Spidey Went Bliiiiind!

Sorry, Adam is currently playing Spider-Man (yes, with a hyphen, ahem *copyeditor*) 3 on the Wii and apparently either Spidey went blind or Manhattan finally fell into the pits of Hell. Or it's a computer glitch. Whichever.

So, it's been a really wild and wooly few weeks here in the Big Apple. Back in the middle of April, Adam and I enjoyed a very lovely Passover evening (Adam spent the day at the Comic-con, as you can see by the amusing photos on our website). I bought many of the ingredients at the farmer's market in Union Square, including the carrots and parsnips for the matzos ball soup, and potatoes for the mashed potatoes. So the only carrots available were these gargantuan suckers which I assumed would be bitter, but I bought them anyway, three of them. I peeled two at home and quickly realized that one would be enough for the soup, so I decided to just eat the other one for a snack.

Let me tell you, that was the best carrot I have ever eaten in my entire life. Anyone who tells you a carrot is just a carrot, has never tasted a carrot like this. It wasn't crunchy, it was crispy. It was sweet as honey, it was absolutely divine. I wholeheartedly advise all of you to visit farmer's markets in your area as often as possible. It will revolutionize your thinking about food.

I spent the last weekend of April in Philadelphia for Jessi's bridal shower. We all had a great time, and everyone told me how "sophisticated" and "cosmopolitan" I looked. Hoo-ray. Wait until they see me gnawing on a carrot the size of a pipe wrench. That's what I call "sophisticated."

Jessi looked beautiful and happy, and I can't wait for the wedding at the end of this month. I'm making her the coolest gift ever, and I can't wait to see her open it. A lot of my old friends will be coming to the wedding, too, so I just know what a memorable weekend that will be! Weddings are really reunions in disguise.

This past weekend was very productive, indeed. Friday night we had a visit by our old/new friends Jen and Garrett, UMBC Theatre chums of ours that we literally hadn't seen in five years. I came upon Jen's old university website by accident, found her e-mail, sent her a quick message not even expecting her to write back, got a message back from her within the hour, found out she LIVES IN BROOKLYN LESS THAN THREE MILES AWAY FROM US WITH HER FIANCEE GARRETT, and BOOM, three days later we're having a birthday dinner with them in Williamsburg and we've got new friends. New/old friends. Now we see them all the time. They are fabulous. We played Wii and Cranium at our place and drank beer and laughed and laaaaughhhed. This was following another the weekened before with them and a bunch of others at a karaoke club in midtown...Adam and I performed a wicked rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that really got the party going...

Anyway, I digress. They are truly wonderful. Saturday we shopped 'till we dropped, and Sunday was at home (a little bit closer to the end of my thesis and a few notes learned from Bach's cello suite #1) until that evening when we went to Carroll Garden's to a place called Zaytoons where we ate the most intensely orgasmic meal of Middle Eastern cuisine ever in creation. I had falafel and babaganoush, Adam had lamb shawarma and hummus...and violins were playing on fluffy clouds with angels singing...what? Oh, yeah. Sorry. So, it was really good. Really, really good. It was the kind of meal that makes you take a deep breath, look around you, and feel truly lucky to be alive. Because the sun is shining brightly, and the falafel was just so crunchy...

Peace, y'all.

I Know...I Know...

I'm a terrible person. I have completely neglected this blog for over a month now. Hold on and let me ritualistically flog myself in shame.

...

...

Okay. So, things have been dandy since Adam's surgery a month ago, and I'm very pleased to say that he is completely healed (was, really, a couple weeks after the fact, much quicker than I). Things have been great at work for both of us, and life has been generally normal. Hence, perhaps, the lack of blog posts.

My folks came up for a long awaited visit at the beginning of this month, highlights of which included an always fantastic breakfast at Eisenberg's, an Israeli dinner in Brooklyn, brunch and such things and a lovely homemade dinner of mixed fingerling potatoes, whole artichokes, and broiled cod with a fresh tomato, garlic and herb topping. Delicious!!! It was great weather, and we all had a really great time.

The weather has been steadily improving, which is so incredibly refreshing when living in the city. You are out on your feet quite a lot here, which means you have a very close relationship with the environment. Warm breezes are a life-giving blessing. Because it's spring, I've started an indoor herb garden in my kitchen (a hanging pot with oregano, parsley and catnip) and some outdoor pots for lettuce. I'm planning to get some tomatoes going in May.

Did you know that you can make tea out of fresh catnip? Not just for kitty anymore! I read about this, and proceeded to cook some up for Adam and I a couple weeks ago. We drank it (minty and calming, like Chamomile, it's supposed to help you sleep and soothe respiratory ailments) and about 10 minutes later I was half-collapsed on the bed and drooling and Adam was feeling drunk. The wonders of catnip! Either it was really potent or we are part cat.

This weekend Adam will attend the New York Comicon with my coworker's fiance and meet Stan Lee and millions of comic books nerds, and I will purchase lingerie for a friend's bridal shower, go fill up a bag with green things at the Farmer's Market, and make Passover dinner. Sadly, I won't be spending it with family this year, but we have great plans for this summer so I can't be too sad.

I can now play "Simple Gifts" on my cello, mostly well. I am learning "It's Only Love" by The Beatles, too. It doesn't sound like a tortured cow anymore. Well, not often anyway.

Back in Maryland, I started with four guppies in my fish tank. When we moved, I gave away about ten babies. Now I have about forty. The miracle of nature.

So, strangely, that's pretty much all the news for now. Maybe it's that we feel like New Yorkers now, so things aren't so crazy like they were before. We're not like, "OH! BUILDINGS!" or "AH! THE SUBWAY!" anymore. But, don't get me wrong, we still love it. I guess it's just that we feel at home now. And that's nice.

More later! Peace.

Appendicitis, Part Deux

The events of this past week either prove that Adam and I are destined to be together, or that God has a very, very dry sense of humor. Or both.

Wednesday night, Adam came home feeling a bit sore and queasy, but honestly, for a teacher that's nothing new. So we went to sleep, and at about 4:30 in the morning I wake up and Adam is shuddering and groaning next to me. "What? What's wrong?" I say.

"My stomach...my whole stomach hurts."

"Your whole stomach? Are you sure?"

"Well, mostly on the lower right hand side."

"Oh....no....get up, we have to go to the hospital." So, completely disbelieving that all this is really happening, we calmly get dressed and pack a bag with books and iPods, and I quickly locate a hospital in Manhattan that fits my approval. Beth Israel Hospital on the lower east side.

After being up for about 10 minutes, Adam says, "You know, I'm feeling better...maybe I'm OK?"

"Does it still hurt when you press on that spot?"

Presses. "Ugh. Yes."

"Then we're going!" So, we walk down the street and take the subway (yes, we took the subway to the hospital) into Manhattan. Once it drops us off we walk into the emergency room and are quickly ushered in in record time. Within 20 minutes Adam has had his vitals taken, his blood drawn and a urine sample done, and is lying in a bed with IV fluids. Pretty astounding. A host of fabulously attractive doctors and nurses attend to us, and immediately verify what we'd been thinking all along: Adam probably has appendicitis. They have to do a Catscan to see if they'll need to operate or not though, so they start loading him up on this contrast fluid. What was most surprising to them was the minor amounts of pain Adam was in and the total lack of other symptoms (vomiting, nausea, dizziness, all of which I was lucky enough to experience with my appendicitis) he has. Maybe he won't need surgery, we thought.

After two hours or so of waiting and listening to the melodic sounds of a woman dry-heaving on the bed next to us, he gets the test and almost instantly we're informed that Adam's appendix needs to come out of there, stat. As per usual, Adam blinks and says "OK" and I spontaneously burst into tears. It was going to be a long day.

Now, the irony of both of us receiving emergency appendectomies within the same year doesn't escape us for a moment. After all, not only does this not happen very often, but it's not at all contagious. We immediately started joking around about our matching scars and how we have to do everything together, and it occurs to me how much better Adam is faring than I did. It's not surprising, really, he's a much more resilient sort, but it's amazing how people's bodies react so differently to the same thing.

So, a couple doctors (young guy and young woman) come by later to use an ultrasound to check him for internal bleeding. They're examining him, and he's got his shirt up to his neck and they start commenting on how "textbook" Adam's organs are. "You've got great anatomy," the guy says.

After only about one beat, Adam replies, "That's what all the ladies say." The woman doctor's stares at Adam and starts laughing.

"That is so something he would say!" she says, pointing at the male doctor. Adam is blushing at this point, sort of in disbelief that he would say such a thing in the emergency room while half naked in front of a strange and attractive female doctor. Well, desperate times call for desperate humor. Later, Adam would make eyes at one of the other dreamy doctors in the ER, who seemed to take a shine to him and kept shaking his hand goodbye.

At about 2:00, they transfer Adam to the prep room in the OR. I follow, lugging our bags and trying not to freak out. It was quite difficult, considering the heartfelt "If I don't make it, just be happy" entreaty Adam gave me before that and the removal of his wedding band to my finger until after the surgery. Horrible, horrible, and horrible. After a grueling hour or so, as Adam's cheery constitution begins to wilt, mostly from starvation and exhaustion, they finally take him in. I spend the next two hours in the waiting room, trying to avoid thinking negative thoughts. Finally, the surgeon comes out to inform me that it all went fine. After another half hour, I head up to the recovery room for the worst part of the entire day (I think I can safely say that for both of us).

Adam was there, looking pale, sweaty and barely conscious. He was deliriously asking for pain medication, and when I told the bitchy nurse who was there she barked at me: "I'm already getting it!" Mild mannered as I am, I swear I almost throttled the woman. She was so rude! And I was so stricken! So I stood there helplessly for a few minutes and then she kicked me out. "Come back in an hour!" she spat. I swallowed my anger and left.

When I came back later Adam looked better, but still in a lot of pain. Luckily, he was going to be taken to a room soon. His happiest moment at this point was probably the ingestion of the nasty hospital tea that they gave him. It was the first thing in his throat (other than medicine) for about 24 hours. My happiest moment, by far, was when I pushed his wedding band back onto his finger. The worst was over. Finally, finally, around 7:30 p.m., we went up to his room. When he was safely installed there, I kissed him goodnight and stepped out into the cold. But the night wasn't over for either of us. Nope.

After I stepped into the subway station after a cab ride, something occurred to me: Do I have house keys? As I replayed our exit that morning in my mind, I suddenly knew, no, I don't have house keys. Adam locked the door. They're in his jacket pocket. Then, another thought came into my mind. The thought was this: Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

It was now 9 p.m. I was screwed. My only hope was the landlady, who had spare keys. If she was home, awake and interested in answering the phone, I was saved. If not...well, let's not think about that. I reached our street and stood on the doorstep, calling. Cell phone? No. Home phone? Nothing. Ok....ok....buzzer then.

BUZZ.

Nothing.

BUZZ!

Silence. The wind was blowing and I was getting colder by the second. She wasn't going to answer, I thought. Ok, one more time.

BUZZZZZZZ!

I stood there, and stared out down the street. It was hopeless, and I was sort of paralyzed with no idea of what to do next. And then, like a miracle:

"Hello?"

"ROSA! This is Michelle! IhadtotakeAdamtotheemergencyroomthismorningandhe'sinthehospitalandthekeysarethereand Can you let me in????"

"....sure!"

Relief. She headed down a few minutes later and I filled her in, feeling absolutely terrible about getting her up. She sat on the ledge in the entranceway, and said, "Man, you were lucky to wake me! I felt like I was in a dead sleep...I've had this flu..." And I felt even worse. Strangely enough though, when I gave her a gift bag of OJ, tea and chicken soup, she told me that she was thankful that I got her up because she had been in such a strange, deep sleep. "You might have saved my life!" she said. Well, maybe everything does happen for a reason...

Adam's night was, as you can imagine, worse than mine. As it often happens after major surgery, the normal processes of the body become quite mixed up. Possibly one of the most important things one must do after surgery is pee. Peeing is king. If you do not pee, you cannot be released into the world. It's a mandatory gesture of good health. So, all night, Adam was struggling with the complicated act of peeing. Unfortunately, it hurt quite a lot and was virtually impossible. Evenutally, (after a dose of percoset), he decided that the solution to this problem was to stand up. So he did. And after about two seconds, and the realization that he had been lying down for the past 24 hours and was on hardcore painkillers and had three knife wounds in his belly, he swooned and sat down again before hitting the call button and passing out cold. Luckily, there was no harm done, and Adam's male nurse Steven scolded him tenderly after Adam regained consciousness. A very tumultuous evening indeed.

The next day, after spending a couple hours at work, I went back to the hospital to take Adam home. After a arduous journey, we finally arrived home. Thank goodness!!!

We spent a very lovely weekend with my friend Dar who came in from Long Island, and Adam has rested and is feeling better. He will probably take most of the week off to recover, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing week myself. When his bandages come off, I'll be sure to post a photo of our lovely matching scars for you all to see.

Appendix's...who needs 'em?

How Long is 27 Years?

Today is my birthday. 27 years ago, this morning, I was born into the world and started breathing the air and learning to live. First there was eating and sleeping, then walking and talking, followed by reading, drawing, laughing, crying, worrying, dreaming, et cetera, et cetera.

Oh, and loving, of course. There was always loving.

Life is strange. Whenever something monumental happens to you, you always look back on your old self like some other person, living some other life. But, if the change was good, you thank that person for making those decisions, often quite blindly, that created the you and the life you’re living now. In some ways, they are the mothers of the new you, the ones who endured the pain and the unknown to give birth to fresh life, to the possibility of better things. Their sacrifice made your joy possible.

So, um, thanks old me. It was all worth it.

Anyway, as my friends at UMBC were quick to inform me, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. I will attempt to cram all that New Yorky goodness into this post.

Ben and Natalie’s Visit
Our buddies Ben and Nat drove up in the new Natmobile at the end of January to spend the long weekend with us, and what a weekend it was! We enjoyed many lovely meals, including some pho in Chinatown, some sushi in Greenwich Village, and some Ben’s Specialty Thai Chicken at home. Adam and Ben jammed on their guitars, and we drank and played Mario Party as per usual. Since it was Nat’s birthday, we also picked up some delicious cookies and cakes at a bakery in Greenwich. Since it was bloody freezing that weekend, we stayed inside a lot and just hung out. Another lovely visit from our Maryland lovers. We hope they’ll be back soon!

The Race, and That Almost-Vomiting Feeling
So on February 3^rd (otherwise known as Superbowl Sunday), Adam and I ran our first race with the New York Roadrunners: The 4-mile Gridiron Classic. We had joined this club in hopes of forcing ourselves to keep fit, and also because we have several friends who are members and have talked it up a lot. So, Adam and I went to the gym (well, me, mostly, but I’m not bragging, as you’ll soon see…) and practiced and trained. And then it was upon us, and there was nothing to do but double knot our shoelaces and pray.

We were up in Central Park by 8:30 for the 9 a.m. race, and it was cold. I was somewhat bundled, wearing yoga pants, a long sleeve t-shirt under a sweatshirt, a hat, and gloves, but I was still freezing. It wasn’t until later that I would regret the thick layers. As we stood in the crowd, we watched as what seemed like thousands of runners poured into the park like a great tide of fitness, bare legs and arms scoffing at the cold. Meanwhile, I stretched and tried to appear confident. The truth is, I am a slow runner. And I mean, really slow. Blind, deformed tortoises crawling through a river of molasses would have a leg up on me. I. Am. Slow.

So you get my point. Plus, I just don’t have a lot of stamina. I was never an athlete, so I don’t have that handy muscle memory to be like, “Oh, yeah, I remember this. Okay.” No. My muscles experience running and act like Puritans being forced to experience television. Exercising? More like exorcising. Anyway, there I was and boom, the race begins.

At first, everything was great. I had my iPod on, I was pumped, I was feeling good. Then, maybe about a quarter of a mile later, I start getting tired. And I mean really tired. I slow down. Sixty-five­ year old retirees with false teeth pass me with apparent ease. I start getting panicky which only makes things worse. Adam, who is loping along like a gazelle, tries to keep me upbeat. “Come on!” he says. “You can do it! Keep going!” So I keep going. Throughout the four miles, I felt many emotions: determination, worry, fear, despair, elation, a deep-seated hatred for hills, shame, pride, and finally, that almost-vomiting feeling, which came upon me as I crossed the finish line at top speed. What happened was, Adam--who, angel as he is, stayed with me the whole time despite the fact that he could have easily left me in the dust—wanted to keep me running (not walking) till the end once the finish line came into sight. I kept going, but those last 100 yards were the end of me. I blurted out, “I…can’t…go…any…more…” and he yelled, “ONE LAST PUSH!” And so I pushed. I sprinted, actually, those last 100 yards to the finish line. And once I did, I came to a grinding halt. And then, I wanted to barf. The need filled my being, and paralyzed me on the spot. Adam had to drag me to a nearby bench and force a cup of water into my hand before the feeling passed. And slowly, I came to the realization that we had done it. And, amazingly enough, in only 49 minutes, which is a great time for me. After gorging ourselves on hot chocolate, bagels and apples, and talking to our speedy runner friends, we headed home, where I proceeded to collapse onto the couch and remain there on a heating pad for the majority of the afternoon.

Can you believe we’re doing another one in a couple of weeks? I guess I love to suffer.

Miscellany
In the weeks to follow, we’ve done some other assorted things like attend an amazing gallery opening for one of GW’s illustrators, where I met up with many of my colleagues and lots of authors and illustrators, too. It was a wonderful evening, and it was so much fun introducing Adam to people and giving him a peek into that world that I’m becoming a part of. I love it more than ever!

We also had the opportunity to see The Lion King on Broadway, which Adam had seen years ago, but I never have! It was an absolutely breathtaking show, and we had amazing seats in the center orchestra. Worth every penny! And afterwards, we walked out of the theatre and straight into a freak blizzard that blew into Manhattan like a hurricane. It was surreal being in Times Square and having these huge white flakes blowing sideways into your face and covering you up in three moments. We warmed ourselves up in a nearby diner on sandwiches and coffee before heading home.

Birthday Weekend
This weekend was spent in Maryland with family, and we enjoyed the company (and the food, of course) immensely. Mom got to introduce us to the new cat, Mookie, with great pride. He’s a lug and she is thrilled. Adam spent a great deal of time playing a game called God of War, which seemed to entertain my parents for hours. I was annoyed at the over-the-top gore and unnecessary sex scenes at first, but it got better as the game went on, and became sort of funny, sitting there watching Adam play video games with my parents. Lots of fun. The kids are enormous, and smart as ever. It’s so odd watching them grow up so fast. Nikki and I got in a lot of baby talk, and while we were at her house she led me into the storage room so I could survey the things that would be mine, i.e. maternity clothes for all seasons, a crib, assorted child rearing equipment, and crates of clothes separated by age. It was amazing and scary seeing all of that and knowing that those things are now tangible for me, are just around the corner in the great scheme of things. Having a sister so much older than I was separated us for most of our lives, we were always close, but we never really were at the same place at the same time. It’s only natural, being nine years apart. But somehow in that moment, when she opened the door and pointed out the baby clothes and we discussed the measurements of the crib and the necessity of interrogating your OBGYN, those nine years seemed finally to melt away and become a thing of the past. A mother is a mother, after all.

While we were there my Dad happened to inquire about all of my old friends, and what they were doing now. This was because my old buddy Nick was coming to visit that evening, who I hadn’t seen in many months. I filled him in on everyone, friends living on all corners of the country, getting PhD’s, working in high places, getting married, all those things. And at the end of it, he said, “Well, it seems that all of them are doing really well, aren’t they?” And I thought about it and well, yeah, they were all doing well. “I had really smart friends,” I said. And I smiled. I had really great friends. It made me feel good to think about them all, like balloons, connected to me by these long, billowy strings that made my heart feel light as air. Buoyant, you know? And there I was, with my family who was connected to me too, with even tighter knots. And when you think of your life that way, with these long strings connecting you to all the people you love who keep you afloat, it’s hard to ever feel alone.

Thanks for another great year of life, everyone. Until next time…

Heavenly Brooklyn Eats.

Adam and I enjoyed a really wonderful weekend, and now I'm back at work looking back on it all. I thought I would get some of this down before the morning really starts. So, Friday after work Adam met me in Greenwich (I drank a very good raspberry stout in a nearby bar while I waited for his arrival) and ate some delicious Greek food. We got home and I sort of crashed because of a killer headache. The next morning we got up and ate a delicious breakfast of two eggs over easy, a chunk of La Vache Qui Rie cheese (otherwise known to Americans as Laughing Cow cheese), and a slice of fresh French bread with proscuttio on it. Mmmm. Then we struck out on a Brooklyn walk suggested by Time Out New York called "The Other 5th Avenue." Basically, you start out near us on Brooklyn's own 5th avenue and walk about 6 miles to the end of it at the southwestern tip of Brooklyn. We didn't quite get that far, (we only walked about 3.5 miles of it) but it was really a GREAT trip.

You start out in prime Park Slope, one of the nicest neighborhoods Brooklyn has to offer. Boutiques, dozens of restaurants and bars line the streets offering basically any food or goods you could ask for. We stopped for brunch at a Peruvian restaurant where, for a mere $9.95, we ate the most amazing food in the universe. (Aside from home-cooked meals, of course.) With this deal, you got bottomless coffee or tea, a cocktail of your choice and a meal. Adam chose tea, a passionfruit and champagne cocktail, and a pita sandwich with turkey and avocado, topped with a fried egg. I chose a mojito, and roasted chicken with saffron rice and black beans, a small salad and fried plantains. Now, it doesn't sound like much, but this food was so delicious that it made me cry. It really, really did. I started getting all choked up eating this wonderous chicken, and began professing my undying love and appreciation to Adam whilst sniffling and chewing in complete ecstacy. I kid you not. It was really good. You can see some pics of it on our photosite.

We walked some more and saw lots of fascinating things, until we reached the Greenwood Cemetery, possibly the largest cemetery in creation. You may thing, ew, why would you want to go to a cemetery? But seriously, this place is amazing. Created in 1838, its rolling hills and wooded glades take up over 470 acres in southern Brooklyn. Its every nook is covered with huge statuary, mausoleums, and other amazing structures that you have to see to believe. Adam and I actually want to go back and explore the place more, its really a wonderful place to get away from the noise of the city and be lost among the trees and winding stone paths. Pictures are also available of this.

We made our way home after that, and took only a quick stop to feed the cats before leaving again for Hell's Kitchen to meet Charles for dinner. We ended up noshing on some Ethiopian fare, which, if you've never had it before, comes in an enormous plate for the entire table, and the bits of food you order are placed on top of a sourdough tasting bread called Injera. You need no utensils, because you use the flat Injera (they give you lots of extra) to scoop up the food and eat it. Very spicy and tasty. After that, we had some cupcakes at Amy's Bakery nearby, where I got a crazy sugar high and started talking about the dangers of being run over by bikers and crushed by elevator doors. Lots of fun. We also visited Charles' apartment, and he took us up on the roof to admire the view of midtown Manhattan.

Sunday was much more laid back, full of running at the gym, food buying and cooking, cleaning house and writing theses. A really, really nice weekend. And next weekend we're getting a visit from none other than The Ben, The Nat and The Dave! Get ready y'all!

Two Etudes

Okay, so as you know I've been practicing cello for about 4 weeks now, with a week skipped for the holidays. My Mom requested a video presentation of how I'm doing so far, so last night I did just that and posted it on YouTube. Now, keep in mind, it is by no means fantastic. It's sorta out of tune and awkward, but I'm damn pleased with being able to play something even resembling a song after only 4 weeks. Check it out!

Meech On Cello.

Hello, 2008.

It is truly amazing and somewhat disturbing how quickly time passes. And how smoothly two people can trade in one life for another, wildly different one without feeling strange and alien in it. On our way to the small New Year's Eve gathering that we attended in the Lower East Side, Adam asked me, "Can you believe that we live here now?"

I looked around me, at the motley crew of people walking along the streets, at the cracked sidewalk, at the spotted bananas being sold out of a cart in front of racks holding Brooklyn t-shirts and Yankee caps, at the green globes in front of us that heralded the entrance to the subway, looked at them with a certain familiar fondness, and said, "Yes. No." I breathed the cold night air. I felt the road under my feet as I walked. "Yes."

It's weird. You change your life in a big way like that, and you end up changing yourself in a big way, too. But you don't really feel it until it's already done. There are things I take as normal now that probably would have made me screw up my face in disgust/horror/confusion/annoyance back then, and things that I have now that make me so happy that I can't really imagine not having it anymore. Perspectives, standards, expectations...sometimes they're as constant as the wind.

The holidays were fun, relaxing, and reflective, in a way. This would be our first year starting out as New Yorkers. Back when we were thinking about moving here, rolling it around experimentally in our mouths to see how it tasted, we figured, well, if it doesn't work out after a year, we can always come back. If you don't like the taste, you can spit it out, no problem, no harm done. At least you gave it a shot. This was our fallback. This made things less scary, less permanent. But now...we got a taste of New York and in a show of complete reckless abandon, we swallowed. We let New York in. And now it's part of us. And that is both totally comforting and scary as hell. We're going to have a home here, give birth here, raise kids here, make memories here, lots of them. How crazy and impossible and wonderful, isn't it? That's New York for you.

So here's the play-by-play of our holiday break, hijinks and all.

Christmas in Pittsburgh
Our flight to PA was shockingly unremarkable (aside from the fact that Adam and I got up at 3:30 in the morning). I expected delays and long lines and was pleasantly surprised by a painless check-in and a prompt and comfortable flight on JetBlue. I was singing their praises by the time we landed. (Tune in for our less fortunate trip back to New York...) Mom and Pop Corpora were waiting for us in the airport and we were whisked back to the house in their environmentally-friendly Prius, where we passed out for a couple hours rest. That night we shared a lovely dinner with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Denny, as well as Grandma Rihn, Lorraine and Joe. Afterwards, Adam, Grandma, Dad and I drove up to Zelienople to see Aunt Diane and Uncle Bill. While Uncle Bill and Adam discussed mutual funds and stock investments, the rest of us drank white wine and ate crackers and hummus.

Christmas Eve was quite relaxing, and we ended the day by attending mass at North American Martyrs Church. It was a very nice service, and the priest, Father Tom (former trucker and football lover) and his father came to dinner to eat Mom's seven fishes (which were: tuna dip, fried calamari, fried smeltz, shrimp cakes, bakala salad, crab raviolis, and baked salmon). Father Tom greeted me with his usual "Shalom! Mazel tov!" and the night began. Everything was delicious. Mom laughed at me when I started snooping around the gifts.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the day was when I made soup. I decided it would be nice for me to contribute to the food so I thought I would make one of my favorite soups, Spinach Marscapone Soup. It's a mild, delicious and warming soup, and quite green. Easy to make, too. Not too many ingredients. All was going well until the final step...blending. I poured the softened veggie mix into the blender, put my hand on top and switched the knob to ON. Now, usually, switching the machine to ON does not actually cause it to start blending, that happens when you push MIX or STIR and so on. Well, this blender had different ideas.

It exploded, pretty much. I yelped as hot spinach erupted out of the blender onto my hair, face, pajamas, feet, eyeglasses, and, worst of all, all over a large portion of the kitchen. I spluttered and gasped and was positively mortified. Here I was, trying to prove my culinary prowess, and suddenly I am covered in spinach. Mom took it all in stride and helped me mop up the place, and went to give that blender the what-for...after which the blender maliciously exploded all over her, too. And the kitchen. Again.

At this point, I started to giggle. It was sort of funny, after all. What better soup to explode all over the kitchen than a green one? We mopped it up again, tried it again with drastically less soup, and it was fine. It actually turned out to be pretty delicious, after all. Thank goodness. That night, Dad and I built a mighty fire in the fireplace which I happily roasted myself beside. Mmm.

Christmas morning! We all woke up around 9 and waited for Lorraine and Joe to arrive in their pajamas. They came in at 10 on the dot, and we started opening gifts. I got a gorgeous hand-knit neckerchief from South Africa (Dad just went there on business a couple months ago) and stuff to start my first bonsai garden! Two books about raising bonsai, a set of professional Japanese tools, a little ornamental man, and money for my first tree. I read a lot of the books already and am planning to purchase one in spring, to avoid the tricky dormancy season. Adam was led on a clever scavenger hunt around the house until he found his gift, an acoustic guitar! He was thrilled. Now we both have a new instrument to learn.

So, it was great. The family visited throughout the day. The next night we went with Devi and her cousin Narsa (sister and cousin of Adam's old friend and neighbor Jayaram) to Lorraine and Joe's apartment for a little holiday bash. Narsa's awesome Dad gave me a book from Strand, and told us how much he missed living in New York. It turned out to be an incredible book, I'll need to write about it in the book blog. Anyway, Lorraine and Joe's was fun, full of an incredible variety of people. And that was pretty much our trip.

Coming home was quite a hairy process. First of all, our plane was about 30 minutes late. That turned into 45 minutes late. When we boarded the plane, we taxied around a bit until the pilot said, "Bad news everyone, we're not going to take off for another HOUR." Gaahhhh.....happily, it was only actually another 20 minutes before we took off. We got to New York and then circled around it for about 30 minutes, finally landing at 9:30. We managed to get out of the airport with our luggage around 10:00, then took the airtrain to the subway...hoping to be home around 11. Boy, didn't we think ourselves lucky when the subway was making local stops? There we were, standing in front of the doors as the train stopped at our station, having visions of home, and...the doors didn't open. The train left. So did all of my hopes and dreams. Sigh. We ended up walking from the next stop over, about 5 or 6 blocks, until we got home and our arms fell off. They really did. But at least we were home.

Relaxation and New Year's
This is a super-long post. Oh, well. At least I'm thorough. So Adam and I supremely enjoyed the following days, lazing about and doing stuff we liked. I managed to start my thesis (gasp!) and I'm currently at 8 pages, which to me is virtually a miracle. We shopped and ate stuff and started running at the gym. Fantastically wonderful things, all. New Year's was to be spent in the company of Vicki, Gwen and friends on the Lower East Side, starting at an Italian ristorante and then to a British-styled bar called the Telephone Bar. It was a lovely evening. We all wore silly hats and drank a lot of wine. I had a really great Belgian white ale that everyone else hated. We made honky sounds on noisemakers. We counted down to the New Year with a ka-zillion other people. I got a photo of the last second of 2007. Check it, and all the other new photos out on our photosite. Happy New Year everyone.

Everything else has been lovely since then. I made some great food this weekend, including a brilliantly good Indian Carrot Soup. It may be my new favorite. Oh, and I have my very first callous on my finger. I am truly a musician now.

Send some love!

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

Happy Holidays everyone!

It has certainly been a busy month so far. And far from over! We leave for Pittsburgh on Sunday morning, laden with gifts. Hopefully the weather will abide it! So...the past two weekends have been grand...

Last Weekend: Friends! Oldies and Goodies.
Yes, it was the weekend of old buddies last weekend, starting with Friday and the arrival of Jen and Karim from the days of UMBC. They got in around lunchtime and met me at my office, after which we dropped off their stuff upstairs and went to purchase some extremely expensive deli fare. $10 for scrambled eggs and french fries? (Apparently a normal NY combination) Heck no! However, they made up for it by bringing us a large bowl of cole slaw and pickles. Mmm. They spent the rest of the day wandering Midtown until I finished work. Then we met up again and took the subway to SoHo, where we met an abundance of wonderful people in an impromptu middle school reunion at a bar called Off the Wagon. Joe Lott and his girl Kate were there, and Adam came after work. And, would you believe it, Joe Monaco came, who I haven't spoken to in possibly 10 years!!! Back in the day I had a major crush on the guy (my first, actually), and I never really told him how I felt (I was...you know...like 15 at the time). He looked great! He is studying Neuroscience at Columbia, and still playing piano (which he played amazingly even at 15!). Marie showed up right after and half of the old gang was together again. Adam caught up with Karim and Jen, and the gang and I reminisced about old times over many, many drinks. We all hugged and laughed and expressed our love for each other, it was a fine evening indeed.

We started out Saturday right with a visit to our favorite breakfast haunt, Eisenberg's. Jen and Karim and I ALL got the same thing, two eggs, over easy, with lox, cream cheese and a sesame bagel, toasted. Oh, and orange juice. I ordered a small, which turned out to be the size of a Dixie cup, so Karim shared. It was delicioussssssssss. Then we went to the Union Square holiday market, where Karim bought a winter hat with a yarn mohawk on top. It must be seen to be believed. Pictures coming soon. Then we all just walked all over Manhattan, literally from 9th street to 58th street. It was CRAZY! When we reached 5th and 55th, something insane happened in front of Saks. We were walking and all of a sudden we were caught in a crowd packed so tightly together than you couldn't move forward, backward, nothing. You just had to scooch forward very, very slowly, almost carried along by the people around you.

Adam and Karim thought this was funny. Jen and I did not. Adam started shouting, "Help! I got in this line when I was eight!" It was a bit terrifying. Some lady departed from the group she was with (somehow) and the little girl with her mother said, "Where is she going?" The mother replied, "Oh, she's leaving," to which I yelled, "You can leave???"

We finally got out of it, and with me grumbling, finally reached the Apple store, our destination. Just to look at it really. So, we looked at it, and left. We jumped on the nearest train and went down to SoHo for some great Italian food. Somewhere during this trip, Jen mentioned something about a "scoopula" which, in actuality, isn't what I thought it was. However, Karim and I jumped on the concept and started making jokes about "Count Scoopula" and intoning, "I vant to scoop your blood" and such things. We thought that this was so riotously funny that I kept talking about it literally all night. Karim offered, "I vant to filter your meaty sauces," after which Jen corrected us, "No! That's not a scoopula, that's a SLOTTED SPOON." So I decide to write a children's story about Count Scoopula, who has an identity crisis when he realizes he isn't a slotted spoon. Hilarity ensues.

Jen and Karim left Sunday afternoon, and Adam and I met Joe and Kate later in the Village for some sushi. Wonderful, as always. A great weekend!

This Weekend: Holiday Party Madness
So, um, Newscorp throws quite a party. The GW crew and their significant others headed over to the Hilton across the street around 6 and got into an incredibly long line to enter. Hoo, boy! What a crazy party that was. The theme was a "Save the Planet" type thing, and each room had a theme. Also, there were people dressed in biohazard suits and army uniforms making sure we were all "carbon neutral" or something, which was a little weird. When we walked in a guy was passing out these beakers of orange liquid and expecting some kind of cocktail I asked, "What is it?"

"Juice." That was it. Ok, I thought. Whatever.

The main ballroom was "Central Park," complete with an ice skating rink and projections of the Manhattan skyline on the walls. There was an ice room (fittingly freezing), a firey room (strangely, also freezing in there) where there was karaoke and dancing, a gaming room that looked like an arcade (with old school games like X-Men and TMNT!) and some others that are slipping my mind. The place was PACKED. Adam, Vicki and I walked around all night, sipping drinks and taking in the sights. We eventually met up with Sarah and Bill and walked around with them, too. I was quite overawed at first, but after about 3-4 hours the crowd started getting to me so we headed home. All in all a fun party!

Saturday we finished up our holiday shopping and then waited for our ride to the K6 party at the principal's house in Long Island. After some difficulty with traffic and directions, we got there and spent the evening hanging out with Adam's teacher buddies. The food that was prepared was pretty incredible, and I filled up happily. Adam filled up on Scotch, for the first time, at the principal's request. He was a happy camper, let me tell you. We got home, exhausted, around midnight.

Sunday was wonderfully laid back, in contrast to the rest of the weekend. We cleaned and I practiced cello and made a stellar breakfast. (I have really mastered the art of the fried egg.) In the evening we needed to go get something from Target, and decided to see I Am Legend while we were out. After Target we stopped in a cute little place in Brooklyn for some calamari and drinks while we waited for the movie. They had great music there, and the cute waitress gave us free Bellini's! We were so happy. Then, the movie.

Adam was not pleased at the scariness of this film, and if I hadn't been so excited about seeing Will Smith, I would have been too. There were a lot of ".......OHMYGODHOLYCRAP!!!!!!!!!" moments throughout, and it was totally eerie seeing our city completely empty like that. Good movie...but with A LOT of plot holes. A lot. But hey, Will Smith does pull-ups. Shirtless. So, come on.

So we walked to the subway in the FREEZING cold after that, and we were both sort of terrified about the whole thing. We went to bed when we got home, and neither of us really slept. The wind howled all night, and caused a lot of unsettling moans and squeaking noises to erupt from the surrounding environs, and the cats decided it would be a good night to scratch ominously at the door and groan like ghasts. Yeah...not very restful. Stupid monsters.

Anyway, that's pretty much up to date now. Another busy week ahead!

A Birthday, A Food Coma and A Good Day

Haven't these past six months just flown by? I can't believe I've been in New York for half a year now, almost. Well, it's been a busy month, and next month is setting itself up to be hectic as well. So let me recap on the past few weeks...

Adam's Birthday
So Adam turned 26 on November 16, and I had quite a lovely weekend planned for his enjoyment. Luckily, we had both overcome our bouts of the plague (aka the common cold) enough by then to enjoy the festivities. On Friday night, his actual birthday, I hung up a birthday card and six little haiku (3 lines, 5-7-5 syllables) I wrote for him from the blades of the ceiling fan. It looked a little scary when he opened his eyes and saw them, so I was glad I did it that night and not for when he woke up in the morning. They were these sweet little poems, one for every year since we met. Here is my favorite:

Twenty-three
The October rain
stops so the sun can listen
as we say “I do.”

Adam was 23 when we were married, so there you are. He was touched and it was very nice. The next morning I got up bright and early to make him his favorite breakfast, French toast and sausage. Despite the fact that I got Italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage, it turned out quite good and Adam ate an incredible amount given his size. After that we headed out to Macy's, where thousands upon thousands of sale-hungry, wide-eyed and pushy shoppers invaded to reap the benefits of the largest department store in the world. Adam hemmed and hawed over several watches before settling on a DKNY chronograph watch, silver with a black face. He spent the rest of the day exemporaneously informing me of the time, and claiming that the watch was giving him superhuman powers, including the ability to lift me with one hand (the one wearing the watch, of course). After some more shopping (H&M) and exploring (the New York Library), we headed home to rest and ready ourselves for dinner in Little Italy with Vicki and Charles.

We met at Da Nico (our favorite) around 8, and had a simply succulent dinner with our lovely friends. Vicki is a civil engineer and works on bridges and subways in New York City. She is also a avid traveler. Charles works in GPS systems, and knows a lot, about everything, it seems, so he is a great conversationalist. We had wine and bread and butter, and talked and talked. Adam had a special with artichokes and other lovely things, Vicki had gnocci, I had Linguini with clams in white sauce, and Charles had the most expensive and most gargantuan meal available (we goaded him into it), which was called something like Linguini a la Everything. In came in this trough-like bowl and included most inhabitants of the sea; i.e. lobster, crab, mussels, shrimp, scallops, starfish, narwhal, walrus, sea cucumber, upside-down catfish, eel, stingray...wow. He had to wear a bib. You can see a photo of a triumphant Charles on our photosite. It was a wonderful evening, and Adam loved every minute!

Thanksgiving
Last Wednesday, I raced home from work and finished packing our bags for our trip to Maryland. Adam arrived, breathless, soon after, and we made a beeline for the bus on 33rd St. Luckily, we got there just in time to get our favorite seats right behind the bus driver. We arrived in Maryland by 10PM, which was good timing, and hung out for a bit with my folks before heading to bed. The next day was filled with wonderful relaxation and the smells of chicken and other things cooking wafting up from the kitchen. We had dinner with Nikki and family, and it was delicious as always, especially the sweet potatoes. The next day we did a little shopping, and then had dinner at the best restaurant in the universe, Ikaros, and had heavenly Greek food with the family. Sophie, consumed with some inner turmoil that she would not voice to anyone, climbed onto my lap and slumped contendedly until I offered to put lipstick on her. That perked her up. Before I left I think I was wearing two flavors of lip balm (orange and gardenia) and two layers of lipstick. Sophie was quite fine by then.

We were then ceremoniously picked up by Ben and Dave (college buddies) in Dave's new sports car (that, rumor has it, is equipped with a Turbo button) and taken to Jack's house in Bel Air. There we played various video games (Guitar Hero 3, Halo, Mario Party 8) and watched as Ben and Jack rocked out on the drums and electric guitar. It was totally cute. A funny moment was when we were all playing Halo online and I was wearing the headset. I was shamelessly yelling, "Hellooooo hellooooooooo" into the mic and finally some guy from lord-knows-where calls out "Holy fizz, it's a girl!" Delighted, I said, "Hello! Where do you live?" to which he naturally replied, "Man, that's creepy."

After that we went to pick up Natalie (Ben's girlfriend) from the mall where she was working at GNC. We picked up some food and went off to Ben's house, where I patted their miniature Scottish pony (they have four horses) before going inside. We had a fun evening and slept over, and after a hearty breakfast at Bob Evan's my parents picked us up to go back home. The rest of the weekend included more delightful foodstuffs and family. We made it back in one piece, which is always good after Thanksgiving weekend.

A Good Day
So I'm now writing this on Friday, which is post-Good Day, but really this week has been good all around. The Good Day that I am specifically referring to, however, was Tuesday. The awesomeness began in the morning, when me and some other GW folks went to the Donnell Library to attend the annual Anne Carroll Moore Lecture on Children's Literature. While there we met up with Ian, one of my favorite GW illustrators. We talked for a few minutes before trooping into the lecture hall to see the speaker, Mr. Ashley Bryan. He is an author and illustrator who focuses a lot on African-American poets and African folktales and spirituals. I don't know what I was expecting, but Mr. Bryan simply blew me away. He stood up there on the stage for an hour reading poetry to us, making us chant along with him, his voice so powerful and shamelessly loud and melodious that he made the microphone irrelevant. He was so bouyant with life, he was so happy simply to be there, at that moment, reading poetry to us. I found myself smiling and giggling at him like a 5 year-old, drinking in his joy like warm, sweet cocoa on a cold, blustery day. I walked up to him afterward and shook his hand, which was large and full and warm. I said, "Thank you, it was wonderful. You made my day." He smiled, genuinely, and said, "Good. Good. I'm so glad."

Then we got back and since it was the 27th, I decided I would call Kevin and wish him a happy birthday. Virginia had sent an email to everyone saying we should, and I thought, well, why not me? I met him, it would be nice. So I called, left a message on his machine with good wishes, and felt pleased with myself. Imagine my surprise when my phone rang a couple hours later and when I pick it up I hear, "Hi Michelle, it's Kevin! Thanks for calling, that was so sweet of you. It made my day." Made his day? Well, once again, another miraculous person had just made mine. What a great day!

Then we had our weekly meeting, which I always look forward to. It's such a fun chemistry when everyone gets in a room together. So yes, a very, very, very good day.

And now it's Friday and I'm enjoying that feeling of impending fun and relaxation. Tomorrow we go to look at my cello...and perhaps....yes, buy it! *gasp!* I am praying that it will feel right and I will want that very one, because I don't know how many they will actually have. Oh gosh. We also may be seeing Adam's old friend Jayaram and his sister and girlfriend, who are coming to the city to visit. So good stuff all around. I'm also kicking a really fun novel idea around in my head...so, yes, things are good here.

The Dozing Drunkard.

No, that isn't me. It's the theme for part of the first movement of Vivaldi's "Autumn" from The Four Seasons. Although, being that this is me talking, I can see how you'd get confused.

I felt all sophisticated this morning on the subway as I stood with my iPod listening to Vivaldi and following along in the score Adam gave me. The Four Seasons is brilliant. If you look at the score, you'll understand why.

Anyway, why am I reading symphonies, you ask? Well, I am gearing up for the arrival of a new cello! Yes, I am going to take up the cello. I've wanted to for a long time, and I finally decided to go for it. Adam is going to teach me to start, and then I'll try to find a teacher nearby. The place that Adam bought his school instruments from is going to give us a great deal on a nice instrument next month. I can't wait!

Last night was the Art Preview Party, and it was fantastic. We had an incredible turnout, fantastic food (we're still eating it today, and probably will tomorrow, too) and it was so great to meet Kevin Henkes, Ian Schoenherr and Carin Berger, authors and illustrators all. Their original art pieces, as well as dozens of others from our upcoming lists were on display and they were just incredible to look at. There was art from every medium you can imagine, acrylic paintings, watercolor and inks, cut-paper, mixed media...it was amazing. Kevin was so sweet and signed a poster for the nieces and a book for my reading buddy (I'll get to that...) and Carin really encouraged me when I told her about my family memoir that I keep wanting to work on. It was so nice to mix and mingle with all the Greenwillowites in a more social setting, too, even though we were working. I felt myself looking around and different points during the night and thinking, "Wow...this is what my life is now." And I couldn't be more grateful.

The sickly Adam is finally feeling better after succumbing to a cold, and tonight we will venture out to an Australian restaurant in Brooklyn to wine and dine with my designer friend at GW and her beau. They are lovely.

So, back to the reading buddy thing, I am now volunteering (thanks to another GW'er) with a program called Everybody Wins!, where employees at certain companies go to elementary schools in the city at lunchtime and read with a student. This fosters a great relationship with the kids (you always have the same student) and a love for reading! My student is a sweet 4th grade girl who reminds me of Tali, my niece, except older. She and I got along from the first, and I told her I would get her Kevin Henkes' autograph when I see him. Boy, is she going to be thrilled!

So, yes. Things are well. Looking at my calendar is a bit scary with everything getting crazy for the holidays, but it should be fun. Jenflur and Karim of UMBC fame are going to be visiting for the weekend in early December, so that will be fantastic, I'm sure.

I swear, I will be posting photos of Halloween, Art Preview Party, and some other stuff ASAP!

Blowin' in the Wind.

Whew, it's been a while, hasn't it? What can I say, it's been a busy month. I'm sitting here, trying to remember what we've done and it's a blur. Well, here's some highlights in a nutshell:

Maryland and Amie & Brian's Wedding
We took a trip down to Maryland to see the family and attend Amie and Brian's lovely wedding. Nikki and family came over to the house and we all had our usual feast and then went to Brookside Gardens to walk around in the lovely weather. You can see photos of that on our photosite! Then that night Margit (my lovely friend from Hollins) came in her pickup truck to take us to the wedding. It was a beautiful affair and Amie looked so happy. I got to see some great people from Hollins, including Melissa and Amanda the director of our program! We drank and danced and had a lovely evening.

Halloween
While in Maryland, Adam and I got to buy our costumes for the infamous Halloween party, thrown by Jackie, Adam's buddy at K6. (She's the science teacher.) I went as Alice in Wonderland, and Adam was Albert Einstein. We were very convincing! Our main concerns: Adam's luxuriant mustache getting into his cocktails, and my butt showing from under my teeny-tiny dress. Thank goodness, neither was a problem. We went to Jackie's first to help her carry stuff to the bar she rented out, and met her friends the sexy racecar driver, the gladiator guy from 300, and Edward Scissorhands. Jackie was a cheerleader. We were quite the group! It was kinda odd since we didn't know anyone at the party except for the school people, but luckily Jackie made 750 jello shots (NO JOKE) to loosen everyone up. Let me tell you, jello is not a good texture to experience after you've had a little too much to drink. But we were smart and didn't drink too much and left before things got too crazy. We had a great time! I'll put some photos of that up on the website too.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. Adam and I have been busy working and trying to stay conscious. Adam has finally gotten his instruments in and his band started, and he is feeling upbeat about his program, very exciting! And I'm enjoying my job immensely, I even got to have a lovely conversation with Kevin Henkes (very famous, very great author) on the phone last week, and am excited to meet him at our upcoming Art Preview Party on Wednesday! I hope to take a few pictures of that, too.

This weekend has been a hodge-podge of things, and last night we decided to make a trip to Astoria to grab some great Greek food for dinner. Unfortunately, what actually happened was that we visited the worst restaurant ever (It was in Zagats! I don't get it!). I won't name names, so we'll just call it The Restaurant of Eternal Wrongness. Here's what happened, in chronological order:

1. We walk into the restaurant. It is virtually empty, but we chalk that up to it being early. SHAME ON US.
2. We're seated in the corner, where a blast of heat like Satan's breath begins melting my eyeballs. We complain about the heat and move to the next table.
   
3. The heat is abruptly turned off and replaced almost immediately by cold air. We put our coats back on.
   
4. We are offered a plate of highly seasoned yet disappointingly stale bread.
   
5. We order appetizers only to be told they have no artichokes that night. We order the salad instead. Authentic Greek waitress smiles but has no idea what we are saying.
   
6. We receive semi-delicious spanikopitas and an ill proportioned Greek salad. Chunks of feta: 2. Olives: 2. Tomatoes: 6. Cucumbers: 4,663. Dressing: Hahahaha...
   
7. We wait about 45 minutes. Or 3 1/2 days. Either one.
8. Our food arrives. Adam's lamb and potatoes are lukewarm. My moussaka is DOA. I send it back to get heated.
   
9. The annoying Greek music CD starts skipping, and then shuts off altogether, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence with our mildly warm food.
   
10. The waitress brings us a dessert on the house, as to make up for the disastrous...everything. Sadly, it is weird, and tastes kind of like fermented raisins.
    
11. I get up to leave, and my uncomfortable chair falls over because my purse and jacket was hanging on it, and it is very light, being only constructed of half-made promises and broken dreams.

So, that was it. Boy, we can really pick them. Today we got to see part of the New York Marathon, which was totally awesome! Adam and I are going to try to train this year so we can do it next year. It is amazing, you run through all 5 boroughs!

I must cook now, so I'll catch y'all later! Stay warm!

Beyond the Sea.

Needless to say, I am feeling much better now. Adam and I had a really nice long weekend, and I think I am ready to go back to the world again. Friday night we both conked out early and slept forever, and then Saturday morning we went to the Grand Army Plaza Farmer's Market and bought some great stuff. We got lettuce and tomatoes, a nice loaf of fresh bread, a small apple pie, some fantastic grapes from a vineyard, and some peppers, eggplants and zucchini's so I could make my stuffed vegetables for the week. We also got a bit of smoked bluefish from the fishmongers, which was super-cheap (like, 5 bucks for two nice hunks) and ate that with a sourdough roll and grapes for lunch out on the grass. Really, really lovely.

We rested at home until it was time to get ready, and then we took the subway to 23rd St. on the west side and walked out to the Chelsea piers. The Bateaux New York is a beautiful ship. Long, thin and enclosed in glass, it is the most romantic boat you could think of. We boarded around 6:45 and got our seat next to Bill and Fran, a middle-aged couple celebrating their 7th anniversary. We ordered a nice bottle of champagne, and then...our meal. Let me tell you how incredible this food was....auuuggghhhh it was so good. Here's what we had:

ADAM:

• Appetizer: Maryland crab cakes with black bean salsa
• Entree: Braised lamb shank with polenta and fava beans
• Dessert: New York cheesecake with mixed fruit

MICHELLE:

• Appetizer: Eggplant chevre parfait
• Entree: Filet Mignon topped with crumbled blue cheese with smashed red potatoes and mixed vegetables
• Dessert: Also the New York cheesecake

Best part of the meal? The eggplant parfait. This little thing was the most delectable 3 ounces of food I have ever eaten. They take these eggplant slices and marinate them in some kind of tomato base, cooking them into a little cup shape with a layer of creamy goat cheese on top. So you get that little thing on a plate, with sprouts on top and drizzled with balsamic reduction sauce and olive oil. I MAY DIE. It was so good.

So it was really romantic. The weather was beautiful, and the city was all lit up around us. There was a jazz band with singer, and we danced (they played our wedding song, and we didn't even ask!) and stood out on the open deck with our faces in the wind. Really, we couldn't have asked for a better night.

We told the waiter that it was our 2nd anniversary, so he said they would acknowledge us to the ship. So later, the singer goes, "Let's congratulate Adam and Michael on their 2nd anniversary!" And Adam and I look at each other...I say "Hey, we're gay!" and laugh. The singer corrected herself later when someone probably dashed up there to say "MICHELLE! MICHELLE!" Bill, our tablemate, called me Michael for the rest of the night.

So, filled with rich food and a bottle of champagne, we dragged ourselves homeward and fell into bed. Check out our photo page for new pics!!!

Sunday was filled with chores and other sundries...and we visited a music store where I got to play a cello for the first time! It was so incredible. I'm so excited, because Adam's going to get me one for Hanukkah! He has a hook-up from school and we are going to buy one from them later in the year. I've started to work on a music theory book in preparation. I can't wait! Then I made some shwarma chicken stew and called it a night.

This morning, after going to the bathroom 14 times during the night I realized that my severe back pain of late might be related and ... took my home test and ... sure enough, I've got another UTI. Sigh. So, all that champagne probably wasn't the best thing for me, but it was WORTH IT. Now, it's all cranberry juice for me.

That's about it. Tomorrow it's back to the grind!

Faster Than the Speed of Life.

Following a thoroughly exhausting week, it has been another exhausting week. Last weekend was really great, considering I got to a) See my best friend Peck, b) Eat food in a big urban garden while watching Ghostbusters on a projection screen with Adam and my best friend Peck and c) Stay up until 4am drinking with a bunch of teachers in Long Beach. I mean, that's a pretty good weekend.

But regardless...the week has been mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. I don't know what it is, but I think everything that we've done since June-- moving to New York, getting new jobs, getting used to a break-neck paced new life-- it's finally catching up with us. Adam and I don't generally shout at each other, I mean, hardly ever. But this past week we've shouted at each other, oh, at least two or three times. It sort of feels like we're pulled taut, like violin strings, and then something cuts through and, SNAP! you could sever an artery with that thing. And the funny thing is, we both know it's happening, we both realize that we're not really angry at each other, we're just so tense. So the shouting doesn't last long. And honestly, I think this weekend will put an end to it all. It's our two year anniversary! But more on that later.

For some reason I've been feeling particularly morose this week, probably because of several things all mashed together in a blackened Morbid Pie. First of all, I found out on Monday that Barbara from UMBC has died of cancer at the end of last week. My Mom was keeping it from me, and I don't really blame her. She knows how I am. But at any rate, it was a severe blow. I knew it was going to happen, but these things tend to affect me more deeply than I can help. I have no emotional defenses for death. I never have.

And then, during the weekend, Peck was telling me about a girl her ex-boyfriend was visiting in the hospital; a young girl like me who had just found out she had leukemia. She only has about a 40% chance of survival. Just like that. Peck was barely herself (perky, wacky, etc.) and told me, in her honest, baldfaced way that I adore, "I can't stop thinking about death."

But we forgot about it for a while and had a fun weekend, but you know, it's still there. Oddly enough, the books I've been reading (by no intention of my own) have concerned things of that nature, too. One was about a young girl whose Mom got breast cancer (happily she survives, but is obviously changed forever), and I've been reading a biography of Lewis Carroll, who is infamous for his worship of youth and his desperate fear of growing old.

Today, on the way to the train to work, I passed the little fenced in garden where the many packs of wild cats live. One of the cats, a little black one, was lying near the fence. Someone had put a pink rose in its arms. I knew it wasn't breathing. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. I spent the entire train ride trying not to cry and wondered why I never grew out of this.

So, I don't know what the hell is going on. I don't know why the world is so full of all these senseless tragedies. It is probably the one thing that has most troubled me, all my life. It is times like these that I wish my faith could tell me, without a doubt, that this too, shall pass, and all things happen for a reason, and all good things go to a better place. My faith tells me these things, but my heart doesn't always believe it. I don't know why I'm writing all of this.

Anyway, it's not all doom and gloom over here, really. This weekend, Adam and I will be celebrating our anniversary on a 3-hour dinner cruise around Manhattan, and it will be incredibly romantic. And we will relax and think about life and look at the sky and feel the wind on our faces. Sometimes the wind on your face and a warm hand holding yours tightly is all you need to believe in goodness.

Crash and Burn. But, In A Good Way

Hello, all. According to my most esteemed mother, you all have been clamoring for a new installment. Well, be it true or not, here it is. I am currently prone in bed with my laptop after a harrowing day with an early gym workout, vastly varying temperatures, a little too much employee birthday wine, a little too small a lunch, and, of course, Aunt Flo. That really tops it off. After barely dragging myself home, Adam promptly fed me linguine and put me in bed. What a good man, that one.

Ok, here we go. WARNING: This is going to be a long one.

So, let us take a step back in time, to...oh, two weekends ago. Adam and I traveled via the Jewish Bus (no, really) back to Maryland for Rosh Hashanah weekend. Upon our arrival, we were picked up by the Ilkovitch family in their fabulous new motorcarraige. Three rows of seating, a DVD player, enchanted rims made from ancient Mayan silver, and a trained monkey in the back! Crazy. But no, it was really nice. Adam and I don't ride in cars anymore, so it was sort of a treat. We hung out with the fam for the afternoon and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I've never been so fought over by children in my life. It was nice. Then we met the folks for delicious kabobs, and went back to their place to sleep. The next day I went with Mom to see some of my UMBC pals (sadly no Julie or Kazumi...sniff sniff) and was so tickled at how happy they were to see me. I miss you all! On a somber note, it was terrible to look into Barbara's darkened office and see her elephants and bright pictures still in there, and know I'd never see her again. It's one of those things about life I just can't abide; lovely, beautiful people stolen for no reason. I am, at least, grateful to have known her.

After that, the usual Jabes feast occurred, after which we all languished in food coma and smiled to ourselves. I drew pictures of peacocks and unicorns with the girls, and we finally said goodbye. I always leave those nights wishing I could have more time with Nikki. But we've been calling a lot, and it's fun listening to her taunt me about having babies so they can wear her pristine and forever-in-fashion hand-me-downs. I love hand-me-downs. It comes with the territory.

The next day Mom and Dad took us to Rehoboth Beach. We booked a suite in at The Breakers, and walked around our old stomping grounds all day, looking in shops and petting people's dogs. I did my usual routine: buy gummi [fill in the blank]s at the Candy Kitchen, inhale them indiscriminately and in an open-mouthed, immature fashion, remove shoes and stomp through the wet sand, taunting waves and then running away, laugh at how the sandpiper birds run away too, eat Grotto Pizza, eat Boardwalk Fries with half a bottle of vinegar...you get the point. It was awesome.

We got back with an hour to spare before having to go meet the bus to return to New York. We were dead on our feet by the time we got home, but it was a good trip so it could have been much worse. There will be some new pics on our website, so you should check 'em out.

The week went by without incident, and this Saturday was Yom Kippur. Now, Adam always fasts with me, of his own volition. This is very, very sweet of him. However, the result of us both being without food is often violent and involves foul language. Heck, what am I supposed to do? I don't function well with low blood sugar. Also, our apartment was a sty and we had no food in the house, so we had to clean, do laundry, as well as Manhattan shopping on empty stomachs. This was not very smart. So, around 3 p.m. we caved and had a slice of pizza, each. It was heaven. Then I had the energy to both purchase and cook dinner (whole roast chicken with rosemary and lemon, as well as farm fresh carrots and finger potatoes, thank you very much), which was delicious. Mazel tov!

Sunday we ate at Eisenberg's and jogged in Prospect Park, which was lovely as usual. That night we got a call from our lovely new friend Charles, who lives in Hell's Kitchen. We met up in Chelsea where he greeted us: "Welcome to the Gayberhood!" (i.e. there are a lot of homosexuals in Chelsea. It's very clean!) He introduced us to Pinkberry, a tasty, fashionable and overpriced fro-yo shop where skinny people can eat no-guilt ice cream with fresh fruit and cap'n crunch on top to their heart's delight. It was funny. Charles is a wonderful young man.

Anyway, this week has been good, but seriously tiring. With Aunt Flo visiting, I feel like there is a small dwarf beating on my head with a cudgel, and some type of disgruntled goat head-butting my abdomen. Really, it feels just like that. However, today was full of surprises. I was coming back from running an errand and went to the ladies' room, where I heard a couple women (one a young editor I know, and an unknown one), talking about hand washing length to a very young, very adorable little girl, probably about 4. I didn't pay much attention to all this, but looked at the little girl, who smiled and left. I heard a lot of commotion coming from one of the ladies' offices right down the hall from me (I'm talking 10 feet) and saw that they were having some kind of meeting. I just glanced in, but that was all. They were there for a while, and around the time I noticed the voices fading, I get an e-mail from my boss: "Don't think we're going to have the meeting today...got a lot of work on my plate, and frankly, I'm a little distracted by the fact that [a certain A-list celebrity, a la Suddenly Susan] is here with her daughter."

Uhm, what?

So, yes. I was in the bathroom with this celebrity's daughter, and possibly the celebrity herself. I called Nikki to mourn the fact that I missed all of this, and she replied, "Oh, she'll probably come back. If you see her, tell her I loved Blue Lagoon."

Oh, life sure is interesting. I hope this was satisfying for you all. Also, if anyone is interested in Josh's fantastic recipe for Fennel Soup that I just tried, let me know. Fennel is in season!

Two little things

Every once in a while, I feel the urge to post a little update in this blog. Recently, there's been plenty for me to write about, but there's only two things that keep resurfacing in my mind. These are 1) Michelle's happiness and 2) my job.

Both are very important to us, but since the former is slightly more significant, I'll start with it. Michelle is finally happy. It's not that she's been depressed or anything. The happiness she feels now though, just seems to be such a distinct shift in her emotional state. I haven't seen her this happy since college. And I include our wedding. Not because she didn't enjoy our wedding. Far from it. Heck, she was in a delirious state of ecstasy. No, the difference is why. She was happy on October 6th mainly because it was October 6th. It was her wedding day. The day was all about her and she loved it. And she should have. But back then, our future still was uncertain and she certainly wasn't fulfilled by her job, so she still carried alot of stress around with her. Even through the honeymoon her happiness wasn't like it is now. It was different somehow. There's a calm about her now. I'll look over at her and she'll smile as if saying "Hi. I'm good now. Nothing to worry about." As opposed to before when her smile was a grin and the message read closer to "I'm managing." So is it because of the job? Sure, of course. But I think it's more than that. It's our lives now. There's goals in mind now and we're finally in a place that can help us recognize them. I feel Ellicott City was suffocating us very, very slowly. New York gave us fresh air (figuratively and literally) and a fresh start. Yes, we still miss all of you deeply (Ben, Nat, Jamie, Chris, our families, Jen... well, maybe not Jen) but I think Meech needed the change. We both did. So those are my thoughts on Meech's happiness. Keep in mind, I haven't run any of this by Meech, so she may disagree with all of it. But I feel fairly confident she'd agree. At least mostly.


The other I've been meaning to post about is my job. Mainly because it is SO different than anything I'm used to. Allow me to explain: First, there's the culture. It's a poor neighborhood, almost entirely African-American and the rest mostly Hispanic. (Although there is this one white kid in our school who looks quite out of place). The building we work in is HUGE and actually houses TWO High Schools along with our Middle School. It is not the safest neighborhood, but it's far from a ghetto. Keeping all this in mind, I spent my first two years teaching in Howard County.

Next there's the students themselves. A few years older than I've ever taught. Most have never seen anywhere outside of their neighborhood and almost all of them are not used to strict discipline eight hours every day. Some of the cadets (what we refer to the students as) are as big or bigger than I am. They come from poor educational backgrounds and many with little parental support. (Again, keep in mind... Howard County).

And then there's what the Commandant (Principal) is asking of me. I teach every student General Music and Band. That means all 150 cadets are learning Theory, Music History and by the end of the year each one will know how to play some instrument, whether they want to or not. I also teach Math to one of the 6th grade classes every day (Well, not Fridays, but I get them twice as much on Tuesdays so it evens out). Math is 90 minutes every day, so Tuesdays gets to be 3 hours of Math. This of course, from a Music teacher who has literally no Math educational background whatsoever. Also, every Wednesday afternoon for the last period, each Professor (teacher) takes about 15-20 students for Advisory period. This is when we teach them a different lesson about life every week, the cadets pretend they care, we pretend we don't know the cadets are pretending to care, and each Professor gets to waste 45 minutes doing what our Guidance Counselor was hired to do, when we could all be using that time to prepare for the enormous amount of work WE were hired to do.

Not that I'm bitter.

Now, that's the bad news. The good news is this: I love my job. I'm also discovering I'm quite good at it. Considering my last school had enough money for just about anything, more than one copying machine, internet access in every room, huge community support and students that would never THINK of giving teachers serious attitude, I'm doing just fine. It really surprised me, but only recently when a fellow Professor pointed it out, did I realize I can discipline these students as well as any of the other teachers that carry a more experience with these type of attitudes. And remember, this is ME we're talking about. Last year my biggest concern was giving a nine-year old a disapproving look for not practicing as much as she should have. Last week I made an entire Squadron (class) of 7th graders practice walking into my classroom three times before letting them sit down and I wasn't happy until each one said "Yes, Professor Corpora." Where was this disciplinarian hiding?

I should also point out that the parental support is stronger than I thought. The rumors are that now that the returning 7th graders have gone through this school for a year and the parents are finally seeing what he have to offer (and that the Professors actually know what we're doing), the parents are finally taking a step forward, too. Apparently last year they were not quite as "present", but we're seeing a huge turnaround now. Also, every phone call I've had to make to parents (and there's been quite a few), I've always spoken to caring, concerned parents who really do make sure their son or daughter "gets the message." So thank goodness for them!

It's funny, when I came here, I was downright terrified of facing these students. I figured if there was one reason I'd quit, it was because of them. But now they don't frighten me at all. I'm completely comfortable about getting in their face and letting them have it. What stresses me out is the enormous amount of work I've been given to do, which was what I actually had been looking forward to before I came. I'll admit it's been exciting thinking of how I'm going to teach every cadet an instrument. It's a challenge. But I like challenges. It's something that, to my knowledge, has never been done before. At least none of the schools I know in Maryland has ever tried this. Band, not as an extra-curricular program, but as a required piece to graduate. And not just Music Theory. Actually learning an instrument. And get this. Right now, we have 23 instruments and 155 cadets. Awesome, isn't it? And Commandant Dalton wants a concert in December. HAHAHA. Time to get to work!

Speaking of getting to work, I should do that myself. I need to come up with what I'm teaching next week. See, cause unlike the other subjects, the Music program doesn't have a curriculum already outlined for them. Heck, it doesn't even have a textbook yet. So, off to the drawing board.

Hope I didn't bore you. Leave a message. We love reading them and hearing from our friends and family. Take care,

Adam

*Bliss*

Time for an update, no? Well, Adam and I have had a lovely relaxing weekend. Friday night we stayed up and drank screwdrivers and watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That was awesome. I ate too many pretzels, which was both awesome and not good at the same time. Saturday we got up and went to Eisenburg's Sandwich Shop next to the Flatiron building, where we first went with Joe and Lorraine. It may become a tradition. Adam had eggs and sausage and I had a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and lox. And coffee. Can it get any better? Then we got Adam some new clothes at H&M and went to Union Square to pick up some cat food and new biodegradable litter. Then we went to Target and I got an awesome new sundress. It's a size extra-small, which boggled my mind. I assume a size large would fit a moderately-sized elephant. Today started with egga (a family omelet made with lots of onion and parmesean cheese) and a jog through Prospect Park. It was beautiful. Then home and cleaning. And bean burritos. Yum.

On all other fronts, things are going really well. Adam is doing extremely well in school and is shaping up those kids right straight. He loves all his fellow teachers, and enjoyed two pints of Guinness with the vice-principal and the science teacher at a bar on Friday, while discussing math. Oh, those New York teachers. He also came up with an awesome Music Chant, which the kids all sing before class every day. It goes like this:

Music moves us from our head to our toes,
It's the only language that the whole world knows!

Mozart, Beethoven, Handel and Bach,
Classical composers that will always rock!
Flutes, clarinets and saxophones,
Trumpets and the slide trombones.

By learning these we'll lend a hand,
To form the unbeatable K---- SIX BAND!
You know that you can't make us stop,
'Cause the drummers in the back won't let the beat drop!

Music moves us from our head to our toes,
It's the only language that the whole world knows!

The kids LOVE this apparently, especially when Adam, like some Beastie Boy, raps it himself. It's a sight to see.

As for me, GW is proving to be as amazing as I had hoped. I love every day I spend there. This week I got to meet award-winning illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky, who was in the office working on a new book he's doing with poet laureate Jack Prelutsky. Part of my job is to check in new artwork that comes in, and I got to do so with his new watercolors for Awful Ogre Running Wild. They are really incredible. So, when I met him I said, awkwardly, "I saw your new pieces for Awful Ogre, they are really awesome."

He said, "You should say they are 'awful.'"

And that was our meeting. Funny. On Friday, Jenna Bush was in a meeting down the hall from me with another Harper group who's doing a book with her. Crazy! Other than that, it's all just fabulous. The group is small (11 people) and everyone is so funny and nice. In November, we're having our Art Preview party and I get to meet Kevin Henkes! He's one of the most famous authors GW has, and I do all his fan mail! Maybe I'll get an autograph.

This weekend we travel back to Maryland to celebrate Rosh Hashana with my folks and go to Rehoboth for a mini-vacation. Yay!

Guestravaganza!

Well, I'm REALLY busy right now, but I figure I ought to post SOMEthing about the last couple weeks before more stuff happens I just get horribly behind. I'll be quick about these...

Lorraine and Joe
Last weekend brought Lorraine and Joe to our happy home. They've been planning it all summer and now they finally got to see the place. It was a very enjoyable weekend, but unfortunately quite short. Because of the long drive, they didn't get here until late Friday night, then had to leave early Sunday. But still, we made time for fun. I can't seem to remember most of the stuff we did, but I do know we went to Rockefeller Center to check out a French library for Lorraine and stopped by the Seaport so Lorraine and Joe could buy tickets for Curtains (which they both enjoyed, but Lorraine more than Joe. I think.)

Anyway, it was a great weekend. And they were both so awesome guests cause they brought dinner for us that night (and it was GREAT!). I can't remember anything else, but if I do, I'll add it later.

Back to School
My job officially started this past week, but no classes yet. It was a full week of orientation for the cadets (students). This involved much running around, alot of manual labor, plenty of last minute plans and just a dash of hysteria. They new cadets were terrified, which is good, but the old cadets are already starting to test the staff. I'm freaking out a good bit because on top of my Music classes, I also have to teach 90 minutes of Math every day. And apparently Pete, the commandant (principal) wants me to teach every student a band instrument. So right now I'm teaching myself Pascal's triangle and looking up how to order 42 clarinet mouthpieces. Awesome.

I've already told the more interesting KAPPA VI stories to my friends and families, so I don't feel like repeating them again here. Maybe I'll add them later when I get a free second.

Mom and Dad
This past weekend was the final of 4 weekend visits in a row and I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing and enjoyable weekend. (In case you're wondering, it was Ben and Nat, Mania and Rick, Joe and Lorraine, then Mom and Dad). Fortunately, they had the long weekend, so we got in alot of activities all through Saturday and Sunday. Oddly enough, despite the fact that all our plans involved relaxing, every time we got home, we all felt exhausted.

Saturday was our wine-tasting voyage, where we headed out to Long Island and stopped at three or four vineyards. Oh, and we also traveled great distances for a magical restaurant called Legends. The food was great, but the service made me think the waiters had to travel the same distance to reach our table. The vineyards were amazing and Meech and my folks got some great pictures. It took most of the day and it was probably 5 or 6 when we got back. Even though all we did was sit, sip wine and talk, we collapsed when we got home and enjoyed a large Not Ray's Pizza pizza.

Sunday was equally as beautiful, but far less restful. We headed south to the Botanical Gardens. It was wonderful weather and the gardens were beautiful, but it was pretty warm and we got tired of walking. Of course, we couldn't leave until stopping by Prospect Park for ALL of our first look at it. Meech and I LOVED it there and we're already planning trips for our friends and us to hang out down there. That night we celebrated the perfect weekend by visiting our favorite Italian place in Little Italy, Da Nico's. The food, service and atmosphere were excellent. Even if they weren't, pulling Mom's invisible laughing cord would have made up for EVERYTHING.

I joked alot about how glad I was that this was the last weekend for guests. Of course, it's true I'll be looking forward to a quiet weekend at home next week, I'm still so happy for all our visits. It's been great seeing friends and family, especially after such a big move. In all seriousness, if we could do it all again, we would.

Just not next weekend.

That's it for me. I'm going to get back to lesson plans and such. Check out our pictures up there on the right. Meech has added a bunch of new ones for you.
Take care and talk to you later.
Toodles,

Adam