Come join the party! We'll be meeting on Saturday, August 2nd, at the Franklin Central School parking lot at 10AM! From there, we'll drive a few short miles to our second blueberry field in Sidney Center. There, you'll be able to pick DELICIOUS organic blueberries to your heart's content from our 1,000 plants.

For additional information on the U-Pick Dates or Special Blueberry Picking Group events, or to pre-order We-Pick blueberries to be picked up in either Franklin or Oneonta, please call Betsy at (607) 829-2587.

The story is about a woman who escaped KJ with her daughter but then had her kidnapped back but because they weren't divorced yet all of those parental right issues had yet to be played out. The woman went straight from being Satmar to being, what looks like in her pictures, to not being religious at all.

While our heart goes out to this woman who feels she has been emotionally abused by the KJ and all its antics, we don't feel 100% sorry for her because she decided to just turn away from Hashem completely and also allow an article which seems to, according to our opinion, demean what the laws of nidda are between Husband and Wife as well as put down religious Jews in general. Because unfortunately Goyim don't see a difference between religious Jews, heck even secular Jews don't see the different. All they see is that we are all alike.

We hope she gets her daughter back, but we also hope that before that she learns that being religious doesn't mean you need to be inside a cult like atmosphere.

Before we could start painting we had to check out the street fair that was happening in the next town over. Egad. These street fairs used to be "the social event of the season" when I was a teenager.

As an adult, they seem really sad. Every other booth was some sort of solicitation: financial companies, colleges, armed services, religious cults organizations a travel agency/cruises and an Elvis impersonator. WTF? Still, we managed to fill our bellies with beer, fried dough and beer batter mushrooms before we bailed. In all fairness, the organizers did hire a kickass cover band that actually had a HORN section! But getting back to our bitter/sarcastic personalities...we took to quietly singing Camper Van Beethoven's "Take The Skinheads Bowling" as we walked around. Sing along, won't you?

Also saw this...which reminded me...tonight is my 20 year high school reunion. I have to stay home and...wash the cat. Yeah, that's it. Wash the cat. Super Gay Andy...where is you?!?! Time for a washin'!!

Painting will start in earnest tomorrow...we've got happy little sun showers now...and there are rumored burgers, dogs and fireworks at my sister's house...and I can hide from the reunion there...

I would like to take that idea one step further. I have developed a map of several states that could be carved out of what is now New York. It is my theory that large states turn to statism because they are ungovernable. A writer once wrote, "quality does not scale." This is often true. Companies face this issue when they grow too large to evolve rapidly with their market or connect with their customers. So, here is a first draft of a new map of the New Netherland region of the northeast:

Interestingly enough, another fellow had a similar idea that he developed into the alternative history of the Republic of New Netherland.

While that was just a thought experiment, my initiative is quite serious. New York doesn't make sense in its current configuration. The only feeling upstaters and downstaters have for each other is disdain. Albany steals all our money and uses to further suffocate the upstate economy with government programs. Upstate has virtually emptied out under the weight of poor governance. The answer is to divide the states. Let the City-State of Gotham be born. Just that move would resolve tensions between East and West Jersey, and New-York and New-England Connecticut. Even Pennsylvania should probably lyse into two states.

Comments welcome.

Sigh.

Now, where were we? Right. The dreaded "to do" list. So this weekend the plan (which is of course bound to fail) is to clean up the garage, get the carpets cleaned and have the electrician over to hang the new Pottery Barn light and the chandelier...and tweak some other annoyances. In a perfect world, a bit of spot painting too. Oh the glamour...

Might also attack THIS CHANDELIER with some spray paint...

Last fall Ham and I visited the little-known Grampa Bob's Animal Park in Mexico, NY. If you're in upstate NY this summer and looking for something to do - be sure to check it out (google for directions!) - but first, be sure to read our review!

Kelly

 
In case you were wondering what 42nd Street looked like at 9:25 this morning...

OK, so umm, I put some fabric over the windows in the bookshelf. I didn't want anything too dark and I didn't want a pattern...here's the before and after...

and after-ish...

 
It looks kinda lame...maybe burlap would look better? Thoughts? I can't "gather" the fabric or the doors won't close. I didn't do the lower level yet...since I wasn't totally sold on the uppers.

Finally ordered a light for the living room. It's from Pottery Barn. It was on sale. it was WAY cheap. How cheap? Like $49.99 CHEAP. It's big. How big? 23 inches tall BIG. It'll be on a dimmer.

I like it a lot. I do not love-love-love it. The chandelier that I love-love-love is way out of my budget. This one which retails for $1875...will not be coming to roost at my place anytime soon...WHINE. Ehh, it's prolly a bit too fancy anyhoo. Hey fancy chandelier, who needs you!?!? Hah! :::sniff sniff:::

Either way, I can't say I take issue with any of the people my age I know who are actually married. I find most of them to be delightful souls whose weddings I generally found to be pleasant, heartwarming affairs that were brought on by a genuine and justified affection.

Heading into this weekend I was more or less dreading going upstate for my good friend Jaime's wedding. There was almost a sense of embarrassment to be heading to a wedding without a girlfriend and/or date. In the weeks leading up to the event, It made me want to go on Match.com and go "wink"-crazy at any girl I found marginally interesting. I resisted the urge and decided to go it alone.

On Friday morning I canceled my hotel room at the Kingston, New York Holiday Inn, just under the wire. I was resigned to only go up for the wedding and not waste $300 on a hotel room by myself for the weekend. So rather than spend my friday evening at a rehearsal dinner for the bride and groom I spent it in the comfort of Brooklyn with a large group of my friends including two married couples and three engaged to be married. Now, I wasn't all alone with the couples set, there were other people around. The lot of us were gathered for my good friend Rich's 29th birthday.

Rich got married around this time last summer and the last time I checked he was still happily married to his wonderful wife Lina who was also on hand. It's weird for me to think of people as other people's husbands and wives when I've known them since before they were married. I almost always refer to them as "girlfriend" or "boyfriend", even through the glaring fact that I was at the betrothal ceremony. Part of me thinks that's because I still look at relationships at too much of a junior high or high school level, but it might also be because most of the married or engaged couples I know don't act overly cutesy with each other. Half of the time you might not even realize their relationship status if you were a casual observer to the group dynamic. The group often operates as a mass of liveliness and it's a rare occasion where the suggestion needs to be made for a couple to move their public display of affection to a private residence.

Nary a public display of affection was apparent when we got together at Hope Lounge in Williamsburg on Friday evening as we celebrated Rich's 29th year on the planet. Our group consisting of Miller, Kishore, Rich, Ajay, Morwin, Andy, Dmitry, Suli and Ahmad were among the first people to inhabit the outdoor area with the sun still shining relatively bright. We were soon joined by Melissa and then by Zerna who strolled in with baby Lea in tow. One of the more unintentionally disturbing moments of the proceedings occurred when Dmitry beckoned Zerna's daughter to come sit next to him by patting the seat next to him and slyly cooing, "c'mere baby, wanna sit over here?" It wasn't meant to sound creepy, but if you could surmise any of us had any experience molesting children, you would've picked Dmitry on the strength of that moment alone.

Rich Adds A Tie Cookie To His Ensemble

As our crowd increased we were joined by John, Andrea, Lauren, Rosario, Lina, Jason, Kayvalyn, and any other usual members of the group that I'm leaving out and pretty much took over our section of the outdoor area. Earlier in the week there had been plans to have a "douchey" midtown lunch at a chain restaurant in celebration of Rich's birthday that had been scrapped. There were remnants of midtown douchebaggery that emerged as John gave Rich a "douchey" cookie and Ahmad was basically dressed like a midtown undesirable complete with a belt cell phone holster and sunglasses hanging from his shirt.

Ahmad Tries Out For The All-Douche Team

The evening had even more pleasant surprises in store as Joe and Jsarah came in from Rockland to live it up and as an added bonus The Hope Lounge was serving free mexican food. The only way the night could've been better was if they had Karaoke at the same time. Alas, it was not meant to be. It was probably close to 10pm when my friends started heading for the door to make way for Rich and Lina's apartment, but rather than tag along, I headed for home. I had to be up relatively early the next morning to catch a shuttle bus from 43rd and 9th all the way up to the aforementioned wedding ceremony being held at a bed and breakfast in Boiceville, New York.

I awoke at 9:35am on Saturday morning ready to spring into action. I wasn't hungover and I was more alert than ever. I was petrified that I might miss the shuttle bus so I made sure I had plenty of time to get my shit together and be on time. This didn't totally work out as I'm very prone to killing time by staring at the TV until the last where I would need to get ready. I didn't really start getting dressed until ten minutes before I had planned to leave, but I'm a guy and as is common knowledge, we don't really need that much time. Unfortunately, the shirt I was planning on wearing had a little issue with the collar and being somewhat panicked, I tried to fix it before settling on another shirt and haphazardly doing up my tie so that it was a tad too long. I rushed out the door in the 80 plus degree heat with my backpack full of activities for the two and a half hour ride up north.

When I arrived at the Grand Army Plaza subway station I realized that every time I had gone to that station in the past couple of weeks and had to be somewhere relatively soon it was announced that the 2 or 3 train would be operating on some bizarre route. I had a bit of a helpless feeling but when I looked around I didn't notice any subway advisory signs. This was going to be easier than all of those times combined.

I was told to be at the shuttle location at 11:45am for a Noon departure. I got off the subway at 11:46 am. From the subway, I made a bee-line to the Southwest Corner of 43rd and 9th (where I was told to go) only to find no shuttle bus. There was however a shuttle bus on the northwest corner. As I approached it, it drove away...to the southwest corner. It was there I encountered a guy named David and his wife/girlfriend Beth who were friends of the bride, my friend Jaime. I also became briefly acquainted with two of the aunts and the grandmother of the groom, the latter of which kept inquiring about the specs of the charter bus we stood in front of.

"Does this bus have air conditioning?"

"Probably", I remarked.

"How many people can this seat?"

I looked into the bus, "I don't know fifty...on second thought, 30?"

She pressed on,"How long have you been doing this?"

"Doing what? Going to weddings?"

"Oh...you're not the owner of the bus? I thought you were standing here because you were the owner of the bus."

"No, I'm going to the wedding. I'm one of Jaime's friends."

Thus ended that strange line of inquiry. I did however ask the driver about the air conditioning specs for Grandma and found it to be a satisfactory answer. Otherwise it would've been quite the sweaty ride to Ulster County. It was however a little bit bumpy. I can't fault this on the driver as he's not in charge of paving roads for the state. I found that I did get a medium amount done on the trip up though. Despite not really sharing any conversation, I finished reading Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and began reading Bill Bryson's I'm A Stranger Here Myself. Anytime you can finish a book and start a new one, that to me is progress.

I did get to do a little cake saving on the trip as well. The bride and groom had picked out some sort of Banana Peanut Butter cake from a bakery they liked to serve as "The Groom Cake", a tradition which I had never heard of that I think was more or less an excuse to not eat a wedding cake which they weren't huge fans of. Two of the cake boxes were sat on top of each other and on one occasion one came sliding off. After this first incident I had made several kicksaves to avoid it from doing so again. So that was eventful.

It was about 2:30pm when we made it up to Boiceville and about an hour and a half before the ceremony was set to begin. When I entered the bed and breakfast area I saw the bride seated on a chair getting photographed. I felt like I probably wasn't supposed to see her yet, but she was in plain view and not really being so bashful about it so I figured, whatever. In any case, I asked her where I could find my friend Jessica and her fiancé Mike, because she seemed a little busy. She directed me to their room where I found Mike getting dressed. I left him be and wandered around for a bit where I happened upon Shohini, and Melissa L (my prom date) and soon after Jess.

We all had a bit of time to kill before the wedding so we retreated downstairs with Jaime and had a beer from the fridge in the billiard room. I wasn't really sure we were supposed to be drinking yet, but I welcomed relaxing with a beer and enjoying the scenic view.

Jaime In Waiting: The Calm Before The Storm

In the time before the ceremony started it was much more of the same. Wandering around and chatting as the crowd on hand grew bigger. Jess's parents arrived and I spoke to them for a little bit. There seemed to be a genuine fascination with the green ties that a few of us were wearing. People wondered if we had planned it. I generally stuck by Jess, Mike, Melissa, and Shohini, who had asked me to tell her when it was 3:40 because of some official duty she had to engage in...though when the time arrived nothing seemed to happen. I also spied a familiar face in the crowd in a girl named Karen, a fellow alumnus of many summers at Camp Westmont, but didn't say anything to her.  I figured I would have plenty time to say hi after the ceremony.

Me and Mike: Green Tie Guys

Soon enough it was time to take our seats and for the wedding to start.  It seemed as though not all of the crowd was there.  Melissa's husband was yet to be seen, though there was a Victoria's Secret lingerie shoot supposedly happening at their hotel so it's understandable if he was too distracted to attend, and some other folks who I expected to see were not yet on hand.  My friend Andrew G from high school had yet to make the scene as did our other acquaintance Mike S, who I knew was supposed to be on hand.  Just before everyone took their seats though, the shuttle buses arrived form their respective lodgings and the crowd on hand was complete.

Andrew G and his wife sat next to me.  We sat behind what I think was an Israeli couple under a tree where ants were parachuting down from.  I had to knock one or two off of the woman in front of me.  The weather was a tad bit foreboding.  It had already rained a bit and it was somewhat cloudy and breezy.  The chuppah was a blowin' in the wind and you could hear the mighty wind blow against the microphone which lacked a proper windscreen making the PA system sound thunderous, so much so that I often thought that a thunderstorm was coming.

Here Comes The Bride

Fortunately, weather permitted and the ceremony was quickly underway.  Jaime came down the aisle after Andrew with her mother and father looking wonderful and I have to admit I was feeling a bit smiley.  Jaime's a good friend and while I usually reserve the right to pass judgment on people's significant other's, I more or less liked Andrew from the first time I met him, so this was certainly a happy occasion.  One of the more comical aspects of the wedding was the walking of their dog Wallace down the aisle, which certainly was worth a few laughs.

They're Like Totally About To Get Married

As far as the spoken part of the ceremony.  The Rabbi was a bit stuttery and redundant.  It almost  seemed out of a movie at points, but I think it added more personality to the goings on if that was any more possible.  Jaime gave a delightfully succinct and heart-felt version of her vows and Andrew's dragged on a bit too long.  So much so, that Jaime had to stop and look at how long his sheet went on for.  According to Melissa and Shohini Andrew had wanted to read his vows by scrolling down his blackberry, but more reasonable heads prevailed.  At one point during the vows, the Israeli couple in front of us began talking to each other only to be repeatedly shushed by their pre-adolescent son who was rapt in the goings on.  Drew G and I got a laugh out of that.

Soon enough Andrew and Jaime were man and wife, the glass was broken, the bride was good and kissed and it was time to party.  The party started with a casual cocktail hour with delicious hors d'oeuvre and plenty of conversation.  I spent a lot of that time listening to Andrew G and Melissa husband Matt talk about being doctors.  That was kind of depressing, but then again I never wanted to be a doctor anyway.  Soon  enough Jaime came over and we offered our congratulations and we took a picture of all the old  Ramapo Gryphons together like old times.

We All Sang The Ramapo Fight Song After This

After a few drinks and few snacks it was onto the reception area for party time.  There were all of the typical Jewish wedding moments:

The First Dance:

The Chair

The Cake Ceremony (later on)

Despite all of that traditional business, I'd have to say the most fun part of the gathering was the socializing.  I know people spend boatloads of money on bands and decorations, but I'm always most enthralled by the people.  I could care less about the array of 60's soul behind blared about by a band made up largely of white folk.  After the first round of ceremonial proceedings I went over to my fellow camp-mate to engage in some small talk as we both admitted we had recognized each other.  That being said, she did not remember my name, which went on to drive home how unpopular I was in my awkward camp years despite the many summers I spent trying to find my proper social footing.

Fresh off my affable attempt to connect with someone I had little or no connection to, I nestled myself in the safety of the tried and true.  A good deal of the wedding was spent joking around and chatting with Drew G, his wife, Melissa, Matt, Jessica and Mike, as well as Jaime's friend Shohini and her husband Kevin whom I had met maybe three times but felt strangely enough like we were old friends each time.  I even made the acquaintance of Jaime's friend Erin with whom I spoke with over Instant Messenger freshman year of college at Jaime's urging since we both had similar taste in music.  There were plenty of people to converse with and for the most part the party stayed out on the porch when it wasn't raining as opposed to the dance floor.  I'm not sure if Jaime really minded, she seemed to spend a good deal of time hanging out there as well.

My Prom Date WIth Another Man...That's Okay, It's Her Husband

Jessica Demonstrates Her Steely Gaze...Or Not

Probably the most unfortunate part of the evening happened around 8:45 pm when an announcement was made that my bus would be leaving at 9pm back for the city.  I was pretty disappointed as I wanted to hang out with everyone more and didn't really have a choice.  The only person I outlasted were Drew G and his wife because drew had to do surgery at 5am the next morning or something to that effect. I begrudgingly and somewhat drunkenly said my goodbyes to my friends and a little bit after 9pm I was on my way back in the city.

There was a bit of conversation on the way back, but everyone seemed ready to doze off so I got in on that act.  It was around 11 I think when we got back to the city, though I'm not sure.  I didn't want to much more than get out of my suit when I arrived home so that I could stop sweating.  I spent the rest of the night relaxing in the comfort of my own home and that more or less killed the weekend.

Sunday featured a trip to target and a walk to the Barnes & Noble before the onset of a rainstorm.  Other than that...my weekend was complete...and one more couple was in wedded bliss.

First there was Mother's Day and my step-sister's new baby. Then there was Father's Day. And there's been a few other trips as well. It's wonderful to spend time in the country, but it can also make the weekend feel even more compressed and shorter by adding six hours of traveling.

On Sunday, we arrived at my mom's house bearing gorgeous dry-aged steaks from Piazza Mercato for my dear old step-dad. He happily grilled them to perfection while I whipped up a batch of grilled radicchio, but that's the most cooking I've done in a week.

We had planned to make a big picnic sandwich and a kale salad and pull up a spot on the hill in the park on Saturday to watch the sunset, but alas, the weather had other ideas. It rained and rained and rained and rained, so, even if it had paused just long enough for us to run down to the park, the earth would have been far too soggy for lounging. So we scuttled those plans and went out for curry instead. Flexibility! It's what's for dinner!

So rather than a recipe this week, I figure I will indulge in a little spring cleaning. Plus, it's an excuse to finally post all these pretty Upstate pictures I've been saving for just such an occasion!

First, I'd like to send a huge virtual hug and a very real, very warm thank you to Ximena, of the always beautiful and entertaining Lobstersquad, for the wonderful drawing she sent me. It was the most wonderful surprise and I can't wait to give it pride of place in my kitchen!

One of the things I never expected when I started writing this blog was how fun it would be to trade "things" with people that I "meet" on the Web. First there was a beans for pickles exchange with Christina. Then there was a Helprin for M.F.K. Fisher exchange with Lily. Now, mushrooms for... what? I'll need to think this one through.

Next, it seems like everyone is making pizza these days. Okay, maybe just three people--Luisa and Deb and me--but three's a trend, no? I've discovered the joys of substituting pizza for bread in a meal. I've been making The Bread Bible's dough a day in advance, allowing it to proof and develop flavor by rising overnight in the fridge, then topping it with herbs and salt and olive oil, almost like a focaccia, as an accompaniment to, well, just about anything.

It's quick, easy, requires no stand mixer, is light, fluffy and incredibly tasty. Of course, it wouldn't hurt anyone if you chose to throw some fresh mozzarella on there. Or perhaps some tomatoes. Or maybe a little sausage and peppers. Or a few mushrooms. Or maybe a little pesto. Or... Or... Or... The possibilites are endless. But one thing is for certain, the pizza dough in the book is perfection. If you have the book, try it. You can thank me later.

Finally, I don't know if anyone cared or ever even looked at it, but I've 86-ed one of the auxiliary sites that I started over the winter, the Granny Cart. I just didn't have time to keep up with it, as I'm sure you four friends of My New York have noticed. I've been a bad blog mommy! But, it's on my list of things to do, right after going for a run every morning, not staying at work too late and drinking more good wine. So, you see, I'll get to it soon!

So I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and I hope you'll try the pizza and I hope you'll forgive me my lack of attention to the other site. I also hope that any of my readers along the Mississippi and in other flood-affected places are okay.

Have a lovely week everyone!

okay, i just felt like saying this because i probably wont post a new post in a long time, and you might have been worried about me!! lol okay bye.

The neighborhood yard sale went on, though. There was no rain...only sweat. There were supposedly thirteen families in the neighborhood participating, but there ended up being maybe five. The others probably decided that it was just too hot, and not worth all the work and effort. I would have agreed. My husband put out two weed wackers, and a set of T-bird hubcaps. One of the weed wackers sold...for two bucks. A guy came up to me with it in his hands, and asked me if it worked. I told him that it did. He said he was going to give it to his son, because he was sick and tired of his son always borrowing his. The man told me that everytime he goes into the garage to get his, it's never there...his son is always borrowing it, and never returns it. The man's words to me were "those days are over, now"...lol The rest of the things you see in the following pictures belonged to my sister. She had so much stuff! I was obligated to help her set up and tear down. Next year, I'm not telling her when the neighbors say they're going to have a sale....and I'll threaten my husband not to tell her either! What a royal pain in the butt! She once again aggravated my next door neighbor when she sold a bag of rubberbands for a nickel, and a bag of rags for a dime...lol.

That's my sister, the garage sale queen

Stuff for sale in my driveway (I don't have a garage)

Miscellaneous junk (like rubberbands)

Hubby goofing on our neighbor

Every time we have a sale, sis and I discuss the fact that when we have the sale on Saturday and Sunday,,,,no one comes on Sunday....it's not worth all the work you do...only to have a handful of people to show up. I think she made thirty dollars today. Sis doesn't do the garage sale thing for the money...she says she's "recycling". She said that our "throw away" society is filling our landfills with items that can be used by others. I tend to agree when she puts it like that. Because sales were slow today, and there was a threat of severe thunderstorms, we closed up shop by 2pm. *phew* What a relief!

After we packed Sis' car with as much stuff it would hold, it was time to take our iguana outside for her daily swim and dinner. After preparing her food of collard greens and my pre-made vegetable mix, I took Cosmo out and put her in the little kiddie pool we bought for her. She basked in the sun for a few minutes, then pooped in it. I've previously posted an entry about my iguana, but I'm not sure if I mentioned how her poop makes great fertilizer. If I didn't mention it before...take note....it does :-) After we removed her from her pool, we fed her. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before either...iguanas don't chew their food...they just chomp down on it, and swallow it. So if you are the proud new owner of a green iguana, make sure that you pretty much puree the vegetables (no chunks of carrots or green beans...that will cause your ig to choke, suffocate and possibly die), and tear the greens up and into fairly small pieces. Here's a picture of Cosmo today:

While I was going outside, I thought I'd grab my camera, and take some pictures. I planted all those seed packets last week. Some of them are already sprouting up! I love it!


Here are a few pictures of what's blooming today: Roses and poppies. I love the color of the poppies...they're coral-y. Still waiting on my peonies to pop open. I love my little backyard garden...there's always color...birds and bees..and butterflies too. I even have a resident garden gnome:

And finally, a snapshot of some of my painted birdhouses. No birds have ever moved in...just bees :-)

We just published our June '08 edition of our newsletter and list of events.
You will find the most comprehensive list of events in the Upstate of South Carolina on our website:

‘International Events and Newcomer Newsletter’

We hope you will find the information useful and enjoy the numerous events in the Upstate of South Carolina.

© Flavia Westerwelle

TransDomo, LLC - Real Estate, Start-Up and Business development

Immobilienvermittlung , Start-up und Business Development Service in den USA

TransDomo,LLC / ShellTree Realty
Flavia & Klaus Westerwelle
Phone: 864.908.0690
Email: info@transdomo.com
http://www.transdomo.com

This image was taken in the space between Steve's house and the next door neighbors. I actually did a serious amount of editing to it, experimenting with an idea I'd wanted to try since I took Panic. People understand naturally that the farther away an object is, the blurrier it's probably going to be. Unless you've got SLR that can focus on the exclusive distance and blur the near. That said, I thought- what if things lost color the farther away from us they were? What if the most color saturated objects were the ones nearest our eyes and color naturally faded to grayscale as it moved farther away from us? This is my first attempt (there will no double be more) at rendering this idea. Everything is hand (mouse?) done, didn't bother doing anything fancy to make it all uniform and perfect with the effect, just scribbled the photoshop sponge in the right places, same with the blur. You can even tell in fact if you look along the wall just below where the leaves end on the left side, there's a portion of wall that I missed. Sorry... Still I love this picture.

Today is my day off. One of two that I get this week. Saturday is the next day. I was going to spend it at the DMV getting a new driver's license but Jack saved me that. We did some light yard work instead. I weed whacked the whole thing. Later we're going to try to fix the dryer. I expect us to fail at that. Chase bank called and I had to go sign something about the new account I opened. Yes. The bank I robbed. Apparently their printer was not working the day I opened it so everything was a little behind. I really should have just kept that money... Sheesh. Mailed sister Courtney a disc. Courtney, I really wish you'd get the internet...

I lost a friend today.

I lost several friends. This recent debacle with Connie has left a lot of tension floating about how certain people feel about certain people. I've talked with Connie a very small amount lately... What is happening now, to her, is ridiculous and appalling. The woman who was buying and selling and managing nearly a half a million dollars in real-estate is not more than one month later destitute, distant, and almost broken working at multiple dismal jobs that I would never take.

I talked to one of her children for the first time since all this began and I wasn't sure what to say. It was a chat so there was no tone, to voice, no inflection. She asked how I was doing I said I was okay. I asked how she was doing she said that everything was wonderful. I asked why. She said that Connie and Dennis were gone now so the family didn't have to be annoyed anymore. ... I felt the coldest inhuman chill. And I told her. I'm going to have to stop talking to you. I'm ashamed of you. I'm ashamed of your whole family. I'm appalled. And I can't associate with you anymore. I blocked the poor girl. ...

If either side of this mess is reading this post... I don't know what to say. I think to some extent, human justice would provide it natural for each of you to feel spiteful for what is happening. I wish neither side had to see things like this. And I'm... I'm ashamed. I'm almost furious at some of the things I've heard. But most of all I'm saddened. I am absolutely, deeply, horribly saddened that this is what it's come to.

To the Cooke Family: I understand why she did it. I would even say that it was the right choice in such circumstances as they were and are. I said it to her. And I stand by that. Fully. There's a massive misunderstanding that robbed you all of good sense and raised tension and anger and hatred. Connie left a marriage. She did not leave her husband. She did not leave her family. She did not lose love for her family. She did not TAKE anything from you. She did nothing to hurt you. NOT TO HURT YOU. Nothing was taken from you but the word "marriage."

But it annoyed you. And she annoyed you. And he annoyed you. Tom, Mikey, Jenny, Brandy, ALL of you. Hear me: Human beings are not flies that when annoying should be crushed without thought. Human beings are God's creation. God help you what fairness He intends for your family now. I am afraid... for you all now I am worried... I am hurt to think of what is going to happen now that you've batted away your own human decency. Whom among the lot of you weren't at one time rejected and taken in by her? Which of you were never ANNOYING? Which of you hasn't been looked down upon and treated like the spit of another human being? Which one of you is so popular that you're never at want for friends? Who considers you beautiful inside? Who bothers to know you well enough to even LOOK inside? And what has she done to you!?

She saw gold in twisted minds and souls inside your empty eyes! She saw what no one else saw in you and she fed you the LIE that being whatever it is that you are is enough and when there was nothing to see, when there was no one who could find ANYTHING worth ANYTHING in any of you SHE INVENTED something, she CREATED a reason to love you... and if there were nothing else to create, she loved you anyway. There were rough spots, no doubt. Welcome to earth. Welcome to the fact that everyone on this planet is a little dysfunctional. We're HUMAN. We MAKE mistakes, we rub people the wrong way we DISAGREE on things. It is what it is. You had a person the world was never going to give you two of, someone who'd feign blindness to all your sores and gores and mottled minds and unkempt thoughts and silly fallacious dreams and whines and gripes. You had someone who SAW it. But never reminded you of it, never held it over your heads, and never rejected you.

This is what it is.

The truth of it is that none of you ever deserved her. When she left but said she still wanted to be a part of all of your lives she was holding the golden rod out to Esther.

You fucked her.

You fucked her and God help you all. IF you ever think twice about autonomously jumping through your flattened, thoughtless emotional rings and finally see the circus it's become and BEG on your KNEES with tears in your eyes for her to come back and be a human being to you all and she agrees to then you'll have just received the greatest grace you're capable of sucking out of this cold, barren life save God's salvation and if she asked me I'd tell her not to do it.

I'm sorry... but you've borne your own lives now. You were excellent friends to me, the best. And I loved you all sincerely and I'm crying now... not for what's happened to her. But because I'm losing you to it. I wish it had happened another way.

To Connie: I guess now we know.

33 days.

and tonight the Fiance showed me how to use the Macro settting on the camera. Told you I had no clue how to (properly) use a camera. I typically just *snap* and hope for the best. Voila...my new closet knobs from Anthropologie...

In other news...I miss BLOGGER. Sure Wordpress is prettier...but BLOGGER actually gave me traffic. I have my privacy settings off and I still get NO search engine traffic. Ok, I get a little...but I get like 1 or 2 clicks a day tops. My traffic is literally 1/8th of what it used to be on BLOGGER. Tres annoyed. Whine. Whine. Whine.

The fiance barbecued lunch today - marinated chicken, grilled corn on the cob and baked potatoes - and then we all pigged out on Crumbs Along The Mohawk.

Lunch was so good...that naps were soon required...

Psst, Mom, hide the beer bottle for the picture. Oops, too late.

[audio http://www.acktivemedia.com/audio/acktivemedia_af_e0001.mp3]
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download AmandasFitness Podcast Here
Top 3 Mistakes People Make

Show Notes

In this first episode we uncover some of the top mistakes people make when they try to live a healthy lifestyle.

(Greek Festival)

We just published our May’ 08 edition of our newsletter and list of events.
You will find the most comprehensive list of events in the Upstate of South Carolina on our website:

‘International Events and Newcomer Newsletter'

We hope you will find the information useful and enjoy the numerous events in the Upstate of South Carolina.

© Flavia Westerwelle

TransDomo, LLC - Real Estate Agent & Business Development Europe/USA

Immobilienvermittlung , Start-up und Business Development Service in den USA

___

Depending on what kind of judge you are, I am either guilty of petty theft or grand larceny.

For years now, I have been stealing tattered volumes of life's most revered secrets. I suppose I can blame it on The Bell Jar, which I managed to trip over the moment I emerged incredulously undaunted from eighth grade. Somehow, somewhere in the creased yellow pages of the musty book, something grabbed me. It was as if Sylvia had reached a hand out from the within the cracked binding to shake me from a thirteen year trance. And now, how many nights have I spent crouched in front of the towering shelves in my den, scouring row after row for another fallen work of art? And the chase is more rewarding than the catch. Hunting down retired copies of Vonnegut would give way to a mad search for the special edition of Breakfast of Champions, which in turn would lead to a hot pursuit of Timequake. It was more addicting than nicotine, more exciting than a sugar rush!

Theft is in my blood. When my brother crawled into his teens, he developed the habit of borrowing my father’s musty albums and surrendering them to the depths of his room. When he lost the White Album, he knew he was done for. The screaming that night could only be compared to the time he taped over an old Eric Clapton bootleg. Yet, for some strange reason, the untimely disappearance of The Complete John Donne went unnoticed. Tracing a finger over all the beautiful volumes that lined the shelves in my den, I wonder which of these presumably cherished copies have ever been read twice. Not many of the books look particularly beaten up, which bothers me. It always appeared to me that the battered book is always good to its reader. How had my parents let time alone yellow the pages?

So I began to reread, rethink, rework my mind. Books dined with me, walked with me and accompanied me in the bath tub. For months I preferred the comfort of Kate Chopin to the dull noise of a party, the colors of Maya Angelou to the stale cheers of a football game. High school seemed to fade away, become a sub-plot in my life. Everything is easier to swallow when it is handed to you as a quick digression from what truly matters. Did they honestly believe I wouldn’t see them, huddled deep within the crowds? When a sudden jolt of isolation scorched me, I would simply clench 1984 to myself and grudgingly think, “Well, they will never know what will happen to Winston and Julia, will they?” It was my secret; I didn’t want them to know any more that they were not interested. And everything remained calm until the epiphany near the end of act two.

The friday after Thanksgiving has been unforgivingly bitter outside. I had spent half an hour on a lurching bus with a broken heater, reading my favorite copy of The Stranger as the freshmen discussed the state of our school’s soccer team. The girl across the aisle would catch my eye occasionally; we would smile and look away. Elizabeth was once my best friend, but sophomore year doesn’t acknowledge childhood bonds. I made sure to cross my eyes at her before burying myself in the novel. When I finally escaped the frigid stupor of the bus, I gathered my belongings and darted into the warm solace of my house. Emptying the contents of my bag onto my kitchen table, I shuffled through the mess, searching for Camus. Five frantic minutes later I realized it was gone. A somber pain creeped softly around my stomache, and I tried to be rational. Books can always be bought, but I have always known the torn, dog eared pages to be more soothing. I know what happens to Meursalt. I know he is put on trial, I know he is found guilty. I have read the book enough times to know each thought that goes through the convict’s fragile head. But I wanted it back. No one deserved to share that knowledge, no one on the bus would appreciate the smooth words of Camus. And then the unanticipated plot twist.

The fool was at my doorway two days later, bearing L’Etranger. I looked at my book through the dirty storm door, and noticed that pieces of paper had been stuck in various pages. She opened the door herself.

“Meursalt’s whole attitude was flawed.”

“What?”

“I said, Meursalt’s whole attitude was flawed. He sent himself to prison on his own and couldn’t even understand how he got there. And instead of trying to get out, he sat there staring at the sky all day.”

I nodded my head in complete diagreement. She had completely midread Camus’ intent as an existentialist. And I loved her for this. She continued, deliberately placing her words in stagnant, hanging arrangements. The words felt heavy, like the sullen blue coldness that pressed up against the storm door. I heard every once of it, but would not be able to repeat it today. I know her ideas were misleading, her impression erroneous. It wasn’t her misinterpretation of the story that I enjoyed, it was the sheer tenacity she mustered, bluntly haranguing in the doorway, stumbling over words and reciting passages she had circled. Three hours later my mother found us sprawled over the couch, giggling like we were children once again. She has never seen L’Etranger as I see it. I have never seen The Stranger as she sees it. But, ah, that she sees it at all…

My archaic computer rests perpendicular to my parents’ pathetic looking bookcases. The shelves are drooping, the wood parched and cracked with age. Once lined with books, they look naked under the pale light of the morning. But there are still more to sort through, more to slip under my coat, more to coax upon my skeptically willing friends. Sylvia would approve.

Anyhoo...if you want to check out Renovation Therapy @ Capessa, here's the link: CLICK HERE

If you'd like to read the press release about this new site you can CLICK HERE.

Here's a brief chunk from the press release:

Capessa, which is derived from the Latin word "Capesso" meaning "to strive to reach a place," is PGP's first introduction to consumer generated content in the digital space. However, PGP's long history of developing original content dates back to the 1930's when the company created Soap Operas, which evolved into award shows, television specials, movies of the week, sitcoms, and now, a community-based website.

That reminds me...I have a few show ideas I need to pitch...starting with the one where I live in Tahiti...Tahiti Therapy has a ring to it...

Hah!