewhere was that next Halloween I am going to forego the excuses for whatever I'm "dressing up" as, and going as a Slut. No "Sexy Teacher" "sexy bunny" " sexy police Lady" "sexy fucking wolverine". Just a plain old Slut. Just put it right out there. Because if we want to get debased as dirty sexual objects so badly, surely we don't need the thin vail of a beloved archtypical character. Generally I don't do the slutty version of what I'm trying to dress up as--I just actually do it. But next year--look out world. I am slutting it full force. I mean, what else do I have to offer as a chick with tits that may or may not be too big for my body?

So when you see that sexy sex slut slinking around at the party next year just ask me what I am. I might tell you something like "Snow white" or "a nurse" or "librarian". But you'll know what I'm really saying is "just. a. plain. old. slut."

p.p.s. girrrrlll, you should totally go as little red ridding hood. But like, in lingere.

Welcome, Walter Bernard!

Here he is, the new addition to our family, Walter the Pekingese!

We adopted Walter a little over a week ago when he and his sister were left at the shelter by a series of people who "didn't feel like keeping them anymore". Thanks guys! Sure hope none of you have kids!

The Giraffe and I had no intention of adopting a dog like Walter, but a really awesome woman who works at the shelter stopped us and asked, "You like Pekingese?" We couldn't say no. She showed us Walter, and the next day we took him home. He had a stupid name at the time that he didn't respond to, but as soon as we started calling him Walter, he started listening.

For the first few days he was a confused shadow, following us from room to room, sleeping always, and looking depressed.

Now Walter is absolutely the best dog you could imagine. The most loyal animal I have ever had, happy and relaxed with people and animals, loves to eat and run, and really loves to nap in our arms. He is calm and happy and loves to sleep by the tub when you shower. This dog is such a gift. He is only a year and a half, and we look forward to our long life with him.

The Barron is home, indeed!

Dear, I think I Dreamt Of a Murderer, or Actually I did

Twice. I really admire people who have dreams about flying and turning purple cotton candy like dinosaurs at circus boarding schools or ridding a hum backed whale to Egypt. Or any of that. I seem to have trouble with my dreams. And it gives me trouble with the waking up. Which can make me trouble to be around. And it feels troubling, stomping around the kitchen for the first hour I'm awake. It'd be much nicer to delicately squeeze some juice, pet the dog, and do a crossword.

I feel like someone kind of famous said that everything happens in fits and starts. Or that someone I know and love said that. And either way I think they're kind of right. At least here. I seem to get really motivated for really condensed periods of time, and for the other part of it seem to gestate, get nervous, think more than I act, and then wake up one morning so stressed out that I scrub the kitchen floor for three hours, and get really productive for a bout all over again. And maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm more constantly productive than I think (wouldn't be surprising), but so often it doesn't feel like enough. It seems like there could, should be more. I'm willing to bet if you talked to most people who know me, or have taught me, they'd tell you it's true. It's not consistent enough. I think by now I should have figured out how to change that.

You know, I just came off a magical weekend. Louis and I planned a weekend retreat for the first one of us who's getting married. Just the closest five of us for three days in a Bavarian themed town, staying in an A-framed house called the Wolf Den. It was wonderful. it was special, and fun, and full of drunk and meat and polka and everything you might think being surrounded by old people in Leiderhosen might entail. One of the cute-slash-tacky-slash kind of cute again things we decided to do was come up with a series of questions to answer with each other one night, that may or may not have involved makeovers. This is excusable for the following two reasons: One, it was a Bachelorette party for crying out loud, and Two, we've all been friends for long enough now, and get together so rarely, I think we've earned ourselves some Steel Magnolias Kind of Moments.
So one of the questions we had to answer was "What is one thing you always thought you'd be doing, but aren't, and what is one thing you ARE doing but never thought you would be?" Cute, right? I know, it's so emotionally adorable. Just so much so that you want to call Julia Roberts. But the thing is, we went around the room talking about it, and I started feeling a little displaced. A little like I needed to scrub my kitchen floor for a few hours. Here I was, in this house with these beautiful women i've known for a decade (a feat for me), all of whom have known each other for longer, and they are magnificent. I am a swamp monster. I mean, the thing I never thought I'd be doing, but am, is so special and wonderful, I'm not trying to undercut it at all. Not ever. But the "what I always thought I'd be doing" was hard to settle with. I realized that night that it has been hard for me to settle with it for the last two years. A mentor of mine told me a few years ago to "Let to four year old die". And I have done that in so many ways over time, but I think I'm probably still doing it and it is frusterating. The great thing about it was, that having that Sisterhood of The Travelling Emotional Bonding Moment allowed me to see these "women" (are we women now? It sounds weird to say) as the accomplished, assured people they are becoming. The one marrying the love of her life and starting her business; the one teaching children who need a mentor; the one learning sustainability and growing her own food; the one in the circus--the true artist of us all. And me. Not sure where I fit in. This beautiful collection of people, and this odd piece dancing around its edges.
I know how "woes is me" that sounds, and I'm sure everyone feels that way. (really? does everyone?) But you know, fuck it, I DID think I'd be doing something more by now. I do also think I'm doing what I should, but when you lay out the tracks of everyone's life and mine is "embracing happiness and learning all that that means" it is certainly fulfilling, but I'm not sure weather or not that should be the whole. A part, yes, but the whole? Also, if it is the whole, shouldn't part of that whole involve nurturing my "dream" (thanks art school, thanks life long ideas)? It probably should. And maybe it is. Maybe my life really is nurturing and embracing slow productivity and the enjoyment of happiness on all fronts. Maybe I just wish I could see that more clearly. Or that I could make myself do more with it everyday.

I know that the only time I can seem to write is late at night. And I get conflicted about that because the Giraffe goes to bed and I want to be there, too. I know I get caught up in situations I have no business being in, and I'm just trying to make people feel better. I know I communicate poorly, and I'm just trying to do it aptly. I know I make lists I don't cross off, and I wish I had less to look at when I pick them up at the end of the day. I know I have to work by myself now, and I wish I had a teacher. I know I never could have guessed I would have so much to work at. Surprise surprise.

I guess the thing about it is, I got to have this beautiful weekend, and I got to come back to a beautiful thing. I just have to realize what I am. Or what I want to say I am and make it so. Otherwise there are too many days of cleaning the kitchen floor for someone who never had a wish to be a housewife.

That person has a beautiful house, and a beautiful partner, and a dog, and slow prospects. But I look at that person with question.

There is the beautiful party. Full of the beautiful people I have watched over the years. The people I can never quite seem to really convey my Green Fried crying moments to.

The Lover, The Teacher, The Farmer, The Clown, and me. Whatever I am.

So whatever I am, goodnight.
Mama

Dear All the Blog Titles I've Thought of the Last Two Months

Some of them are written down on various receipts and scraps of paper. At first I thought it would be good to write them all down, you know, like some innovative card-catalogue for my thoughts and milestones, but really, A-I can't find them as of now, and B-probably they wouldn't be so refferential to anything that exciting anyway.

I remember San Francisco with my mother. I remember my roof in high school on weeknights. I remember cold lousy Bushwick mornings, schlepping through the neighborhood half drunk still, alone and with that beagle, waiting for him to pee, only for him to pee blood despite himself and everything we tried. I remember feeling not like myself. I remember David Cross and how tiny he actually is.

Moving was definitely the best thing I could have done. Things are slow to get off the ground here, but they are actually moving, and I feel glad to help them. The Giraffe and I have moved into a beautiful house--a house!--with a yard and more space than we will ever need. We live on the same property as a house full of wonderful friends who are always close at hand, and growing a beautiful garden, and making amazing plans. And we don't know how the money will pan out, but for some reason I don't feel so afraid. Because this is just kind of nice. This is just kind of really nice. The right thing. When something feels like the right thing you just make it work.

Moving, though, kept us off the map for almost a month, bouncing around with family and my mother and "staycations" and selfishly rewarding trips. So now I'm back. On the map. We've lived here for almost a month, and still I am catching up, and still I am remembering how long it takes to move. So long. Plus, once you have a lot of space, you realize you have crap to put in it, but it all lives in piles. We need more recepticles. I need more recepticles.

Growing up feels pretty ok at the moment. I went to the gas station to buy wine the other day and when the checker asked for my id, she looked at it, and said "you no look old. You look 18." Getting older, I imagine we all come up with idiotic responses to comments like that, and mine, seamlessly, in that moment was "Oh man, I'm deffinitely not 18. Sad. I WISH I was 18." And without missing a beat she looks at me stone-faced and says "no you don't . Young is bad. Old much better. Know more stuff. Never want to be young."
And yeah, she's actually pretty right. I don't really want to be 18 again. But then, I never thought I would want to be 25 either, and yet being it now, you know, it kind of feels relieving to be one small step further into being a functioning person on the planet. As long as we have the planet. But thats another story... So, age? If 40 is the new 30, we're all set. This time right now can still be baby time, and we can relieve ourselves from the pressure of having all the answers. I find that people our age who have all the answers are insufferable to talk to.

What's the hurry in trying to know everything? It must be boring if you know everything right now. It must be hard to find people who know as much as you. How lonely. And the thing that I didn't say before is that we shouldn't. We shouldn't know everything. We just shouldn't let ourselves feel so lonely. Besides, in the coming years we will need each other more than ever, and how nice would it be to feel like we have a community of people to reach out to. A community of people to build a real community with. Grow some vegetables. Shear some wool. Because we're going to have to. So not knowing much now is actually kind of relieving.

And speaking of not knowing much, I know I just want to just curl up with the Giraffe and our new Muppet, most valuable, who doesn't know anything, but tries only to figure out who's leaving, and who's staying. And I can't talk about him, this muppet, because I don't have pictures yet. But he's coming. Oh, yes, he's coming. He's mellow, so you might not take notice at first, but he is definitely coming.

I like that life can be filled with things you love if you allow yourself to see it that way. And I'm not trying to say anything there. I'm simply saying. With such a short time, let's give ourselves the gift of happiness and discovery. Let's not go wrapping ourselves up in tie-die and burning our bras, but let's have discovery.
I'm certainly having some.

Goodnight, world, and all the things in it. Goodnight moon, though I never felt attatched to that book.
Mama

Old Now

Who knew Leslie Nilson had such a beautiful speaking voice.

It was my birthday yesterday. My dad called and said "happy birthday, kiddo," and he also said "I'm so proud of you for turning sixteen." And I said "thanks, buddy, for all that tough teenage support!"
I'm older now, but I don't feel older.

Now today two things have gotten me choked up: an episode of Full House, and one of the Golden Girls. Two things. Both Tv sitcoms. There is something I find both comforting and disturbing about that. It's very nice that I can


8-08
Yeah. I was saying something up there. But now, almost two months later, it doesn't seem all that important. I just am the kind of person that gets weepy about the nostalgia and moral lessons of 80's and 90's television shows. Probably nothing special up there except that something special triggered the "something special" part of my brain, but god knows what that was about. Probably Rose made a comparison to Saint Olaf, and I thought "That is so topical to how things really are today". Or maybe someone talked about teddy bears and I happen to like teddy bears. You know, that kind of thing. If they were talking about hippos, I surely would have gotten choked up.

The Giraffe took me to the zoo on my birthday, and we discovered I am actually quite attatched to hippopotomi.

Also, I have no idea why I thought Leslie Nilson sounded so nice. But Naked Gun is funny.

Detox Body Cleanse, Come Again?

ON this date, the 6 of June, 6-6-08, I started a blog post talking about the cleanse that the Giraffe and I had decided to do.

There was a lot I could have said about that. We did it for two weeks with minimal cheating, which is pretty exciting considering I don't think either of us had gone without a beer or red meat two days in a row in...years? Probably years.

We did the cleanse because it didn't involve starving yourself, and there were suppliments you were supposed to take, which made it feel a lot more doable than drinking lemon-pepper-ginger water for ten days and still trying to be a normal functioning person. AND, we also did it because we found the kit at the co-op we sometimes shop at, and it happened to be one of those days where I think we were more open to trying new things.

All in all, so long after the fact, I would have to say, it wasn't terrible. At first it was pretty bad--we were always hungry, always tired, always irritable. But eventually once we learned how to make real meals within the rules of the cleanse, it got much better. It was even kind of fun.

In the end though, I personally never felt I was that "cleansed". (come on I kept thinking, where is the crazy shit in my lower intestines that is supposed to be revealing itself and making me feel *years* younger, or more energetic, or whatever). Mostly it was a good lesson in eating better. I felt healthier, and then the fast stopped, and I balooned up to the alarming rate I felt I was at before.

So. Maybe next time we'll just join a gym. And buy some grape nuts.

Dear I did Some Crying

You know the weiner that I am. Today is Memorial Day, I had a beautiful time with my mommy and her buddies on the beach. There were dogs everywhere, chasing sticks that were or were not thrown, three blonde masses of puppy flying up and down the waterfront. And when my mom's dog tried to aggressively join in--the one that I rescued for her--I did the whole "oh, i know what's best for that animal" thing. And then everyone told me I was wrong, and the brown scared dog returned to the beach. Despite whatever I may or may not have been right about, she then wandered around the food station like the lump that she is, and all the blonde dogs ran on the beach chasing sticks into the sound, even if they sank into the water. Not a bad Holiday, all told. ...And then I came home and thought about Oscar, which is pointless since Oscar is gone. But often when I get to thinking about him I also tend to get to thinking about good things. And seeing as everyone here is asleep--and by that I mean the giraffe--I have a lot of time.

If you don't read this, maybe you should. Maybe soon something super intelligent will be said and you'll really want to be there for it. Yeah, I can feel that.



I've been infected by the idea that someday in our lifetime we will really need to rely on each other. I'm not going to claim how it's going to happen, because no one would believe it (isn't being comfortable SO MUCH better than acknowledging the future?! FUR REALS?!) But I do believe that our greatest goals will become about survival of our younger generations. SO maybe I'm a hippie in thinking that, or maybe figuring out how to grow a GARDEN IS THE SMARTEST THING YOU CAN DO NOW. I don't know, maybe... .


The future is terrifying. The thing is, if you read about the future, you realize we're all dieing. We can maybe just choose the rate at which we die. Soon we will have no rice, or fish, and our meat will be cloned, and there will be no resources for global fruit farming. So if we maybe figure out how to grow crops, maybe, on our own, in the long run, our babies won't starve. Maybe I'm a fanatic. Maybe I'm reading too much. (ok, that will probably never happen). Maybe I want an answer. Maybe I think we should come up with one.

Maybe I think people should share ideas.

Maybe dogs should always be integrated into packs, like equals, and be given a chance to work it out.

Maybe you should invite me in. If I'm right here. Now all our friends know. So special, a'int it? Really. A'int it? I'm not really ever going to leave this space...

Maybe all death row dogs deserve a meeting with you. If you don't want them, then, we'll let them run...

OH, ALL THESE THINGS ARE HAPPENING AROUND YOU, LIKE A DOUCHE BAG WHO DOESN'T LISTEN. BE SO SPECIAL, AREN'T YOU? HMMMM???

HEy, duede. I know you're sleeping. But maybe we'll have fun. How's about next time we all sleep together. Fer shizzle, right my bizzle?

Dear Updates Of Things

It's been almost a couple months now, but I'm still here...

Dear Last Blog,
I thought I could look at you and not feel bad anymore, but I was kind of wrong. Since everything happened I wasn't really alright with writing more blogs about other things, but I still knew you, last blog, were there. The thing is, over the past couple of months I have been retraining myself in some ways. In the beginning, and until recently, each time I left the house I felt like I Was forgetting something. And when I was gone I felt like there was something I had to return to. Neither were true. This being the case, I started to ease into the new phase of life, without my dog, and started to accept that he was in a beautiful blue pot next to my golden retriever, and below my wiener dog. But the thing is, last blog, I looked at you again tonight and realized that I'm not so over it as I want to be. There's a wonderful being in these pictures here. And I still wish I had gotten to know him better. So I guess, Last Blog, I am glad you exist as you are able to pay in-the-moment-tribute to a wonderful dog, but I don't like to see him there, and know that I can't see him here again.


Dear East Coast,
You guys. Ok. I just gotta tell you that, uhhhmmmm, 98% of the time I forget that we're not all living together anymore, and that if it's an appropriate time for me to call you, that YOU ARE, in fact, probably in bed. And see, the crappy thing about this for me, besides just having to admit we are so far away, is that I have to come to terms with the fact that if we are going to "phone chat" it has to be in my "afternoon", and um, I don't so much like chatting, and not in the afternoon. So I think about calling a lot of you a lot, but know that 1AM is not such a responsible time to do so (on a Wednesday). And that's when I do this: "But it's so Ear....Oh,. Right. Shoot." Someday I'll grasp it.


Dear Dogs,
If you have nowhere to go, I will house you. I will take care of you all until you get to where you need to be. I promise. I think about you all the time. I see some of you on the street, and yeah, if you don't have a tag, I'll chase you down. Like Patrick Swayzee with a double black belt chasing a degenerate or maybe chasing some damsel who's super hot. But you know, chasing with the intent to catch. I would like to build Mama's Urban Reservation for Kanines. And sure, maybe I'm living in a 400sqft basement apt with my boyfriend. But if you start coming, I promise, PROMISE we will find the ranch we belong in.


Dear Stranger Girls Slash People Slash How Could I Discriminate,
First things first, and kind of a major point here, I happen to fall into one of those super antiquated groups of people who finds someone super great and wants to only do that for a while. I have lots of buddies who subscribe to different terms in their relationships, and the cool thing about them is that, well, I embrace the way they function, and they embrace the way I function. It's like a cornucopia of relationships going on. And we all have a lot of fun. So with my square, one-person-lifestyle being embraced, let me say this:
We share a lot of things. Like time, and space, and hangouts, and mailboxes. So if one were to want to maybe send this dude letters about things without an envelope, y'all should know there's two people getting the mail. And I don't want to be an eavesdropper. So maybe just put your shit in an envelope. Or maybe don't send it? OR send it in code? Your choice. Just maybe respect ours. Sounds good, right?


Dear New York,
I really miss you, New York. You know, I didn't think I would. But, surprise! I do! So we have got to find a way to keep everyone there and talk about how we can involve careers there as much as we can brainless work. Because we all know brainless work can be a real part of living there. And we all know it will kill you quicker than cancer. (And maybe, if for no other reason than it will drive you to get black out drunk and make an unwinning bet with a man who will sell your organs for cab fare or lemonade or a twelve pack of beers and a feelie.) I hope to someday meet on our own terms of being together. Because, New York, I think we should be together, but I think we both know it should never be the way it was. I mean, really, I was pretty horrible. Neither of us ever had a winning time with one another. But we can. So let's work on that. And I'll work my way back east. The boy wants to go to school there. So you have to be ready for us both. And we don't want to live in Staten Island. And if we live in the old neighborhood I would hope you could maybe show me some of that fabled neighborhood feeling I've heard so much about.


Dear Australian Shepherds,
Is there anything that you do wrong? I didn't think so.

Dear Delany,
I miss Tiger Woods Golf, and walks in the park. Let's have a day/night of being equally gay in different ways. I been workin' on my put strut.


Dear Giraffe,
You might be having to work in three hours, but who is looking at you right now? Who will be thinking about your sweet moves in the Am? Uh, this guy. You are the tallest giraffe of them all. The most favoritest.


Dear West Coast Friends,
I moved back here and got so afraid you were gone. Like really. Doing your own thing so much that nobody needed each other anymore. I have come to learn how different we all are now, and I think it's a very special thing. But I think it's special too if we all remember and embrace one another. I might be crazy, but never have I missed you all as much as when I am right here in the same city a you. I wish the people that love each other could be closer....

And maybe I said too much tonight. But we all know how I am: all or nothing. Or a lot of little things with a lot of trepidation.

Right now I love, miss, and believe in everything. So please, all soldiers, let's do that. Here we all are. The question we have to answer is, "what are we going to do about being here?"...

He Loved Cheese, Watermelon

As most of you know I recently took a trip across the country. It was our intention to write about it once we got to Seattle, but settling in took a while and we're lazy about developing film. It is now further postponed by the fact that other things are happening.

It is difficult to start explaining something that you wish wasn't happening. Many of the people who know me or have read this blog understand very well how much I have wanted a dog, and how long I waited to have one. Adopting Oscar in October was one of the happiest and most surreal things I've done in my life. I waited for so many years to finally have a dog, and then, all of a sudden, he was just there. This bony, smelly, big headed Beagle. My dog. I knew nothing about him when I got him, including that he was so old, and sick.

Over the past six months he has endeared himself to everyone he has met, and we were both lucky enough to have friends and loved ones around that were willing to extend their love, time, and support to us.

It has been a very long road trying to rehabilitate Oscar. We tried many medications, tests, and hippie diet plans to help him get better. Even after the somewhat hilarious trip to the emergency room, we tried to do the right thing by him.

The decision to drive back to Seattle was made because Oscar was too sick and ornry to get in a crate and allow himself to be put on an airplane. It was not very long into the process before I felt very thankful for his stubbornness. Our trip was a beautiful thing. I'm even going to say that it was special. Because the three of us got to spend a time together which not everyone is fortunate enough to have. It was an amazing start to our relationship, and a gift that I feel blessed Oscar gave to us. He peed in every motel room we stayed in (thanks, Super 8), and generously on the front seats of the car (sorry, National), but other than that he was pretty much like the third human. With curtain ears. Who mannaged to eat our sandwiches every time we left him in the car.

After getting here and settling in we took Oscar to his new vet to try, once again, to stop the pain he was feeling and make him a healthy old man. But after testing and a week of new medication we discovered that his problems were worse than we thought.

To try and keep Oscar alive would involve specialists, ultrasounds, and thousands of dollars worth of surgery. Even after that, his complete recovery was unlikely. Because he was so old, his body just couldn't do it.

Being faced with this decision has been extremely painful and difficult. I hope that no one ever finds themselves in a position like this. But I have tried to do the right thing for him at every turn, and now the right thing is to help him leave this world peacefully.


Thank you so much to everyone who has shared with me their time, patience, and with Oscar their love. I wish there was a better way to express how grateful I am to you. You helped make it possible for the autumn of his life to be a happy one.


I love Oscar very much. I hope wherever he is going it is filled with cheese, watermelon, and girl dogs to sniff. And that somehow, in his own way, he knows how deeply loved he was by so many people, and how much he has changed my life.


Goodbye, my friend...

I Cired at the End of His Typical Dj Night

Because I'm leaving.

Dear Friends, Lovers, Associates, Drunk Acquaintances, Distant Favorites, People I Haven't Called (and who don't read this), Past Teachers, Dogs Like Benjamin,,,,,

I'm leaving New York. It has taken a lot of things to come to the point of writing it down. You know, those things you do when you're in your twenties that feel very "heavy" and "important". Whatever it takes to come to that kind of decision is what I did. OK. What I actually did: Went home for the winter holidays thinking that it would be a time of great rejuvenation, re-focusing, and re-grouping. But we don't actually get to choose what those things entail. The long and short of it (since it's not such an epic story unless you were one of the four people around for it) is that a question was posed.
How important is happiness?
If we are lucky enough to be alive so long, then we eventually come to the point where we are lucky enough to have control--completely--over our choices. So is it better to, A., exist unhappily while working towards the idea of ultimate happiness that may or may not happen? Or B., be happy in the moment, while taking smaller, less dramatic steps towards the "eventual ultimate happiness"?

I decided the latter. Because wasting your time is not good for anything and never will be. Happiness is an amazing thing. If you can see it, feel it, then it is your responsibility to take it. And all those rules you set when you were fourteen? Well they're not so relevant when you're living your life out ten years later. And turns out, you may never be able to follow those self-imposed rules if you're not happy.

So I'm leaving New York. Not for good. I'm keeping some belongings, my lease on my apartment, important things here. I know this is where I will wind up, but I know it's not where I need to be right now. I am not myself here, and God, if not being yourself someplace isn't the biggest waste of time I don't know what is.

It's scary to make your own decisions, without the fall back of another thing to blame for it. It's scary and powerful and awesome to know that you can enjoy your life every day without waiting for some kind of release. That you can make your own release. So I'm leaving. And I'm driving across the country. And I don't know when I'm coming back. Because deciding when I come back is counter productive to what I need to do.

Me, a boy, and a dog in a car with my stuff. A week and a half. Don't really know how that's going to feel, since I haven't made such an entirely self-sufficient choice since choosing where to go to college (which was one of the best, if not THE best choice(s) I ever made). It's strange to make decisions without a fall back for blame. And even though it's new it is still ok.

I mean, I'm the kind of wiener who always cried on the last day of school, despite when she was coming back. Always bawled on the last day of summer camp. The kind of person who, despite moving every two years, still feels devistated about goodbyes. I'm just a big wiener. So when I worked my last night at a job I kind of didn't care for,,,I cried a lot. But it's ok. Acknowledging the great things around you happens most importantly when it's coming to an end.

So thank you, The Cave. Thank you to all the Beautiful friends I have there.
Thank you, Studio. You may be full of ungreatness, but you yourself are not at all ungreat. Thank you things that showed me I am unhappy and gave me the tools to change it. If Mary-Kate can walk a whole day in her five inch heels, I can take charge of my situational circumstances. Thanks, MK.

Next Wednesday the boy comes and we get the car. We put the dog in it, and the piles of clothes, and we drive. And when we stop driving we will be on the other coast. The coast that makes me feel happier just by stepping onto it. And it might be a baby time or a giant time before I come back again, but for the time being, I am choosing happiness over great possibility. And that feels like one of the smartest decisions I've ever made.

And maybe the dog will die. Maybe the boy will want to leave. Maybe my mother will become tired and all my friends will get married. Maybe the work will fade. But then at least I can come back and know I am not at all worse for the wear. I also don't think that will happen. Since, when you open yourself up to the things you truly want, in the end you never lose.

Once again, speaking like a hippi. But finally taking responsibility for what's important. Ad, at 18, said "self-preservation is a full time occupation". It rhymes, but here's to seeing weather it's true or not...I've already loved everything and feared the future much more since knowing I'm going....

February 20. Enter Terrible Cheesy Song Quote Here.
Goodnight, America. All five of you.

Xoxoxo
Mama

Dear Under Water and Full of Words

An Open Letter to I Think You Should Know,
You'll get what's coming to you. I hope you get it hard, and I hope it's not pretty. Talking to you doesn't work. My other options involve things and people I don't want to involve. So I am choosing to put it in gray tones on the internet, on my all important, all consuming 'blog'. And take it on faith that karma is real. Retribution is a beautiful and powerful thing. Shame on you. You should know better. I know you know better. People don't actually need to own a lot of things, outside of their thoughts, feelings, and bodies. Those things are important. Those things are invaluable. Those things are with you as long as you're alive. I'm taking mine, and putting them some place safe. I'm taking mine, and taking control over them. I'm out.

Mama



Dear Kibble Slash Giraffe,
This is for you. This is different. This is just for the record. Papers get lost, words get forgotten. But the internet is forever! Whatever. You are the kind always trying to read between the lines, but now there are no lines. Thank you. Just, thank you. For everything. And for everything that hasn't happened yet. Having the faith to believe that bad karma is real also means having the faith that good things happen and miracles are smaller and more common than we think. Thus far this has proven true. Thank you for being the thing that you are. That thing is a gift. Something I am still trying to find words for.

love Mama



The thing about calling in sick to work is that sometimes you are actually sick. The thing about needing to call in sick is that sometimes the people you're calling understand and don't ask you questions. It's 70 degrees outside in New York and it's January. Sometimes global warming isn't something you can complain about. I'm just saying. And yes, I'm listening to TLC. I happen to like them. Not as some ironic hipster joke. Sue me. I'm a little tired of irony. Unless it's for comedy's sake. What happened to actually caring about things? Go to Union Pool and drink a crappy beer and talk about how unaffected you are by the world. That's a great way to exist in the world. Or not? I'm just saying.

The thing about calling in sick to work is that I did, and it happens to be 70 degrees in New York and I'm going to cut my losses, pick up the pieces, say fuck it about the down shit, and enjoy this day and the fact that I'm alive. Peace.

This Just In!!! Important Newsbreak: Dog Urnine Destroys Nature!

So I've learned.
Very important stuff here.

As my little buddy Oscar and I are reaclimating to our home after my much needed visit to my real home, and his little vacation with some ladies who love him too much, we have gone on a couple of walks. A couple, because we haven't been home that long. We do this because sometimes we like to reconnect with the world beyond. Because the apartment can get boring and we can hear excitement out of our windows we feel we just HAVE to be a part of (always in the action, he and I). Because we like wacky urban adventures. And because he's a Beagle, and he has to go to the bathroom.

Beagles, by breed, are hunters. They are commonly used for rabbit, or "hare" hunting, as well as other small mammals and water fowl. "They are determined, keen hunters, and their baying during a hunt brings goose-bumps to novice hunter and the oldest professional alike." Oscar, true to his breed, is determined, and even in the September of his years very much enjoys, nay THRIVES upon, chasing scents and investigating. Oscar's top likes include: Sniffing, trotting, cheese, meats, naps. Those are the main ones I've discovered so far, but there may be greater likes we have not yet uncovered, because of my next highlight.

We live in Bushwick. Bushwick, in Brooklyn, particularly the area surrounding my building, is not nice. I live in an industrial area with buildings that are only now being turned into residential spaces and invaded by poor white "artist" kids like me. The area outside of that is mostly low income apartments and government housing projects. Needless to say, it's not scenic. Along with it's not-scenic-ness, comes the extreme absence of nature. I have never seen my dog frolic in grass, or chew on weeds, or dig up dirt, because those things aren't really around. Due to his recovering from health issues we have not been able to travel to the country to play, but I'm willing to bet that he would like that. Because he's a beagle. He sniffs. He sniffs the trash and cruddy pavement around here whenever he is given the chance.

Due to highlights one and two, I try and let him enjoy whatever he can in his cement and steel urban lifestyle. Now that you know some of the facts, on to the event, or "enlightenment" of the day.

As he and I, along with one of our preffered female companions, went walking one afternoon, we came upon something glorious: a tree. To be fair, we come upon this tree, and the three next to it, each time we walk, as someone has had the kindness to plant their sad skinny roots in wooden boxes in front of the "here come the white folks!" art space, coffee slash video shop, and natural food store. We know they're there, but each time we see them it feels like the first time because it's so exciting. And naturally, in our excitement, we want to investigate them. On this day, as Oscar was investigating the tree in the wood box, he got the urge to do what any good boy dog would do, and lifted his leg.

As he was relieving himself, as close to nature as we can find, we were approached by a woman. This woman was really more of a girl. A hipster girl. I label her this due to the following qualities: shaggy shinny black well placed haircut. Jacket with pointy shoulders. That face make up they so often have that says "I don't give a shit, but look at me, look how good I look". Dark jeans that cling for dear life all the way down the leg and scrunch up the right amount of inches at the bottom. Boots that have that cowboy-go go dancer-Stevie Nicks thing going on. And an angry, unaffected, bored demeanor. This girl looked so cool she was even bored with herself. And let me tell you how cool that is to be bored with even yourself. Or maybe she was just having a bad day. Who am I to judge. Anyway, this girl--who is undoubtedly a popular public buddy since apathy about the world around you means elitism, which means desirability, which as we all know means "Super amazing interesting person!"--approaches us, rolls her eyes, and then locks them with mine like she is some sort of migratory bull.

"Could you, like, not do that?" she asks, so aggressively that my response was silent, but said
"Um, what? I mean. Huh? What did I--what am I doing that offends you so?"
"You need to not let him pee in there. It kills the trees."
I'm sorry. Now you're just speaking Chinese. Are you serious?
"...Sorry." is all I can say.
"Well, don't. It's not ok." The way she says this also says "You and your filthy dog are everything that is wrong with the environment and if I actually cared I would fucking punch you in your trashy face."
"Um. Ok." is all I can say, as I watch my beagle karate chop his leg against the tree, dominating it.
"Yeah, well, just a tip for next time. So don't."
Then I proceed to drag my dog out of the tree box, both of us confused, as I watch her turn and storm (or was that just her strut?) down the street.

So, while animals of all species have been relieving themselves in nature throughout the history of the world, apparently domesticated dog urine now destroys foliage in urban neighborhoods. Thank god I know now. That is so enlightening. But more questions have been brought up: Is it limited to just tress? Or does my dog single-handedly have the power to take down entire bushes, flowerbeds, patches of grass? For fear we might find out the hard way I will be sure to limit my dog's bathroom activity to pans in my apartment, which I will then pour into tin cans and dispose of like bacon grease.

I would like to send a big thank you out to that girl, wherever she is, for enlightening my mind and brightening my day. Thank goodness there are people concerned with doing good out there, so ready to lend a helping hand and spread the word.

And my duty, as a citizen of the world, was to share this important piece of information with all I can. Please, everyone, refrain from allowing your animals to do what they've instinctively been doing for thousands upon thousands of years. Together, we can beat this thing.

Dear Holli-Days, and I Remember Your Face or the Sound of Your Voice

Every once in a while the last couple of months I have had a reminder that there is something I haven't been keeping up with. Typically there are so many things that could be in reference to so I generally just hope it presents itself or goes away. Of course eventually I realized that thing was this blog. And yeah, a blog is a blog--just some self-indulgent or intellectually/culturally masturbatory thing that had no social relevance ten years ago--but damnit, if you're going to start something you should finish it. Especially when you take stock and look at all the really big things you still can't finish, a quiet internet blog feels fairly achievable.
And it's not that I haven't had anything to say. More has happened and been thought about arguably since I moved to New York. But that's just it, probably. Sometimes life happens, and you need to just let it happen. You can't be in the place to comment on it,,, or think about it through a medium like the world wide web.

Because of this, and the nature of never successfully catching up with time, I will not attempt to fill out the time that has passed. If anyone reading this has not been in touch with me and is truly curious about some things, please ask me questions, all of which I will answer with colorful storytelling in such a way that attempts to make up for October, and November.
Though to be fair, this has largely been a forum wherein I don't say anything that important anyway. So questions about important things might seem out of place.
Regardless, I am recommitting to the "blog". Maybe it's an easy first step to committing to the tangible things in front of me.

To be fair to the universe, I read an article today, which spawned much of this. Having Attention Deffecit tendencies, and being from the TV generation, I am one who can find extreme inspiration and great affectation from short simple sources. I am not an avid novel reader or investigator of culturally important figures. However, this article I read was about people who are, and it has had me stuck. Remembering the last time I was this hit by people who are gone, but so relevant they are still warm, is hard. I can't remember. But these people, with a love story so twisted and transcendent, and creative lives so twisted and innovative, are living inside of me right now. And one of them happened to have a blog. So. It reminded me. And woke me up. I should read more. If people like this are everywhere (which they may or may not be) we should talk to them. We should be them, but without all the suicide; all the early endings. Everyday here is a precious thing, whether you're making art that changes the world, or just reading about it in popular magazines.

I have been thinking recently about aging. To be fair, I think about this often. Because it terrifies me. It leaves me shaky and unsettled. But recently, I have wondered: does aging just become ok the more you do it? Like does being 29 feel fine when you're in it, eventhough when you're 19 29 seems like this point where you slow down and possibly start to bald? Do you feel more at peace / realistic about your age once you finally get there, or is it still as scary and sleepless as you thought of it eight years prior? I hope it's ok. I really do. Otherwise I hope there are some life-changing experiences that make getting slow and boring feel like the right thing. I kind of bet that's what happens. Otherwise there'd be a lot less middle-aged people. It has also occoured to me that eventually we will all be dating bald, fat people. And that's not bad nessiscarily, just strange. I still can't picture myself dating a bald, curiously overweight person. But then, I also can't imagine the place in your life where the greatest qualities in a mate are single-ness, and not having illegitimate children be-boping around the country. So, you know, I obviously don't yet see getting older in the most realistic of lights.
But what is out generation going to do? I feel like I know a fairly equal amount of people our age who either feel that getting marries id the thing they will never make the mistake of doing, or have found someone they connect with and feel unshakingly that they are their partner for the rest of time. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. All these products of divorce, not wanting, in their polar ways, to make more products of divorce...

This was all not what I meant to say. Or, in part, perhaps it was, but not in such ways that avoid the issues that qualify as "issues".

Will i ever be able to thank all the people who deserve it in the way the deserve. Will I ever be able to make peace enough with myself to build a solid foundation. Will i let go of necessary things to focus on the passions I have harbored so intensely all this time. Will I write down the things I need to before I forget them. Will I remember that worrying is futile since time is irreversible. Will I eat well. Will I sleep enough. Will I do my best to save the things I care about, like my dog, and my fingers, and my stories. Will I stand up for what I really believe in at the risk of temporary alienation, which is silly anyway. Will I listen as much as I think I am.

All questions still only half-asked. All so many more not yet recorded. It's a thick journey into honesty, and the internet is rarely the stage to explore it on.

So for this moment I am rehabilitating my dog, and not looking past the next phase. I am healing my emergency-room wound, and not fearing it has ruined my career. I am going home for Christmas (far and away the best present of all) and not worrying about the medical outcomes of being there. I am engaging in competition that brings friends closer together and makes Tuesday nights the best time of the week. I am laughing harder at one time than I have in almost a year and not feeling guilty when it's over something as simple as Helen Keller or the number 69. I am making new friends. I am talking to myself, sometimes out loud in my kitchen. I am writing rhymes I keep to myself(for now), and things I would hate to forget (trivial though they may be). And when men cat-call me on the street at 7 in the morning when I'm in pajamas, walking my dog with make-up running down my face and a poofy-ball hat on, I try to remember that unless I have the courage to ask them what they exactly want from the exchange that they have their own agenda I do not yet understand. Because there can't possibly be this many people in one place who are so demeaning for no reason.

For the first time in almost a trimester of pregnancy or something like it, this is me reporting back.

..."The message is brief. Here it is in its entirety: ‘Traveling very fast. No time to say good-bye.’ And then, ‘There are no dogs here.’ ”"...

Sincerely,
Mama