Out my bedroom window, it looks like someone grabbed an infinite amount of down pillows and started ripping them open and dumping them out over Queens. Twenty minutes ago, it was pathetic little dandruff flakes that weren’t sticking to a thing and now suddenly it’s eddies upon eddies of down feathers hurtling to the ground. It feels like a present.
We ventured out for breakfast this morning and I barely made it back, I’m so about to be incredibly sick with the Destructo-Cold of December 05 that all of my friends have been passing around like a drug. I had to just almost weepingly call off our long-standing New Year’s Eve plans at Jeb and Neela’s and I feel really crappy about it but feeling crappy in general won over any chin-up-old-chap attitude I was feebly trying to sport. I’m sick and I get sick about once a year. Apparently my karmic levels weren’t so good, I had to go get sick on New Year’s Eve. Blockbuster and takeout for me.
But I’ve got a beautiful bowlful of white tulips on our coffee table, to ring in 2006 with freshness, and white flaky snow outside to give my tired stuffy face something to look at. Goodbye, 2005. You were cool, let’s stay in touch.
I’ve finally spent some quality time with Photoshop and flickr and if you click on the screenshot above, it’ll take you to a sixty-picture set that documents our three days in paradise. I’d like to say that going to the Bahamas – and specifically Eleuthera – was the best thing we did all December. It’ll have to come in as a close second*. But now in the cold of winter, on the last day of 2005, even knowing that we’ll have to work twice as hard to save for our next vacation, looking at these pictures reminded me it was worth it.
We ate delicious food, spent hours upon hours snorkeling happily in the calm waters, walked out onto the patio at seven AM to greet the birds and the sun and the morning, played cards and drank wine and rum and watched the stars at night, drove on whatever side of the road we felt like because there were so few cars, looked fruitlessly (get it?) for Eleuthera’s famed pineapples. I can honestly say that was the only disappointment on the island. Other than that, it was picture perfect.
And even though our last day and night was tinged with falls off horses, allergic bug bites, a disappointing Hilton (!!) and a very bad night’s sleep, if that’s the price we had to pay for those three glorious days on Eleuthera, we bore it as best we could.
I already want to go back and snorkel some more next year. Enjoy the pictures.
* The other great thing I did this month involved paperwork and crossed fingers.
All in all it was not-too-bad of a drive back to New York. Really, we were driving first to Newark to drop my brother off at the airport, then back to Astoria. I was glad to have my dad drive us back last night because it meant that we got a trip to Nick’s in Forest Hills for arguably the best pizza you’ve probably never bothered to try. My dad, long skeptical of my taste in restaurants, has experienced a small renaissance in faith with me, after we took him and my mother to Nick’s then Agnanti’s (best Greek in Astoria) on two consecutive visits. My daughterly need for approval is fat and contented.
We polished off the end of Izzard’s Definite Article (“Dear Paul bracket saint apparently, just fuck off! Love and kisses, the Corinthians.”), which my dad hadn’t seen, and I went to bed while Stuart lovingly futzed with installing Tiger on his iMac, to prepare it to receive his glorious new iPod. Oh, we are such an iFamily.
But possibly one of my favourite moments of yesterday happened in the car proper. My father and I had been goodnaturedly arguing about China, their human-rights record, and the question of US-China relations as it pertains to that record. We had some Cuba and Russia thrown in as examples when Stuart woke up and the following exchange happened.
Me: “I’m willing to negotiate with you on the point of market forces being used to drive information and openness into China’s economy, but I’m still uncomfortable with the adoption market question.”
Stuart, just waking up: “Whoa. What’d I miss? How long have I been asleep?”
Oh, I also enjoyed my hot cocoa from the Starbucks at exit 88. So, all in all, not a bad day.
We gave:
an audio CD of Time Traveler’s Wife and a handmade cotton scarf for the english mum
an audio CD of Personal History and a crystal lightcatcher for the stateside mum
two books by Daschiel Hamlett and Raymond Chandler to the stateside dad
Dylan’s latest Bootleg series and some stemless wineglasses for the english dad
a Switching to the Mac guide and a prosperity frog (and some candy) to the stateside brother
a cute mug and some dessert plates to the (newly homeowning) english sister
For Stuart, I gave:
an awesome handmade wool tweed newsboy cap
a tee shirt with a sewer cover on it that he’s still trying to ascertain why he got it (it’s funny!)
a japanese designed screwdriver set from MoMA design store
penguin boxers
This year, I got:
three Eddie Izzard DVDs from Stuart (YEAH!)
handmade soap from Stuart
a beautiful kelly green cotton cotton scarf from Stuart
my favourite Van Cleef & Appel perfume from my mother
an 160GB external hard drive from my parents
a kelly green cashmere sweater from my parents
more books than you could shake a stick at from my brother (James Frey, Zadie Smith, John Le Carre and Jane Austen)
the Essential Johhny Cash from my brother
Raymond Chandler, Daschiell Hamlett and Joan Didion from my english mum and dad
a beautiful art deco inspired silver necklace and earrings from my english mum and dad
a Lexar Jump Drive from my english mum and dad
new Sony headphones from my english mum and dad
We (the married state) got:
a new stainless steel soap pump from my parents
a new spice rack from my parents
550-thread count sheets from my parents
a new onion chopper from my parents
a book of penguins from Jen
I write this list almost every year because I like remembering what I was able to think up for my family as much as I love getting all their thoughtful surprises. But what I really got this year was another precious few hours with my family, laughing and surprising each other and delighting in the awesomely gift-oriented thing that is christmas. Gifts!
We got to Rhode Island last night at 11PM and stayed up until 2am talking, which is what my family does – we sit around and talk. Sometimes when we come home for the weekend, my mom worries that we’re not having enough fun, getting out there and exploring. I’ve explained to her, though, that one of my favourite things to do is sit around with my family and talk.
Stuart got a haircut from my mom a few minutes ago, while I made sandwiches for mom and I. I wrapped presents for my brother who hasn’t seen the awesome job I did yet, but he will and he will be awed.
My dad has been teasing me all day about having been a terrible daughter this year, so of course he doesn’t think that at all, as I continued to be faux-shocked at his accusation. I’m pretty sure I was a terrific daughter this year.
My parents got a pre-lit tree and it’s got more lights than jesus – that doesn’t work, as a metaphor, but you know what I’m saying. The area under the tree is overflowing with presents, I mean, we’re five people! It’s madness. Awesome, awesome madness.
And tonight after ham and potatoes and applesauce, we’ll have present-opening because in this family, impatience runs in our veins like blood and no one can bother waiting until Christmas morning.
Merry christmas to you and yours, y’all.
HARK! the herald angels board members sing vote!
Even if they vote to take on the arbitrator’s plan, it may not take effect today, and even though it means the TWU blinked first and has agreed to take it on faith that the negotiations will yield them what they need, and even though the city and the agency and the union are all out money and time, I’m relieved.
Although maybe I’ll still borrow Shana’s bike one day, just for fun.
… I was just having a much-needed relaxing lunch with Newman and I mentioned that if this went into next week, I’d really be looking into borrowing a bike and biking in to work because the car thing is going to get real old, real fast, and I hate being a part of the traffic problem.
He nearly spit his drink out laughing.
While he doesn’t think I’d DIE, exactly, (those were your words, Newman) he thinks I’d probably have some very funny stories involving my face and the pavement.
Do the rest of you think this too? Are there any expert city bikers out there that think it’d be the height of stupidity to take up biking during this strike? Or would you suggest I proceed with caution but go ahead and give it a shot?
Advice? Hoots of laughter? Snide remarks?
My parents are pretty funny people. The thing that my mother does that always cracks me up is she’ll make some assertion (and a lot of the time, her assertions are spot on) that she’s not entirely sure is going to stand up in court, but when I jokingly point out some huge fatal flaw in the logic, she’ll get really cute and flippant and go, “oh, I don’t know, WHATEVER,” and it’s so adorable that I’m giggling about it for days.
My dad also does things that crack me up. Like he’ll call me up and leave a message that says, “BALLS, said the queen. If I had them, I’d be KING.” And then just hang up, because obviously I know to call him back. He also does this with, “I’m your hippy dippy weather man, with your hippy dippy weather, MAAAAN.” Usually these voicemails are followed by a beat where I can hear him grinning, and then he goes, “CALL ME!” and hangs up.
A few months ago, I was having a small but painful spat with a very good friend of mine, over how we’re both changing and that’s hard, and my parents happened to call in the middle of the day after the spat where all I could do was cry about it. After about an hour of talking and soothing from my mother, my dad gets on the phone (having obviously understood what the conversation was about) and goes, “you haven’t changed for ME. You’re exactly the same. You were a pain in the ass then, you’re a pain in the ass now, and I love you to death. Want me to come to New York and hang out with you and be your pal?” Aside from being hilarious, it also made me cry again from total sweetness.
So it’s pretty nice to join another set of parents that are equally hilarious. When we had that little meltdown about thinking we’d lost our AP document when we were leaving the Isle of Wight, and I came into my in-laws’ kitchen only to see Katina, grinning but obviously exhausted, start to crack up and say, “Merry CHRISTMAS!” It was pretty much the laughing balm we all needed.
And today, well, we had more immigration issues involving cards and renewals and setbacks and fees and none of it is really worth hearing about because it basically sucks but we’ll fix it. So when I got some random text from a random UK mobile phone that said (verbatim):
HAHAH WHAT A GREAT BOOK OPPORTUNITY! I LIVE WITH AN ALIEN! STUART! HAHAHAHA LOVE DD XX”
I was really confused. We’d just realized this immigration snag, we hadn’t blogged about it, and I didn’t know the number. But I had a sneaky feeling it was family. So I texted back, “HAHAH, I’m sorry to say I don’t know who this is!”
And two minutes later, got a reply text:
TINKIES BETTER HALF, YOU DOUGHNUT!
And I realized it was my father-in-law, Keith, who is another incredibly funny man who can immediately see the ridiculous side of everything, and reached out all the way across the ocean to make me laugh.
These two sets of parents haven’t met yet, but I’m realizing more and more every day that they’re going to freaking LOVE each other.
I spent four hours in a car last night. Not that the company wasn’t great, but Paul and I left work at 5:30, spent 45 minutes getting just to 23rd street to pick up Scott, then another THREE HOURS GETTING TO ASTORIA. On 3rd avenue, we were going about a block every three minutes. I saw dead grandparents actually walking faster than us.
But when I got to Astoria, man, sweet freedom! I jumped into my own car at 9 PM and was happily surrounded by a veritable puppy pile of lovely sympathetic friends by 9:28PM, in Brooklyn. We ate and laughed and listened to music until 11, and by then one more guest was added to our apartment – Neff needed to get to LGA in the morning and Stuart and I couldn’t help wanting to help, so we waited til he’d packed, did the four Brooklyn dropoffs and one pickup, and got back to Astoria to catch exactly four hours of sleep. Then I woke up, drove Neff to LGA in my pyjamas, and came back to shower before the 7AM commute into the city.
Today, I’m leaving here at 3:45 and we’re going to try to go over the bridge from Stuart/Scott’s downtown office and fight our way north through Brooklyn. I’m hoping it won’t be another four hours, but if it is, well, there’s always the I Spy game.
Aside from my awesome friends and Stuart for being THE best copilot ever, the people I really have to thank here is my parents for having the uncanny foresight to leave me with their car this week and for filling the tank. The loves I’ve got for them knows no bounds.
* If you’re already sick of hearing about driving around Manhattan in frantic, useless circles and then collapsing in bed, you’d best not visit the blog til the strike is over. Believe me when I say it’s all anyone ever talks about anymore here.
Exhibit A – Today, in Paul’s car, I will have:
gone from Astoria to Houston st with Paul, Stuart and Scott (4), dropped off Stuart and Scott (2) and picked up Steve (1)
gone from Houston to 50th street, started work
ended work, gone from 50th street down to 14th street, to pick up Scott (1)
gone from 14th street to Astoria with Paul and Scott (3)
Exhibit B – Then in my car (whenever I get to it after post-work gridlock), I will:
go from Astoria to Brooklyn, to Jen’s (1, hello, that’s me)
from Jen’s in Brooklyn Heights to Park Slope with Stuart, Kate, Stan, Biscuit, and Shiv (5) in the car to drop off Shiv and Biscuit (2)
from Park Slope to Fort Greene to drop off Kate and Stan (2) and pick UP Jason (1)
from Fort Greene to Astoria to collapse into bed, with Jason crashing onto our futon for the ride in tomorrow
Exhibit C – Then tomorrow, in my car, I will:
go from Astoria to Houston street with Stuart, Scott and Jason (3) to pick up Steve (1), making 5 in the car
go from Houston to Chambers to drop off Stuart and Scott (2)
go from Chambers up 8th avenue to Port Authority to drop off Jason (1)
go from Port Authority to work with Steve (2), park car in garage, start work
end work, go from office to 23rd street (1) to meet Shana to exchange packages
go from 23rd street to Chambers to pick up Stuart and Scott (2)
go from Chambers to Astoria to have dinner, collapse, and do the same thing every day, alternating cars with Paul, until the strike ends.
How do other people drive so much every day? I MISS THE SUBWAYS PLEASE.
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