Another Lil Milestone

So today Amanda had her first full on attempt at babysitting Grace and Danny, for about four hours while Rose and I went to see Lauren and Charlie. We had done a dry run at our place last week, and that went pretty well. I was so good-I never called! Well once, just to say we were on our way back. I almost kidnapped Charlie and WOW, does he have neck strength for a two week old, holy smoke! He is absolutely precious, and Lauren has her mommy mojo down pat. Way to go, Chris and Lauren!

And way to go, Amanda! Mom's proud.

Everything in Its Right Place on 8/8/08

I haven't written here in WAY too long, not that there haven't been things to write about, but just been hectic and tense sometimes. Amanda is growing up, becoming a young lady and entering high school;been dealing with work; went to Maine, and brought Amanda's best friend Nora's family with us, which was awesome.

Tonight, Ian and I joined my oldest and dearest friend Sunita (we've been friends since kindegarten) for an evening with Radiohead at Liberty State Park, and it was a religious experience. Despite the weather earlier in the day, the evening was glorious, blue sky, cool breezes. The vibe at the venue was sort of neo-Woodstock, lotta hippie postcollege types, only grievance was the long walk from the train to the venue and uber security. There was a kind of 'corral' for folks drinking, with a bracelet with a five drink limit, and last call was at 830pm, before the main concert, we didn't get there til about 730. Not that i needed five beers per se, but it was just so...controlled. No matter really we had a fantastic time. That night, everything was in its right place.

Graduation

Amanda graduated from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs yesterday, and it couldn't have been a nicer day. The day started with a special mass in the morning, where honor cords were distributed for the kids to wear later in the evening. Amanda and I then went to breakfast with her best bud Nora (who also racked up a bunch of honors-both she and Amanda were the only two girls that received excellent athlete awards) and her mom, Maria, who will be joining us in Maine this summer. I love these two immensely.

Later that night, the ceremony went smoothly and swiftly, with Amanda racking up several more awards, including my personal fave, the St. John's University "Women in Science" award. Of late she's been talking about becoming an astronaut (her group in class also won first place for a science fair project on rockets, could be the start of something here...) and I'd love to see it happen.

I was pretty ok up til this point, actually, until I saw a parent of younger children who has helped me out tremendously this past year with some school events, and then it hit me that I wouldn't have to do this stuff at Martyrs anymore and we were both crying. Then when I saw Amanda's two main teachers and we gave them flowers, we cried some more. Her main teacher's son goes to St. Francis Prep though, so she reminded me that we'll be selling cookies together next year and I felt a little better.

Where does the time go?

Yer Out!

Bonnie Fuller is outta there! Bring on the champagne!

Electric Company is Coming Back

Gawker says they're bringing back one of my favorite shows ever, The Electric Company, in addition to shooting new episodes in Washington Heights. I just wanted an excuse to post one of my fave actors, Morgan Freeman here, as Easy Reader!

Meeting Mr. Met at Shea Stadium

Ian's uncle got us a bunch of tickets to go to Shea Stadium, and we took Amanda's best friend Nora along for the ride, her first time at a professional baseball game. Since Amanda, Ian and her grandad didn't have purses, they went on ahead to our seats early, while we had to be searched. But we came across the rare opportunity for a photo op with Mr. Met, so Nora and I obliged. It was a great day! Amanda also got to hang out with one of her favorite cousins, Brian, who is sadly going to be moving back to California at the end of the month, but now Amanda can go visit him!

Rock the Cradle

Is anyone watching this show? It's been quite entertaining, a few cringe-worthy moments, but some great ones as well. And I have to say, How did Dee Snider sire such a hot son? Jesse looks like a sharper, hotter, buffer version of Vince Neil, with a wicked smile, even if he is bratty. I love watching this guy with his acrobatics. He's not the world's greatest singer, but he's driven, charismatic, and having fun.

And Chloe Lattanzi? I have to give the girl props for having balls, she is a strange bird. Her dad lives in a teepee, and her mom is Olivia Newton John, who I love. Despite her hating the material, I thought she pulled Spears' "Toxic" off as one of her best performances on the show.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Jesse Blaze Snider's myspace, and saw a link to Lucy Walsh's, who was kicked off tonight. I have to admit, I found one song of hers, "Guilty" to be a pretty darn good piece of 80s style pop, at first it sounds a little like "Sunglasses at Night." Great dance track.

New Blog, Quirks

Please check out my new blog that I started today, Quirks (link on left or headline).

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Ian and I went out to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" last night which was so sweet and hilarious. I think my new crush is Jason Segel. I loved him on "Freaks and Geeks." And his birthday is the day after mine (of course he's a bloody decade younger than me!)

Forest Hills, My Kinda Town

After I left the gym this morning, I'm walking along Austin Street and see a couple of people holding up signs guiding along a stream of people walking together. I ask a lady where they're from and she said "Spain!" So I said "Enjoy, welcome!" and she said "Thank You!" It was just kinda cool to be on the flip side, to have tourists visiting my town. And let me tell you, Forest Hills Square is so pretty this time of year, trees in bloom and cobblestone streets, spring has sprung. It's good to be alive.

Not So Glamour-ous

I must be getting old for Glamour, because I admit I bought this issue out of boredom, and I thought the same damn thing. (click headline for link.)

Facebook Addiction

It's real.

A Fun-Filled, Life-Affirming Weekend

Busy busy. Friday night, I attended a 20-year high school reunion happy hour at a bar in Brooklyn called Union Hall (since I couldn't attend the actual reunion at school) where I mingled with old Technites, proud of my professional and personal station in life (only one other had a 14 year old- a boy!), filled up on a nice share of compliments, old hs stories and exchanges. Many looked the same, a few had radically changed (height? hair? no hair? It all evens out). After an old boyfriend got in touch with me about a year ago to apologize for some things (19 years later!), and seeing him at the reunion, it was positive reinforcement to me for acting the way I did then, and how I'm perceived now. I feel pretty damn good.

Saturday night, went to a buddy's surprise 35th birthday party, to find out my best-friend faced a life-threatening situation that thank God turned out alright. She was glad (and so was I) to cut the rug and have a few laughs to remember that we have our families, our friends and each other, and things are good.

Both Saturday and Sunday Amanda had her second AAU tournament in Millburn, NJ and we won all of our games! Her new coach is giving her confidence back that had waned thanks to a previous coach. The girls are great (many of who are the same, having jumped ship too) and I'm excited. Will post team pics soon!

As a complete non-sequitor, it was because of Paul Giamatti's amazing performance as Harvey Pekar in "American Splendor," that I took interest in his comic book (same name) about ordinary life in Cleveland, Ohio. He was recently tapped to appear in an episode of "Anthony Bourdain's No Resevations," and I'm just giddy again!

It's a good day.

Go Kansas Jayhawks!

What a helluva comeback! Ten seconds left and down three points, Mario Chalmers makes a three pointer with two seconds to spare, they go into overtime, finally win 75-68.

Fourteen

Happy Birthday or Joyeux Anniversaire! Je t'aime toujours, ma cherie.

C'est Vrai

Just a couple of (the many) good lines from last night's John Adams on HBO, which was wonderful.

“If ever there was a city designed to distract us from our troubles, it would be Paris.” -Thomas Jefferson

“Women would add interest to many things, Mr. Jefferson, if men would allow it.” -Abigail Adams

Must Read-The Lovely Bones

I'm probably the last person on the planet to read Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones," which came out in 2002, but if you haven't, please do. I just finally read it over the past couple of days. It's a moving story about a 14-year old girl that is brutally murdered (that's the very beginning folks, I'm not giving anything away here), but the main character ascends to heaven and watches as her family's life unfolds and moves on, keeps an eye on her friends and her first love, and there's some surprises. The writing is beautiful and poignant, and Kleenex should be at hand.

My Daughter's 'Heavenly' Obsession of the Week

My daughter is in love with skater Ryan Sheckler. After saying "he's so hot!" about five million times while watching his show on MTV the other night, I was cracking up when she said "how does he live, doesn't heaven want him back?" And "Isn't he a hunk of heaven?" Too friggin' funny.

She also loves Johnny Knoxville and Bam. Let's see where this ride takes us!

Two TV Miniseries

Anyone catching HBO's miniseries John Adams with Paul Giamatti (whom I love) and Laura Linney? It's been great to watch, love the scene where Thomas Jefferson drafts the Declaration of Independence and then Adams and Ben Franklin read it over and discuss it with him. I also love the banter and affections between Adams and his wife (Linney)-poignant/scary scene when she chooses to innoculate the family against small pox and then her daughter gets it. Looking forward to next Sunday.

Also, there's a miniseries on the WE Channel, High School Confidential, where they follow 12 girls over the course of four years at a high school in Kansas, some pretty serious, candid stuff. I've been watching together with Amanda.

Nobody Owes You Anything, You Owe Yourself To Take Responsibility for Your Own Actions

I quickly became enraged this weekend when I began to read a story in this Sunday's paper (click my headline for link) about a woman-a lawyer no less, who is suing seven casinos $20 million dollars because she lost $1 million at the table and the casinos did nothing to stop her addictive-like behavior, which included staying at the table using disposable wipes to 'brush her teeth' and eat complimentary candy bars, so as not to lose her spot at the tables. Are you kidding me?

This calls to mind the cases years earlier against Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest when a couple of kids killed themselves and the parents sued the artists for the music for provoking their children. Where were the parents when their kid was depressed to talk to, comfort, look for signs until too late?

Mothers that complain that certain teen idols OWE their daughters to dress or carry themselves a certain way, because its the fans that got them where they are.

Nobody owes me anything. I owe it to myself to be a good person, to love and look after my family, my friends.

I am a very tolerant and forgiving person, but the gall of these people to blame their problems on outside forces and not take responsibility. It just kills me.