My Day in Court

(This picture is of papa and Uncle Ronald.)

One reason I don’t write in the blog a lot is my connection at home is AT BEST poor. That’s the price I have to pay for free wireless.

Lots of good things going on. Won my court case against the jackass (for those of you who don’t know about it, don’t ask, please. Long stupid story in which my normally excellent judgment is completely lacking.) Kim, the one I love, was my hero as well as my ears when needed in the courtroom.

I have advice here: if you have any doubts about someone, check them out at the courthouse. The idiot I sued has a history a mile long of being a total jackass. I now have a judgment to enforce my lien on a beautiful piece of property in PG.

Work is good. The people at my company seem to be very genuine and nice, very different from those at CTB. Baaaaddd CTB.

Spending a lot of time with Travis and Sean and Mike. I absolutely love living with Mike—it’s very nice having a male’s perspective, and he’s respectful and kind and the cats like him. Mr. Mango is getting used to being inside a lot right now because it’s cold here. Poor kitty. My cats got their leukemia shots and it’ll take about a month or so for it to reach full immunization.

This is Travis with Blanche. She loves him. He's a great kid. He was convinced my house was reeking of orbs (ghosts) but his father quickly dispelled that myth.

Suzy, Suzy, Suzy. She noticed my grandmother had a pic of a naked lady behind her in my previous blog. My family appreciates the human body very much, as you can see, nana and siblings are no exception.

Leaving you with awesome photos. Suzy, Mom, Kate (in that order). PS: Suzy, no one sees you drinking that beer, really.

Kate, thanks for wearing that impossible-to-clean ashtray on your head to make me smile. Man, this is my apartment way back when. Look at the white carpeting, 70s style table and chairs, and Kate with an ashtray on her head! I wish I had kept that tiffany-style lamp. Looking at it it won't fit in my current house, but I wish I still had it. Oh well. Don't have the ashtray either. Still have Kate (yippee!).

That pic of mom is from Venice, when we had our trip to Italy in 1984. What a trip! What a neat lady she was. How she hated being photographed!

Pictures! and Sorrow

We'd been cleaning out the garage and found the old pictures. Good news and bad: one box was fine, the other was almost completely destroyed by mice. I was horrified at the damage--anyone who has had that happen knows what it's like and I won't go in to detail.

Pic on left are my grandparents, fondly known as nana and papa. the picture in the frame to the right is Uncle Ronald, cousin Michael's father (with the dog, think his name was Lucky. My mother loved that dog.) This has to be an early photo, late 40s, early 50s.

So, here comes the old pictures! I decided I'm going to scan all of them and post for the family to see. That will somewhat alleviate my guilt (why do I feel guilty? I'm a nice Jewish girl from NY) about the mice. When I told Michael what happened he expressed surprised that we even had mice in California. Shows how smart he really is.

Okay, since you asked, one more. This is an awesome picture of nana and her siblings:

l to r, standing: Uncle Lou, Aunt Syl (who died before I was born), Uncle Ira; l to r, sitting: nana, Aunt Rose, Aunt Lil.

I am so heartbroken about the rest of the pictures. I did fine some incredible things though! My mother and I traveled out west when I was 9, in 1972, and we came here to Monterey. I remember being in this area, not because of Monterey itself, but because of Hearst Castle and driving down Highway 1. My mother picked up a hitchhiker, and he was cute and cool. The neat thing is we used to write postcards to Nana every day to tell her what we did the day before. The postcard we sent to her from Monterey was from what I believe is now Casa Munras. I am going to double-check the address and show it to them. Can't find it right now but oh do I have scanning to do! Just found unc ronald and aunt judy's wedding picture!!

Ewwwww.....

Methinks I saw Tom parking his car in front of Fremont Adult Store. Yuck. There's always the chance he went to the little restaurant next door, but it makes for a better story with the first scenario.

Got a scanner! this pic on left was scanned and look how awesome it is!

Kim is OUT!!!

Oh my! Turns out my roommate is a freaking alcoholic, as well as a con artist and liar according to her own mother! Sooooo much drama when I got back from Sacramento that it's kind of unbelievable. Had to cancel my trip to Indiana because I simply do not trust my roommate. Honestly, it's not that I think she'll intentionally do anything malicious, but she's such a drunk that you never know. And she brings home the mosty disgusting guys you've ever seen. One is harsh and leathery from drinking, another has the little man complex, and I think the other is gay.

We had two nights of upset: Sunday, the night I found Mia (David's daughter, 19, whom I told Kim I didn't want them hanging out because of my friendship with David and both girls' irresponsibility--Kim is 38, or 32, depending on the moment) trying to hide from me in my own house, was a huge disaster. In the middle of all this, Blanche runs out and three of us are barely able to capture the brat. This is all happening at 10:30 at night. A few days prior to that, Kim got into a car accident with Mia in the car! What a nightmare! Next night Jacob had to mediate so no one would get killed, and Kim and I ended up talking. She told me that my wine rack was a trigger for her. I told her I wish I had known that when we first met. She asked if I would have hidden the wine rack, and I told her I never would have let her move in. Then, trying to make her understand a bit where I was coming from, is the following: I told her that I knew what she was going to say and do two hours before she did or said it, that I know every excuse she will ever have...that I had been married to her. "You know how the wine is a trigger for you? Well, you are a trigger for me. I lived this for years and I do not want, deserve, nor need this in my live any more." I am still reeling from the depths of my emotions about this. I know, everything happens for a reason...blah, blah, blah.

In the course of her living with me she: had a car accident, lost her cell phone, sprained her ankle, was told by her mother it would be a long time before she got to see her daughter, was told by David that if she ever gave Mia alcohol he would call the cops, upset the hell out of me, upset the calm of my home, was in AA, was not in AA, drank, said she wouldn't drink, got a "job" registering Democrats and had her own absentee ballot returned because she didn't put a stamp on it, peed in public, is currently wearing clothes two sizes too small, told Michelle she was going to call the cops on her and that she was too negative to wear her Bob Marley t-shirt, was 86'd by Jacob (Jacob! the most lenient guy in the world, so much so he's practically horizontal). Her friend Barry told me yesterday he was very happy for me, that she was moving out. Granted, this could have been MUCH MUCH worse, so I am glad it wasn't.

Now, my job. It will be fine. A lot of computer work, Excel (thanks again Kim Cohan, man that I love), very nice people. It's hard being the new kid again.

Mike and I are hanging out a lot. I am so glad he's here during this screwy time in my life. He's been super supportive and funny and kind and everything.

My car needed surgery. $610 later...it seems to be fine now.

I Am Numero Uno, Anne Howard

I peed in the American River, as evidenced to the left. I am very proud of myself and Brian, for helping me out when needed, and for rescuing me from the ants who were eating my flesh. Anne Howard, I beat you now!

Brian and Mark visited prostitutes in Amsterdam. They had a lot of fun and brought home souvenirs. Brought me clog magnets.

This shot was taken really close to where I peed. We will always hold this place special, in our hearts.

Sacramento is very pretty this time of year. The leaves are changing on the trees, and the river, while super super low, is super pretty as well. Their house is great--kitchen was made for midgets, I swear some insane architect has the drawers so damned low I have to bend down, and the stove is electric, but they're going to renovate with a different, smarter architect who realizes not all Americans are 4 feet tall. The backyard is incredible--reflects Mark's subtly masculine taste. So does the house, for that matter. One item of Brian's I covet is this:

I hope he'll leave this for me when he dies. Or, maybe I can print out this picture and paste it where the original stood. ;-)

Two pieces of my father's artwork are displayed here, the eggplant one and the rabbit one. Forgot I gave them to him. They look good here.

Today Is Kim's Birthday!!!

I absolutely love Kim Cohan. Alas, this is not he to the left, it is Monte, Brian's kitty. Monte was adopted by Dawn several years ago, just before she died. When we were dealing with the horrific situation, Brian had said he would adopt the kitty, and I had asked Elaine (her mother) if that would be okay. It was, and here she is. I don't remember what wacky name Dawn gave the kitten (Brian, do you remember?) but as long as she and Brian and Mark are happy, who the hell cares.

I never EVER want to EVER relive that time. Hear me, EVER???!!!!

But, it's Kim Cohan's birthday, and I love him, as stated above. Funny, my roommate's name is Kim as well, but she's a girl who drinks too much and needs to shape up very quickly.

Guess who made the best dinner in the whole world last night? April. Yes, she did! And there was nothing more fun than watching her make her christmas labels (really dull time there) and then watching Gossip Girl. I have to say I thought the story was incredibly stupid except that there are so many awesome NY touches, plus it gave me the opportunity to tell Ape that I grew up that way, and the sucker believed me! For those of you normal people, this show is about the really rich Park Avenue type New Yorkers, those who went to masked balls and private schools, not those who grew up like me, in the streets. On the curb. In the saloons. In public schools. Under the sixth floor of apartment 5T on Eighth Street. Okay, enough, it's very much not like me. As I said, though, I love the obscure New York comments.

Got lots of work done at the shop today. Need to try and finish the ms and get my act together for SACRAMENTO tomorrow!!! Yippee!!! Brian and Monte and Mark, here I come!!!!!!!!!

Bean Burritos...

Nutburger in Moscow noted I haven't written in my blog in a while and she's absolutely right. I am so sorry little one.

Here's all the news that's fit to print coming right up after this word from our sponser...
Actually, no words from our sponsor, I'm just a little drunk! It's hard to write drunk, believe me. Why am I buzzed at this early hour on a Monday afternoon? Because I can be!!!

Been busy, really busy, and trying to get it all in before I visit Brian (little boy above, but he's all grown up now) and then...then off to INDIANA October 30. Then November 5 I start my job. All newsy and good stuff.

So, you ask what I've been doing. I'll tell. The bakery had a booth at the Monterey Music Summit and baked cookies and brownies Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the festival. It was kind of a bust especially Saturday. Don't know the final take for Sunday.

Remember the photo shoot we did for More magazine a hundred years ago? Well...Tina and I were just re-interviewed and apparently they're going to put us in an issue soon. Yeah, right. I won't hold my breath on that one.

Mike (Nutburger's fiance) moved in to the garage yesterday with his dogs Dewey and Blue. Mango's not the happiest cat, and I'm not the happiest owner of a front yard that has dog poop and stuff, but I like Mike a lot. We went to Sean's house for dinner last night and hung out with Travis (I LOVE THAT BOY SO MUCH!!!) and Michelle (Sean's mama, who's cooler than cukes) and had a nice time. Travis is the sweetest kid I've ever had the pleasure to hang out with, and he's funnier than shit. Really. Not that shit is very funny, but...you know...I adore him. They're a nice family and I'm very glad to know them.

Michelle and I hung out today and went to thrift stores and I got a lot of books. She confessed to me she was naked in her house as much as possible since the boys were both at work and school, and how happy she was being naked. I am not one to run around naked, unless there's a cute guy in the bed with me. It's probably the NYC thing.

Came home to find Deanna's manuscript (she's a friend of Mindy who wants me to critique her novel) and started reading it. It's not bad at all, and there are some very funny quips. Who knows...

I keep scrolling up to the pics on top. That's April and Brian (when he was younger). It kills me they're not still together. It's all your fault, Bean Burrito.

Love and kisses to all.

fighting the good fight

what i love doing to april is driving past her store and commenting on her attire. i love her.

hi ape!

does sorbet have dairy in it? was going to break my no dairy regime and have lemon gelato, but they were out. instead i had mango sorbet and my stomach is bloated and i'm not happy. i also have to have dinner at carol and ed's tonight in less than 15 minutes and i feel like a big gas tank. no, there's no dairy in sorbet.i guess i just ate too much. great.

TODAY IS A GREAT DAY

Got the job at Hampton Brown, starting hourly for three months then will be salaried (if we like each other). Yippee!

Got home and found a refund from the NYCMTA for a screwed up situation with a metro card. Double yeah!

Life is changing fast.

Made reservations to go to Indiana to hang with Gary and his friends. So, starting job next week, gone for Indiana the following week, then back.

i LOVE my new phone

It's also a videorecorder!!!! hope I can post the two best that were made when I was just at Ken and Jeanette and Tommy and Nate and Brandy and Tigger and Hobbs and Blue and Samantha's house. Four homo sapiens, two canines, three felines...and the snake, the reptile. Don't think he has a name. We won the good fight with the LBAM--David and HOPE got the TRO!!! I am so proud! A few of us are going to Sacramento tomorrow to speak with some legislator campies...don't remember what they're called, the real legislators are in their respective districts but we won a battle. The irony of this whole shebang is I'll be in Sacramento but Brian JUST left today for Amsterdam. Thanks. I saw Michelle and Travis at the farmer's market and that made me so very happy. I am going to have to get up super early tomorrow morning for our outing.

Hanging out at Ken and Jeanette's and had the best time ever. I love hanging out there. The clan makes me very very happy.



I tried loading one of the videos I took out there but it didn't load!!! I am sad. I will try again tomorrow. I have to say, though, I am very happy. Oh well, turns out the stupid connection ended. Forgot i went to Palapas yesterday and had a mango margarita. Thought a LOT about Brucie and need to call him soon. The drink didn't taste as good as I remembered but I had a nice time sitting there, reading, trying to remember if I had a birthday party there when I worked at Dominican and I think I did. That was a trippy place to work.

Still no connection so I'm going to cut and paste this thing so my precious work doesn't get lost.


Video sucks. If you're dying to see it and it sucks on your end as well, I'll email it to you, zipped and autographed, of course.

Kim is in

Kim has moved in and I have a good feeling about her. She came home smelling of campfire and it reminded me how much I love fire, and the smell of smoke, and the smell of cheesy bavarians...oh well, can't go there again.

Blanche ran out this morning and freaked us both out. She's wearing her collar again and it's not the cutest thing in the world, am looking for Emily and Lucy's old collars to help with my collar vainness. Oh, and I'm thinking of killing her.

Went for the short run/walk this morning after meeting Dilworth to get him the Sentinel. Saw dolphins while I was in my car at Seaside Beach, putting on my sneakers, and the moment was nearly marred by two women trying to get me to take the watchtower. Then they started in with "people think this happened by chance," meaning the sheer beauty of it all, and I saved the day by saying, "let's just enjoy this." Religious fanatics scare me.

Time for a cat. Guess who!

Rotten brat.

Freaking a bit about HB, haven't heard anything. I got cocky about that interview!

"You can't always get what you want."

Peas, please, and we're not getting sprayed tonight because of the weather.

Salami and things...

My new roommate moved in today and first off, she and her boyfriend are at it. Great. Told Mike we'd better work on that.

Been a busy weekend--Holly moved out and I saw her new place. LOVE the bathroom! Her apartment is tiny but the bathroom makes up for it.

Friday had an excellent interview at HB and am hoping HOPING to hear from them. Someone said today was Columbus day so ...

Food situation changing rapidly. Got acupuncture Saturday to help me avoid prednisone and Gina Renee told me to stop dairy and gluten. Damn. This is my second day and I'm starving. No more quick fixes for me. Ate apples and bananas and a brown rice concoction but all I want is a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. Oh well. I'm actually feeling better, more energized and all that good stuff.

Took a long walk along the water today and saw thousands of dead moths. That's not good. Told a few people about it and someone's going to collect the dead moths for science. I'm too much of a city girl to pick up dead things like that.

Check out this article in the connection, page 21.

Going to leave town the night they spray. I hate this so very much. Good things will happen at some point, right?

Crazy Dream

This pic reminds me I have to finish my NY stories. However, of more immediate importance, I had a weird dream. I was in a place with a lot of people and I got a picture on my phone from Jody. Remember him, the freak I had one date with that didn't stop calling me for a hundred years? Anyhoo, it was a picture of ME with a friend of mine while we were working on my computer; the image was of our faces looking at the computer, as though the computer took a picture of us. Scary. Like he planted a camera on my computer to stalk me.

I'd been spending a lot time online what with jobhunting, LBAM stuff, etc., and I had just finished a great book called Cage's Bend by Carter Coleman. It is about a family dealing with a son's death and another son's bipolar disorder. Paranoia was throughout the book and it probably seeped into my life. Great. Reminds me of when I was having a lot of nightmares and a friend of mine told me to stop reading murder mysteries before I went to bed. Guess what! Stopped the nightmares.

Going to CAB for a meeting, quick run first, then the interview later!

Met Janet at Universal Staffing yesterday and like her a lot. Looks like HB can (almost) meet my salary requirements. Whoo! Now I just need to see if I like it there and if they offer me the job.

Greetings from Monterey County

this is the first picture I took with my new digital camera!!!!! yes, I've joined the happy masses. this pic is where I run/walk in the morning, behind costco. I LOVE this spot.

today was a great fucking day. so far. woke up early, a lady came by and picked up Dawn Ziegler's tack box (still miss her terribly), ran, met Carolyn for lunch, saw buncha girls from CTB who I adore (cherry, shirley, rachel, and an unpregnant patel). Then we went to this cute store and I got Holly a housewarming present, after about 6 hours of my not being sure which card to buy. One really did say "greetings from Monterey County" and Carolyn and I couldn't stop laughing.

Then to Layers for a cupcake (my frosting much better) and coffee (acme MUCH better) and then to Abrego's print shop for information for Carolyn's STUFF. That only took about 8 hours and I have to say my stop at the cute store was more exciting for all.

Then, at long last, we parted.

Good news on the job front. Have an interview at Hampton-Brown Friday. My resume got to them through Universal Staffing (janet, my new love) and a lot of CTB people work there. Well, once it got to HR apparently the HR person asked if anyone knew me. Yes. And, the kicker is he said wonderful things about me, good work ethic and shit :-), and I didn't even work with him at CTB, I worked with his wife! Who are you, my mystery man?

Then to celebrate my high, I got the digital camera. While snapping pics behind costco these two young guys came running up to me, asking if I was taking pictures of the dolphin. I was so busy taking pictures with my new camera I didn't even see the dolphins. Attempted to, didn't work, but here are the boys I met:

there really are about 5 dolphins behind them.

what a great day.

Now, here's Mr. Mango! Note the garbage bag near the broken hot-tub.

Dumb and dumber

Molly is officially dumber than Lucy ever was! As Holly said, she was hit with the stupid stick, Holly was just imitating a tiger in the living room...wait that's pretty stupid, but what's even stupider is Molly really thought there was something else in the room other than Holly doing the tiger imitation.

Fur was pouffy and she was really freaking out. love her.

ROOMMMMAAAATTTTEEEEEEEEE!

I think found my roommate. Her name is Kim. Bratty Blanchie likes her a lot, and I feel really comfortable around her. Good feeling. Hope HOPE my bad streak of making poor decisions is ending NOW.

Blanche's Adventures

Look what a brat she is! Look how innocent Molly is next to her! Saturday, little Miss Blanche decided to run out of the house. Monique Clinique came over and we were lounging in the backyard and I came into the house to do something, and noticed the front door WIDE OPEN. Found Molly sleeping under the bed, all bleary-eyed. Blanche is nowhere to be found, inside the house.

So, Monique and I are looking outside. Monique spotted her next door, at Connie and Kennedy's. Monique observed her spraying the tree (go, blanche) and I'm standing out there like an idiot with two of her toys (b's, not m's) and her shaker container of treats. No go. She's avoiding me like the plague. Finally, Monique realizes that Blanche wanted to run back into the house but she was afraid of Monique, who was blocking her otsensibly to grab her. Monique opened the door and the little brat ran back into the house so fast, streaks of lightning followed.

So, got them both collars and nametags (including Mango). Guess what! It's Monday morning and the freaking brat already lost hers. I'm straightening the house because a girl (her name MAY be tina thompson? how weird would that be!) is coming over to see the house and it needs to look like humans live here. I may find her collar then.

Speaking of roommates, Mr. Tom thinks it'll be a good idea if he moves in. I have some seriously strong doubts, what with my hating him and all, but...Brian and Gary already told me what they thought.

Spent a lot of time with Monique this weekend. Her middle name begins with a "C" and I don't know what it is. I came up with some ideas, here's a new one: cephelapod?

Cousin Michael sent me a cute pic of me outside McSorley's, will post tomorrow.

It's not even noon yet

BIG DUCK!

Saw Tom (and little son) on rec trail this morning while I was running. If his kid weren't there I'd have pulled a tree by its trunk and rammed it down his throat. I'm feeling stong, like a big duck.

I need to clean up this house a bit--showing the effects of my mood.

Got rid of a large dog crate (cleaning out garage) on Freecycle and am asking for free things, such as a digital camera, scanner to send Ro pics, etc. Who knows? Maybe I can get rid of people free as well?

Friday's Not Over Yet

I'm spending a lot of time with the cats and I've noticed they both take care to spend some quality time together. One grooms the other, one is usually flopped on top of, or pinned under the other.Usually Molly is the groomer, as evidenced here. However, Blanche cleaned Molly good today. Oh my. What have I become.

Running around a lot today, saw Gloria at the water store then to the bakery to make copies. Funny thing happened at Bagel Bakery--I couldn't find my wallet and I thouht I'd left it home. Ripping everything apart in my car and came up with $1.79, and I thought the bagel and cream cheese I bought but didn't yet pay for came to $1.25 plus tax. All I had in the car was $1.79! And, you'd ask why I got a bagel at the bagel bakery when I still have a lovely stash of bagels from NY...well, BB had wireless and their only food was bagels. I think I need to start hanging at the CAB maybe. Anyway, was .25 short (don't ask me how it became $2.04) and this nice man gave it to me. Reminded me of when Virginia and I got stuck walletless, gasless at the gas station in Gilroy. Our hero Brian was going to call in his credit card but the station wouldn't accept a call-in for a credit card, and he was in the middle of an online final and couldn't leave until he was done, in about an hour. When I found out the station couldn't do the card thing, and I was reporting that back to Brian who was on the phone, a nice couple drove by and gave us a $10. How wonderful!

Tom owes me some money and he's late paying me back.

Not feeling very good about that.

What Has My Life Become???

Have to start every blog with a pic--this is Kate's stairway to heaven! Jesus christ, my life has become one internet search after another--looking for a job, looking for a roommate, looking for information about the LBAM. It's crazy!

MY LIFE HAS CHANGED SO MUCH IT'S OUTTA CONTROL!

Then, there's Tom, asking me the same questions over and over--what are you doing? did you go to the bakery today? how are you? it takes a lot to try and have a conversation with him, which never works; me and him, not happening.

Holly's opening wine right now. That'll be the perfect attitude adjustment for me.

THIS TOO WILL PASSS, WON'T IT?????????

Drinking Barefoot Pinto Grigio--nice wine, light, refreshing, tasty. Yum.

Little Married Mary sent me two postcards from Italy while on her honeymoon. Mare!!! Wish I were there too!!!

Went to doctor yesterday and yes, I do have a sinus infection. On antibiotics. On wine. Is that a bad combination? We don't remember!@!!!@!# Holly's googling for me. I feel so much better on the meds that I have energy and vigor and vim. And, went to the west side cafe, place in Sand City that Morgan owns, and I didn't like it much. Not a warm atmosphere, creepy man that reminds me of my father came in with his cronies (think I saw him at city council meeting the other day as well), customer service not as good as ours at bakery. Overall disappointing, but free wireless. Ran into Jane there, that was interesting.

Status on drinking and antibioticing? My call. Choosing to finish my glass. Thanks Holly.

Quickie...

Tired, making this quick. Sunny called about a job, or what I thought was a job. Turns out it's for YTB which may or may not be a scam. Not investing anything in it, and got a bottle of wine (like I need more?) out of it from wizard wines.

Have a potential roommate coming over tomorrow. Am not sure how I feel about this person already--don't know if it's a boy or a girl, etc. HOLLY IS MOVING OUT and it's making me sad on many levels.

Officer Krader is taking action.

motto du jour: love me, love my cats

Saturday, ack

Whoo! NYPD. Don't know why I posted this pic, but I did.

Again, dinner last night was great--had a lot of fun and got to taste some good wines. Like the chardonnay more than I thought I would; it's not too heavy, it's lighter than most. I'm in to whites now, which is kinda pointless 'cause we're going to Martin-Weyrich tomorrow to get my nebbiolo.

Watching Top Chef, they're in NY at the French Culinary Institute. I remember when Kate was there and I had the first piece of fish I ever liked--it was some kind of fish en pappiotte (sp?!).

Today went to the winery to get my car. Stopped by Jeffrey's to see if Velvet was there, but she wasn't. Very busy place. Impressive.

Then stopped in PG to see Dianne and Ed. Hung out in their bed in their room and loved it. They are a wonderful, loving couple who make your heart sing. Dianne has a habit of interrupting when you're trying to tell a story and I love making her feel like crap about it. (One good thing about Tom is he taught me to listen.) Coming down 68 in PG, though, there had been a bad accident. Looked like no one was hurt, I hope, and it was a very sobering moment.

Have been really getting into the organization I'm helping: stopoverheadspraying (it's under yahoo groups). My allergies have been really bad since I've been back--have to double up on the allegra, have headaches a lot, and don't feel so great. Well, it may be a reaction to the spraying to eradicate the LBAM (light brown apple moth), who knows. I know so many people who are becoming active in this group because of the bakery. (Spoke at the Seaside City Council meeting the other night and saw how cute the city's chief of police is.)

That's why I have a police car up there!

I'm signing off now, tired.

Salami Fest at Chateau Julien

Okay, so the salami fest is another time. Thanks, April. Well, April and I went to the winemaker's dinner at Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley and let me tell you, I partook!!!!! Thanks, many, many thanks, to Aunt Barbara for picking us up or else...who knows, i'll still be there?

So much fun! met lots of really nice people. I noticed that, for the most part, people ARE very very nice. Humans are very very social. That's good because I am very social and it would suck if I were the only social person on this planet. I would be bored.

It's hard for me to write now because I DIDN'T DRINK AND DRIVE, i just drank and didn't drive. Holly's taking me for my car tomorrow--it's still at the winery.

Mango and I are now one. Mike said it was okay to keep him and I am so happy. Spent a lot of time trying to get him into the mango hut, but he didn't like it, so, since it's raining, i'm letting him in the garage.

Here's to social events and the people that partake!!

drinking wine

had lunch with carolyn and we had good food. here's the menu:

roasted beets with goat cheese, light vinaigrette, toasted pecans
roasted potatoes with homemade pesto, warmed
roasted tomato salad over homemade oatmeal bread

not bad

she brought goodies from parker-leusseau (sp? too lazy to get up and get the card)--neat stuff!!!

kinda buzzed, wine from heller

had a one-sided conversation with stacey in sweden, NOT FINLAND. have to get a microphone in order to make it a two-sided conversation.

supposed to go to the city council meeting today to fight the lbam thingie, but no one else will be there (i think) and i'm feeling kinda lazy. will see how i feel in a bit.

New York

Okay, so Kate and I finally get to the Bate's motel in Mattituck. We quickly change and haul butt to the rehearsal dinner, in Greenport. Very pretty place. Food...eh. But, it's about Mary and Ron, and that's what matters.

Saw the entire Prevosti clan--they are the family in which you'd like to be a member. Warm, kind, real, incredible people. Saw Joy for the first time in nearly 20 years...Nicky, Lou, Helene, mom, pop (Tony showed up the next day). It was so much fun seeing them and reminiscing about the past. Especially Labor Day Weekend 1988, Poconos, Tom Riley's parents' house.

(I love Tom Riley.)

Time for a pic. That's Gary.

Anyhoo, rehearsal dinner was fun--finally met Ron, he and Mary do make an incredible couple. I always liked Mary's boyfriends, which is more than I can say about most of my other friends' boyfriends, and it broke my heart whenever she broke up with any of them. I went into the rehearsal dinner completely sure I would be happy with Mary's choice of beau. I am. He passed. Phew!

Dinner over, Kate and I have to get back to Bate's. We stop and get beer and a beer opener and smartfood (a fave of mine) and bet back to motel. Hung and read. And drank. Nice.

Saturday, another HOT HUMID MISERABLE weather day in my world.

Walked to town and got coffee at a cool little cheese place that has great cheeses at reasonable prices. Picked up bread and cheese and some ham as well. The firemen's parade was going on as well, so we looked at the old fire trucks and new firemen. Kate bought me the most wonderful cherry bag ever. (Finally used it the other day. Love it!)

Got back to hotel and picked up car. Went to Greenport again and the town is kinda cute and rocking. Got Hershey's Ice Cream--totally wow and yummy! It's hard to get, impossible in California. Not crazy creamy or sweet--just good, old-fashioned ice cream. We were happy. Then, the fun really REALLY begins.

Another pic to end this entry:

Reconditioning the world

Holly and I strongly believe that if everyone treated one another the way Blanche and Molly treat each other (see pic above), there will be no more strife or upset in this world. The love will be pure and ring throughout the land.

Here's are some human traits I find truly distasteful:

• hypocrisy (for example: "Don't tell me not to curse, then cry to me you lost your 'fucking' cell phone, you fucking fuck.")
• dishonesty (eg: good thing I can't think of anything off-hand, but anything Bush says qualifies)
• broken promises (unfortunately there's a lot to say about this, but this is a happy fucking moment)
• refusal to take responsibility (cats take responsibility for everything! for example, who drank the last of the wine? ________ [enter feline's name here]; who broke the computer [again...]; who charged $2,000 worth of junk of eBay [ditto, you get it...])
  

Here are some feline traits I find truly distasteful:

• licking butt (yours or another's)
• sliding butt across floor to remove poop stuck to fur
• eating regurgitated food (yours or another's)

Good joke from Brian Marshmallow: Chelsea Clinton was interviewing a soldier returning from Iraq. She asked him what he fears. After a couple of minutes, thinking hard, the soldier replied, "Osama, Obama, and your Mama." PS: Brian, Kate doesn't even know who you are.

Here's one good thing about global warming: The Northwest Passage may finally be wide enough to allow ships to pass through. Now we'll finally be able to pollute the only remaining untouched part of our world.

Bruce Lee called me today. Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cooked a little today:

1. roasted beets for tomorrow's beet and goat cheese salad (got goat cheese and olive oil from the cheese shop in carmel)


2. roasted potatoes with salt, pepper, fresh chives, olive oil, then added pesto for another salad


3. roasted tomatoes with salt, pepper, basil. Going to have a oatmeal-bread and roasted tomato salad with that.

I'm in a bit of a roasting phase. Tomorrow I'll give the honest opinion of my meal with Carolyn. She's bringing wine, so it should be very very good. It's so much fun cooking and eating with friends--if only I could do that for the rest of my life. I'd need to find me a sugar daddy.

Most of today was spent at the bakery--catering, wholesaling, etc.

I leave you with the smiling face of Cousin Gilda :-)

It's raining. I am sooooo very happy

A good day

Started early today--helped Tina with a catering job for the aquarium (picked up tablecloths, tomorrow I'll really help). Was kicked out of my house all day because Griselda was there, so had to wing it as creatively as possible. Ran along the water in PG on the rec trail (started outside Tom's house to just past Lover's Point). Ran a lot too!!!

Showered at Elana's, had breakfast, then decided to kill time. Went back to the water and napped lightly in my car (sounds weird to my fellow NYers, but trust me, if you could do it, you would!!!), got a manicure (hottest nails in California), then back to pick up Elana, where we went to the Tuesday Farmer's Market--for me, the first time in forever as a retail customer! Actually, went twice. First with Elana to hand out fliers about the light brown apple moth spraying. (this moth is disgusting. a friend of mine has a tree outside his house that is so badly infested that when I get into my car I have at least three unwanted visitors with me.) The state overruled the locals and went ahead and sprayed the pheromones/pesticide to eradicate this pest all over the peninsula, however the stuff has never been tested on humans and animals to find out what the effects are. I was in NY (haven't finished the blog as of yet, Mary's on her honeymoon and according to my blog she's not even married!) when the spraying happened.

Back to the farmer's market. Went a second time with roomie and saw several people that I was very happy to see. Got lots and lots of good things--a couple of vintage loaf pans in which I plan to fill with breads, veggies (plan to make a beet, goat cheese, and potato salad, veggies courtesy of a wonderful organic farm in Carmel Valley called Serendipity Farms). Also got gorgeous heirloom tomatoes that I will roast and then figure out their ultimate end.

Saw Sunny at the market and he overheard me telling someone I was unemployed. He's a customer at the bakery and he may know of some work for me. Also saw Carolyn from our lovely tea service, and she too may have some leads.

Saw my Ilya, busy man, fed me as well.

My NYC trip 9-5 to 9-13

(Jesus in Brooklyn, that's how I know I'm really in Brooklyn!)

It was so good to be home!!!!!!!

Took the red-eye to JFK, airtrain to Howard Beach, and then the A train to Hoyt-Schmermerhorn, G to Bergen. Schlepped up the subway steps then 4 flights to Kate's abode--yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm home!!!!!!!!!!!!

New cats: Lily Gorilla and Tox. Tox looks like a cow, so I renamed him Moo. Lily is a combination of Molly's physique and Lucy's coloring--more tabby-like though. She's a dream, always smiling with her sweet pink lips.

Kate, best friend ever

Hung with Tommy for a little bit and he is still awesome. I forget how much I really like him until I see him again. Usually I bitch about him a lot when I don't see him, but he's still little tommy krader.

Killer heat--so not used to it. Hot and humid. Didn't even use moisturizer, so humid.

Suzette rocks as well, and now has me completely obsessed with spiders.

Thursday took it kinda easy, read at the house a lot, then met Daralee at her house for dinner. She looks terrific--got her cateracts removed and she's without her coke-bottle glasses and she looks hot!!! We ate at Cafe Loup on 13th and 6th. Good food, and again, great to be home.

Got home later than I planned to so Kate and I didn't go out.

Friday--got the car and went out to the island to see Terry and Larry before going to the North Fork. This is the last time I'm seeing the house since she sold it and they're moving to the retirement community in Connecticut for forever. Lots of memories there, mostly good. Ate lunch at a diner, then saw Aunt Lillian. She looked wonderful--she's packing to make the move with T&L. Terry's still herself and Larry's still the know-it-all, but she's happy and loves him and that's only what matters.

(favorite view from Daralee's rooftop--awesome, huh? this is where me, kate, and suzy grew up)

Got on one of those blasted roads to try and get to the LIE and guess what! I remembered I may not have packed my skirt for the wedding. Not good. Pulled off the road and called Terry's. Larry answered and I wanted to know where Terry was. At Lillian's. Okay, where is the nearest Target. Carle Place. Where is that? Near the Coliseum. That doesn't help me. Can you get back here? I can try...and I got there and fortunately Terry was back from Lillian's. Thus begins a crazy ride to some target, somewhere in the Island. I had told terry how bad the traffic was on the road I was on, so she got me on a more direct route to the LIE. Got the skirt, too big, but better than nothing, literally.

On the Northern Parkway, all's well. Some traffic, but working. Throughout all this I need to pick Kate up at 6:21 in Mattituck--it's already nearly 5. Mattituck is way out on the North Fork, in a land far, far away. The rehearsal dinner is at 7 in Greenport--farther, farther away. I have sattelite radio and a station called "lucy", how could I not? (fyi: didn't see the giant bowling pin but DID see my famous duck! (so many thanks to Luke Cole for being such an awesome photographer and knowing, just knowing, how much I'll like his stuff!!!!!)

DUCK!!!! my favorite large object in the world.

So, ms krader calls when her train is pulling out of ronkonkoma and i am just seeing the sign for it. At least I'm kinda on target. She, thinking she's the cutest, says, let's race, see who gets to the station first. I'm still in traffic, so it's kind of out of my control, but, a race! against the LIRR! wow! Later, as she retells the story, she's sure I'm going to be late and she doesn't want to be standing at the station all by herself, while i'm out having a merry time. So, she hatches this ingenious plan to make it more fun. Aha! She's so smart!!!

For the record, I won the race. Got to the train station at 6:15, she pulls in at 6:21. Thus the beginning of our trip to Mary's Wedding!!!!