We All Eventually Become Adults

Kate and I just had dinner with my cousin Adam and his wife Bella. I'm the oldest cousin on my Dad's side, with Adam pulling in second, two and a half years my junior. All of the cousins on that side have always been close. The fact that my Dad, his two brothers, and my grand parents all ended up living within 30 or 40 miles of each other had a lot to do with that. Growing up we had frequent family gatherings, and all the cousins got to grow up together. Some of my fondest memories involve that whole group of people.

So it's really cool when those relationships make the jump from childhood to adulthood. Not that I'm a stranger to adulthood. I'm now closer to 40 than 30, which is a scary prospect. Even my youngest cousin is 18 or 19 or something like that (sorry Erik...I'm not good at keeping track of that sort of thing.) But I'm finding myself spending time with cousins on a more one-on-one basis lately, and as couples, which is really cool. That's what I'm trying to say. I'm getting to know my cousins more as people individually, and less as that nebulous group, "My Cousins."

Part of the reason I'm getting such a late start really getting to know Adam is distance. He and his wife have been gone from the East Coast for quite some time now, so we almost never get to see one another. And, at least in the past, when we did, it was at some large family gathering, where conversations tended to occur on a group level rather than individually. Which is why tonight was so great. Kate and I really got to know Adam and Bella individually, without the group dynamic interfering.

We've also been recently getting to know my cousin James and his wife Amy more. James is, I believe, the second youngest of the cousins, unless I'm forgetting someone. He was still just a tot when I was hitting early adulthood. I didn't really know him that well, beyond the fact that he apparently thought I and my fellow older cousins were freaking hilarious. We'd have James to the point of tears (of joy) sometimes. I got to know him more as he got older, of course, but only recently have we been able to really start a real friendship.

I think it's all great stuff. My cousins are some of my favorite people on the planet and I hope to never lose touch with them.

Comedy and Friends in NYC Part 1

Have you missed me?! So sorry to ruin an amazing stretch of continuous blog entries since the beginning of the year. I left for NYC with the thought that a computer would be around somewhere for me to do my entries on and I was quite wrong about that. We stayed at Lara's apt. in the Upper East Side and she kept her laptop at work and no one was high tech or rich enough to have a Blackberry or iPhone. Well, enough for all my excuses, I will do my best to make up for all my lost days. 3 or 4 if I include today's entry.

Let me start by saying this was my favorite NYC visit to date. It was just perfect - great conversation with amazing new and old friends with the beautiful city surrounding us. We stayed at Lara's great NYC one bedroom apartment. She is one of Brooke's lifelong childhood friends. Har place was beautifully decorated. I love when people use small spaces so wisely. I ended up staying there both nights with Alison aka Al, Tracy aka Burn, Brooke, and Lara of course.

The bus ride in was a completely painless and easy venture. To think I was so nervous, it's so ridiculous how worked up you can make yourself about the easiest duties. I guess it had just been a while since I explored my adventurous nature. Well, now that that's out of my system, going again we be no huge undertaking. On the trip I got into a new book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, and listened to my new iPod, it was very relaxing.


Got off the bus at the NYC Penn Station and had a call from Brooke letting me know the plans had changed. She wasn't going to meet me early in NY anymore, but that she woulf see me at the Comedy Club at 5pm. It was about two and I decided I'd grab something to eat and take photos while walking to Caroline's, the comedy venue Brooke was performing at, showtime at 7pm. It was a bit hot with two bags and my camera, but I managed, and it was great being in the center of the city again regardless of the conditions. I got some great shots and ate half a turkey and brie sandwich and a cup of corn chowder for lunch. It's easy to find good food in NY. The mission was to spend as little as possible on my trip.


When I got to the club, it was about 5 and I decided to chill there and wait. I had a reservation and asked if I could come in early. No luck. They couldn't allow anyone in until 5:45, so I waited in my sweaty bus clothes. I really wanted to get a chance to change, so I started scouting out for a bathroom. Found one in a lovely Starbucks. I didn't even get a beverage, they've taken enough of my money before and will continue too. I went back to find another girl my age just chilling in front of the club. I had a funny feeling that she was with our group. The deal was these were friends of Brooke's from all different parts of her life. Most were from New Jersey where she grow up and some were from when she lived in NYC for a few months a few months back. I had met Burn a couple times and Lara once before, but everyone else were new acquaintances.

I went in around six when a text from Brooke came in letting me know she was already in the club. Weird, she must have gone in when I was in Starbucks, I thought. Anyways I go to the bar and start talking to that girl from outside. Turns out we were both there for Brooke. She felt like we had met before and was sure I was "a Brooke supporter". Her name was Alison, but everyone calls her Al. She was just a joy to be around immediately. It was like we had known each other for years. We had a beverage. She said that she'd just driven in from DC, but would soon be moving to Arizona. Too bad since she right down the way from me. Anyways we waited as more folks came in, and we met up with Burn, Lara, Lara's brother, and a few other ladies from Brooke's life. They were all great, down-to-earth people and since they all knew each other it was easy to just jump right into conversation. We all sat together and anticipated Brooke's performance.

All the comedians were hilarious. Brooke came up about seventh, and she looked great in her jelly shoes, which became part of her act of course. Brooke just has an amazing comedic delivery. She is a funny lady even when you're having a normal conversation with her. I was so proud of her. I couldn't stop taking photos, which has its drawbacks when you want to pay all your attention to the performance, but I got a few great shots. She was so confident on stage. She did this impression of her uncle that was priceless. I love you darling, and I hope the absolute best in your endeavors, we are all rooting for you!

There were a couple guests comics, namely Darrel Hammond (from SNL) and Judah Friedlander. It was a great surprise. I've seen Judah on Comedy Central a few times. I walked in during his session and he started talking to me. He gave me a sexy nickname, it was awesome. He stopped me at the end of the show and asked me to send him the photos I took, how cool.


We all met up at an old hangout of Lara and Brooke's (conveniently, down the street for Lara's). I had been in contact with Jill, and she met us at the bar. It was great to see her and again all of Brooke's friends got along with her famously.

We hung out there all night, till the wee hours of the morning. New faces kept arriving and everyone was just splendid to be around. Burn, Al, and I are all unemployed waifs, so we had plenty of unemployment woes to share.

This is a first part of the weeks long venture. My adventure continues tomorrow when I pack up to go camping with another group of ladies. The trip is for Lauren's birthday, who is a dear friend of mine also from college. I know most of the girls, but some are from her new production life in NYC where she's been working on film and TV production for the past year or so. I really can't wait, we're staying in a tree house and going hiking and tubing. Love it! I will be indisposed at this time (no internet access in the woods), but come Monday I will be back to work on this positively terrific blog. Coming soon Part 2 of NYC.

Kate Comes Home

What can I say? I'm on vacation. These next few posts will probably be shorties. But this is a pretty great positive.

Kate gets home today! I was gone all weekend, and by the time I got home Monday afternoon Kate had already left for New York. But our five days apart ends in under an hour. I'll be picking her up from the bus station around 5:15. I missed you, Sweetie. Welcome home.

The Life

Being on vacation, with nothing to do all day, but with dozens of potential things to fill the time is the life. I can, subject only to my whimsy, do something productive, something fun, or nothing at all. I can plan out my entire day and then, with no reason given or needed, tear it down and rebuild it differently.

Schedules are for suckers with jobs, which for this week, isn't me. I going to go install an in-ground pool in the backyard and relax by it.

The One O'clock Hour

One o'clock in the afternoon is roughly when hangovers break. At least for me. This morning I was hungover and had to fly, which is never a good combination. Eight Old Fashioneds at the wedding last night promised me a good time at the reception, a horrible time at two in the morning, and a semi-crappy, hungover morning.

It's immeasurably positive with the hangover breaks.

It will be quite some time before I get that blotto again.

It was fun, though.

Bus Bound to NYC

Okay, so my NYC adventure starts today. I will be taking the city bus to the bus to NYC. It will be great not to have worry about a car, I'll get to listen to my iPod while I read my new book. It will hopefully be relaxing and comfortable. It should take about 3 hours to get there. Then I'll meet Brooke and her friend Tracy on the Upper East Side.

I've never taken a bus by myself for a long distance, but I'm sure it will stir up some good story or entry material. Let's get this journey started. New experiences and good friends await.

Good Times with Family Friends

Hanging out with old family friends can be so refreshing. They know your family and your background, so the conversation just flows. I've always liked how I can feel comfortable hanging out with any age group, I've never had a problem relating to any sort of person. Yesterday I went to Bill and Sue Parker's graduation party for Kathleen, she just graduated from MICA. It was I nice laid back environment with great food, yummy Summer drinks, and plenty of good conversation. Fred, another long time family friend, was there and was so hilarious and down-to-earth. I really enjoyed the company, thanks for a great party Sue and Punch and congratulations Kathleen!

This Has to Be the Nicest Hotel Room I've Ever Stayed in!

Seriously. This has to be the most modern, urban hipster friendly, kick-assinest hotel room I or Steph have ever had the pleasure to have a restless night's sleep in (that has nothing to do with the room, though, and more to do with yelling in the hall...kids.)

If I had my camera I'd take pictures and post them here, but I don't so a description will have to suffice. I'll preface by saying that it's not a large room. It's smaller than many rooms I've stayed in. But they've done a lot to maximize the space. All the furniture is solid wood, and very modern. The art on the walls is unlike anything I've ever seen in a hotel. One painting looks like dozens of Picachus (from Japanese anime) climbing a tree.

Steph and I were like kids in a candy store when we were first exploring the room. It has a 42 inch HDTV, one of those single serve container based coffee makers (we each had a cup immediately), and the Pièce de résistance, a clock radio with big speakers and an iPod dock. We figured out how to mount Steph's iPhone and had an instant, personalized stereo in the room.

The bathroom is beautiful. Greenish glass tile on most walls, with a free-standing round basin sink against long, rectangular brown floor tiles. The shower is enclosed in glass except for one open half wall. There is no door, which looks cool, but turns out not to be a case of form over function. With no door the cold air leaks in throughout your entire shower. Not ideal.

In any case, we're very much enjoying our stay here in Chicago. Now I have to post this before the 24 hours of internet access I purchased runs out.

Freedom Trip

I'm taking a trip next week that will inevitably be bringing back some fond memories of my old adventurous life. As you all know Jason is now away with his sis and I'm staying here and will get to experience a weekend without Jae (the first in many many moons). I don't necessarily know how fun the weekend will be, I'll probably do very little outside the home, but the idea that I'll be living the single life again is both exciting and scary. I'm going to a party for a very long time family (the Parker's) friend's daughter's college graduation. So crazy how time is flying so fast for us all, I remember when Kathleen just started college and now 4 years later and she's done. It should be fun hanging with old family friends. And if I get overwhelmed with too many unknown faces I can always walk to my Uncle Don's house, since I'll be around the corner. We'll see, either way I'm making my own decisions today.

What was the point of this entry? Oh yea, I'm going to drive to NJ to see my friend Brooke (who's in town from Utah), drop my car off at her parents house, hopefully get to visit with her family for a little bit and then go into NYC by train or Brooke's car. She is doing a comedy act at Caroline's in Times Square. She's been performing for a while, but I've never got to see her live. I'm very excited for her and to see the performance. We're then probably hangin out in the city, drinks, good times, etc. I'm staying with Jill Monday, so it will be great to see her as well. Then staying with Lauren (another great friend from college) both Tuesday and Wednesday night. All other plans are up in the air, hopefully I get to have quality city town with Brooke. Either way I'm doing my own thing with my girlfriends in the city I hold dear to my heart. It's been so long and I've missed the energy terribly. Even if Brooke's not around the whole time (BTW Jill and Lauren will have to work during the day hours, so I'll only be hanging with them in the evenings.) I'll have my camera and a beautiful city in my mist. I will hopefully find a lot of amazing inspiration. And don't worry I'm spending as little money as humanly possible. It will be difficult in such a expensive and tempting city.

I love you Jason, have a wonderful time with Steph. Get your drink on at the wedding and have fun. I can't wait to see you on Thursday!! Love you babe!

Chicago Bound

I'll be traveling this afternoon to Chicago for a friend's wedding. But accompanying me on the flight won't be Kate. We couldn't reasonably pay for two tickets. Instead my sister, known on this blog as Steph, Sae, and Bloom, will be joining me. She was invited to the wedding as well and was in a similar financial position. So we'll both be skipping out on our significant others and heading to Chicago together.

More than the wedding, this is what I'm most looking forward to. Getting a chance to hang out with Steph, just the two of us, and the 260 other people coming to the wedding. Steph said it best on the phone a few days ago. We get together occasionally, but with Jackson occupying a lot of her attention and other family members, the two of us don't get to talk much. I know Steph's heart is breaking, having to leave Jax for even a day, let alone two, but I know she's also looking forward to reconnecting this weekend.

It should be a good weekend, followed by a week off from work (I was taking Monday anyway, and decided to just take the week.) I'm so looking forward to this upcoming week and change taking as long as possible to pass.

Goodbye Mr. Hughes and Thank You!

We lost a brilliant writer and director yesterday, Mr. John Hughes. He created such wonderful 80s masterpieces from my childhood. My top John Hughes movies in this order are:

1) Ferris Bueller's Day Off
2) Sixteen Candles
3) Breakfast Club
4) Some Kind of Wonderful
5) Pretty in Pink
6) Mr. Mom
7) Uncle Buck
8) The Great Outdoors

I also love the Lampoon Vacation films, but didn't know where they fit on my best of list. I need to see Weird Science and Planes and Trains and Automobiles again. John wrote all of these classics, and directed a few of them. He really knew how to write dialogue for the angst teenager residing in us all. He was definitely one of a kind. I would love to have a John Hughes movie marathon. These films bring back such great childhood memories. I rarely remember movie dialogue, but when I watch a Hughes film I can quote them also all the way through. I felt a real connection to Molly Ringwald, growing up an awkward strawberry blond with the fairest skin. These films touched me and were so hilarious . They will forever be on my best of lists, thanks Mr. Hughes.

More Than Just a Car Sale

This popped into my head randomly this morning and it seemed entry worthy.

Pay attention to the people who blip in and out of your life. Even the seemingly insignificant players will often have useful information and experiences if you take the time to talk with them.

The event that formed the memory that came to me earlier happened about five years ago. I was attempting to sell my Elantra at the time, and this day was showing it to a father and son pair. The son was probably in his mid 40s, with his father easily in his 70s. They test drove the car with me, deciding to buy. We chatted a bit that day and made plans for the father to come back to make payment and get ownership transferred. He and I spent an hour or so that next day getting things signed and notarized. On the way we also stopped so I could book a rental care for a few days until I could purchase my new Civic.

Clearly Mr. Car Buyer was a bit player on the grand stage of "Jason's Life." But he made a strong impact. Turns out the guy was something of a genius and an armchair economist. A retired engineer, he was very well read and very willing to look soberly at the world as it was, not as he'd like it to be. He was convinced we were in a housing bubble at the time, a runaway system that had to correct itself at some point. This went against everything I'd heard at the time. The prevailing wisdom from family and even real estate agent and investment professional friends was that, at worst prices would stabilize some day soon. That the housing market had found a new level, and that one day prices would simply stop rising so quickly.

Mr. Car Buyer wasn't convinced and made a strong case in opposition. Turns out he was right. I really wish I'd taken his advice to heart. I might have sold my house earlier and started renting for a while, which was his advice. Instead I went back to believing what I wanted to believe about the world. Which turned out to be inaccurate.

Whatever issues your having in your life, talk about them with people. Not to dump on them. Not because you enjoy yammering about yourself, but because people are interested in other people's lives, and they often have useful contributions to make. I was recently telling one of my coworkers about Kate's burgeoning photography business, and mentioned how we were trying to find a good, affordable site to act as a front end for selling prints to clients. Another coworker happened to walk in during our conversation and chimed in that her mother had a photography business she'd been running for years and used a great service she was really happy with. I got the information and passed it on to Kate. Had I kept to myself and assumed no one was interested in hearing about my and Kate's life I never would have found out about Katrina's mother.

So the moral here is just to talk to people. Even the people that might only appear in your life script for an hour or two. They're still people with their own life experiences, people that could make an impact on you if you let them.