Why I was crying on the train this morning

First, I saw several notices like this posted on the subway platform walls:

Then, I started reading this online article in the NYPost.

And then, Johnny sent me this picture of Olive showing off her new shoes:

My heart goes out to that boy's family.

I just explained, in two text messages, how to blog on blogger via text messaging. Crazy! (hi, ronie!)

Knee deep in wedding season

Julie's wedding is this weekend! Johnny picks up his tux tomorrow, and I'll snag my dress from the tailor's on Saturday. It's gonna be a good time, y'all!

Here's a little something to get the party started: Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video.

SNL's 'motherlover' is highlarious! http://tinyurl.com/rd6m5n

Blogging from my cell phone. For reals?

Oh, New Orleans

Although I miss New Orleans already, Johnny made roast beef po-boys for dinner last night. It's like a little bit of Nola followed us home.
Here's the slideshow from our wonderful trip to New Orleans. We had a ball.



Here is the link, too.

Siftables

Watching this video made me feel simultaneously young and old. We really are just at the beginning of our potential for technology and everyday tools.

What do you think about Siftables?

Just after she made her wish

Mary B. turned 26 last night, so we celebrated with carrot cake and New Orleans-inspired cocktails. Johnny made the cake, which called for dehydrating carrot dust to sprinkle on top. And, come to think of it, he also made the cocktails, which consisted of pear slices in clementine vodka and champagne.
Happy birthday, Mary B!

Get out the snowboots

The weather guys are predicting two to four inches of snow tonight and a little more tomorrow. That's no big deal, compared to the snow they get in, say, Utah. But in Brooklyn, where the white dogs' tummies only hover a few inches from the sidewalk, that's Big Snow.

Here are some pics from the last "snowstorm."

The soundtrack in my head

All morning, I was singing "Hey hey hey, goodbye."

Then the Emperor's theme from Star Wars played briefly, right around 11:30 or so.

Suddenly, at noon, I noticed that "The Lord of the Dance" was playing in Obama's inauguration. The skies cleared, and I've been humming a happier song since then.

An anniversary of note

I can't remember not knowing Sue. She started dating my uncle sometime after I was born, but for me, she's just always been in the family. At Christmas or Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house, you could always tell when she was at the party because she was constantly letting loose with one of her signature belly laughs or saying, "CHUCK!" with the utmost exasperation in her voice. Being a stubborn Butler with a mischievous streak a mile wide, my Uncle Chuck usually deserved her admonishment.

After two decades of flirting, Chuck and Sue finally decided to get married on New Year's Eve. The got hitched at a friend's house in Key West, and today is their two-week anniversary. Having Sue officially join the family makes me prouder of our little clan, and I couldn't be happier for the two of them.

Cheers to both of them!

It's barely even January

I'm going to put my Christmas decorations away soon, I swear. Before January ends... no, before Mary B. gets here! Any minute now...

Watch for flying tomes

Wow. Tethered was fun! I reached the last sentence of the book and literally threw it across the room. I wasn't sure what had happened, and the lack of resolution irked me because I cared about the characters. (It might have been problematic to try to watch 24 and The Golden Globes while I finished the last 10 pages.

But around 4 a.m., I woke up thinking about the story, and the pieces fell into place. I sighed with relief. Now that's a good story.

Mmmmm, books

As a lifelong lover of books, I've gone through phases where I'll read ravenously, slurping through as many volumes as I can get my hands on. Other times, I just read casually, taking in magazines and the occasional novel.

I've been on a real tear the last few months, pouring through books one after another after another. Tonight, I'm riveted by Tethered, a novel by Amy Mackinnon. I have actually found myself so involved in the pages on the subway that I get irked because the ride seems so short.

To me, there are two general types of novels. They either seem to be terribly obvious, where I can guess what's about to happen, or I figure out how the story will unfold too early in the book... candy novels like the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris or even the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. Fun, but a little sleazy.

On the other hand, I've also been privileged to discover the type of books that wow. These stories surprise me. They're so well-written that I instantly fall into the pages with abandon, and whether or not I admire the characters, I care about them. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski swept me away like that... I laughed and cried and actually felt like shit when it was over. That's powerful writing. So too is Rick Bragg's work, whether it's All Over but the Shoutin or my more recent read, Ava's Man.

I'm glad I've fallen back into a cycle of prolific reading, and I'd like to grow my list of books to read... What do you recommend?

You can check out my virtual bookshelf by clicking here.

A hangover Haiku

Karaoke night
the ear pain I inflicted
now pounds in my head

Snow tires on a Ford Focus

Johnny and I are loading up the dogs in a rented car tomorrow so we can go visit the Jersey clan. We usually ride the bus, which takes about two hours on the local track, but we decided to rent a car this time, since it costs the same to board the girls and buy two bus tickets.

Getting to John's grandma's house is not much more than an hour's drive, and it's usually a treat for me to get to drive anywhere these days. But this trip might get interesting... I just checked the weather online, and it looks like we're gonna get some snow tomorrow. Maybe I'll bring the dog sled, too, just in case the girls have to pull the car through the snow.

Let the countdown begin

It's just 14 days until Mary B. moves to Brooklyn!


Woo hoo!!



The girls are waiting....

Good morning, sunshine

My normally cheerful demeanor was slightly dampened today for one reason:

Cat yak.

At 2:33 a.m., I startled awake to the noise of Pumba retching up a hairball. On my pillow. Beside my face.

At the first gurgling snort from Orange Leader, I sat straight up and scooped the cat off the bed in one motion. Everyone else in the room launched into action, too. John sprung up to get paper towels, and Sophie and Maggie ran over beside the cat to wait for the treats that were surely about to spring from the cat's mouth.

John corralled the girls away from Pumba as I tried not to throw up on the cat while he was throwing up on the floor. Wipe up and toss. Everyone went back to sleep.

4:55 a.m. ... replay! This time we get considerably more icky grosstastic barf out of the cat. Hooray.

It's nap time.

The most important meal of the day

I'm trying to get a little healthier by dropping some weight and cutting back on the sweets and such. Apparently, it's working! After one whole day of eating smaller portions and drinking plenty of water, I lost four pounds.

Yahoo! This diet stuff is easy!

Or my bathroom scale is mocking me.

A belated 2008 slideshow

2008 was a big year, full of changes. We moved into a new apartment, adopted Grandmother's dogs, celebrated my 30th birthday at a Russian nightclub, attended Grandmother's funeral, met the world's most famous blogger, went to Tennessee for Mary's grad school graduation, watched fierce tennis at the US Open, hit a Radiohead concert, celebrated weddings and engagements, met the Bunny from Donnie Darko, and I even quit smoking. Whew!

Here's a belated photo slideshow of my favorite photos from 2008. Enjoy!