My former neighbor and friend, her birthday and mine were nine days apart. Opposites in some ways, we had many things in common. Her husband called today today to say she had gotten very ill and passed away. The funeral is Sat. I saw her for the last time 3 months ago when we got Carmelita; she was one on the first to visit, bearing doggie gifts. A ovarian cancer survivor, she said she had been ill but didn't go into details and said she was out of danger. Craig said she died of lung cancer and the end came very fast-
She was one of the nicest, sweetest, big-hearted women I knew, a modern southern belle with concern for all, with all her priorities in the right place.
She was also a wonderful artist. She did large, fanciful paintings in a color-wash style, full of wonderful, interesting images; telling an entire story on a canvas.
We met over 20 years ago, when I moved into Steve's place in the Slope.Susann worked at home a lot and we would meet in the hallway or on the street and chat, only the "chats" went on for hours. Over the years we developed more formal meetings, not often, but consistently ( always for our birthdays) and we always re-affirmed our friendship when we did.
I'm so sad that I didn't get in touch with her in these last months when I thought of her often but did not call, I'm so sorry that she never told me. I don't know what I could have done, but at least I could have offered moral support, I could have said goodbye. But that was Susann, she would not have wanted to bother anyone, especially with her own illness or sadness, even though she herself was the first one to offer her own help and support to all.
I cannot get my mind around the fact that she is gone and why. And Craig and her beloved kitties, George and Gracie, all alone. She was too young, too vital, too talented to die. I mourn the loss of a wonderful, beautiful women and a good friend who Steve and I both loved.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
The end is near
We are not going to any homestores today! I hope they won't worry about us.
The decisions are done. The paint colors and tiles (8 kinds) have at last been selected. Lighting and plumbing fixtures have been acquired. The walls are jointed and smoothed, ready to tile. The sinks and toilet bowls, bless them, are waiting to be joined to their fittings. It is an acrobatic challenge to move or breathe in this house with all this stuff. But the cabinets come tomorrow. The impossible-to-acquire laminate countertop ( they sent 100 samples, but you can't actually buy the stuff) of our dreams has been replaced by a formica alternative. Done deal. Our fantasy of once again enjoying running water may soon become a reality. I know I will have to deal with a lot more dust before the completion, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Well actually, it's the light coming through the whole in the dropsheet the Caramelly ate, but still. No Lowe's today!!!
The decisions are done. The paint colors and tiles (8 kinds) have at last been selected. Lighting and plumbing fixtures have been acquired. The walls are jointed and smoothed, ready to tile. The sinks and toilet bowls, bless them, are waiting to be joined to their fittings. It is an acrobatic challenge to move or breathe in this house with all this stuff. But the cabinets come tomorrow. The impossible-to-acquire laminate countertop ( they sent 100 samples, but you can't actually buy the stuff) of our dreams has been replaced by a formica alternative. Done deal. Our fantasy of once again enjoying running water may soon become a reality. I know I will have to deal with a lot more dust before the completion, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Well actually, it's the light coming through the whole in the dropsheet the Caramelly ate, but still. No Lowe's today!!!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Weltschmerz and the longest day of the year
Some weeks ago, the National Scripps spelling bee was broadcast on national TV. Not So you think you can dance?, but my kind of reality programming anyway. Yes, geeky. The penultimate word given was Weltshmerz, a condition from which I have been suffering from my earliest memory without knowing that such a word existed. Ah, the Germans have great words for things.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Weltschmertz \Welt"schmertz`\, n. [G., fr. welt world + schmertz
pain. See World; Smart, v. i.]
Sorrow or sadness over the present or future evils or woes of
the world in general; sentimental pessimism.
So a rep from the Wall Street Journal called yesterday asking me to re-up my subscription. I pleaded Weltschmerz and told him all his news was bad. He didn't even bother with a sales pitch, he just thanked me and hung up. Huh! Well, I learned long ago that acting nutso, or at my age "eccentric", can eliminate a lot of unnecessary personal and public interaction.
Of course when one desires such congress, it it not to be had. It is curious and bizarre that one is constantly barraged with sales pitches everywhere in our society, indeed we are not safe in our own homes anymore, yet when trying to actually purchase an item, competent assistance is nowhere to be found. In the course of our reno, we need to chose many, many, items. We are simple folk, with plain tastes. (Shucks) Logistics and logic send us to Home Depot and Lowe's on a daily basis. We have taken to relying on other bewildered customers for advice and assistance and are ready to share ours. Like the ton of research on toilets, for instance. Many decisions have been reached with kind strangers.
Last night after a particularly long tile search,(floors, walls, backsplashes!) we returned home to find that Caramel ate a hole in the plastic sheeting sealing off the kitchen from the rest of the house, for the dual purposes of poop & pee. It was pretty considerate of her when you think of it, there's no floor to ruin in there. The plastic is a joke, it keeps falling off cause it's too dusty to stick. I feel like I'm living in the Negev ( halevi!) except it's as humid and hot as a jungle. NY in summer! I can mark the workers progress by the color of the dust I wipe up perpetually. The red brick dust is making way for the white dust from sanding the joint compound. I am writing this on the second-floor office. This keyboard is covered in dust. I can see the roof of the kitchen below, covered in red. Outside, the air is thick with pollen and pollutants. Oi vavoi! I am overcome by Schmutzschmerz, a sorrow or sadness over the present or future dust and dirt of my world!
Happily, we are having dinner at a friends house tonight, dustfree!
A joyous solstice to all and to all a late night.
Of course when one desires such congress, it it not to be had. It is curious and bizarre that one is constantly barraged with sales pitches everywhere in our society, indeed we are not safe in our own homes anymore, yet when trying to actually purchase an item, competent assistance is nowhere to be found. In the course of our reno, we need to chose many, many, items. We are simple folk, with plain tastes. (Shucks) Logistics and logic send us to Home Depot and Lowe's on a daily basis. We have taken to relying on other bewildered customers for advice and assistance and are ready to share ours. Like the ton of research on toilets, for instance. Many decisions have been reached with kind strangers.
Last night after a particularly long tile search,(floors, walls, backsplashes!) we returned home to find that Caramel ate a hole in the plastic sheeting sealing off the kitchen from the rest of the house, for the dual purposes of poop & pee. It was pretty considerate of her when you think of it, there's no floor to ruin in there. The plastic is a joke, it keeps falling off cause it's too dusty to stick. I feel like I'm living in the Negev ( halevi!) except it's as humid and hot as a jungle. NY in summer! I can mark the workers progress by the color of the dust I wipe up perpetually. The red brick dust is making way for the white dust from sanding the joint compound. I am writing this on the second-floor office. This keyboard is covered in dust. I can see the roof of the kitchen below, covered in red. Outside, the air is thick with pollen and pollutants. Oi vavoi! I am overcome by Schmutzschmerz, a sorrow or sadness over the present or future dust and dirt of my world!
Happily, we are having dinner at a friends house tonight, dustfree!
A joyous solstice to all and to all a late night.
Friday, June 16, 2006
A visit from Morgana
Today is Bloomsday. As in the maddenly (for me) unreadable novel Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom wanders the streets of Dublin on June 16th, I too wander the streets of Brooklyn...daily. I need to get away from the noise and dust.Today marks the end of week 4 of our reno and my anxiety builds. I've been avoiding Jerry who is leaving for Italy after his son's wedding in TWO WEEKS. It's starting to get very hot and I'm concerned about the workers and bring them coolers of beverages. Today Martin told me I worry too much about them, but what else can I do? I am helpless and have no control and really I worry about ever completing this project. I want running water again!
In the midst of all this chaos we had a houseguest. One of my very dearest and oldest friends, Morgana, came to visit from No. California for the first time in almost 8 years. It was so wonderful! We had a mini-slumber party last Sat with Barbara, our mutual cousin, hers by blood, mine by marriage, both by love. It was a magical (and majikal) night. I broke out the Johnnie Walker Black, the years melted away, we got bombed. ( a rare occurance for me, she said primly.) We walked in the light of the full moon and held each other. I recalled a conversation from over 30 years ago when we spoke of the special bond between us and how one day we would be old and maybe alone but we would always have each other. As it happens in this dissapointingly unromantic world, all three of us have unusually wonderful husbies. Our special bond endures nonetheless.
From left, here we are, Me, Caramel, Barbara and Morgana. BFF! We have a very powerful energy when we are together which is sadly not often. My sisters! I have been rejuvenated by the extraordinary holy power of womanlove! Lordy, I hope it will give me the strength to deal with de mens.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
One love, one heart
Today is our 20th wedding anniversary! We honeymooned in Jamaica, where reggae plays constantly and "One Love" became our leitmotif and theme. ( Our alternate "our" song is Ray's "Georgia", because we heard it constantly during our courtship) We will celebrate just as we did for our 10th anniversary when we bought the house: a romantic dinner and then trips to Lowes and Home Depot to look at doors, light fixtures and tile. And of course, plants. The really big celebration will be going to see Xmen3 tomorrow, before the kids get out of school. Yes bloggies, we are livin' LARGE! We may even stop for ice cream!
My dog-bite hand is quite healed if not a bit mangled. I don't care. After breaking my wrist last year and spending the entire night in the ER, I could not bring myself to go there again. Besides, even tho I'm diseased, I heal very well and pretty quickly.
Our reno is moving along expeditiously but every conversation with Jerry gives me butterflies; he is quite the the voice of doomfor such a happy guy. We trust him tho and he shows up every day!
A neighbor is thinking of doing some brickwork so I recommended our mason Vito, an old-world Italian. I went over to introduce them and actually had to translate English through Vito's heavy accent. It was so funny! After, Vito asked if my family was from here or Italy. I explained that my parents were from Eastern Europe and I was Jewish. He replied, Jews, Italians, they the same!
In NYC, this is true - it's all about food, family and guilt. Jews and Catholics always lived together, probably cause they were all marginalized. I didn't understand about Protestants, and their majority in this country until JFK was nominated as the "first Catholic president" in 1960 and a huge uproar followed.
Have we come a long way, baby?
I still don't like the plumber (he yells at the crew) but a waste pipe was installed in the place where the new 1/2 bath will be on the 1st floor and I am beside myself with joy. I amuse the workers daily.
Sheila and I went for a pedicure, only my second one. I'm not fond of having things done to me, hair and such; it feels like a medical procedure, but pedicures are wonderful! I had a better massage there than I did at physical therapy. And I wind up with lovely piggies, well, lovely for me. My father's side of the family all had nasty, bent hammer toes which identifies us as a family much as the Hapsburg lip did. Also, we have a touch a madness, which may not be such a bad thing in this day and age.
Oh jeez, Jerry & Co are taking down another wall, I've got to get out of here.
Love and romance to you all!!!
My brother says:
A short period of constuction leads to a long and happy use of Kitchen.
Amen!
My dog-bite hand is quite healed if not a bit mangled. I don't care. After breaking my wrist last year and spending the entire night in the ER, I could not bring myself to go there again. Besides, even tho I'm diseased, I heal very well and pretty quickly.
Our reno is moving along expeditiously but every conversation with Jerry gives me butterflies; he is quite the the voice of doomfor such a happy guy. We trust him tho and he shows up every day!
A neighbor is thinking of doing some brickwork so I recommended our mason Vito, an old-world Italian. I went over to introduce them and actually had to translate English through Vito's heavy accent. It was so funny! After, Vito asked if my family was from here or Italy. I explained that my parents were from Eastern Europe and I was Jewish. He replied, Jews, Italians, they the same!
In NYC, this is true - it's all about food, family and guilt. Jews and Catholics always lived together, probably cause they were all marginalized. I didn't understand about Protestants, and their majority in this country until JFK was nominated as the "first Catholic president" in 1960 and a huge uproar followed.
Have we come a long way, baby?
I still don't like the plumber (he yells at the crew) but a waste pipe was installed in the place where the new 1/2 bath will be on the 1st floor and I am beside myself with joy. I amuse the workers daily.
Sheila and I went for a pedicure, only my second one. I'm not fond of having things done to me, hair and such; it feels like a medical procedure, but pedicures are wonderful! I had a better massage there than I did at physical therapy. And I wind up with lovely piggies, well, lovely for me. My father's side of the family all had nasty, bent hammer toes which identifies us as a family much as the Hapsburg lip did. Also, we have a touch a madness, which may not be such a bad thing in this day and age.
Oh jeez, Jerry & Co are taking down another wall, I've got to get out of here.
Love and romance to you all!!!
My brother says:
A short period of constuction leads to a long and happy use of Kitchen.
Amen!
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