The Misanthrope Got Married

We did it. We are now Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Blackwell.

Thank you to all our friends and family who joined in the celebration of our happy occassion.

For those of you who haven't had a wedding and are thinking about it, I would say that the size of the celebration should depend on your personality. We had a relatively small reception because we wanted to talk to our guests. So that worked out well.

A few married women advised me to not worry about talking to people and try to enjoy my wedding. I really tried to talk to as many people as I could because somehow that allowed me in a weird way to be out of the spotlight. Yet somehow I kept finding myself on the dance floor at the center of some sort of wedding activity. I enjoy talking to people, and how often is it that you get family and friends together in one place for the opportunity to celebrate and catch up with them? Not wanting to be the focus of attention helped me really listen to the people I was talking to because I didn't have to think about myself -- which I've been doing in spades lately.

I am not a TRUE misanthrope but I also don't like to be the recipient of a lot of attention.

This is a dilemma for a bride who is the main focus of most weddings. I didn't think this was a problem for a lot of brides. Turns out that once again, I am not unique. The bridal attendant at the temple (who was an absolute genius of accommodation, from massaging my shoulders to reapplying my lipstick to helping me use the toilet) assured me that a lot of brides feel that way.

It's overwhelming for a lot of people. It's less about being the center of attention and more about trying to cope with all the love and affection that bombards you because of the nature of the occasion. You just have to take it in small doses. I made several trips during the beginning of the reception to the bridal chamber just for that reason -- but as the afternoon wore on, I started to enjoy myself a little bit more.

There was also the realization that once yesterday was over, that was it -- so I readjusted my perspective and was somehow able to absorb the good feelings without becoming more overwhelmed.

For those of you who don't know, it's a Jewish tradition for the bride and groom to be left alone for 15 minutes after the ceremony. The tradition is old and allows time for the presumably virginal bride and groom to consummate their relations. During our 15 minutes alone, we CONSUMED the food the bridal attendant laid out for us. It was a good 15 minutes. We ate and took pictures of each other (or rather Jon took pictures of me) and took a little bit of a break from the intensity of the CEREMONY. Jewish wedding ceremonies are pretty moving -- even more so when you are the one getting married.

Here are some pictures.


The other mystery that needed solving for a few of our guests was what happened to my train. My wedding dress had a long and beautiful train. Part of what happens in the bridal chamber is that the bridal attendant and in some cases the maid of honor (and in my case both) arrange your train into a series of gathers that hang from your butt. They do this by folding the dress and then buttoning it. The people who tailor your wedding dress attach buttons and loops that make the bustling process possible. Here is a great picture taken by Jon that shows this process.



I held it together well enough, until I heard Jon saying his vows in Hebrew. When the cantor asked me to say my vows in Hebrew, I had to do it between sobs. I didn't realize that those words would be so meaningful because for a long time they were just words the cantor wrote in a note to us. But yesterday -- well, if I already told you I was sobbing then you must know how moving everything all was in the end.

The absolute highlight of yesterday was marching into the sanctuary, hanging onto the arms of my parents, seeing all of the faces (hokey moment coming up) of the people who know us and love us waiting for me, to look at me, to wish me well -- that is an overwhelming moment. So overwhelming, in fact, I had to look down at the floor. Any eye contact at all with any of the individuals looking at me with such love, adoration and intensity would have further reduced me to tears. I had to pace my crying; otherwise, I would not have made it through the day. As you know, crying takes a lot of energy.

There are so many nice things that happened it's impossible to relay them all.

Just know that Jon and I had a wonderful time. We are thankful to everyone for coming out on such a beautiful day for our beautiful occasion, particularly those who traveled over great stretches of land and sea to join us. We are especially thankful to the friends and family who stood up for us and participated in both the signing of our Katubah and the signing of our marriage license. Thank you to the Best Man and the Maid of Honor for their warm and moving toasts. Thank you to my Maid of Honor for being the absolute be-all and end-all of Maids of Honor (I'm going to hire her out). Thank you to our parents for supporting us both and being so accepting of your new son-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Aida

Last night, Mark, our house guest treated us to an evening at the opera. The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center to be exact. For Jon and I it was a novel experience as neither of us had ever attended an opera. We watched the premier of Aida - which is a very good opera to start with. Everything about the opera was fantastic. From the divas to the costumes to the sets to the orchestra to the five horses marched across the stage in the second act when Ramasades returns victorious from his Ethiopian Conquest. It was just beautiful. Last night's experience topped every other cultural experience I've ever had - with the exception of seeing the ballet Giselle performed at Lincoln Center.

You can read about AIDA here. It's a beautiful and tragic love story - classic really - including a love triangle and the tragic death of the lovers in the end.

Today is the day before my wedding. The weather has finally cleared up making this final day of preparations an absolute breeze. I'm at my cousin's house right now. She's my maid of honor. We just got our nails done. I went with the traditional French manicure with toes to match.

We're basically regrouping right now. We're gathering the things that my cousin needs for tonight before we go out to run our final errands.

Next stop is the hotel where we're having a rehearsal dinner and where Jon and I and several of our guests are staying tonight.

Don't worry. Jon and are sleeping in separate rooms tonight. So if you hold on to any old superstitions about such things you can rest easy.

After tonight, the next time Jon sees me, I'll be in my complete wedding attire.

Wish us luck.

Flying High Now

Jon and I sludged through the rain yesterday running our final wedding errands.

Fortunoff's is the greatest place in the world. Our sales guy was great. He pointed us exactly where we needed to go and actually offered us help, service and information.

All my bridesmaids have their dresses.

All the professionals we are using know their schedules and we are ready.

In the end we'll be 85 in toto.

Not bad, I'd say.

Today, I'm training out to Long Island to do some shopping with my mother. I still need an outfit for rehearsal dinner.

This morning, Jon and I are packing for our trip.

Tonight, we are going to the opera. We are having a good life.

As of tomorrow I will be incommunicado. You will not see me again until after my honey moon.

The Day Is Over

My work day ended at 6:10pm.

My co-workers gave me a beautiful card, picked out my boss who later surprised me with a nice gift.

Earlier in the day, another of my co-workers - who is fast becoming a good friend - surprised me not with a gift but a beautiful sentiment. She told me she considers me the kind of friend that feels like a sister. I was taken aback by that and really, really flattered.

I was lonely for a long time - a very long time in fact.

In the last few years, things have been going very well and now I'm not lonely anymore. And although I remember being lonely, I can no longer remember the feeling of being lonely.

Funny. Isn't it?

I am lucky.

Last Day of Work

Okay. So I don't know if you heard or not, but I'm getting married in four days.

Today is my last day of work until the beginning of November. As of this evening, I'm in full 100% wedding mode.

My distraction level is very high. I've got a good size pile of work to get through to tie up the loose ends of open projects.

Like right now, I should be at my other computer (the MAC) working on some copy but I'm way too excited.

Tell me. What would you do?

5 days and counting

It's hard to believe that we're so close to our wedding date. In five days Jon and I will be married. Everything is ready. All the preparations are made.

Yesterday, I took advantage of my day off from work to get a pedicure/manicure and one of the more painful waxings I've had in some time. It was so painful that my body started producing endorphins making me feel a little bit high. But I'm smooth from the tops of my hips to the tips of my toes. And that will be good for sun bathing. For the first time ever, I removed hair from my thighs. In all my life, I've never shaved them, used depilatory on them or had them waxed. Yesterday was an important day in the life of my thighs and I'm so happy to be able to share this experience with all of you.

My manicure and pedicure look great. I'm going to the salon again on Saturday for a French manicure/pedicure for the wedding. My cousin is taking me to a nice place on Long Island.

Tonight, I'm taking our guest to the Tuesday Night Trivia at the Baggott Inn.

Maybe we'll see you there.

Our Guest Arrived

Our friend is here at last. We are so happy to see him. This is the friend we stayed with in London. He arrived on time, in one piece and very cheerful for someone who just taken an early morning flight. It was a busy day. My brother and sister-in-law solved the problem of the sleeping arrangements for our friend by bringing over a nice queen-sized aerobed. They came over with my nephew who is at least one head taller than the last time I saw him and his personality is developing nicely. Today, my nephew introduced me to Laurie Berkner - a new sensation in the area of child music - and probably someone I'll never encounter again - by choice. I didn't enjoy her music although he thought it was wonderful. I found her perkiness and cheerfulness generally grating. But who know? Maybe one day, I'll know all the words to her song because our child thinks she's the cat's pajamas.

When Mark arrived we had a wonderful lunch of meatloaf and sauteed peas. Yes. I am boasting about my cooking but the meatloaf turned out very good and how do you mess up peas. They are always good.

For dinner, we went with a light meal of chicken soup which I prepared last evening just for the occassion of Mark's first night here.

Tomorrow, Jon and Mark are going on a nice long bike ride somewhere in Jersey. While they are gone, I'll be taking care of some girly things - like getting presents for the bridesmaids and the ushers, going to the nail salon for some non-specific grooming and preparing a stuffed basil chicken to die for.

I love entertaining.

On a more wedding note - I just spoke with the mother of the flower girl. They got her the cutest dress in a color that matches my gown and it's covered with rose petals that match the color of the bridesmaid dresses. How perfect is that? It's pretty perfect.

She's going to look really cute. I spoke with the six year old flower girl who was vey excited when she described her dress and she's so happy about being a flower girl.

Psychic Tarot Card

The Anonymous Blogger posted an angry letter today to a psychic that gave him bad information. This reminded me of a time in my life when I was lonely, sad and vulnerable to the charlatans that claim they can help you solve all of your problems with a simple cure.

There was one who really got to me when I was in my early 20's. I was so naive, I believed everything she told me.

It started with an initial reading. She was able to read my life in the cards. She figured out that I was unhappy, lonely and lacking direction. At the time, I had just graduated college and moved in with a girlfriend into a cheap apartment on the upper east side - a ridiculously cheap apartment. The job that had been promised to me by my friend's brother-in-law the summer previous to graduation was gone. I found out by going into work and seeing someone sitting at the front desk, my desk - no one had bothered to tell me that I had been replaced even though they knew I was moving into the city and coming in. So there I was - livinking a speech.... to show the teachers how much i have grown form that timid

10 Days Left

I will be Valerie Goodman for only 10 more days. After our marriage, I'm changing our name. Conveniently, the marriage license also serves as a name changing tool so beyond filling out my new surname on the application for our license, I don't have to do any additional work to assume Jon's name.

Sunday, one of our wedding guests is arriving from England. He'll be staying with us, on our couch so last night I started doing a ridiculously thorough cleaning of the living room - including washing the couch. I've had this couch for 4 years now and beyond a using little upholstery soap with a vacuum I haven't done much to clean it.

I want our guest to be comfortable as possible considering he'll be sleeping on our NON-FOLDOUT couch so I unzipped the upholstery from the bottom cushions and threw the back cushions into a cart - brought everything over to the laundromat. I chose the largest machine I could find. But it really didn't matter how large the machine because my cushions ended up lumpy in the end anyway. The cushions' foamy insides folded themselves up inside their covers. If I want to straigten them out, I have to open the covers manually pull out the foam and lay it back in neatly.

The only problem is that I don't have a sewing machine nor do I have that cool little sewing utensil that rips open seams. Then there's not having used a sewing machine in about 15 years to add to that.

Beyond the Blue Verizon

Verizon customer service SUCKS!!!!!

I just finished yelling at them for 45 minutes about the inconsistencies in my bill and how they are driving me insane.

Did you know that they no longer send representatives out to meet with customers because Verizon has deemed it unsafe for them to do so?

I wonder why.

Happy New Year.

Happy Jewish New Year and it is indeed.

Jon and I picked up our marriage license today. The nice couple behind us took our picture. They were registering their domestic partnerhsip with the state. The young woman explained that the domestic partnership agreement was just like a marriage except it had an expiration date. (We didn't find out pictures were forbidden here, until after we got off all these cool shots.)


We got there at a pretty good time. When we arrived there were four couples of ahead of us - and not too long a wait. But here is the line behind us. And look at all the people at the counters filling out paperwork. My goodness it was busy there - after we got there.


One of the cool things about going to City Hall's marriage bureau is that the wall is covered with romantic grafitti.




We even found these romantic scrawls on a piece of exposed wall.

Slow Quick Quick Slow

Thank you so much to our friend Barry for helping us learn to dance for our wedding. Barry taught us a basic fox trot. We still have a ways to go before we're ready for competition ballroom, but we're off to a good start.

I am having a difficult time with the turns. I always have a hard time with the turns.

But with practice and a good lead in Jon there should be no problem. I'm sure we'll look beautiful on the dance floor dancing our first dance as a married couple. I've got tears welling just thinking about it.

Monday Monday

Hi. How are you? I am fine. Thanks

Went to the gym this morning after a one week hiatus. One of the trainers I consulted with back when I first joined in back in January gave me a HUGE compliment. She said I looked GREAT and that she could really see a difference. I discussed with her that I really hadn't lost THAT much weight according to the scale. She assured me that my Body Mass Index is changing and that I'm building muscle - a concept that I can't quite wrap my mind around. The biggest difference she saw was in my waist and stomach.

Let me tell you something. This is no small compliment and this was no easy task. Losing weight in your middle is SO FREAKING HARD. And you don't necessarily have to do a billion situps. There are machines where you can do a combination of twisting and lifting weights that have the same effect and are a little bit easier. I had to find an alternative to situps because sometimes, my neck really hurts no matter how much I support my head and YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO STRAIN YOUR NECK EVER. Since all tension goes to my neck and shoulders, I have to compensate when I exercise so I'm not straining it.

I know this sounds self congratulatory and braggy. It's just that if you don't tell people that you accomplished something, sometimes they just don't notice and if you're not too braggy about it, it can be interesting for other people to listen to sometimes...not always.

I LOVE listening to other people talk about their lives - deflect the focus from thinking about myself and the wedding and I figure sometimes other people like to listen to me talk about myself too.

This has been a hard life lesson for me to learn. In order to be interesting to other people, you have to be interesting to yourself. If you're still reading this, I've proven my point.

You are reading this because I am writing about something that I accomplished that perhaps you want to accomplish or that you have accomplished yourself.

Do you know what I mean? When I hang out with friends now, I have something to offer to the conversation ante. I might have information that other people need that I can share. I have a point of view.

Some of us are just late bloomers. For some people, socializing skills come after all other stages of development. I'll stop now.

I'm doing a facial and I have a bath waiting and I'm running late.

Pig Personality Test - Part Deux

I made another pig. I love that site!

Retail is all wet

Today, today, today.

Today Jon picked up his new glasses. While he was doing that I went over to Sarah's and I visited with Zoey. I was so happy to see them both. Afterwards Jon and I headed up to 57th Street.

We bought water shoes at Niketown for our trip to Jamaica. This is a funny story actually, or maybe not. But I had to ask four different sales people for the water shoes because only the fourth one knew where they were. The other three sales reps I asked weren't even aware of the fact that Niketown carried them. But I knew. I remembered 8 years ago, the last time I was there, seeing water shoes. They only had men's which didn't bother me at all because I fit comfortably into a man's size 7.

Then we walked and we walked all the way over the H&M by Bloomingdales. H&M was an absolute zoo. Shopping there is worse than shopping at Century 21. The clothes are either stuffed so tightly that you can't thumb through the racks or they are strewn about sloppily making it impossible to find your size in something that you might actually like. And on top of that there was a line waiting to try on clothes. Then we went into Bloomingdale's and by the time we got to the part of the store that had clothes in my sizes (Women's 14 - 24 is carefully hidden downstairs by the exit to the subway) it was closing time. The sales people were applying pressure on our backs with their fierce eyes to get the heck out of there so they could wrap things up and call it quits so there was no satisfaction shopping there (as usual. I don't know why I keep going back to Bloomie's. I never have a good experience there).

It really is disgusting how department stores hide the section for larger-sized women. Honestly, size 14 is not so much bigger than size 10. But Bloomingdale's isn't the only offender. At Macy's on 34th Street, I think you have to go to the 9th floor for larger sizes and at Lord & Taylors at 5th and 38th, one has to ride the escalators all the way to the 8th floor which is one above lingerie. I mean, it's great that designers are finally embracing the fact that most women in this country are size 12 or larger, but still. How are we supposed to stop feeling the body shame that leads most of us to either depression, anorexia, bulemia or suicide if stores hide away our clothes in some hard-to-reach section of the store? Isn't there shame in having to ride that escalator so high up? At Macy's you have to actually ride the antiquated wooden escalator to get to their women's section. Why don't the stores just incorporate the larger sizes into the regular run of clothes in the regular clothing section? Then we could feel just like everyone else.

If retailers don't have room, they could just replace all the size 0's and 1's that don't sell and fill those spaces up with the larger-sized clothing. Honestly. How many women do the department stores think are a size 0? Raise your hand if you're less than a size 2/4. Yeah. That's what I thought. It looks like about 1 out of every 20 women or so. Pretty much the rest of us are size 10 or 12 and above.

Pig Personality Test

Draw a pig and find out who you really are. The test is cool.

Link by clicking on the title.

Here is my pig.

Details, Details

DRESS
My wedding is dress is ready. I went for my final fitting yesterday and all is good, except the bustle which looked like it was coming out of my butt when arranged. So they're going to redo that for me. My mother is picking it up and all that remains is wearing it on the day of.

My mother's dress is NOT ready on the other hand. The seamstress at the store where we found her dress is some kind of compulsive liar. When my mother put on her "altered" dress, fabric bunched up in both the front and the back. In the picture (taken at her first fitting) you can see how nice the dress looks on her and that it just needed slight alterations to make sure it wasn't too loose in the torso. The seamstress was supposed to have taken an inch out of the torso for my mom by releasing the waist and cutting from there. But the section she showed us clearly came from the bottom of the dress. Additionally, the seamstress (seen sitting on the step looking bored out of her mind)was supposed to hike up the dress in the torso and tighten it up which SHE clearly DID NOT DO. This woman must think we are stupid or something. She blamed it on the dress claiming that she didn't make the dress. Sadly, though, she is making the dress worse. The dress looked better before the crappy alterations this woman is making. My mom does have another dress on reserve so that's good. But still, it's not like these dresses and alterations are cheap.

A Museum Find

Here is another great find from the Victoria and Albert museum. It's the marker for a young woman's grave. Her name was Anna Cecilia. I found it beautiful and compelling and dramatic and touching.

It reads:

Erected by a sister in memory of her beloved Anna Ceclia,
Daugther of Christopher Rhodes Esq. of Chatham in the County of Kent. She departed this Life, June 2, 1796, aged 32. Her Remains were deposited in the 42: Vault of this Chapel. Distinguished by a fine Understanding, and a most Amiable Disposition of the Heart, she was the Delight of her Parents, and the Admiration of all who knew her. At the age of 17, the Small-pox stripped off the Bloom of youthful Beauty. And being followed by a dreadful Nervous disrder withered those fair prospects of earthly Happiness. Which were expected from her uncommon Affection, Sensibility and Tenderness.

After enduring this afflictive dispensation for many years,
When it was difficult to say which exceeded her, her Suffering or her Submission;
Her Friends' Concern for her Sorrows, or their Admiration of her Patience;
She was released by Death, and received into that World where there shall be no more Pain,
But God Himself shall wipe away Tears from Every Eye

Happy Birthday Jon

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear Jon.
Happy Birthday to you.

Friday - Indeed

This week has gone by both slowly and quickly. For example, during each work day, the time dragged but by the time I got home each night I couldn't believe how quickly the week is going by. Does that make sense? Our wedding is unbelievably close.

I had the absolute final meeting with the DJ last night. We have our music for our ceremony, our introduction, our first dance, the cutting of the cake, the garter removal, the garter toss and the bouquet toss. I specified the kind of music I want for when the guests arrive, the cocktail hour and the dinner music. And what's really nice is I find out our DJ is going to be taking requests during the celebration.

The wedding is so close now but it still won't seem real until we are actually doing it. Just like our vacation won't be real until our plane leaves the ground.

I love metaphors and that's what met a phors.

A Sharing Mood

Here are a couple more long lost shots from our trip to Great Britain. (I don't know if you can tell but I'm developing a bad case of wanderlust. I am really looking forward to our honeymoon/vacation to Jamaica.)

This is picture of me in the streets of Edinburgh on the last day of our side trip. That big pyramid shaped statue in the background is a tribute to Walter Scott.


Jon took this one. I think it looks like it came from a painting.

Enough with the Cleavage Already

The mercury has dropped down below 80 degrees, yet women all over New York City are still wearing their camisole tops. I am so tired of looking at people wearing their underwear for clothes. I know that camisoles are comfortable which is why I wear them AT HOME - not on the street, not at work, not on the subway.
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I found our long lost vacation photos from Scotland and England. This CD full of fantastic and fun vacation images has been missing for months. Here is a picture of Jon at the ruins at Holyrood.


Here is a close up of a beautiful mother and child statue at the Victoria and Albert Museum.


Here is a shot of a familiar series of children's books that I was surprised to see selling in an English book store.

A Strange Dream

Last night I had a terrible dream that I lost Zoey because I lost track of her. It was terrible. The dreamscape took place in unfamiliar territory. I was in a Texas that I could only have made up in my imagination and behind the home where I was staying was an enormous desert park where Texas and Mexico share a border. I was with my family and in this dream, my family was made up of people I've never seen before in my life. They were loud and distracting and required so much attention that at some point, Zoey slipped away from me.

I knew that I had to look for her in the desert park but random events kept preventing me from getting to her. I never did get to find her. It was truly a scary dream and I was glad when my alarm clock started beeping frantically.

It seems I'm a little out of practice staying out a late on a school night. But last night really was fun.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Went to Tuesday night trivia. Our team name referenced Get Smart but only about 1/8 of the audience got the joke and nobody laughed. Our team came in 3rd in the final round after finishing 8th earlier in the game. Met up with some cool people, Mike and Nick and Sarah and a new friend from Italy named Alex. Afterwards, some of us headed over to the famous Riviera Cafe at W. 4th and 7th Avenue. Jon was able to leave work a little early and join us and we had a wonderful time exchanging travel stories with our new friend and learning about his life in Italy. For example, we learned that his true passion is playing the piano and that he plays well enough to have given concerts performing solo Rachmoninoff. It was nice to get out on a week night, not having done it in a while. It was even nicer to be able to get out and catch up with friends. But now, I'm pooped and I have to get some sleep. Because tomorrow is another day.

At Last It's Fall

There is a distinct crispness in the air which means it's finally fall. I'm hoping there are no more summer weather surprises because I want to change my wardrobe around.

Seating Arrangements and Other Stuff

Jon and I ended our weekend by putting together our tables for the wedding. It's one of those moments where you just can't believe that what you are doing is what you are doing. Trying to figure out where to put everyone is a big puzzle with life size pieces that don't always fit. But what a good problem to have, heh? We're lucky.
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I really, really miss Zoey. When I woke up this morning, I looked around for her so I could take her on her morning walk. But alas, she wasn't there. I am very attached to her now.
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This afternoon, Jon and I went to Crate and Barrell to spend a gift certificate which we only spent half of (again - another good problem). All the things we want from Crate and Barrell are already on our registry so it was kind of challenging to find something else. So, we picked up a new cutting board for the kitchen and a new apron with matching oven mitts for me.

Then we hauled butt up to 76rd and 3rd and had a wonderful lunch at Tang Tang. If you are looking for good noodles at a great price then Tang Tang is your place.

Jon had the shredded chicken with sesame noodles. I had the chicken noodle vegetable soup. At the end of the meal, I received this wonderful fortune that said, "Your love life will be happy and harmonious."

Goodbye Zoey

Sarah has come and gone but not before I recorded her reunion with our little house guest.







You can't see her in the below shot but she is in her bag.
Goodbye little Zoey. We will miss you.

Zoey Goes Home

I just spoke with Sarah at JFK. Her plane just got in and very shortly she will be here to pick up Zoey.

I've been busy this morning getting Zoey ready for her reunion with Sarah.

Jon photographed Zoey in the tub while she was getting her final bath.

She really was a trooper because she doesn't enjoy being wet all that much.

I gathered all of her things and the last thing I pulled out was her travel bag. She hasn't been in that thing since we brought her home from Long Island. The bag has been sitting unused at the foot of our bed. I thought she forgot all about it but . . .

then I put in the kitchen with her other belongings so I can hand her off to Sarah later when she comes by car service on her way home.

As soon as I pulled it out and put it in the kitchen, it didn't take long for Zoey to remember her favorite comfort place in the world. Here is her reunion with her beautiful rose covered Kate Spade travel bag.


Less than a minute after a thorough examination using her sense of smell, she jumped in her bag and has been there ever since. I shot this picture "literally" 10 minutes ago.

She is now sleeping soundly in her bag.

Yes. I'm going to miss her. And yes. I am going to post pictures of Zoey's reunion with Sarah.

It's Official

(thank you to my future mother-in-law for posting the notice and sending us the clipping and thank you to the administrator of The Evil Twin Theory for scanning in this clipping from the Cortland Standard)

You May Thinks It's Butter, But It's Not

Apparently Tyra Banks's breasts are real but are they spectacular?

Tyra Banks was tired of the rumours that her breast are fake. Personally, I've never thought twice about Tyra's boobs. And as far as I know, there weren't really any rumours but that didnt's top Ms. Banks from having a mamogram done on her show to prove their validity.

More than likely, this was a publicity stunt designed to generate viewership for her show.

What do you think? Are you going to start watching her show? Do you care about her boobs? Now that you know Tyra's breasts are indeed NOT FAKE, how has your life changed?

The Saga of Sarah and Zoey

(I heard from Sarah after posting this. She is actually leaving Mumbai tonight. She is still stuck in India.)



For those of you following the saga of Sarah and Zoey, Sarah was stuck at the Mumbai aiport because of a monsoon which was causing delays.

I checked her flight last night and it left 10 minutes ahead of schedule. At this point Sarah should have already landed in Paris and is most likely relaxing before her transfer.

Sarah's delay means that Jon and I get to watch Zoey for two more days.

Having Zoey around is really fun. She's a very special dog. She follows me everywhere which is so cool. If she were a person following me everywhere it would make very tense but she's a sweet little dog and having her around makes me feel relaxed.

I've had a dog before. . .before I started this blog. I rescued a Jack Russell Terrier from a home where they were terrified of him. I called him Stanky because he smelled but later changed his name to Spanky because every one thought Stanky would hurt his feelings (I'm not kidding). I'm sure there are those that thought Stanky was very sweet, but he was a complete nightmare to take care of. He jumped all the time and everywhere. He could jump 4 feet into the air and land in my arms. He chewed on EVERYTHING. He knocked things down and broke them. He pooed everywhere in the apartment and would drag me all over the neighborhood when going for walks. He chewed his way through three harnesses and when I was out he whine, whimpered and barked all day driving my neighbors insane. And he was untrainable. So freakin' stubborn.

So. . .I called Jack Russell Terrier rescue group. They must have thought I was abusing him because once their "agents" came to get him (friends with the Jack Russell breeder who owned a farm for Jacks in CT), I never heard from her again.

I had him for six weeks and was glad to be rid of him. It wasn't his fault. Jack Russells are feisty little dogs that need a lot of room and a lot of directed activity. I didn't do my research before hand and it was my own fault that he destroyed almost everything in my apartment. Last I heard, he was sent to live with a father and his young son in Boston.

Here are some pictures of Zoey from last night.



It's nice having a well-behaved sweet natured dog around the house. She makes us very happy.

It's always a good time to be antisocial.

Genx

Genx,
originally uploaded by Valerie1.

I'm trying to brand Gen X Misanthrope, starting with this Logo.

If you are interested in owning an object with this logo, click on the link to my online shop and order something.

Where is Autumn?

Why do we have to wait for Autumn weather? It's not fair.

Why is it still hot outside? It's not fair.

Did you know that they are expecting 88 degree weather on Friday? It's not fair.

I want to wear my new sweaters. Hmmmmph.

Gen X Business

Inspired by Kevin Walsh at Forgotten New York, I've started selling Gen X Misanthrope merchandise. I want to see if I can actually sell stuff and junk with my images on it. I'm still working on uploading a logo file that works. I came up with something nice yesterday but it didn't translate well once online.

That's right, with an average of 30-60 readers a day, I am going to attempt to sell stuff.

Perhaps it's foolish but it doesn't cost anything to try.

Check it out!!

Dog Run

Sunday afternoon, Jon and I took Zoey to the dog run near Astoria Park aka Bugsy's Run.

On the way, I spotted this great old promotional thermometer from Ken-L-Ration on a building at Astoria Blvd. and 21st Street (or there abouts).


When we got to the dog run, there wasn't really much going on - only two other dogs there that rather fancied Zoey. We kept her away from the two big boy dogs by taking her to the far end of the dog run where we found this sculpture. We're not actually sure if it was a sculpture or a grave market but either way Zoey did pay her respects.

Weekend Ends

My dress came back from the manufacturer. It fits fine. The seamstress only needs to alter the bodice. The dress is gorgeous. There is nothing like lace to make you feel fancy.

You're John F. Kennedy! You are one of the most famous presidents and you fight for rights of other people. However, some of your political views tend to make people want to stay away from you. Other than that, thumbs up!


Which famous (or infamous) person are you a reincarnation of?
brought to you by Quizilla

Why Is It Still Hot Out?

When will this crummy summer weather end? Yuck. It's 79 degrees and really, really muggy. Enough already!!!
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It's been two days since my birthday and I still don't feel any differently than I did last week. Actually, I don't feel much older than I did when I was a kid- just smarter and wearier.
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My dress is still not back from the manufacturer yet. It WAS supposed to be back at the salon at the beginning of the week. What's happening?
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Took Zoey out for a 45 minute walk. She sat or stood motionless intermittently for at least 20 minutes of it. But once she started walking, I couldn't stop her. Here she is holding her ground, looking thoughtful.

Pretty in Pink

Does anybody remember the Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrew? That was the series of books about 4 children who were held captive by their mother and grandparents in the attic of their grandparents house. Well, in the 3rd or 4th book, the oldest brother and sister are living together as husband and wife with their teenage children and one of the girl children likes to match all of her clothes down to her underwear. For example if she is wearing a red skirt and red sweater then she will also be wearing red bra and panties.

Why am I bringing this up you ask? Because I realized in the bathroom at work that for the first time in my life, the color of my underwear matches my clothing. I'm not counting white panties because white isn't really a color. Today, I'm wearing a pink skirt, a white shirt with pink and hot pink trim and hot pink panties. I didn't even plan that.

Weird . . . right? Especially considering I didn't really start wearing pink until last year.

The Fat Man Walking

Looks like Steve Vaught has made it all the way to Vega, Texas.

He weighed himself at a truckstop and it looks like he potentially lost another 5 pounds since his last weigh in.

I say potentially because the scale he used doesn't measure small weights accurately.

Good for him!!!!

The Day Off

Last night, Jon gave me my b-day presents early because he has to work tonight. Last night, he gave me some nice skin lotions and he brought home a copy of The Day of the Triffids from Kim's Video. That was a hard rental to find. I remember seeing that movie as a kid and being utterly transfixed by it. It was not as good as I remember - in fact, it kind of sucks. My memory of it being a good movie inspired me to read the book. Believe me when I tell you the book is MUCH better.

Today. The actual day of my birthday. I have spent most of it alone. Believe it or not, that is what I wanted. I have been so busy lately and have hardly had any time on my own. I want that time every now and then. Some of you may not believe this, but alone time is precious. It's important for everyone to know how to be on their own and not only that. Time alone let's you regroup - breath - gather yourself - do things that you can't do with other people around.

I've had a productive day off.

• Quality time with Jon.
• 35 pounds of laundry done by us for the low, low, low price of $15.00 - that's half of what it would have cost if we had it done.
• Watched a movie on HBO on Demand - Something's Gotta' Give - charming, entertaining.
• Walked over the Social Security to order a replacement SS card, so I can reapply for my license which you apparently can't do without a SS card.
• Went food shopping which included buying some Hartz All Purpose dog shampoo.
• Gave Zoey a bath and combed her out. I love taking care of this dog.
• Watched another movie - Taking Lives - somewhat entertaining, almost suspenseful.

Now, I've got Bill Maher on the boob tube, the rerun from Friday night, and I'm contemplating cleaning my kitchen.

At some point, I'll even take Zoey out for her evening walk.

The Anniversary of my Unleashing Into this World

Today is my birthday - the end of my 38th year of life and the beginnning of my 39th.

For those of you sent birthday greetings - thank you very much.

To my friends - I am not doing anything special to celebrate beyond taking the day off from work and straightening up my house - cleaning and organizing. I appreciate the offers of celebration but I think I'm going to spend this birthday alone with Jon quietly.

A month from now, I'll be the center of a very big celebration and I think that's all the attention I can handle.

Allergies? Again?

Sneezing - a
Scratchy throat - a
Dry cough - a
Pressure around the eyes - a

Sound like allergies to you?

Zoey Goes to Long Island

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Zoey and I left for Long Island yesterday morning. I was amazed at how easy it is to transport her. Sarah gave us her carrying case and she just loves it, so much so that she doesn't even like to get out of it even when she has a chance. For example, I had twenty minutes until the LIRR met us at Woodside station to take us to Long Beach, so I thought I would let her out of her bag to walk around a little bit. I took her out and she jumped right back in. Here she is looking at me as if I'm nuts for expecting her to leave the security of her nice comfortable bag.

Once in Long Beach, I introduced her to my dad. He liked her very much but who wouldn't like Zoey. She's a little sweetheart. Here they are in front of my parent's house. She also had an opportunity to meet the famous Mr. Potato Head. He hasn't changed much from our childhoods and even obliged us by sitting with us for a while in my parent's living room. Later in the evening, he autographed Zoey's carrying case.

She was really sweet today. She came with Jon and me to the temple to our meeting with the Cantor and the caterer. We worked out the final details for our wedding - well as far as the caterer and the Cantor are concerned. Later in the day, when I was gathering our stuff to go home, I brought her carrying case to my parent's front door so I wouldn't forget it (as if I would) and she jumped right in and took a little nap even though we weren't leaving for another two hours. She just loves her carrying case and she is so cute.

Zoey Zoey Zoey

Zoey is staying with us for the next couple of weeks while her mommy is on vacation in exciting India. Don't worry Sarah. As you can see she is already making herself at home.

We already have exciting plans. Today, we're taking her out to Long Island to visit with my parents who have an enormous yard. Their neighbors have two children who will just love Zoey. Tomorrow, I'll try to get my brother to bring out my nephew so he can play with her too. Lately, he's been saying the word puppy a lot, so he should be very excited. He's 20 months old and getting cuter every waking minute of every freaking day.

Tomorrow, we plan to talk to the caterer about final arrangments for the wedding; we have a meeting with the Cantor who will be performing the ceremony; and we're going to try to get to the beach. So, we have quite a lot to do tomorrow.

Today - the biggest wedding task is looking at a sample table arrangment from the florist who will most likely be decorating the temple. Oh - and we also have to get my mom a dress for the wedding - oh and I think that's it. . .

Kittens and Afternoon Tea

It's late Friday afternoon and I'm still at work. So, I decided to take a kitten break.

If you are also stuck at work and need a quick pick me up, visit this quintessential "cute kitten photo" site.

Stamping and Diecutting

Here is a peak into my work day.

I just faxed a purchase order over to the stamping and diecutting place. They are going to fold, glue and laminate our folder order - folders we are having printed for our clients. The highlight of the conversation was explaining to the vendor how our client didn't like the half-moon business card slits top and bottom hold, and trying to figure out what we could do instead. I'll keep you updated.