11/6/05
Occasionally I look at past blogs - and I now have 1,111 of them, thank you all for coming - and say to myself, "yes, yes, you're a firebrand liberal and very clever with your lists and whatnot, but what were you actually doing right then?"
So, for my future self, here's the deal. We have accomplished more than we ever hoped this season in the business, and while there's a long road to hoe, we need to concentrate on the big project due December 16. We will have a party on December 17, and this time, it was even Tessa's idea. Having discussed it with several folks in the know, we decided to go back to New York for Thanksgiving and stay through the holidays.
I'm going to start driving home next Monday, pick up Tessa at RDU later in the week, and watch us beat the ever living shit out of Dook on the football field. Hopefully, that night, we'll do the same to Gardner-Webb on the basketball court. There will be much buying of Tar Heel paraphernalia for Lucy (everything except the "baby cheerleader" uniform, which I find fairly creepy).
Then it'll be on to New York, which both of us miss terribly. I know we're getting home just in time for the shittiest weather, but frankly, the sun out here has grown a little oppressive. I know I'll regret saying this, but I wouldn't mind a light drizzle and 39 degrees just to keep us honest.
Plus, Christmas in New York - and the sweaty insanity of the Manhattan shopping experience - beats the long rows of houses out here in Santa Monica with blow-up reindeer and huge St. Nicholases that go "Ho. Ho. Ho." I'm looking forward to getting overly hot on a subway that has been heated up to 110 and full of steaming sludge tracked in by thousands of grumpy consumers.
That, and I miss hoops. I finally gave up on my San Gabriel Valley games at the Mormon church because I was so psychologically snakebit that I couldn't make a layup. It's as if the angel Moroni suddenly discovered I was having some secular fun in his church and has been swatting away all my jump shots. I need to go back to the Catholic God of St. Patrick's in Soho, who has been much more forgiving.
We'll be back in California at the beginning of next year, perhaps for longer. It's a strange thought, the idea of a longer-term residence, actually becoming as much Californian as New Yorkesque. If they made more television in NYC, we'd never leave, but we're not the "Law and Order" type. Weirdly, we're more of the "Wisteria Lane" variety.
Posted by Ian Williams at November 6, 2005 11:18 PMWelcome back! (In advance.)
And congrats to both of you on the big secret project.
There's no place like home for the holidays.
Safe driving, Ian. May I lurk around RDU to catch a glimpse of the beauty as it passes by? (notice I did NOT say stalk.)
Hey, did they film "the Squid and the Whale" at your house in Park Slope? Have you been gone that long? They shot it iin 28 days, but I imagine post-production takes a while, eh?
Congrats on your secret project, and NYC for Christmas sounds great--gotta have snow. Surely there's a Wisteria Lane-like place there somewhere???
Travel mercies of the methodist kind to all of you! (although they did just defrock the Lesbian minister---hmmm--rethinking my membership)
Ian, as much time as I've spent in CA (and probably will in the future) pushing myself for those pilots, living the not-so-ritzy LA life, but somehow very much liking the lifestyle there, there is nothing, absolutely nothing like coming home to New York. Especially for the holidays. I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, and here you've got me thinking about the sweaty masses trudging through grey slushpiles underneath millions of Christmas lights...so looking forward to it. Safe travels & have a very happy return.
Congrats on the big project Ian. Speaking of show biz - did you know that Bryan Tucker is now a staff writer for Saturday Night Live? This is his first season and he actually wrote the cold open from a few weeks ago (the one where Bush was reading questions to the troops and they were answering in scripted fashion back).
Speaking of hoops, I went to the UNC bball exhibition game on Friday and came away encouraged. I won't bore the non-basketballers on the blog with the details but this is going to be a fun team to watch.
Already something of a nuisance here I'm hesitant to nitpick, but I would've thought an Iowa boy like Ian would know that it's a long *row* to hoe.
Is this the party that you'll invite US to? We won't be creepy! I'm curious to see the faces behind the names. I want to meet Just Andrew, The Other Andrew, Andy, etc.....
Hint Hint Hint
Ian! I'll be at the dook game as well - perhaps we can arrange a quick introduction between the families at one point either before, during or after the game. :)
Sadly, you are already missing what is the most breath-taking Autumn we've had here in years. The leaves are changing, and there are occasional late night burst of rain, but it's been hovering between 55 and 65 degrees for most of the day with giant puffy clouds and amazing 5 PM sunsets. It's just cold enough to wear a sweater or a wind breaker, but I've gone out in a tee-shirt and felt nothing but inspired.
It will be great to have you back. You and the ladies you get to hang out with.
Having just returned from a weekend in Chapel Hill with our 2-year old, I have a few observations that may be more appropriate once Lucy is a little older.
1) I've always known Weaver Street Mkt is kid-friendly, but Elmo's Diner must now be the Chuck E Cheese of Carrboro.
2) At the game, toddlers are obviously not interested in sitting long ANYWHERE (duh). If you don't want to chase Kid all over Kenan's creation, I highly recommend the little John Deere Gator tractor Freddie the stadium plummer has parked right by section 113 on the concourse. That is where we spent the first half, along with 3 other kids who rotated sitting in the "driver's seat." At least from there you can peek through the section entrance and see the new scoreboard. Maybe that is where you can meet Tanya :-)
3) There is a nice community park on Estes across from the new Mall/A Southern Season.Oh, you should have your BlogReaderPalooza the weekend or week after Thanksgiving when we are up in NY/CT!
Party at Ian's house! Party at Ian's house! Party at Ian's house! We're ready! Will it be at your country house? Huh, huh?
And, to hell with the "creepy" standard. You can bet that some of your readers are within the range of creepy -- that's what you love about us, right? After all, one person's "creepy" is another person's "quirky yet charming." They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky, . . . Ian's blog readers!
So, party on 12/17. . . around noonish? OK. No need to send us all an official invite. We'll be at your country house waiting for you. I am sure we can find it via your past postings. I will be happy to round up your Maryland readers in my minivan. Thanks! : )
Oh, and you think the baby cheerleader outfits are creepy? Just wait until Lucy is 6 years old, and all that you can find in her size are low rise pants and bare midriff shirts a la Britney Spears for her to wear. Ugh! The horror! Thank goodness for LLBean and Catholic school uniforms.
And you realize that I am kidding about showing up at your country house unannounced, don't you? Don't you?? I would NEVER do that. Even though it does look quite nice and peaceful and. . . anyway. Of course, if I were to receive an invitation, I would be there with bells on.
"and for best impersonation of Kathy Bates in Misery, the Bloggy goes to..........."
you made the right decision. lucy's first christmas should be in nyc. you are so right about the tacky holiday displays in LA - the homes by my daughter's apt on los feliz blvd are the worst. when you get back to LA it's worth a trip over to that area - if only to show lucy how much better she had it in NY. get on los feliz blvd from western and just ride towards the 5 - the house that looks like a mosque is usually the highlight of the tour. can't wait to see the lucy holiday photo spread!!
Scruggs -- You must have been sitting behind our family (3 y.o. & 6 y.o.) at the game! The girls are precious in their little cheerleader outfits(OK - I gave in) but have no patience for actual football. We gave up at half-time and went to the Ratt to have lasagna and watch the rest of the game on the new TV in the circus room. Nice addition. Agreed that Elmos is the place to be for the preschool set, but at the Ratt you can draw on the walls and Mom & Dad can wander down memory lane. BTW - Hope all readers of the liberal variety will be purchasing AmericanGirl dolls for holiday gifts. It's an expensive racket, but now you can assuage your guilt by knowing you're sticking it to James Dobson.
Thursday night misses you, Ian. I always felt a little uncomfortable in those Morman church games myself. Of course, attempts to convert me from Judaism between plays didn't help. Back at St. Pats, the only angel to swat away your jump shots will be Yours Truly (except when we play together).
I'm late to today's game (does anybody besides me go back to check the previous day's late comments?) but my husband just got back from NYC with a pretty, shiny medal. He completed the marathon in 3:35:21, so I'm very proud of him. Apparently he finished in the top 10 percent - not bad for his second marathon.
Tough weekend for me, though. After two whirlwind weeks of mysterious but serious symptoms with no obvious answers, my sweet cat was finally diagnosed with cancer. I had to make the gut-wrenching decision late last night to help end his suffering. He slipped away shortly after midnight, still groggy from surgery, but hopefully just alert enough to know I was there to hold him and say goodbye.
He was my first "baby" (I adopted him and his sibling ten years ago shortly after graduation) and letting him go was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
The world felt a little bit colder today...
JJE,
Sorry to hear about your sweet baby. Dogs and cats just don't live long enough. They are so full of love...I'm sure you gave your kitty a life full of happiness.
Oops, that was from me.
Many thanks, CL. You're right that they don't live long enough and I feel particularly cheated that I only got 10 years with him. He had such a funny little personality. I'm going to miss him terribly and I'm worried that his brother will, too, once he starts to realize he's all alone.
I asked the vet over and over (while crying, of course), "Am I making the right decision?" and he assured me that I was, but even now I can hardly sleep for second-guessing myself.
JJE, I am so sorry- I know how terrible that is. For some reason, even though it's been two years, I was thinking the other day about when my cat Zooey died. Both Ian and I wrote about it:
http://www.xtcian.com/arch/001058.php
http://www.mlwms.com/blog/arch/2003_09_21_index.html
I'm just so sorry. It's so awful.
JJE - so sorry about your kitty. Chopes is now pushing 16, and the chart at the vet says "95 in human years." I know you just had a baby, so there's this weird handoff that, quite frankly, I was expecting soon after Lucy was born. So far, Chopes is fine but the stairs are hell.
One of my favorite quotes from Blakey, Tessa's dad, as he became a nonagenarian: "Tess, 90 sure ain't 80."
Matt: Man, I KNEW I got that wrong. I thought it sounded odd that one would hoe roads.
Party people: as long as I know who the hell you are, my party is your party.
JJE - my sympathies go out to you for your loss. I am sorry. My beagle, Jack, is my first baby (my 6 year old Helen tells people she has a big brother named Jack, and that leads to all sorts of confusion when people think Jack is a human), and I dread the day when he is not with us any longer. I honestly feel as though some days, the only one who understands me is Jack! I suppose you have to be a pet person to understand that. . . but it is true.
I am really sorry. And, you did the right thing. He knew how much you loved him, and he is no longer in pain.
I'm so sorry for your loss, JJE. You did the right thing.
Thanks, y'all. It means a lot to me that people understand that Cobi wasn't just a pet, he was a member of our family. He brought a lot of joy to our lives. How bittersweet is is to take comfort in our remaining three animals, but know that eventually, we'll likely undergo a similar experience with each of them.
It sounds sappy, but please give your pets an extra pat, treat or scratch today in memory of my sweet Cobi.
LFMD, We avoided the sibling confusion issue by naming our dogs Ghost & Goblin. Now, when Quinn says that Ghost is his brother, people just think he's creepy.
JJE, Sorry for your loss. I'll give the dogs an extra hug tonight.
Greg T -- you made me laugh! I should have done the same. The name confusion leads to all sorts of nosy questions. . . do you have any other children? Will you have any other children? Why not? I'll take creepy over nosy any day.
JJE: I will give Jack extra hugs tonight! I'll take him for a special walk (wherein he will sniff every rock, blade of grass, leaf, etc. and I will be patient) in honor of Cobi. Jack, by the way, loved cats.