A Weekend In The Borough

I hope you had a nice weekend, full of relaxing and cavorting and not too much stress or worry. It was another one of those weekends in The Borough, where I managed to make it to some things, arrived horribly late for others, missed other entirely, and spent alot of time watching time go by.

Friday night in The Borough, I managed to get to Coney to meet a few friends for some beer and sundries. Of course I was late, hopelessly late - and to anyone who may have actually shown up at 7 - thinking I'd be sitting there with beer in hand - I must apologize. As usual there was a string of events that deterred me from my goal. I'll be back there on 7/11, ontime - ready to drink, smoke and cheer on the last summer of Coney. Though the guys at Ruby's are already saying that they think they'll be back for 2009. Yeah well....I 'll believe it when in July 2009 I'm sitting there saying "shit, I guess we have one more summer", but for now I'll be saying that this summer is the last. I tried to get the "virtual" friends to come out and enjoy, but as always the virtual world is not one where people keep their word or even reply. Why do I continue to invite people and let them know about amazing cool things - when I know they are already too self involved to make an effort? you got me, but I do keep trying. maybe one day people will surprise me.

Saturday I made it out to Riis (Tilden), just slightly out of The Borough, and met some amazing people - including Rob Jet and his wife Robin - who are the coolest beach couple I've met so far. He is an avid birder (check out I've posted the link to his blog) - this dude knows everyone (even the guy who calls me to do plum beach clean up for Audubon- I've added their link too). I'm always talking about how I want to be more involved in the things that I find worthy of my time and effort - and I take meeting him (and his lovely wife) as a sign that advocacy and environmentalism are within reach. You know my life has changed when I'm more interested in talking to someone at length about bird migration and habitat than going to a club or bar.

I felt like in a 20 minute conversation I had been given a chance to educate myself - trying desperately in the summer heat to remember all the names and websites that rolled out of his mouth. I wish I was one of those people that could remember things for more than say 20 or 30 seconds.

The beach was as lovely as always, and I don't think I'll even bother this year with going to the beaches in The Borough, not that I'm becoming a Queens convert or anything - I just like being on the ocean rather than the inlet. Besides there are no radios, fewer people and a feeling of peace and calm that I don't think is possible in Brighton anymore. I try not to have too much of an us vs. them mentality - it's somewhat racist and wrong - but I can't stand the Russian teenagers - they blast horrible crappy disco dance techno music - sit on top of you (c'mon minimum 10 feet when the beach is empty) and have no regard for peace and quiet (this is one place the pod people are welcome!). It could be that it's just teenagers I despise, and since the neighborhood over there has been overrun by the new wave of eastern european immigrants, it's just more likely that they are the ones going to that beach. It's fine, let them have the beach in The Borough, I'll skip over to the peace and quiet and enjoy my communing time with the ocean. Crowds and loud music are for the young - and I wouldn't give back my own youth in Brighton, probably pissing off a whole bunch of people. Such is the way. See anger management is helping.

I got caught in a thunderstorm on the way home (soaked to the bone) and even though I left the beach at 5:30, I didn't get home until after 7. I was to tired, without even showering (and I was very sandy) I fell asleep on the couch. So Saturday night's plans went down the tubes, which I feel kinda bad about - since it was yet another metaljohn gig - and he had specifically called me and told me not to be a weenie and show up. I woke up briefly around sunset and thought shit. I'm a weenie.

Sunday provided me with an early rise (that's when happens when you go to sleep at 7:30pm), and I did the laundry, cleaned the bathroom and did all of the tasks I never get to do...then a nice afternoon vegging in front of a movie put me right out again. I love weekends where I can just sleep and eat and lay in the sun. Oh yeah it would be nice to hang out with people, but frankly I find them overrated.

Now I got some time in the sun, some time on the couch and I even managed to clean things up a bit so I don't have to worry about that after a 10 hour workday. life is sweet in The Borough, enjoy!

A Finger in The Borough (aka the Saga of the finger)

So I’ve been talking about how the last few months seem to be just incredibly busy. It’s like there was 4 months of nothing..Dead of winter. And then everything just woke up all at once. Suddenly there are events several times a week, the kids are actually showing up for the volunteer reading program I signed up for and everyone has a project they want help with or want me to work on. The only dark spot in all of this has been the finger. I think I may call it the finger of doom or the cuticle of catastrophe.

Right before my birthday, back In April, I had a hangnail. Now for most people a hangnail is a minor annoyance. I took a small scissor and cut off the offending straggler. Then the swelling started. It seemed like I had a blister or a wart. And I basically ignored it. Through birthday celebrations- cocktails, dinners and general festivities, it just got bigger and bigger.

I was having dinner with someone, the day after my birthday, that I don’t know that well, and we were using chopsticks - it got to a point where I could not hold the chopstick, so I just stopped eating - I just did not want to explain why I needed a fork, after my whole lecture about chopsticks several days before. The friction of trying to use the chopsticks had only inflamed the finger of doom - and it was throbbing. Having drinks the next night with some other hooligans - I noticed that it was blistering - great now it’s the finger of puss and doom. Just what I needed.

By the next day it was purple and my whole hand was swollen, just in time for houseguest #1 to arrive. I quickly ran to pick a new doctor on my new health plan - but to no avail since Friday night is not the night you go searching for a doctor. Luckily, I have a connection, someone who hordes prescription meds like penicillin and amoxicillin - just in case of an infection she keeps stocked on these things. I wrangled out a bottle of penicillin, and the meds helped bring down the swelling - but it continued to feel like I had tiny grains of sand in my cuticle.

I’ve never had so much pain and angst about a finger in my frakkin’ freakin’ life. It’s June now, and it still hasn’t healed completely. I’m sparing you the pictures, only because I never thought to take any, I mean who takes pictures of an infected cuticle? Ew.

A Cemetery In The Borough

While houseguest #4 was in town, we took the first warm and sunny day to head over to Greenwood Cemetery. It’s twice the size of Prospect Park, and aside from groundskeepers (they were mulching and doing heavy machinery stuff in one section) and some obnoxious tourists who brought their screaming children to wake the dead - it was a lovely peaceful escape. We walked and walked and walked, for what seemed like hours - winding up and down hilly enclaves with 18th century (and 17th century) graves, newer ones mingled in. I kept using various stone angels as markers for what direction we were headed in, after circled around - then soon realized that their must be hundreds of the same angelic faces everywhere, covering the entire cemetery. We found ourselves at a pond, with a great view of the rolling hills of markers leading off into every direction. We had some fun with an egret (actually, it was something else lI have to ook it up)

And then after when we looked at the map we realized we had covered 1/10th of the grounds….making me remember their tag line..”Come for a visit, Stay for an eternity”. Shit if I can’t find my way out, I may just be doing that.

There are all kinds of famous people in the cemetery - and they do have some great tours - but mainly it is a beautiful respite from the city - maybe not as nice as wave hill or the Bronx botanical garden - but for in The Borough - it’s a place you should visit…but not stay an eternity -

Livin' In The Borough

I know it’s been a while since I managed to sit down and create a new entry. I keep thinking that this was supposed to be a way for me to develop my writing skills, and express my views - and increasingly it sounds more stilted and just plain bad. So what’s a girl to do? I can’t abandon the idea, but I’d better come up with some more interesting verbiage and perhaps try to clarify my voice.

Speaking of my voice, my voice it seems likes to rant quite a bit, and is definitely intolerant of other lifestyles other than my own. Hey it’s my blog - not like I’m coming into your living room and condemning your lifestyle. So here is where I issue the disclaimer If you don’t like it..write your own damn blog and fuck off. There I’ve said it proceed at your own risk.

It has been an increasingly hectic time in The Borough - between illnesses, houseguests (both good and bad), parties, weddings and heat waves..not to mention work, laundry and changing cat litter (which I seem to be doing all the frakkin’ time now). I’m in need of a vacation. Don’t laugh, I know I’ve been working for 6 months and already I’m tired of it. The getting up early, the dressing in clean clothes and most of all the commuting.

Commuting is one of those topics that everyone has a gripe about. You will never meet anyone show says - oh yeah getting to work is a breeze, it takes 10 minutes and it never stresses me out. And if you do meet that person - smack them, smack them hard until your hands are red. And then I’ll start smacking them for you. It’s gotten so bad I actually went to an anger management seminar.

Oh you caught that whole anger management thing did ya..well I secretly took a seminar (meaning I did not tell my mother). Why you may ask, mostly because of reasons that I cant go into right now - suffice to say that aside from the commuting anger (rail rage), I started having neighbor rage (anyone who has been to my house knows all about the retards living next door) - so angry going to work, coming home and then wanting to punch a hole in the wall and strangle them - is not conducive to a relaxed laid back lifestyle. I leave NY and within hours I’m a totally different person. So I decided I needed some skills to help manage this, no way to diffuse it entirely (I’m not moving anytime soon), but I needed to develop some coping mechanisms that would alleviate some of the stress and maybe even develop tolerance.

So that’s it, I’ll put up each of the other entries as time goes by - tell you a bit more about other things happening in and about The Borough….by the time you read this they will probably already be posted so maybe I can get back into the grooooove again.