Good Gravy

Thanksgiving 2008.

Rough start, but a great one.  Round one was at Dads place in Hilto

n. The menu was Ukrainian with Turkey... first time I've had smoked fish instead of st

uffing. And my step mom made THEE MOST DELICIOUS TORTE! It translates as "Drunk Cherry", and oh shoot, 

I just remembered it's still in the car. James and Jessica were energetic little entertainers. Pushkin wore a tuxedo. Dad and I talked electronics and music for a bit. He fixed my Grado Headphones, and I fixed his PC and Ipod. 

Jessica told various stories in order to humiliate James. This is what she told me when he went for my cell phone to "call the police"... 

James at the table, wearing his buffet pants.

Oh, you're so serious James.

Dad, an ambitious eater.  

Jessica showing me the the Rat King villain on the Barbie Nutcracker

Jessica and the little beast in his tux

And the amazing torte made by my stepmom!

Round two was at Moms place in Webster. Tryptophan might be a myth, but I definitely hit the couch for about 20 minutes. The food was excellent, and mom had enough leftovers for a village. Nick S came by, too, and made skinny remarks like, "I'm filling up on these cucumber slices"... come on. Grandma kept staring at him to eat more blintzes. Grandma and I also spoke briefly about visiting Ukraine the summer of 2009... it would be a dream come true. My favorite aunt came, and I can't believe how much my little cousin is growing up...man.. am I really almost 25?? I didn't take as many photos here, but the majority of the day was spent  "where life is worth living" (Webster). Lots of great conversation, and laughter, and "I can't possibly eat anymore"...yet we ate more.

An incriminating photo of my "I don't drink, and I've never been drunk" mother. Is that sparkling wine and a buzzed face? I think so!

The wonderful Dinner my mom made

The team. I asked everyone to hold up their knife and fork, no response.

And thats that! I worked "Black Friday" today at the cafe (nightmarishly busy), and now I'm off to work the box office. A documentary about the architecture of Antonio Gaudi is showing tonight, the only reason I recognize him is because of this wonderful flick from the summer... Lets hope it sells out.

Two Working Titles: Personal Remarks on Wednesday the 25th, er, 26th OR I must say, I felt nonchalantly poetic today

1. All day I thought it was the 25th of November

2. I was walking the dog and sneezed 3 times. A man across the street heard me, and waited to say "God Bless You" after he crossed the street towards me. I was surprised and a little confused... then again, it might've been rude for him to just yell it across the block.

3. At work, I saw a man and his mail order bride. He bought two coffee's, and later I overheard her asking the definition of "rebate". She was fashionable in an 1980's kind of way, he was in his 50's I think.

4. I heard a lady's accent change from an American accent to an English accent... as 

she was talking to an English woman. Did she think it wasn't obvious? Was she trying to impress her?

5.  Two things struck me as beautiful today:

--

The word, soliliquy. I just want to see it written over and over again in nice cursive. I want to hear it said in my ear in a whispered, deep voice  "soh--li-low-key". Don't you?

---

And then this photograph of Louise Brooks listening to records just took my breath away

(I feel that way too, Louise)

6. I sliced cheese for an hour at work, while listening to the classical station. And I thought to myself, " I could listen to classical music all day". I was overcome with a desire to see/hear live classical music as soon as possible. So, I think I'm going to see Stephen Hough @ Kilbourn Hall next Tuesday. I would love to hear Moonlight Sonata, but it's not in his program. 

 7. I'd like to start a supper club. 

8. Several friends from NYC  are back for Thanksgiving. I'm especially excited to see Alana and Phil.  Phil is the biggest rolling stones fan I know. 

9. Excited to see this movie 

 10. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I used to watch the big parade on the roof of my apartment building in Herald Square. Tonight we would've gone uptown to see all the balloons being inflated and lined up, and we would've stayed up late hearing the bands and marchers rehearse. I miss New York City, but I'm so happy here. I have so much to be grateful for. This has been my recovery year... and it's only going to get better.

Rut lifted.

Rut Lifted:

Now back to thinking about the things I prefer to think about, like: who's funnier, Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin? and, how many delicious combinations of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce

 can I create on Thursday?

Last night was a most lovely night. Had dinner @ Vanessa and Alberts place (with home made fettucini, and home made everything else...  Vanessa is a woman among women, cook among cooks). Then we watched one of the most far reaching, aesthetically pleasing films I've ever seen: Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors  , 

completing our Ukrainian Heritage Night ( a two parter, starting last week). 

Tonight Erin and I saw Diary of a Lost Girl, with Louis Brooks. A pretty abstract experience: silent film, accompanied by live piano, with German onscreen intertitles that were su

btitled in English! This time last year I  was in California, and I had a Louis Brooks haircut. I was pretty impressed with it, hence the dramatic photo... unfortunately it never looked that good again.

Funny thing happened tonight-- I was walking to class, listening to a special song, thinking of someone, and I actually walked in to that someone. How often does THAT happen? Cosmic.

Speaking of cosmic, I'm going to go dancing. Rut lifted, clarity achieved... I'm gonna do the twist to some old  motown records. 

 

my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one i love, but my mind holds the key

(looks about right for tonight)

i was talking to nick s. about what gets him out of a rut. he has 3 movies-- annie hall, lost in translation, and sans soleil. he can watch them at any point and feel instantly better. he said he's watched annie hall every night for 2 weeks now. i got  jealous. i couldn't think of anything that gets me out of a rut right away. except for listening to Fuck the Pain Away by Peaches 

i had to listen to it this afternoon and shake it a little between shifts at work. i have to listen to it right now. i will listen to it again in the car in a few minutes. 

i'm in a rut. 

peaches, get me out of this rut! 

hungry eyes, hungry arms

Well, I FINALLY got in to see a Dentist at the free clinic. Got a filling done in 45 minutes and left with a feeling of gratefulness and blessing. I overheard and saw a woman who just "got her smile back". She was smiling so, so big. I smiled back big, too.  If you haven't experienced charity, I highly recommend it. Waiting for the novocaine to kick in,  I had a few moments to stare at the ceiling and think about the best nights of my life. One was night swimming with the first boy I ever really loved. Another night was meeting Jeff Mangum. Another night is hopefully going to happen before the end of the year...

Later, the pup and I put on our winter hats and went for a long, long winterlude walk. The park I sat in just LAST Tuesday has shed all it's bright yellow leaves, and is now covered with snow. I noticed I still have summer shoes out, and a beach mat in my car trunk. It happened so fast, and now it's going to go so slow.

Dad and my little brother, (sweet baby) James, came by later in the afternoon. We laughed a lot. Dad and I have a similar sense of humor so we naturally team up and pick on the little  guy ("I can't get him out of the car seat, lets just leave him in the car"). The interaction between small animals and small humans is not only cute, but really funny. Pushkin kept standing on his hind legs and kissing James right on the face, they would lock arms and kind of slow dance, then James would make a gross face and push the dog away. All the while talking in a baby/Ukrainian/English language. A video and some of my favorite photos:

Hilarious.

Now off to play some old records at The Bug Jar... I'm thinking we'll slow dance tonight.

My Kinda Tramp

It's rare that I watch something and find it to be perfect. Not just the qualities, but the entire package: the cinematography, the story, the actors, the music, the feeling it gives me, the mosaic of thoughts!  I felt this sense of perfection and excitement tonight in my Silent Cinema class during one specific film. The topic of discussion was comedy; we covered Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Roscoe "fatty" Arbuckle...

So, for 25 minutes of Chaplin's,  The Immigrant, I held a feeling of "this is perfect, this is one of my favorites, i want to feel that.... i want to see that... i want to be that way..." I might've fallen in love with him for those 25 minutes.

Decades after decades it's still hilarious. It seemed I  was one of the only people in class laughing out loud, maybe because I'm new to taking film classes, maybe because Chaplin is still so new to me period.  I left class to chat briefly with some Dryden friends, saying "Don't you wish we could go see a Keaton or Chaplin film for the first time in a movie theater?" Imagine going the movies in 1920! 

That'd be something. Chaplin releasing movie after movie, not as an icon but as a comedian and director still making a name for himself. Maybe the audience felt the way I felt when I first saw The Kid  at Dryden last month. Oh, I wish I could see City Lights in a big movie theater with piano and violin and drums as accompaniment just like back in the day... 

Perhaps subconsciously, perhaps intentionally I started placing my hands on my face the way Charlie always did in his movies. When he's thinking, or when he's surprised-- you know, how he lines up his fingers at the bottom of his cheeks. Oh, I just lo

ved how he did that! 

When I was in 5th grade my friend Galina and I entered the school talent show. We did a silent sketch where I was a Charlie Chaplin type character and she was the lady I was trying to woo--- all the while making a fool of myself, falling over, dropping the flower I wanted to give her, clicking my heals when she finally took my hand. It was pretty creative for a 5th grader. 

I guess I've always loved Charlie. 

love is a dress you wear long to hide your knees

Today I:

1. baked 100 cookies (not a single one burned)

2. went on a walk w/ Pushkin ( neither of us had to wear a sweater)

3. went to Buffalo, on a whim, to see Iron and Wine with a bunch of folks 

   3a. tried something new

   3b. felt pretty swell

   3c. had my first limo ride...?

Catch A Wave

Despite the Autumn chill, Pushkin and I slow danced to Surfer Girl by The Beach Boys to start the day off right today. Freddy was less tolerant when I scooped him up for Surfing Safari. He seems to enjoy the classical station best of all, as soon as it comes on he lays on top of the record player and conks out. Last week we tried dancing to the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack but Pushkin started barking out the window when Thus Spake Zarathustra came on, and Freddy kept starring at the giant black monolith in the kitchen. No fun.

Went to Mellissa's place with Sam today to babysit Penelope. I finally finished her hat! A crochet, pink hat with beige flowers and green stems. 

Kind of blurry...Penny runs with the speed of light.

 

And now I MUST do what I said I'd do before work tonight:

1. Walk Pushkin

2. Clean my room (giant pile of clothes on chair is starting to look extra terrestrial)

3. Create playlist for tonight's set 

4. Work on the Bruce Springsteen mix I promised Michael. A musical metamorphosis!

And now, an evening walk.

238 Prayer

I wrote this prayer last week, on one of the last sunny days of the year. Sitting on a park bench, surrounded by yellow leaves, with my dog at my feet, a familiar number showed up when I checked the time: 2:38 p.m. I see this number daily , it seeks me out, it surprises me, it's a "hello", a reminder. From now on, I will say this prayer everytime 238 shows up.

Lord, I thank you in this moment:

For the opportunity to rest
For the opportunity to work

For the company of others
For solitude

For friendship with men and women
For friendship with animals, and all of your creation

For walks, bike rides, and long drives

For feelings
For thoughts

For today
For what happened yesterday
For what may happen tomorrow

For Your love, my love, and the love of others.

I thank you. Amen.




(first post, Hello Readers)