Our Newest Member of the Family, Gracie!
13 years ago
Friday, August 28
The Jersey Report
Click on over to Avec Sucre for a report of my four days on the Jersey Shore. http://avecsucre.blogspot.com/2009/08/yo-jersey-whatup.html
Wednesday, July 15
ALA report and upcoming calendar highlights
I got back from ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference last night. It was in Chicago. It was an excellent conference this year. It was Egmont's first as an exhibitor and they had a really good time. Booth traffic was excellent, many new people informed of the company, authors had a great time, staff had a great time, which results in an overall very successful show.
It also results in exhaustion. My feet and legs feel almost normal today. The nerves on the bottom of by right foot and toes are tingly but I know that will go away. It's happened to me before after a conference. I'm standing for at least eight to ten hours every day and my foot nerves take a beating. I had comfortable, flat shoes with good support and cushion, but no matter what you wear, standing for that long that many days in a row is painful. Each night, my legs were aching. My feet would hurt but I really felt the tiredness in my legs. Two items with which I always travel to conferences are L'Occitane lotion specifically made for "tired legs" and Icy Hot. I use the L'Occitane during the day as it doesn't smell as offensive or strong as Icy Hot. It doesn't contain the drugs that Icy Hot does but it does tingle and feel good. But at night back in my hotel room, I slathered my legs from ankles to hip with Icy Hot. Ahhhhh.
I stood in the booth, I stood at reception parties, I walked between events. The only time I sat was to eat or listen to award acceptance speeches. And that was usually only for dinner as dinner was pretty much my only meal every day. I ate a few snacks (handfuls of peanut M&Ms and peanut butter crackers, a banana one day) but I don't think I had one lunch. Two breakfasts but one was at an event and therefor, a plate of banquet food and not very good. The little sandwich, mini bag of carrots and snack bag of m&ms on the flight home last night tasted like a four star restaurant.
ALA Annual is a marathon. Here's is what I did:
Thursday, July 9 - arrive in Chicago. Dinner with colleague. Not too late a night. Only had one beer. Off to a good start. One hour behind NYC.
Friday, July 10 - 9AM, go to convention center to set up booth. Grabbed a banana, yogurt, and croissant for breakfast. Great, set up only took a few hours. Had a nice lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores (picking up water for the booth, etc.) and ironing all my clothes for the week. Met with authors and staff for a casual, yummy Italian dinner, which included a bottle of Prosecco and wine. To bed at a relatively normal hour. This is the only day I got all 3 meals.
Saturday, July 11 - up at 6:30 to get ready for first day of exhibits. No breakfast. Exhibits opened at 9. Two authors autographing in the booth that day. Staff buzzing around to events and dates with authors and librarians. I hold down the booth all day with one other person. No lunch. Leave exhibit hall for Art Institute in order to set up for the cocktail party. Cocktail party a smashing hit 6-8PM. Worked the door the entire time greeting and welcoming guests. Lots of librarians, agents, authors, reviewers, etc. Some old friends, some new. Invited by Texas librarian friends to have deep dish pizza with them after the party. Ran things back to hotel, quickly changed into jeans and sneakers (the ONLY shoes I would wear if I could), and WALKED (not sure what I was thinking) the half mile to the pizza joint. Ate salad, one bread stick, and one slice of meat-laden pie. One slice is all you need. Trust me. One beer. Cabbed back to hotel of TX librarians for a nightcap. One vodka tonic. Cabbed back to my hotel. Bed around 1AM.
Sunday, July 12 - up at 6:30 again. No breakfast. Worked majority of the day ALONE in the booth. No lunch. Two author autographings in the booth. Rest of staff arrived at booth after a day of meetings and off-site appointments around 3. Finally got my first bathroom break. Exhibits closed at 5. Stood in football field long taxi queue to get back to hotel. Finally got to hotel 45 minutes later. 20 minutes to change into dress, freshen make up, brush teeth for Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet. Taxied to banquet with authors and staff in tow. Sat at banquet for a blessed three hours listening to acceptance speeches by the always entertaining Neil Gaiman, gracious Beth Krommes, and poetic & energizing Ashley Bryan. Within those three hours was a 45 minute intermission between dinner and speeches, during which I was standing again (in heels now because it's a dressy affair and heels are what are called for with my black silk dress) mingling and talking with authors and colleagues. Ate dinner. Four open bottles of wine on the table. Not sure how much I consumed. Only two glasses, I think. After speeches I crazily CHOSE to stay for the receiving line and congratulate friends on their awards. Stood at least another two hours. In heels. Shook hands and short convo with Neil Gaiman and all other award winners. Some were my friends from Holt and Harcourt so those convos were a little longer. All were wonderful and I was so happy for them. While waiting in line, gossiped with old friends, publishing peeps. 1AM. Discovered my ATM card not working and no cash for cab back to hotel. Stranded. Too far and late to walk alone. What to do? RESCUED! Friend spotted me $20 so I didn't have to sleep on the curb. Walked across the river with her, another editor, and a Newbery honor winner to their hotel. Asked the doorman to help me get a cab. Back to hotel and in bed well after 2AM. Totally worth it. What a great night.
Monday, July 13 - up at 6:30. Off to booth. No breakfast. ATM card still not working. Called bank. They don't know why it's not working. My accounts have money and there is no hold on my card (thought maybe they thought it had been stolen when Chicago charges started but nope). ATMs I was trying to use have money as I witnessed others getting cash. $2 is all I have. Have to rely from this point on on my co-workers to pay for everything. Ug. No autographings today. Two staffers depart. A little quieter in the booth, but still busy. No lunch. Iced coffee instead. Lack of sleep starting to catch up to me so the little shot of caffeine has an effect. Exhibits close a 5. Found a different taxi queue on other side of building that was much, much shorter. Got back to hotel faster. Had bottle of Prosecco with editor and director in hotel bar. Split up to our rooms to change for dinner and Printz Award reception. Had lovely dinner outside at a place in Lincoln Park. Ordered one local beer and the pork belly (will write more about all the food I did eat on Avec Sucre). Excellent. Caught cab down to reception. 8PM. Sat about an hour listening to award acceptance speeches of the five winners. All good. Stood 90 minutes-2 hours during reception talking with YA librarians and meeting & congratulating authors. Fun again but much more low key which was nice. Had half a beer. Taxi back to hotel. About 10:30PM. Turned on tv - Ferris Bueller! - and packed. Called Steve for first time in two days. Still didn't manage to get to bed until 1AM or so.
Tuesday, July 14 - up at the inhumane hour of 5AM. No breakfast. Finished packing toiletries, pjs, etc. Checked out of room, checked bags with bellman, meet author and coworkers for the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast. 7AM. Got to event late. Scrambled to find guests and table. Sat. Stood to sing Lift Every Voice and Sing. Realized I almost have this song memorized even though I only sing/hear it once a year at this breakfast. Been going to this breakfast for about 9 years. Sat. Ate breakfast. I think it was supposed to be eggs Benedict, but instead of Hollandaise, it had cheese sauce. Listened to CSK program and award winners. Left at 8:45AM for booth. Quiet day. Was able to walk around to other publishing booths and see what was left. Exhibits closed at 2PM. Changed clothes, got back to hotel, collected bags, and in another cab for O'Hare. No lunch. Called mom from airport. Arrived early enough to get earlier flight to Newark. Window seat. Random House colleague seated next to me. Both of us exhausted, dozed until our tiny sandwiches were served. It was her first food since the breakfast, too. Both of us had peanut M&Ms in our carry ons! It's the best conference snack. Talked with her for the rest of our 90 minute flight. Nice. Waited (standing again) longer than usual for bags. Met at curb by sleek, black Mercedes. Dropped off coworker in NJ. Whisked me through the 8:30PM dusk to Brooklyn. No traffic in Holland Tunnel or Manhattan. Buzzed Steve. He carried my 43 pound suitcase upstairs. My legs barely made the climb and they were shaking. Very fatigued leg muscles from the five days of standing. 9PM. Home. On the couch. PJs. Steve making me the only thing I want to eat after any conference - Kraft mac & cheese. It's the best comfort food. Cats sitting at my feet staring. All-Star game. Ate big bowl of ice cream. Called parents again. 11:30PM. Bed.
Wednesday, July 15 - woke up 9:15AM. Slept through Steve's alarm and morning routine. Didn't get up. Went back to sleep. 11AM woke up.
I think that about catches you up on what I've been doing the last week. Everything I've described above is pretty much how every ALA Annual typically runs. This year, ALA was actually a little EASIER than it has been with Harcourt. Egmont only brought four authors and four staff (five with me). At Harcourt, I was used to juggling at least twice those numbers and working a much larger booth. This show as actually easy compared to those. The conferences, just like anything else, get easier the more you do them. This was a first conference in a year, so I was out physcially out of practice and my body feels like it went through a wringer. However, my energy, excitement, and happiness being at a conference again and seeing so many of my friends, carried me through.
Taking today off. Will probably sleep some more as my head and eyes still feel very tired. Somehow, during all those days of little sleep and food, I only had a headache once and that was on the day we arrived. Today, I'm extraordinarily hungry but luckily, Steve did some light shopping Monday night, so we are not completely without food. When he gets home tonight, we'll go out again. I don't think I have the strength to go grocery shopping alone today.
I've also been looking at the calendar this morning. There are so many events for the next two months that I'm looking forward to:
July 29-31 - David & Allison visiting. Planning to do Liberty & Ellis Islands and not sure what else.
August 6-9 - Steve's (and my Dad's) birthday weekend. Two of Steve's Boston friends are coming down to celebrate his 30th. We are going to the Red Sox-Yankees game on Saturday night at the new Yankee Stadium.
August 18 - I'm going with girlfriends to Governor's Island for a B-52s concert. I wonder where the concert will be. It's general admission and I hoping the weather is nice.
August 21-27 - Donna has been given use of her sister's NJ beach condo for the week. We are all invited to come out for the whole time or only part. Haven't decided how long we'll go but definitely planning on at least part of the time. Condo is on the boardwalk & beach.
Sept. 4-9 - Mom & Dad are visiting. Going to the US Open for one day and night session and the rest of the time will be sightseeing.
Sept. 9-13 - Susan's uncle has given her use of his lake house in New Hampshire. After M&D leave, I'm planning on going up. This is a girls only trip.
I have no idea when I will do any work, if I even have any to do.
It also results in exhaustion. My feet and legs feel almost normal today. The nerves on the bottom of by right foot and toes are tingly but I know that will go away. It's happened to me before after a conference. I'm standing for at least eight to ten hours every day and my foot nerves take a beating. I had comfortable, flat shoes with good support and cushion, but no matter what you wear, standing for that long that many days in a row is painful. Each night, my legs were aching. My feet would hurt but I really felt the tiredness in my legs. Two items with which I always travel to conferences are L'Occitane lotion specifically made for "tired legs" and Icy Hot. I use the L'Occitane during the day as it doesn't smell as offensive or strong as Icy Hot. It doesn't contain the drugs that Icy Hot does but it does tingle and feel good. But at night back in my hotel room, I slathered my legs from ankles to hip with Icy Hot. Ahhhhh.
I stood in the booth, I stood at reception parties, I walked between events. The only time I sat was to eat or listen to award acceptance speeches. And that was usually only for dinner as dinner was pretty much my only meal every day. I ate a few snacks (handfuls of peanut M&Ms and peanut butter crackers, a banana one day) but I don't think I had one lunch. Two breakfasts but one was at an event and therefor, a plate of banquet food and not very good. The little sandwich, mini bag of carrots and snack bag of m&ms on the flight home last night tasted like a four star restaurant.
ALA Annual is a marathon. Here's is what I did:
Thursday, July 9 - arrive in Chicago. Dinner with colleague. Not too late a night. Only had one beer. Off to a good start. One hour behind NYC.
Friday, July 10 - 9AM, go to convention center to set up booth. Grabbed a banana, yogurt, and croissant for breakfast. Great, set up only took a few hours. Had a nice lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores (picking up water for the booth, etc.) and ironing all my clothes for the week. Met with authors and staff for a casual, yummy Italian dinner, which included a bottle of Prosecco and wine. To bed at a relatively normal hour. This is the only day I got all 3 meals.
Saturday, July 11 - up at 6:30 to get ready for first day of exhibits. No breakfast. Exhibits opened at 9. Two authors autographing in the booth that day. Staff buzzing around to events and dates with authors and librarians. I hold down the booth all day with one other person. No lunch. Leave exhibit hall for Art Institute in order to set up for the cocktail party. Cocktail party a smashing hit 6-8PM. Worked the door the entire time greeting and welcoming guests. Lots of librarians, agents, authors, reviewers, etc. Some old friends, some new. Invited by Texas librarian friends to have deep dish pizza with them after the party. Ran things back to hotel, quickly changed into jeans and sneakers (the ONLY shoes I would wear if I could), and WALKED (not sure what I was thinking) the half mile to the pizza joint. Ate salad, one bread stick, and one slice of meat-laden pie. One slice is all you need. Trust me. One beer. Cabbed back to hotel of TX librarians for a nightcap. One vodka tonic. Cabbed back to my hotel. Bed around 1AM.
Sunday, July 12 - up at 6:30 again. No breakfast. Worked majority of the day ALONE in the booth. No lunch. Two author autographings in the booth. Rest of staff arrived at booth after a day of meetings and off-site appointments around 3. Finally got my first bathroom break. Exhibits closed at 5. Stood in football field long taxi queue to get back to hotel. Finally got to hotel 45 minutes later. 20 minutes to change into dress, freshen make up, brush teeth for Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet. Taxied to banquet with authors and staff in tow. Sat at banquet for a blessed three hours listening to acceptance speeches by the always entertaining Neil Gaiman, gracious Beth Krommes, and poetic & energizing Ashley Bryan. Within those three hours was a 45 minute intermission between dinner and speeches, during which I was standing again (in heels now because it's a dressy affair and heels are what are called for with my black silk dress) mingling and talking with authors and colleagues. Ate dinner. Four open bottles of wine on the table. Not sure how much I consumed. Only two glasses, I think. After speeches I crazily CHOSE to stay for the receiving line and congratulate friends on their awards. Stood at least another two hours. In heels. Shook hands and short convo with Neil Gaiman and all other award winners. Some were my friends from Holt and Harcourt so those convos were a little longer. All were wonderful and I was so happy for them. While waiting in line, gossiped with old friends, publishing peeps. 1AM. Discovered my ATM card not working and no cash for cab back to hotel. Stranded. Too far and late to walk alone. What to do? RESCUED! Friend spotted me $20 so I didn't have to sleep on the curb. Walked across the river with her, another editor, and a Newbery honor winner to their hotel. Asked the doorman to help me get a cab. Back to hotel and in bed well after 2AM. Totally worth it. What a great night.
Monday, July 13 - up at 6:30. Off to booth. No breakfast. ATM card still not working. Called bank. They don't know why it's not working. My accounts have money and there is no hold on my card (thought maybe they thought it had been stolen when Chicago charges started but nope). ATMs I was trying to use have money as I witnessed others getting cash. $2 is all I have. Have to rely from this point on on my co-workers to pay for everything. Ug. No autographings today. Two staffers depart. A little quieter in the booth, but still busy. No lunch. Iced coffee instead. Lack of sleep starting to catch up to me so the little shot of caffeine has an effect. Exhibits close a 5. Found a different taxi queue on other side of building that was much, much shorter. Got back to hotel faster. Had bottle of Prosecco with editor and director in hotel bar. Split up to our rooms to change for dinner and Printz Award reception. Had lovely dinner outside at a place in Lincoln Park. Ordered one local beer and the pork belly (will write more about all the food I did eat on Avec Sucre). Excellent. Caught cab down to reception. 8PM. Sat about an hour listening to award acceptance speeches of the five winners. All good. Stood 90 minutes-2 hours during reception talking with YA librarians and meeting & congratulating authors. Fun again but much more low key which was nice. Had half a beer. Taxi back to hotel. About 10:30PM. Turned on tv - Ferris Bueller! - and packed. Called Steve for first time in two days. Still didn't manage to get to bed until 1AM or so.
Tuesday, July 14 - up at the inhumane hour of 5AM. No breakfast. Finished packing toiletries, pjs, etc. Checked out of room, checked bags with bellman, meet author and coworkers for the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast. 7AM. Got to event late. Scrambled to find guests and table. Sat. Stood to sing Lift Every Voice and Sing. Realized I almost have this song memorized even though I only sing/hear it once a year at this breakfast. Been going to this breakfast for about 9 years. Sat. Ate breakfast. I think it was supposed to be eggs Benedict, but instead of Hollandaise, it had cheese sauce. Listened to CSK program and award winners. Left at 8:45AM for booth. Quiet day. Was able to walk around to other publishing booths and see what was left. Exhibits closed at 2PM. Changed clothes, got back to hotel, collected bags, and in another cab for O'Hare. No lunch. Called mom from airport. Arrived early enough to get earlier flight to Newark. Window seat. Random House colleague seated next to me. Both of us exhausted, dozed until our tiny sandwiches were served. It was her first food since the breakfast, too. Both of us had peanut M&Ms in our carry ons! It's the best conference snack. Talked with her for the rest of our 90 minute flight. Nice. Waited (standing again) longer than usual for bags. Met at curb by sleek, black Mercedes. Dropped off coworker in NJ. Whisked me through the 8:30PM dusk to Brooklyn. No traffic in Holland Tunnel or Manhattan. Buzzed Steve. He carried my 43 pound suitcase upstairs. My legs barely made the climb and they were shaking. Very fatigued leg muscles from the five days of standing. 9PM. Home. On the couch. PJs. Steve making me the only thing I want to eat after any conference - Kraft mac & cheese. It's the best comfort food. Cats sitting at my feet staring. All-Star game. Ate big bowl of ice cream. Called parents again. 11:30PM. Bed.
Wednesday, July 15 - woke up 9:15AM. Slept through Steve's alarm and morning routine. Didn't get up. Went back to sleep. 11AM woke up.
I think that about catches you up on what I've been doing the last week. Everything I've described above is pretty much how every ALA Annual typically runs. This year, ALA was actually a little EASIER than it has been with Harcourt. Egmont only brought four authors and four staff (five with me). At Harcourt, I was used to juggling at least twice those numbers and working a much larger booth. This show as actually easy compared to those. The conferences, just like anything else, get easier the more you do them. This was a first conference in a year, so I was out physcially out of practice and my body feels like it went through a wringer. However, my energy, excitement, and happiness being at a conference again and seeing so many of my friends, carried me through.
Taking today off. Will probably sleep some more as my head and eyes still feel very tired. Somehow, during all those days of little sleep and food, I only had a headache once and that was on the day we arrived. Today, I'm extraordinarily hungry but luckily, Steve did some light shopping Monday night, so we are not completely without food. When he gets home tonight, we'll go out again. I don't think I have the strength to go grocery shopping alone today.
I've also been looking at the calendar this morning. There are so many events for the next two months that I'm looking forward to:
July 29-31 - David & Allison visiting. Planning to do Liberty & Ellis Islands and not sure what else.
August 6-9 - Steve's (and my Dad's) birthday weekend. Two of Steve's Boston friends are coming down to celebrate his 30th. We are going to the Red Sox-Yankees game on Saturday night at the new Yankee Stadium.
August 18 - I'm going with girlfriends to Governor's Island for a B-52s concert. I wonder where the concert will be. It's general admission and I hoping the weather is nice.
August 21-27 - Donna has been given use of her sister's NJ beach condo for the week. We are all invited to come out for the whole time or only part. Haven't decided how long we'll go but definitely planning on at least part of the time. Condo is on the boardwalk & beach.
Sept. 4-9 - Mom & Dad are visiting. Going to the US Open for one day and night session and the rest of the time will be sightseeing.
Sept. 9-13 - Susan's uncle has given her use of his lake house in New Hampshire. After M&D leave, I'm planning on going up. This is a girls only trip.
I have no idea when I will do any work, if I even have any to do.
Tuesday, June 30
Summer visitors and other items
Yesterday and today I found out when family will be visiting me here in New York. If you are thinking about coming up, do let me know as weekends are filling up fast at Casa BKLYN.
Not really. There are still plenty of weekends. Mom and Dad are visiting so we can also go to the US Open tennis tournament. Mom will arrive early as Dad is coming in from a work trip. I know we'll go to at least one night session and probably one day session.
David and Allison told me this morning that they are thinking about coming up at the end of July. Their schedules are somewhat liquid so we'll see if they actually can come up or not. Hope so as I know there are things we want to do such as Governor's Island, which is now open to the public.
Steve's birthday (and Dad's coincidentally) is at the beginning of August, and I invited his Boston friends Mike & Cindy to come down to celebrate his 30th. All four of us are going to go to the new Yankee Stadium to cheer on not the Yankees, but the Red Sox. Yes, there is a four-game Red Sox-Yankees series during Steve's birthday weekend. This made it very easy for me to figure out what present to get him. I already have the tickets for the game on Saturday. They cost twice the face value, but hey, it's his birthday.
The summer has been mild so far. We lucked out that June was one of the coolest Junes on record. However, we did order our air conditioners and we did it just in time. The past week has been warmer and more humid so having the cool air is nice. The cats like it.
I am also hoping to score some tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. The show running until July 12 is Twelfth Night. Anne Hathaway is playing Viola. It's getting good reviews and tickets are free. They have a virtual line that I can join every day there is a performance and hope that my name gets drawn as a winner. The catch is, if I get tickets, they are for the show that day which means scrambling to change dinner plans and convincing Steve he might like it. Twelfth Night is a comedy and for non-Shakespeare fans, his comedies are the most friendly.
In cat news, Cleo has been a bit under the weather. I took her to the vet yesterday. After two blood tests, subcutaneous fluids, and an exam, the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. Sent me home with a paste-like mixture that contains active cultures - like the ones in yogurt - and B vitamins to reset her GI tract. Cleo seems to be doing better today and is eating more than she has been. She naps and then gets up to nibble. She seems a bit more herself today but still not back to normal. Kitty is fine, so whatever is wrong with her is not affecting him. Thank goodness. Two sick cats would be bad. He's been looking at her this morning with his big eyes and wonders why I won't let him have her food. (It's because I mixed the supposedly tasteless paste into her food.)
We were at the vet for two hours yesterday morning. Most of the time was waiting for the blood work - which they did there in the office - and with the doctor while she was examining Cleo. I liked the doctor a lot. On our way home, an old man stopped me and said that he hoped she was going home and that she was okay. I assured him she was going home and she will be okay. Sweet. Whenever we are out with the cats, people always look at them or actually talk to us about them. I was stopped once by a group of kids who wanted to see Cleo. People like cats.
Not really. There are still plenty of weekends. Mom and Dad are visiting so we can also go to the US Open tennis tournament. Mom will arrive early as Dad is coming in from a work trip. I know we'll go to at least one night session and probably one day session.
David and Allison told me this morning that they are thinking about coming up at the end of July. Their schedules are somewhat liquid so we'll see if they actually can come up or not. Hope so as I know there are things we want to do such as Governor's Island, which is now open to the public.
Steve's birthday (and Dad's coincidentally) is at the beginning of August, and I invited his Boston friends Mike & Cindy to come down to celebrate his 30th. All four of us are going to go to the new Yankee Stadium to cheer on not the Yankees, but the Red Sox. Yes, there is a four-game Red Sox-Yankees series during Steve's birthday weekend. This made it very easy for me to figure out what present to get him. I already have the tickets for the game on Saturday. They cost twice the face value, but hey, it's his birthday.
The summer has been mild so far. We lucked out that June was one of the coolest Junes on record. However, we did order our air conditioners and we did it just in time. The past week has been warmer and more humid so having the cool air is nice. The cats like it.
I am also hoping to score some tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. The show running until July 12 is Twelfth Night. Anne Hathaway is playing Viola. It's getting good reviews and tickets are free. They have a virtual line that I can join every day there is a performance and hope that my name gets drawn as a winner. The catch is, if I get tickets, they are for the show that day which means scrambling to change dinner plans and convincing Steve he might like it. Twelfth Night is a comedy and for non-Shakespeare fans, his comedies are the most friendly.
In cat news, Cleo has been a bit under the weather. I took her to the vet yesterday. After two blood tests, subcutaneous fluids, and an exam, the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. Sent me home with a paste-like mixture that contains active cultures - like the ones in yogurt - and B vitamins to reset her GI tract. Cleo seems to be doing better today and is eating more than she has been. She naps and then gets up to nibble. She seems a bit more herself today but still not back to normal. Kitty is fine, so whatever is wrong with her is not affecting him. Thank goodness. Two sick cats would be bad. He's been looking at her this morning with his big eyes and wonders why I won't let him have her food. (It's because I mixed the supposedly tasteless paste into her food.)
We were at the vet for two hours yesterday morning. Most of the time was waiting for the blood work - which they did there in the office - and with the doctor while she was examining Cleo. I liked the doctor a lot. On our way home, an old man stopped me and said that he hoped she was going home and that she was okay. I assured him she was going home and she will be okay. Sweet. Whenever we are out with the cats, people always look at them or actually talk to us about them. I was stopped once by a group of kids who wanted to see Cleo. People like cats.
Tuesday, June 23
This last full week of June
(NOTE 6/24: I just duplicated this post on Avec Sucre. Sorry for the duplicate material.)
Father's Day weekend here was a non-affair. As neither of us were able to travel to visit dad's, we took ourselves out for Father's Day brunch. We have a favorite coffee shop over on Court Street that makes quite excellent pancakes, with or without blueberries. It's called Cobble Hill Coffee Shop. That's kinda a no-brainer name, I know, but it suits it just fine.
The coffee shop decorates for the holidays and seasons. This past Sunday, they added blue banners hanging up on the walls proclaiming Happy Father's Day to all the dads who came in. The banners were up next to their spring "decor" of hanging paper/plastic flowers.
It's a real local joint. It's small and run, and I suspect owned, by two neighborhood guys named Frank and Nick. I have no idea which old guy is Frank and which is Nick, and I don't know their last names. The business card by the old fashioned, non-digital cash register simply has their first names. I think they are Greek as they and many of the older, life-time waiters have accents. Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens has been a traditionally Italian neighborhood, but I don't think these guys are Italian. The place is always busy and full of all kinds of people - oldsters, young families, singles at the counter, and everyone in between. So far, we've only been there for breakfast on the weekends. They have a machine that squeezes oranges for fresh squeezed oj, a tiny griddle area, hand written tickets, large menu, and freezing cold air conditioning.
It's not a fancy place by any means and it doesn't try to be something it's not. I like it because it's a real neighborhood coffee shop that makes good comfort food, has a friendly staff (they don't recognize us yet even though we have been there three Sundays in a row), and isn't too expensive. In fact, if you get there before 11AM, there are really good prices on breakfast specials which include coffee and a small juice. No mimosas here!
The man who greets customers I assume is Frank/Nick. We had to wait a few minutes for a table twice now, and he keeps track in his head who is next and how many people in the party. There is no room to wait inside, so everyone just stays outside on the sidewalk. Besides, Frank/Nick won't let you wait inside. He will bring out chairs so people can sit. People leave their expensive Bugaboo and Maclaren strollers outside, too. (Side note: you know how in LA BMWs and Mercedes are everywhere? Yeah, that's what Bugaboos and Maclarens are like in my neighborhood. I have yet to see another brand of stroller.) He pokes his head out to give updates on tables and to call people in to sit. It's a system that he's probably been doing for a long time.
So that's what we did Sunday morning. We left the diner and went straight to Trader Joe's because we've figured out that before noon on Sunday, it's actually pretty decent in there. The shelves are stocked and it's not busy yet with the check out line wrapping along the back of the store from dairy to produce. We did run into one snag - their meat case was out of order so there was no sausage, beef, or pork available. I asked the cashier what was going on and she said it wasn't keeping things cold at the proper temp so it was being fixed. The repair guys were there and we saw them doing repair guys things to the huge meat case.
After that, we did some produce shopping across the street at Pacific Green. Picked up fresh tarragon, apples for Steve, garlic, onions, strawberries, and Camembert for a recipe later this week.
Our new push cart was cock full of goodness, so we headed home. We killed our previous push cart trying to get a huge bag of potting soil home from Lowe's last month. The $25 cart I got at the grocery store back in October had had enough of heavy hauling of cat litter buckets from Target and heavy groceries. It's little wheels just caved in. I had to hail a cab so we could get home with the soil. We went out to Container Store and splurged (I'm not going to tell you the cost because it's ridiculous) on a new push cart made out of stronger and lighter aluminum. It also has a slighter higher handle, which means Steve doesn't have to bend over as far to push it. It has about the same capacity as our old one and the wheels spin like they are in butter. It's a good cart but I still can't get over the price we paid for it. Shocking.
Saturday was a washout for the most part. New York City has turned into the east coast Seattle this June. It has rained and rained and rained. Sunday was gray but at least it didn't rain. Mind you, I still like the rain as I don't have to go out in it every day for work, but I know the cats would love a little sun. They have been missing those sunbeams.
Last night, I made a pasta with goat cheese, asparagus, tarragon, and lemon. It was so easy, light, tasty, and easily adaptable. The night before, I made Moroccan chicken which had ingredients of green olives, lemons, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, caramelized onions, and garlic. I used just chicken breasts instead of butchering a whole chicken. Quite good, especially the bites with the olives. I wrote on the recipe to add more olives next time.
Besides shopping for food, cooking, and eating, we've been whiling away the time by playing the new Ghostbusters game on the Wii, doing some light cleaning, laundry, reading (me), and buying window unit air conditioners.
I'm still working and ALA is in just three weeks. Then I'm off to Chicago. I've also been interviewing for two full-time jobs in NY. Hope to hear something soon from them.
Father's Day weekend here was a non-affair. As neither of us were able to travel to visit dad's, we took ourselves out for Father's Day brunch. We have a favorite coffee shop over on Court Street that makes quite excellent pancakes, with or without blueberries. It's called Cobble Hill Coffee Shop. That's kinda a no-brainer name, I know, but it suits it just fine.
The coffee shop decorates for the holidays and seasons. This past Sunday, they added blue banners hanging up on the walls proclaiming Happy Father's Day to all the dads who came in. The banners were up next to their spring "decor" of hanging paper/plastic flowers.
It's a real local joint. It's small and run, and I suspect owned, by two neighborhood guys named Frank and Nick. I have no idea which old guy is Frank and which is Nick, and I don't know their last names. The business card by the old fashioned, non-digital cash register simply has their first names. I think they are Greek as they and many of the older, life-time waiters have accents. Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens has been a traditionally Italian neighborhood, but I don't think these guys are Italian. The place is always busy and full of all kinds of people - oldsters, young families, singles at the counter, and everyone in between. So far, we've only been there for breakfast on the weekends. They have a machine that squeezes oranges for fresh squeezed oj, a tiny griddle area, hand written tickets, large menu, and freezing cold air conditioning.
It's not a fancy place by any means and it doesn't try to be something it's not. I like it because it's a real neighborhood coffee shop that makes good comfort food, has a friendly staff (they don't recognize us yet even though we have been there three Sundays in a row), and isn't too expensive. In fact, if you get there before 11AM, there are really good prices on breakfast specials which include coffee and a small juice. No mimosas here!
The man who greets customers I assume is Frank/Nick. We had to wait a few minutes for a table twice now, and he keeps track in his head who is next and how many people in the party. There is no room to wait inside, so everyone just stays outside on the sidewalk. Besides, Frank/Nick won't let you wait inside. He will bring out chairs so people can sit. People leave their expensive Bugaboo and Maclaren strollers outside, too. (Side note: you know how in LA BMWs and Mercedes are everywhere? Yeah, that's what Bugaboos and Maclarens are like in my neighborhood. I have yet to see another brand of stroller.) He pokes his head out to give updates on tables and to call people in to sit. It's a system that he's probably been doing for a long time.
So that's what we did Sunday morning. We left the diner and went straight to Trader Joe's because we've figured out that before noon on Sunday, it's actually pretty decent in there. The shelves are stocked and it's not busy yet with the check out line wrapping along the back of the store from dairy to produce. We did run into one snag - their meat case was out of order so there was no sausage, beef, or pork available. I asked the cashier what was going on and she said it wasn't keeping things cold at the proper temp so it was being fixed. The repair guys were there and we saw them doing repair guys things to the huge meat case.
After that, we did some produce shopping across the street at Pacific Green. Picked up fresh tarragon, apples for Steve, garlic, onions, strawberries, and Camembert for a recipe later this week.
Our new push cart was cock full of goodness, so we headed home. We killed our previous push cart trying to get a huge bag of potting soil home from Lowe's last month. The $25 cart I got at the grocery store back in October had had enough of heavy hauling of cat litter buckets from Target and heavy groceries. It's little wheels just caved in. I had to hail a cab so we could get home with the soil. We went out to Container Store and splurged (I'm not going to tell you the cost because it's ridiculous) on a new push cart made out of stronger and lighter aluminum. It also has a slighter higher handle, which means Steve doesn't have to bend over as far to push it. It has about the same capacity as our old one and the wheels spin like they are in butter. It's a good cart but I still can't get over the price we paid for it. Shocking.
Saturday was a washout for the most part. New York City has turned into the east coast Seattle this June. It has rained and rained and rained. Sunday was gray but at least it didn't rain. Mind you, I still like the rain as I don't have to go out in it every day for work, but I know the cats would love a little sun. They have been missing those sunbeams.
Last night, I made a pasta with goat cheese, asparagus, tarragon, and lemon. It was so easy, light, tasty, and easily adaptable. The night before, I made Moroccan chicken which had ingredients of green olives, lemons, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, caramelized onions, and garlic. I used just chicken breasts instead of butchering a whole chicken. Quite good, especially the bites with the olives. I wrote on the recipe to add more olives next time.
Besides shopping for food, cooking, and eating, we've been whiling away the time by playing the new Ghostbusters game on the Wii, doing some light cleaning, laundry, reading (me), and buying window unit air conditioners.
I'm still working and ALA is in just three weeks. Then I'm off to Chicago. I've also been interviewing for two full-time jobs in NY. Hope to hear something soon from them.
Thursday, June 4
Another photo to make you smile
I think this is the best picture I've seen in the post-BEA wrap-ups. Olivia is going up the escalator.
For more BEA pictures, click here for Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf wrap-up.
For more BEA pictures, click here for Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf wrap-up.
Sunday, May 31
Where have I been?
Since I last wrote, not much has happened. I've been working steadily for Egmont and getting them ready for BEA and ALA this July. I've been reading. Cooking. You know the drill.
This past weekend was BEA - Book Expo America - one of the very largest gatherings and exhibits for books. The people who attend BEA are predominately booksellers from all across the country and even the world, but more librarians are attending BEA every year. There is also a good number of agents, authors, illustrators, and of course, just about every publisher you have ever heard of and plenty more that you haven't. BEA is big. This year was supposedly smaller than previous years with the economy and all, but I really didn't feel like there was a big change. The exhibit floors seemed crowded, autographing lines were long, and the big banners were up in the entrance hall. I did notice that there were fewer mountains of books for the taking and the only way to get many of the books or galleys was when the author was autographing. A few publishers were still stacking up books by the hundreds. I repeatedly visited these publishers to get the next title they were putting out.
At BEA, books are free. I picked up all YA titles from publishers such as HarperCollins (who was doing e-galleys for the first time), Little Brown, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Candlewick, Simon & Schuster, and Random House. Egmont was one of the publishers that was giving away galleys every day. I only picked up three adult titles - two from Harper and one of those two is actually an audio book, and one from Little Brown.
I also noticed there was less swag. There were fewer tote bags being handed out, too. I did get an umbrella at Little Brown, but that was about the only swag I saw or cared to pick up. As I had to work in the Egmont booth for part of a day and then escort authors, I didn't get to attend any of the industry panels that were going on. I also didn't see as many celebrities as I did last year when BEA was in LA. Last year I spotted Alec Baldwin, Hugh Hefner, Dione Warwick, some ABC news correspondent whose name I can't remember now (maybe Richard E/Angle?), Dr. Ruth, and Barbara Walters. This year it was Kathy Lee Gifford. Yeah, she was autographing two tables down from where I was with an Egmont author who was also autographing. Supposedly, three of the Top Chef contestants were also around but they were way down at the other end of the hall, so I didn't see them.
As far as author celebrities go, I missed Neil Gaiman and James Patterson, but I did see Meg Cabot. She's the author of the Princess Diaries series and more.
As you can see from all these names and free book free-for-all, BEA is a bit of a circus. While there weren't as many costumed characters this year, there were a few scantily clad women promoting things. One was directly across from the Egmont booth. She was in a skimpy bikini and holding a guitar. Apparently, she's the star of a video this company was selling about learning to play guitar. She is in the bikini while teaching the guitar on the video. I guess this is a teaching method that might work for a certain demographic . . . The other women were dressed in South American-style carnival costumes and were dancing to drums while handing out postcards promoting a new e-reader. O-kay . . . ?
BEA is not a public trade show like a car show is. But a badge can be purchased by anyone. Price is just higher for a non-industry badge. It's every year at the end of May and usually rotates between NYC, LA, and Chicago.
I think I will now end this blog entry and go read on the deck. I was very excited to get the sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It's called CATCHING FIRE. Scholastic was handing out 1,000 copies of it and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get it. I got HUNGER GAMES last year at BEA and it is one of the best books of last year. FAB!
This past weekend was BEA - Book Expo America - one of the very largest gatherings and exhibits for books. The people who attend BEA are predominately booksellers from all across the country and even the world, but more librarians are attending BEA every year. There is also a good number of agents, authors, illustrators, and of course, just about every publisher you have ever heard of and plenty more that you haven't. BEA is big. This year was supposedly smaller than previous years with the economy and all, but I really didn't feel like there was a big change. The exhibit floors seemed crowded, autographing lines were long, and the big banners were up in the entrance hall. I did notice that there were fewer mountains of books for the taking and the only way to get many of the books or galleys was when the author was autographing. A few publishers were still stacking up books by the hundreds. I repeatedly visited these publishers to get the next title they were putting out.
At BEA, books are free. I picked up all YA titles from publishers such as HarperCollins (who was doing e-galleys for the first time), Little Brown, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Candlewick, Simon & Schuster, and Random House. Egmont was one of the publishers that was giving away galleys every day. I only picked up three adult titles - two from Harper and one of those two is actually an audio book, and one from Little Brown.
I also noticed there was less swag. There were fewer tote bags being handed out, too. I did get an umbrella at Little Brown, but that was about the only swag I saw or cared to pick up. As I had to work in the Egmont booth for part of a day and then escort authors, I didn't get to attend any of the industry panels that were going on. I also didn't see as many celebrities as I did last year when BEA was in LA. Last year I spotted Alec Baldwin, Hugh Hefner, Dione Warwick, some ABC news correspondent whose name I can't remember now (maybe Richard E/Angle?), Dr. Ruth, and Barbara Walters. This year it was Kathy Lee Gifford. Yeah, she was autographing two tables down from where I was with an Egmont author who was also autographing. Supposedly, three of the Top Chef contestants were also around but they were way down at the other end of the hall, so I didn't see them.
As far as author celebrities go, I missed Neil Gaiman and James Patterson, but I did see Meg Cabot. She's the author of the Princess Diaries series and more.
As you can see from all these names and free book free-for-all, BEA is a bit of a circus. While there weren't as many costumed characters this year, there were a few scantily clad women promoting things. One was directly across from the Egmont booth. She was in a skimpy bikini and holding a guitar. Apparently, she's the star of a video this company was selling about learning to play guitar. She is in the bikini while teaching the guitar on the video. I guess this is a teaching method that might work for a certain demographic . . . The other women were dressed in South American-style carnival costumes and were dancing to drums while handing out postcards promoting a new e-reader. O-kay . . . ?
BEA is not a public trade show like a car show is. But a badge can be purchased by anyone. Price is just higher for a non-industry badge. It's every year at the end of May and usually rotates between NYC, LA, and Chicago.
I think I will now end this blog entry and go read on the deck. I was very excited to get the sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It's called CATCHING FIRE. Scholastic was handing out 1,000 copies of it and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get it. I got HUNGER GAMES last year at BEA and it is one of the best books of last year. FAB!
Tuesday, April 28
Spring, I guess
I think I'll take a moment to say something about the weather. In San Diego, the weather was almost always gorgeous, sunny, and a comfortable temperature. The weather in NY is a different story. This weekend was hot. Summer hot at the end of April. I was hot but not as hot as the cats who spent the days fully stretched out on the cool bathroom title asleep.
Here is Cleo being hot on the couch.
I feel like a Grinch when it comes to the hot weather. Everyone else here seems to LOOOOOOOOVE it. They are so happy to say goodbye to winter that they love the hot weather. I'm the only person who dares to say I don't like it. Really, the people here go absolutely bonkers over the warm weather. They go outside to the parks, sunbathe (ug), and basically find any excuse to be outdoors. It's trendy to be outside. I wonder how many people really like the weather and how many are liking in only because everyone else does. I like *nice* weather, not hot weather. There is a difference. If I can break a sweat just typing on the computer it's hot.
So last night, at the end of a hot day, I found myself out at Citi Field. I chose to go to an April game because I wanted to avoid the hot, sticky games of the summer. Now it seemed Mother Nature was going to ruin my carefully planned visit to the new home of the Mets. But wait! Luckily, to my delight, it quickly cooled off in the evening. The game was downright comfortable - and breezy - and I loved it. It was perfect - clear skies that turned pink, then purple, before fading away to black, a gentle breeze from the southwest, low humidity, and an air temp that was downright ideal.
I wrote about the food at Citi Field over on Avec Sucre, so click over there if you want all the details.
We only got one souvenir during our trip to Citi Field. Steve got the mini-helmet ice cream cup. He also has ice cream helmet cups from Fenway and PetCo, so he had to have another one for the collection. Besides, they make great hats for the cats. I attempted to buy a small souvenir CitiField Inaugural magnet but can you believe they didn't have magnets? They had patches and pins, but no magnets. Duh.
Citi Field is one nice ballpark. I liked our seats out on the Pepsi Porch (sect. 305 for us). The entire stadium has lots of standing room only space and the Pepsi Porch has a very large open area for standing or eating at belly-up tables. The food court also has belly-up tables and picnic tables but it's busy. We shared a belly-up table with four other people. We used this trip to scout out what we'd like to eat next time, where a good place to stand is, and where to sit. I'd be happy to sit out on the Pepsi Porch again but in the summer, there is no shade out there, and that would be a serious deterrent for me.
Coincidentally, the Mets did win last night. The first inning is where the damage was done - six runs, four of which came off a grand slam.
Not only is baseball in full swing, but so are the trees. They have finally burst forth with fresh green leaves and flowers. In the fall, I took a picture of the trees on our block that line the park. They were blazing yellow then. Little did I realize that those yellow leafed trees were cherry trees that are now heavy with fluffy pink blossoms. They are all around the park, dozens of them. It looks so nice.
Here is Cleo being hot on the couch.
I feel like a Grinch when it comes to the hot weather. Everyone else here seems to LOOOOOOOOVE it. They are so happy to say goodbye to winter that they love the hot weather. I'm the only person who dares to say I don't like it. Really, the people here go absolutely bonkers over the warm weather. They go outside to the parks, sunbathe (ug), and basically find any excuse to be outdoors. It's trendy to be outside. I wonder how many people really like the weather and how many are liking in only because everyone else does. I like *nice* weather, not hot weather. There is a difference. If I can break a sweat just typing on the computer it's hot.
So last night, at the end of a hot day, I found myself out at Citi Field. I chose to go to an April game because I wanted to avoid the hot, sticky games of the summer. Now it seemed Mother Nature was going to ruin my carefully planned visit to the new home of the Mets. But wait! Luckily, to my delight, it quickly cooled off in the evening. The game was downright comfortable - and breezy - and I loved it. It was perfect - clear skies that turned pink, then purple, before fading away to black, a gentle breeze from the southwest, low humidity, and an air temp that was downright ideal.
I wrote about the food at Citi Field over on Avec Sucre, so click over there if you want all the details.
We only got one souvenir during our trip to Citi Field. Steve got the mini-helmet ice cream cup. He also has ice cream helmet cups from Fenway and PetCo, so he had to have another one for the collection. Besides, they make great hats for the cats. I attempted to buy a small souvenir CitiField Inaugural magnet but can you believe they didn't have magnets? They had patches and pins, but no magnets. Duh.
Citi Field is one nice ballpark. I liked our seats out on the Pepsi Porch (sect. 305 for us). The entire stadium has lots of standing room only space and the Pepsi Porch has a very large open area for standing or eating at belly-up tables. The food court also has belly-up tables and picnic tables but it's busy. We shared a belly-up table with four other people. We used this trip to scout out what we'd like to eat next time, where a good place to stand is, and where to sit. I'd be happy to sit out on the Pepsi Porch again but in the summer, there is no shade out there, and that would be a serious deterrent for me.
Coincidentally, the Mets did win last night. The first inning is where the damage was done - six runs, four of which came off a grand slam.
Not only is baseball in full swing, but so are the trees. They have finally burst forth with fresh green leaves and flowers. In the fall, I took a picture of the trees on our block that line the park. They were blazing yellow then. Little did I realize that those yellow leafed trees were cherry trees that are now heavy with fluffy pink blossoms. They are all around the park, dozens of them. It looks so nice.
Thursday, April 2
I hurt my finger.
Mom and readers of my Facebook page already know this, but for the rest of you it's news. I hurt my finger today. With the Santoku knife. The sharp one. After consulting with two retired nurses (Mom and Steve's mom), I decided not to go the ER for stitches even though I probably could have used two. The bleeding stopped and the wound is not one that is open since I more of less sliced right under the skin rather than chopping into my finger. Anyone cringing yet? :)
I was washing the knife - holding with my left, washing with the right - when it slipped and knocked hard into my right pointer finger right between the two knuckles. Ouch. Lots of blood that took a long time to clot. I took pictures of the carnage but won't post them here lest I gross anyone out.
Typing is okay on the home row and rows above, but typing on the last row of letters hurts so I have to move my whole hand down rather than curve my finger down. Haven't tried to write yet.
Now I just have to let it heal, which is certainly going to take a while. Have I mentioned that it really hurts? Fun, fun. More jellybeans will make it feel better.
I was washing the knife - holding with my left, washing with the right - when it slipped and knocked hard into my right pointer finger right between the two knuckles. Ouch. Lots of blood that took a long time to clot. I took pictures of the carnage but won't post them here lest I gross anyone out.
Typing is okay on the home row and rows above, but typing on the last row of letters hurts so I have to move my whole hand down rather than curve my finger down. Haven't tried to write yet.
Now I just have to let it heal, which is certainly going to take a while. Have I mentioned that it really hurts? Fun, fun. More jellybeans will make it feel better.
Monday, March 23
March Madness
Madness? Here? Not quite. Things have been pretty quiet in Brooklyn. Other than that freak bit of snow on the first day of spring, March has been relatively weather-free. Most days have been below average temp for this time of year, but little precip. Some days have been downright gorgeous.
So what's new you ask? Well, not much. Every week is pretty much the same:
Monday-Friday: Steve goes to work and I stay at home and work a little bit every day.
I also take care of things like the laundry and grocery shopping. I also do most of the cleaning. Hmm, Steve's getting off easy isn't he?
Saturday-Sunday: Take care of things in the house, which usually means some light cleaning. For the last three weeks it has also meant getting our curtains installed. We had a little issue with the extend-a-rod and needed more parts in order to span our 138" front window. Everything finally got finished yesterday. On the weekends, we also get Steve's lunch items for the week and have at least one meal out.
We haven't been to a movie in ages. And we haven't done any of the cultural stuff NYC offers. I'm dying to do some of it - take in a play, go to a museum - but it never quite works out.
I've also been hanging out with friends at least once a week, and Steve has been hanging out with his friends online. Yup, they talk to each other through headsets and fancy microphones and play games or chat.
Yup, life is pretty ordinary here in the big city. Oh! But I did have two celebrity sightings last week - Alice Waters at the Harvard Club and Ralph Fiennes in the West Village eating at a sidewalk cafe. Alice was the tiny little thing she is and I thought Ralph looks better in person than he does on film.
I also visited the Penguin Putnam offices last week. I was meeting an ex-Harcourt colleague & friend for lunch. The PP offices are huge. Only the children's divisions were in the office I visited and it was a warren of cubicles, hallways, and gray unmarked closed doors that led to unknown worlds, I'm sure. Even my friend got lost showing me around the floor where the marketing department is. To her credit, my friend works on the floor below the marketing floor and doesn't have reason to go upstairs much. But one side of the building does have nice views of the Hudson River, and my friend Susan K. has an office on that side. She had a great view of the US Airways plane's river landing.
I know this was boring. I can't make this stuff up, you know.
So what's new you ask? Well, not much. Every week is pretty much the same:
Monday-Friday: Steve goes to work and I stay at home and work a little bit every day.
I also take care of things like the laundry and grocery shopping. I also do most of the cleaning. Hmm, Steve's getting off easy isn't he?
Saturday-Sunday: Take care of things in the house, which usually means some light cleaning. For the last three weeks it has also meant getting our curtains installed. We had a little issue with the extend-a-rod and needed more parts in order to span our 138" front window. Everything finally got finished yesterday. On the weekends, we also get Steve's lunch items for the week and have at least one meal out.
We haven't been to a movie in ages. And we haven't done any of the cultural stuff NYC offers. I'm dying to do some of it - take in a play, go to a museum - but it never quite works out.
I've also been hanging out with friends at least once a week, and Steve has been hanging out with his friends online. Yup, they talk to each other through headsets and fancy microphones and play games or chat.
Yup, life is pretty ordinary here in the big city. Oh! But I did have two celebrity sightings last week - Alice Waters at the Harvard Club and Ralph Fiennes in the West Village eating at a sidewalk cafe. Alice was the tiny little thing she is and I thought Ralph looks better in person than he does on film.
I also visited the Penguin Putnam offices last week. I was meeting an ex-Harcourt colleague & friend for lunch. The PP offices are huge. Only the children's divisions were in the office I visited and it was a warren of cubicles, hallways, and gray unmarked closed doors that led to unknown worlds, I'm sure. Even my friend got lost showing me around the floor where the marketing department is. To her credit, my friend works on the floor below the marketing floor and doesn't have reason to go upstairs much. But one side of the building does have nice views of the Hudson River, and my friend Susan K. has an office on that side. She had a great view of the US Airways plane's river landing.
I know this was boring. I can't make this stuff up, you know.
Monday, March 2
Tech savvy at this house
What did my wondering eyes see this weekend? Two good gadgets - an Amazon Kindle and a Wii Fit. Steve is borrowing the Kindle from work. It's the first generation edition. Since his department got a second generation Kindle, which just came out last week, the first generation Kindle can be borrowed more freely now. Yay! I played with it a bit and I had a little bit of a problem figuring out how to click, find things, etc., but quickly got over it. I don't think the searchability is very good, and I'm not sure why it isn't exactly the same sort of searchability as on the Amazon website. I would love to be able to keep this Kindle and use it for lugging books around rather than actually having to lug books around. The font is adjustable so no problem with eye strain. The page turns are slow, though, which would take some getting used to. Steve said all the readers on the market right now have slow page turn.
The Wii Fit arrived via Steve's parents. We were in Maine last month, and looked for a Wii. They are too hard to find here in the city, so we thought we could certainly get one up in Maine. Our Wii also came from Maine. Apparently, we were in Maine the wrong week. The very next week, Steve's dad was able to get the Fit from one of the stores we had visited looking for it. The Fit arrived Saturday and we hooked it up that afternoon.
Seeing your BMI flashed across the screen isn't too gentle, but I really like the exercises. The exercises are divided into categories - yoga, strength training, aerobic, and balance. There is a virtual trainer - your can choose the male or female trainer - to guide you through the strength training and yoga activities. For the other two groups, you are on your own to follow instructions.
The Wii does not offer you a personalized recommended exercise schedule or routine. You have to figure that out on your own. It does keep track of how much you use it each day, what your BMI/weight flux is, your Wii Fit "age" (mine was only 34, which isn't too bad, but Steve's was 43! hahahaha), and you can take the body test as much as you'd like to see how you are improving. I don't really know yet if it will actually measure how you are improving fitness-wise or how you are improving how to move on the balance board. My guess is that it measures a little bit of both.
So far, my favorite activities are the ski jumping, step class, and hula-hoop. The more I use the Fit, the more activities I unlock, so I'll have to see what else comes up as I go.
Even if the Fit boils down to being just a video game and not a valid exercise tool, that will be okay. It is anything but a passive game, so there must be some kind of benefit.
The Wii Fit arrived via Steve's parents. We were in Maine last month, and looked for a Wii. They are too hard to find here in the city, so we thought we could certainly get one up in Maine. Our Wii also came from Maine. Apparently, we were in Maine the wrong week. The very next week, Steve's dad was able to get the Fit from one of the stores we had visited looking for it. The Fit arrived Saturday and we hooked it up that afternoon.
Seeing your BMI flashed across the screen isn't too gentle, but I really like the exercises. The exercises are divided into categories - yoga, strength training, aerobic, and balance. There is a virtual trainer - your can choose the male or female trainer - to guide you through the strength training and yoga activities. For the other two groups, you are on your own to follow instructions.
The Wii does not offer you a personalized recommended exercise schedule or routine. You have to figure that out on your own. It does keep track of how much you use it each day, what your BMI/weight flux is, your Wii Fit "age" (mine was only 34, which isn't too bad, but Steve's was 43! hahahaha), and you can take the body test as much as you'd like to see how you are improving. I don't really know yet if it will actually measure how you are improving fitness-wise or how you are improving how to move on the balance board. My guess is that it measures a little bit of both.
So far, my favorite activities are the ski jumping, step class, and hula-hoop. The more I use the Fit, the more activities I unlock, so I'll have to see what else comes up as I go.
Even if the Fit boils down to being just a video game and not a valid exercise tool, that will be okay. It is anything but a passive game, so there must be some kind of benefit.
Friday, February 27
Seems I've had very little to say
Sorry I've been quiet on this blog. I've been pretty active on the new one, as it seems there is always something food-related to talk about.
Can we talk about the Oscars for a sec? I've been completely out of it when it comes to movies this year, but I actually somewhat enjoyed the awards telecast. I thought Hugh Jackman did a really nice job as the host, even though he did very little hosting, and the stage looked gorgeous. I loved the crystal proscenium curtain. I also liked the orchestra onstage. I thought the ode to musical number was fun but completely gratuitous. I did like the toasts for the supporting and lead nominees by past winners. I liked the variety of people they had doing those. I also thought they were presented well and seemed sincere. They really served to remind the nominees and audience that even if someone doesn't win, all the nominees did something extraordinary to get there.
Here is Hugh Jackman's opening number in case you missed it. He is gamely assisted by the lovely Anne Hathaway.
Likes & Dislikes from the Oscars:
I hated the media fueled "tension" between Jen and Bradgelina. C'mon, give it a break.
I loved Meryl Street sitting there looking like the grande dame of American film that she is. She's really a classy and beautiful person.
I also liked the casual nature and excitement from all the Slumdog people and kids. I didn't like the "In Memoriam" clip reel. I thought there was too much too look at and it seemed hard to figure out who the person was when the shot panned back to show Queen Latifah signing. Didn't everyone know it would end with Paul Newman?
I didn't like Sean Penn and muted his acceptance speech. I would have gladly listened to Mickey Rourke's.
I hated Kate Winslet's hair.
I liked that Heath Ledger's family was there and gave warm, strong, loving speeches. That couldn't have been easy for them.
I didn't like the cut away shots of celebrities with the required sad, pity-filled, teary eyed expressions while the Ledgers were accepting the award.
I loved Tina Fey & Steve Martin's bit but was confused by Ben Stiller's riff on Joaquin Phoenix.
Lastly, I thought the beginning of Kate Winslet's speech sounded rehearsed, but I loved her spontaneous call out to her dad and his responding whistle that could be heard out on Highland and Hollywood Blvd.
Did I miss anything?
Can we talk about the Oscars for a sec? I've been completely out of it when it comes to movies this year, but I actually somewhat enjoyed the awards telecast. I thought Hugh Jackman did a really nice job as the host, even though he did very little hosting, and the stage looked gorgeous. I loved the crystal proscenium curtain. I also liked the orchestra onstage. I thought the ode to musical number was fun but completely gratuitous. I did like the toasts for the supporting and lead nominees by past winners. I liked the variety of people they had doing those. I also thought they were presented well and seemed sincere. They really served to remind the nominees and audience that even if someone doesn't win, all the nominees did something extraordinary to get there.
Here is Hugh Jackman's opening number in case you missed it. He is gamely assisted by the lovely Anne Hathaway.
Likes & Dislikes from the Oscars:
I hated the media fueled "tension" between Jen and Bradgelina. C'mon, give it a break.
I loved Meryl Street sitting there looking like the grande dame of American film that she is. She's really a classy and beautiful person.
I also liked the casual nature and excitement from all the Slumdog people and kids. I didn't like the "In Memoriam" clip reel. I thought there was too much too look at and it seemed hard to figure out who the person was when the shot panned back to show Queen Latifah signing. Didn't everyone know it would end with Paul Newman?
I didn't like Sean Penn and muted his acceptance speech. I would have gladly listened to Mickey Rourke's.
I hated Kate Winslet's hair.
I liked that Heath Ledger's family was there and gave warm, strong, loving speeches. That couldn't have been easy for them.
I didn't like the cut away shots of celebrities with the required sad, pity-filled, teary eyed expressions while the Ledgers were accepting the award.
I loved Tina Fey & Steve Martin's bit but was confused by Ben Stiller's riff on Joaquin Phoenix.
Lastly, I thought the beginning of Kate Winslet's speech sounded rehearsed, but I loved her spontaneous call out to her dad and his responding whistle that could be heard out on Highland and Hollywood Blvd.
Did I miss anything?
Friday, February 20
Return to Brooklyn
I posted this as a comment on David & Allison's blog in response to David's glamorous life of an airline pilot post, but thought it worthy of repeating here:
I had a glamorous day as a passenger yesterday. We left Steve's parents' house a little after 4:30 for Portland Jetport. It's about a 30 minute drive. When we left the house, we knew our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. No biggie. we expected a delay due to the winter weather in NYC moving towards Maine.
We board about when we were supposed to per the delayed departure time.
We pushed back, go the safety schpeal, and then stopped. JFK was closed until they got the taxiways and runways plowed and cleaned up. ATC told our hard working pilots that our new departure time would be 2 1/2 hours later.
A tug came and pulled us back into the gate. Then we sat. But I have to say, the Jet Blue crew and ground agents did an excellent job keeping us informed of all the changes and up to date on conditions and connecting flights at JFK. They deplaned some people who wouldn't make their connection, and one new passenger got on. Both the FO and CO talked to us using the flight attendant PA at the front of the cabin rather than from the flight deck.
After a good wait on the ground, they told us that working with dispatch and ATC, they got a departure time only 20 minutes from that point. So we quickly went through everything again - push back, safety schpeal because a new passenger got on - and rolled over to be deiced, because the storm had reached Portland in the time we had been sitting there. Then we took off and landed without any further holding or delays at JFK around 10PM. Our original arrival time was 7:30.
We took our time getting down to bag check, so they were there going around the carousel just waiting for us. Walked the half a mile in the airport to the Air Train, which then connected us to the A train to Brooklyn. After a transfer to the F train, we finally walked through our door just after midnight. Unpacked, ate some toast because we were starving, cooed over the cats, got situated, etc, and turned the lights off at 1:45, just about when you were getting home.
Long day for both of us.
New content starts here!
Maine was pretty and cold the whole time we were there. We got very lucky with the weather as it never snowed or did anything else precip-wise. Surprisingly, we did quite a bit of shopping. I know, right? We live in NYC but went shopping in Maine. Maine has outlet malls and we had access to them. I'm also not one of those people who like to shop when on vacation. But it's hard to resist outlet prices at J.Crew, Gap, Banana Republic, and Crate & Barrel. We also visited the mothership of the L.L. Bean company in Freeport. Gorgeous flagship store. Steve took his much loved Bean backpack in to see if they would replace the zipper but apparently it isn't worth their time so they gave him a store credit and he was able to buy a brand new one. We also found a smaller version of his pack in a bin at the Bean outlet for only $12. Granted, it was embroidered with the name, "Jacey," but a seam ripper made that history. So he got two new backpacks which came in handy for transporting our purchases back to NY. I bought some new duds that are appropriate for work and Steve got some work-able clothes, too.
On Tuesday, we headed out to look for a Wii Fit (the balance board box) thinking that demand would be lower in Portland. After all, his father found us a Wii there and shipped it to us. No dice; everyone was sold out. Toys R'Us had a ton of Wiis but no Fits. On our way to Portland, I spotted a bald eagle soaring on a thermal right in Steve's neighborhood. There is no mistaking that bright white tail of a bald eagle. No other wildlife sightings except for a squirrel in the front yard.
I had a glamorous day as a passenger yesterday. We left Steve's parents' house a little after 4:30 for Portland Jetport. It's about a 30 minute drive. When we left the house, we knew our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. No biggie. we expected a delay due to the winter weather in NYC moving towards Maine.
We board about when we were supposed to per the delayed departure time.
We pushed back, go the safety schpeal, and then stopped. JFK was closed until they got the taxiways and runways plowed and cleaned up. ATC told our hard working pilots that our new departure time would be 2 1/2 hours later.
A tug came and pulled us back into the gate. Then we sat. But I have to say, the Jet Blue crew and ground agents did an excellent job keeping us informed of all the changes and up to date on conditions and connecting flights at JFK. They deplaned some people who wouldn't make their connection, and one new passenger got on. Both the FO and CO talked to us using the flight attendant PA at the front of the cabin rather than from the flight deck.
After a good wait on the ground, they told us that working with dispatch and ATC, they got a departure time only 20 minutes from that point. So we quickly went through everything again - push back, safety schpeal because a new passenger got on - and rolled over to be deiced, because the storm had reached Portland in the time we had been sitting there. Then we took off and landed without any further holding or delays at JFK around 10PM. Our original arrival time was 7:30.
We took our time getting down to bag check, so they were there going around the carousel just waiting for us. Walked the half a mile in the airport to the Air Train, which then connected us to the A train to Brooklyn. After a transfer to the F train, we finally walked through our door just after midnight. Unpacked, ate some toast because we were starving, cooed over the cats, got situated, etc, and turned the lights off at 1:45, just about when you were getting home.
Long day for both of us.
New content starts here!
Maine was pretty and cold the whole time we were there. We got very lucky with the weather as it never snowed or did anything else precip-wise. Surprisingly, we did quite a bit of shopping. I know, right? We live in NYC but went shopping in Maine. Maine has outlet malls and we had access to them. I'm also not one of those people who like to shop when on vacation. But it's hard to resist outlet prices at J.Crew, Gap, Banana Republic, and Crate & Barrel. We also visited the mothership of the L.L. Bean company in Freeport. Gorgeous flagship store. Steve took his much loved Bean backpack in to see if they would replace the zipper but apparently it isn't worth their time so they gave him a store credit and he was able to buy a brand new one. We also found a smaller version of his pack in a bin at the Bean outlet for only $12. Granted, it was embroidered with the name, "Jacey," but a seam ripper made that history. So he got two new backpacks which came in handy for transporting our purchases back to NY. I bought some new duds that are appropriate for work and Steve got some work-able clothes, too.
On Tuesday, we headed out to look for a Wii Fit (the balance board box) thinking that demand would be lower in Portland. After all, his father found us a Wii there and shipped it to us. No dice; everyone was sold out. Toys R'Us had a ton of Wiis but no Fits. On our way to Portland, I spotted a bald eagle soaring on a thermal right in Steve's neighborhood. There is no mistaking that bright white tail of a bald eagle. No other wildlife sightings except for a squirrel in the front yard.
Tuesday, February 10
Taking care of business
Well, things have been progressing rather mundanely the past week or so. It was with some relief that I found out I am meeting all expectations regarding my freelance/consulting work with Egmont. Phase 1 of my six-month contract is already over at the end of this month. Phase 2 starts March 1 and ends at the end of May. I was a little concerned about how I was doing because I feel completely in the dark communication-wise. I only get feedback when I'm in the office once a week to meet with my boss. I asked her and she said I'm going everything they wanted me to do and doing it well. So whew! My contract with them is pretty standard and gives either party a two-week notice contract cancellation policy.
Later that same day, my boss emailed me and asked if I would go to ALA Annual for Egmont. Even though I was doing the happy dance in my head, I played it cool, and simply said, "of course, I'd be happy to." I also have hopes that this is an indicator of either an extended contract or a movement towards a full-time on staff position with them. As I said, my contract ends at the end of May. ALA Annual is the second week of July. In Chicago.
On Thursday, Steve and I are headed to the Great White North. Oops, er, that's Canada. Maine. We're going to Maine. Since we had to scrub our Christmas visit due to finances and Kitty's required TLC after surgery, we are going now. Steve's folks haven't seen him in over a year, so a visit is well overdue. We'll be there about a week.
We are flying Jet Blue for the first time. Prices were astoundingly low - lower than taking the bus and definitely lower than the train - so we are flying. Even though it's only a little over an hour flight time, I'm looking forward to testing out the larger coach seats, personal tvs, etc. And we can check one bag each without an additional fee. It's amazing that a free checked bag is a perk now.
There is a cat sitter coming in twice a day - which costs more than our plane tickets - to take care of the furries. Cleo's medicine is best administered twice a day. We hired one of the techs from the vet clinic. Gotta remember to have an extra set of keys made tomorrow.
Tonight we are going to hang the curtains for the bedroom. Our bedroom is on the roof and could easily be accessed if someone felt like hopping from roof to roof. So I really want to get the curtains up to close up so should a potential thief roof hop, he won't be able to see in our windows. I also have to give Steve a haircut tonight. So many little things to take care of before leaving - put a hold on the mail, haircut, curtains, keys, pick up new pill pockets, save work documents to Google docs/USB memory stick to take with me, etc. At least laundry got done yesterday so we don't show up with dirty underwear. And I already stocked up on plenty of cat food for The Miss.
Like I said, things have been pretty ordinary around here.
Later that same day, my boss emailed me and asked if I would go to ALA Annual for Egmont. Even though I was doing the happy dance in my head, I played it cool, and simply said, "of course, I'd be happy to." I also have hopes that this is an indicator of either an extended contract or a movement towards a full-time on staff position with them. As I said, my contract ends at the end of May. ALA Annual is the second week of July. In Chicago.
On Thursday, Steve and I are headed to the Great White North. Oops, er, that's Canada. Maine. We're going to Maine. Since we had to scrub our Christmas visit due to finances and Kitty's required TLC after surgery, we are going now. Steve's folks haven't seen him in over a year, so a visit is well overdue. We'll be there about a week.
We are flying Jet Blue for the first time. Prices were astoundingly low - lower than taking the bus and definitely lower than the train - so we are flying. Even though it's only a little over an hour flight time, I'm looking forward to testing out the larger coach seats, personal tvs, etc. And we can check one bag each without an additional fee. It's amazing that a free checked bag is a perk now.
There is a cat sitter coming in twice a day - which costs more than our plane tickets - to take care of the furries. Cleo's medicine is best administered twice a day. We hired one of the techs from the vet clinic. Gotta remember to have an extra set of keys made tomorrow.
Tonight we are going to hang the curtains for the bedroom. Our bedroom is on the roof and could easily be accessed if someone felt like hopping from roof to roof. So I really want to get the curtains up to close up so should a potential thief roof hop, he won't be able to see in our windows. I also have to give Steve a haircut tonight. So many little things to take care of before leaving - put a hold on the mail, haircut, curtains, keys, pick up new pill pockets, save work documents to Google docs/USB memory stick to take with me, etc. At least laundry got done yesterday so we don't show up with dirty underwear. And I already stocked up on plenty of cat food for The Miss.
Like I said, things have been pretty ordinary around here.
Tuesday, February 3
New Blog
If you didn't get my email, here is the link to a new blog I've started. http://avecsucre.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, January 28
New addition to the kitchen
A couple weekends ago, IKEA finally had the kitchen island we've been coveting. We went out and got it, had it delivered the same day, and put it together by 9 that night. It's large for our space and will require rearranging the living/kitchen area yet again, but we're very glad to have it. I haven't taken a picture of it, but here is a picture of it from the IKEA site.
As you can see, it's mostly stainless. That wooden butcher-block-type part folds up and down as needed. It's counter height and we also got two folding bar stools. We have eaten there as a table several times and like it. Maybe having friends over for something isn't too far away. It will seat six people. We are going to need more stools.
As you can see, it's mostly stainless. That wooden butcher-block-type part folds up and down as needed. It's counter height and we also got two folding bar stools. We have eaten there as a table several times and like it. Maybe having friends over for something isn't too far away. It will seat six people. We are going to need more stools.
Monday, January 26
The BIG morning
I think many of you who read my blog are friends and family and have little to nothing to do with the world of children's books. You've put up with my prattle about ALA, awards, authors, and illustrators and some things may have sunk in whether you wanted them to or not. This morning was the big morning for children's books. The 2009 awards were announced! I'm mentioning some of winning books by authors you may have heard me mention before. I've worked with all of them at either Holt or Harcourt, or both. They are some of the nicest people around, all of them. I'm very happy for them. Only one of these books is a Harcourt book but I'm pleased as punch for all of these authors (and all the ones who won but I'm not mentioning in this blog post). For a full list of ALA winners, you can visit ALA's homepage and click on the links for the individual award press releases. The ALA page is a little slow to respond due to the increased traffic.
Kadir Nelson cleaned up for his authored & illustrated book We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. He won the CSK author award, a CSK illustrator honor, and won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for best informational book for children.
Kathi Appelt won her first Newbery honor for The Underneath. I visited her at home in College Station a couple years ago and she gave me a pair of pink Crocs. She was actually working on The Underneath during the time I visited. We are united in Aggieness. She's also been one of the few authors who has worked with me all eight years in publishing as she was published by Holt and Harcourt.
I was also thrilled for Yuyi Morales winning another Belpre award for illustration and an honor for writing of Just in Case. She's one of the most gracious people I've ever met.
M.T. (Tobin) Anderson won a Printz honor for his second Octavian Nothing installment, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom of the Waves. Which I haven't read yet. But will very soon.
And finally, after many acclaimed books, Marla Frazee has been awarded her first Caldecott honor for A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. This one is especially dear to my heart because it is a Harcourt book and I worked on much of it's promotion before I left Harcourt in June. Marla's editor, Allyn Johnston, shared early versions of this book with us and we watched it develop, grow, and change over the months before publication. It was amazing to watch the early version of the book mature into the charming, honest, and funny final version.
In addition to four out of five books above, I have also read some of the other award winning novels: Savvy (Newbery Honor), The Graveyard Book (Newbery winner), and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Printz honor).
Also of note is author & illustrator Ashley Bryan winning the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for lifetime achievement. I had a short exchange with Mr. Bryan at a conference when I was still with Holt. Later, I was much astonished when he expressed his gratitude for sending him a book he requested—he sent me a hand written thank you note and autographed copy of his book Beautiful Blackbird. During that same conference, he crashed the Holt cocktail reception, but we didn't mind at all. Sorry Simon & Schuster or whichever publisher party he was supposed to be attending. I haven't worked with Mr. Bryan but I am a fan. You have also never heard anyone give a speech properly until you have heard the orations of Mr. Bryan.
Another year, another group of winners. I am a little sad not to be at Harcourt of the old days to celebrate with Marla, Allyn, Barb, Sarah, Amanda, Kia, Kara, Rachel, and everyone else. We used to love having any excuse to drink champagne in the office.
Kadir Nelson cleaned up for his authored & illustrated book We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. He won the CSK author award, a CSK illustrator honor, and won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for best informational book for children. 
Kathi Appelt won her first Newbery honor for The Underneath. I visited her at home in College Station a couple years ago and she gave me a pair of pink Crocs. She was actually working on The Underneath during the time I visited. We are united in Aggieness. She's also been one of the few authors who has worked with me all eight years in publishing as she was published by Holt and Harcourt.
I was also thrilled for Yuyi Morales winning another Belpre award for illustration and an honor for writing of Just in Case. She's one of the most gracious people I've ever met. 
M.T. (Tobin) Anderson won a Printz honor for his second Octavian Nothing installment, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom of the Waves. Which I haven't read yet. But will very soon.
And finally, after many acclaimed books, Marla Frazee has been awarded her first Caldecott honor for A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. This one is especially dear to my heart because it is a Harcourt book and I worked on much of it's promotion before I left Harcourt in June. Marla's editor, Allyn Johnston, shared early versions of this book with us and we watched it develop, grow, and change over the months before publication. It was amazing to watch the early version of the book mature into the charming, honest, and funny final version.In addition to four out of five books above, I have also read some of the other award winning novels: Savvy (Newbery Honor), The Graveyard Book (Newbery winner), and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Printz honor).
Also of note is author & illustrator Ashley Bryan winning the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for lifetime achievement. I had a short exchange with Mr. Bryan at a conference when I was still with Holt. Later, I was much astonished when he expressed his gratitude for sending him a book he requested—he sent me a hand written thank you note and autographed copy of his book Beautiful Blackbird. During that same conference, he crashed the Holt cocktail reception, but we didn't mind at all. Sorry Simon & Schuster or whichever publisher party he was supposed to be attending. I haven't worked with Mr. Bryan but I am a fan. You have also never heard anyone give a speech properly until you have heard the orations of Mr. Bryan. Another year, another group of winners. I am a little sad not to be at Harcourt of the old days to celebrate with Marla, Allyn, Barb, Sarah, Amanda, Kia, Kara, Rachel, and everyone else. We used to love having any excuse to drink champagne in the office.
Monday, January 5
2009? Present.
I'm here. In the new year. Still not reporting very interesting news. Our tree is still up. It was supposed to come down yesterday, but I was finishing up reading for work and then went to a friend's house in the evening. There was little notice about going to the friend's house, otherwise you betcha I would have planned accordingly and taken the tree down on Saturday. Or have done more reading on Saturday. So the tree is coming down today.
I walked to Brooklyn Heights last night (where my friend lives) and I passed the corpses of many a previously festive and decorated tree. Today is the first day of the city-wide tree recycling program. Trees get picked up at the curb and turned into yummy smelling mulch that will be used in parks throughout the boroughs. I wonder what it would be like to be a curbside tree spotter and collector? I haven't seen any of the trucks collecting trees yet. Our tree is dry as the Sahara but still nice and green. And it still smells nice. I kept some of the lower branches we cut off and put them in our living room windows. I think I'll leave those up a while longer since they look winter-y not Christmas-y. We are also going to leave up some of the white rope lights since they look nice any time of year.
We didn't have a wreath this year. If we did, it might have helped identify our apartment as ours and not the one next door. Two more people have tried getting into our apartment only to find Steve answering the door to tell them they are in the wrong building. Idiots. Most have been pretty late at night and alcohol was clearly involved, but one just a few days ago, was about noon. Sober. He was very embarrassed. The others have been too soused to be embarrassed. Yes, 377 and 375 look identical from the outside, and I presume the stairwell. Yes, the keys work for both. Isn't that genius? Our first outside door has the same key as 375's inside door. And our inside door matches their outside door. Grrr. Cheap. Luckily the actual locks on the individual apartment doors are all different.
We have no idea if other people in our building have had this problem with their 375 counterparts. Another thought: if we have had four people try to get into our apartment, how many people live in #5 at 375? Four? Or has someone been a repeat offender?
In other news . . .
I watched Mama Mia on Saturday. I spared Steve and gladly wished him well as he played computer games in the other room. What a mess of a movie, but fun and rescued by the campy and catchy ABBA music. The costumes were ugly (and I'm not just talking about the disco get ups). The location - the beautiful Greek isles - is barely used, and the signing. Oh help me, the singing. James Bond is not a but can rock a glam disco jumpsuit. I also thought everyone looked sweaty. And not in a good way. Eh. It was a fun movie, but not a good movie. It could have been done a lot better. At least the cast looked like they were having fun the whole time, especially Meryl Streep.
Now I'm supposed to be working but I'm in a bit of a writer's block. Ironic isn't it? I can write on this blog without any problem, but when I try to write a program proposal I'm stymied. Will go back and give it another shot.
David and Allison to visit this weekend. That will mean another trip to Grimaldi's. Yum.
I walked to Brooklyn Heights last night (where my friend lives) and I passed the corpses of many a previously festive and decorated tree. Today is the first day of the city-wide tree recycling program. Trees get picked up at the curb and turned into yummy smelling mulch that will be used in parks throughout the boroughs. I wonder what it would be like to be a curbside tree spotter and collector? I haven't seen any of the trucks collecting trees yet. Our tree is dry as the Sahara but still nice and green. And it still smells nice. I kept some of the lower branches we cut off and put them in our living room windows. I think I'll leave those up a while longer since they look winter-y not Christmas-y. We are also going to leave up some of the white rope lights since they look nice any time of year.
We didn't have a wreath this year. If we did, it might have helped identify our apartment as ours and not the one next door. Two more people have tried getting into our apartment only to find Steve answering the door to tell them they are in the wrong building. Idiots. Most have been pretty late at night and alcohol was clearly involved, but one just a few days ago, was about noon. Sober. He was very embarrassed. The others have been too soused to be embarrassed. Yes, 377 and 375 look identical from the outside, and I presume the stairwell. Yes, the keys work for both. Isn't that genius? Our first outside door has the same key as 375's inside door. And our inside door matches their outside door. Grrr. Cheap. Luckily the actual locks on the individual apartment doors are all different.
We have no idea if other people in our building have had this problem with their 375 counterparts. Another thought: if we have had four people try to get into our apartment, how many people live in #5 at 375? Four? Or has someone been a repeat offender?
In other news . . .
I watched Mama Mia on Saturday. I spared Steve and gladly wished him well as he played computer games in the other room. What a mess of a movie, but fun and rescued by the campy and catchy ABBA music. The costumes were ugly (and I'm not just talking about the disco get ups). The location - the beautiful Greek isles - is barely used, and the signing. Oh help me, the singing. James Bond is not a but can rock a glam disco jumpsuit. I also thought everyone looked sweaty. And not in a good way. Eh. It was a fun movie, but not a good movie. It could have been done a lot better. At least the cast looked like they were having fun the whole time, especially Meryl Streep.
Now I'm supposed to be working but I'm in a bit of a writer's block. Ironic isn't it? I can write on this blog without any problem, but when I try to write a program proposal I'm stymied. Will go back and give it another shot.
David and Allison to visit this weekend. That will mean another trip to Grimaldi's. Yum.
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