A Star is Born

Today's stuff on my cat has my Zeno featured with her little green friend. I'm a proud mom today.

(Brisco's pretty cute too.)

Selections

Packing for a trip is always daunting for me. I don't like overpacking, but when I try to minimize, something is always missing. In the past few years I've had two long weekends where I had too few garments to choose from, and though it's good to simplify it was just ridiculous (especially the time I fell in mud in my only jeans. Otherwise I'd packed a skirt, and that was it. Rather pathetic.)

I'm not too worried. This time, though, I'm trying to figure out which books to bring with me. I won't be entirely bookworm, of course, but I must have my books. The question is, which ones? Lately I've started a few that didn't take me past 50 or so pages. It wouldn't be so wonderful to carry unreadable materials. At the moment I have a truckload of books out of the library, and I haven't quite gotten into any of them. By Saturday I have to be hooked on at least two or I will be hopeless!

Last time I went South I bought a bunch of magazines in the airport. I really need to refrain this time. Such a waste of space and money. Anyway I have some non-glossies I need to catch up with, as well as two tea magazines.

Did I mention it's the first time I'll be flying alone? I'm not worried too much; the flight is short and there's Direct TV.

It's fun to be concerned with trivial matters for once.

Zenobia on Green

Hope you all aren't sick of these pics...I'm the annoying proud pet parent, what can I say?

I don't like what she's doing with the blinds, though.

Climb Every Mountain...

The most amazing thing about the trek up and down Bear Mountain was that I suffered minimal soreness the days following. Surprisingly the only discomfort that hung around for a while was in the abdominal muscles. Well, I guess all the times I had to sit up from crawling on all fours...maybe that's why the mountain is named after an animal because I didn't see any bears. They probably couldn't make it downhill anyway. I did, thanks to a lot of help. The crisp mountain air was certainly a plus for my lungs.

And who doesn't love a carousel?

Colors

Autumn rocks.....

(for Stevie's Solarizing Pleasure)

Children't Book Nostalgia #4: LHOTP

I can't believe it took me this long to write about this series. It's the Big One...taking up a great deal of my childhood, from the books to the television series.

I loved every single one of these books, although The First Four Years was slightly depressing, and I guess so was The Long Winter. But I really had no problem reading about hardships from the comfort of my air conditioned bedroom - most of my big reading was done in the summer.

It was fun to compare the books with the TV series. The real Pa had a beard: Michael Landon had an afro and very active tear ducts. Mary handled going blind gradually like an angel: TV Mary was hysterical. I guess the main difference was the melodramatics, but that certainly didn't stop me from watching the show, pretty much in reruns.

The description of school life on the prairie was daunting. They seemed to have a lot stricter regiment of learning and memorization than we had in the City of New York. Everything was harder for the "homesteaders", "pioneers", whatever you like, but they complained very little and were much more thankful for little things. Nothing was wasted.

Most of all I loved the courtship of Laura and Almanzo (can you say that name with a straight face?) If you see real photographs of the couple, they may have looked stern as so many photos in the past portrayed people, but not bad looking at that.

And I found the real Nellie Oleson to be slightly more diabolical than the TV one, in a subtler way. (Names have been changed.)

Wanna Laugh?

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

They call them kitlers!

Vromanesqe

Just wanted to share a few more shots from a loverly weekend.

Nightmares Do Come True

I found a pigeon blog today. Though I'm quite taken by the London pictures, it made me realize how far I've come in some ways.

I used to be deathly afraid of pigeons. Ask my sisters. If I was walking down a street and a pigeon was in my path, I would freeze until someone chased it away. That's kind of silly, actually: why would I want to resemble a statue to a pigeon? Later on I learned to stamp my foot and they'd get freaked out and fly away.

What was I afraid of? Well, that Alfred Hitchcock movie didn't help, but I think it was their eyes. Their sudden takeoffs weren't exactly a balm to my nerves either. There was a strange nightmare I used to have about pigeons being in my bed, and I'd fling them and they'd be rubbery. I should not have been eating Breyers at night.

As time went on my paralysis wore off, but I've always had the paranoid idea that they had it in for me. I saw one peeking its head at me around a train trestle once, and a few minutes later I saw he'd left me a little gift on my jeans. Nice.

Pigeons used to nest on the living room air conditioner, which the cats loved, and I learned to deal with it until the day my Dad brought a baby pigeon inside to relocate it to the roof. I was not pleased. Dad had such a soft heart for all living creatures.

Nowadays I can deal with the flying rats, and I even find some of them cute. I guess compared to waterbugs, anything is adorable.

I Can't Get Enough

I have yet another blog, this one is all photos:

http://gatapics.blogspot.com

It's in no particular order, feel free to guess when and where in your comments...

Children's Book Nostalgia #3: Anne of Green Gables

My early teens were filled with Anne of Green Gables. I don't know why orphans are so appealing to young people, particularly red haired ones, but for some reason I was obsessed.

Anne Shirley, L.M. Montgomery's most well-known character, is a highly imaginative, intelligent girl who ends up in the home of the Cuthberts, aging brothers and sisters who really wanted a boy to help them with their work. Of course, they are won over by Anne, though Marilla is quite disapproving at first. On the TV version Marilla is played by Colleen Dewhurst, whose name was an influence on my Dad's nicknaming Baby "Duforth". Seriously.

The first book is probably the most captivating, and certainly put Prince Edward Island on the map for me. We meet Gilbert Blythe, who obviously has a thing for Anne but is shunned by her for calling her "carrots" upon their first meeting. Anne is so sensitive about her hair color, even though I envied her and even considered dying my hair when I was old enough. (I kept my hair natural, though, and will continue to do so until the greys start taking over. Maybe then I'll go red?) Anne's obsession with puffed sleeves makes the reader sympathetic: she's a bit unusual, which is a good thing, but most teenagers would rather be normal than anything else. I can't read the account of Matthew Cuthbert's death without losing it each time.

Bonnie and I had a little competition regarding Anne. First, who would finish the series first? I did, by a close margin. That sort of thing really doesn't matter to me anymore, but I think I had a little pride, being the older sister. The other issue was who looked more like the actress who played her? Back then, she did: I looked like Napoleon Dynamite. Recently then, someone told me out of the blue that I looked like the actress, and though I wasn't as excited as I would have been 15+ years ago, it was still kind of cool. Though last time I saw her was as an arsonist on Law and Order. Yikes.

I've read most of L.M. Montgomery's books; there's Emily, Marigold, Pat, Jane...but Anne will always be the big one for me.

And how funny was it when she was forbidden to see her "bosom friend" Diana because she'd accidentally made her drunk?

Zenobia's Long Lost Cousin

I was pleasantly surprised to meet Buddy, my cousins' 13 year old cat. Like the rest of our family, he looks good for his age ;)

He kind of reminds me of a cross between Zenobia and Chubby. He's also a first-rate foot warmer.

Funny Tearoom Name #5

Dream About Tea:

So if you're not in the area, at least you can dream about the place.

Who would I recommend this place to? Perhaps Martin Luther King Jr.

Vroman's Nose

Just came back from a fantastic weekend upstate. On Friday we hiked on Vroman's Nose, which is basically up a mountain and full of incomparable views. Fall foliage! More upstate pics to come.

(By the way, it took a lot of effort to get pics with my eyes open. This happens too often. It is, of course, the only reason I had to give up a promising career as a supermodel.)

Childhood Book Nostalgia #2 Little Miss and Mr. Books

In the small world of my childhood (not my fantasy world which spanned the globe, or at least the Prairie), a walk past Broadway on Steinway Street was equivalent to a road trip. Nowadays the streets past 34th Avenue are teeming with shops and restaurants, especially since the opening of the movie theatre. Back then, it was something that King Kullen was there. Anyway, there was a children's shop called Valco (thanks for remembering the name, Pam) between Broadway and 34th. It wasn't particularly glorious, though they did sell Cabbage Patch dolls - I saw the first Preemies there. But they did have a display of Little Miss and Mr. Books. I think these books were designed to teach adjectives to children. They were so simple but slightly unusual. My first one was Little Miss Scatterbrain. I still identify with her sometimes. I also like Mr. Impossible. He could read books upside down. When I realized I could do the same, I thought I had superpowers. Now I realize it's rather low on the skill level. Darn.

The Prince of Darkness

Pam's second dog, Nemo is absolutely adorable. He also had a mysterious past...when he was rescued he showed considerable anti-social behavior. Though he has improved, especially with those he has regular contact with, he still frightens me when he barks. He likes me when I sit down, so that's something. And he posed very nicely for these pictures.

Book Nostalgia #1: Little Golden Books

As a book lover since early childhood, I thought I'd delve into "old favorites", the books that make me look happily into my past - not necessarily with longing, though it's true that those were simpler times.

Yesterday I was in Posman books in Grand Central Terminal, and I saw The Monster at the end of this Book. I haven't seen this one in years. I used to laugh at how freaked out Grover got every time I turned the page. My grandmother had this book, and visiting her was always a pleasure - other toys, cousins around my age to play with, and children's books. Though times have changed, if I flip the page over, Grover still accuses: "YOU TURNED THE PAGE!!"

I don't think I had The Shy Little Kitten, but she kind of has Zenobia eyes, so I couldn't resist.

Why does the Donny and Marie book look familiar? Did we have it? Possibly, but that would have been dated even when I was a child. I think.

My favorite was The Rainy Day Play Book. A brother and sister are sad that they can't play outside on a rainy day, but they come up with all kinds of activities. It inspired me, a perennial indoor person.

Which was your favorite Golden Book?

Zenobia Feels At Home

 

Say It Ain't So!

I just found out that the Wild Lily Tea Room is closing at the end of the year. This is terrible, it's such a gorgeous place and I was looking forward to returning there sometime. If you all get a chance to get there before it closes, I strongly recommend it.

At 66

Somehow I don't think he'd be this hairy...

Funny Tearoom Name #4

This place looks right up my alley: Sherlock's of Celebration. I'm not sure where in Florida this is, if anywhere near West Palm I may end up visiting it someday. I know the area is called Celebration, but for some reason this name sounds like a product one would find in a Sanrio store, you know, where the English is slightly distorted. (Notepads that say, "you are my dream cloud. Love powder and moonstars"...huh?) It also sounds like my Dad's cat-baby talk, when he'd say things like, "Come here, Sino of Cat". Hard to explain that one.

Library of Gata

I love the front room in my apartment now. Because of my feckless teenage neighbors, that room was rendered uninhabitable as a bedroom. You think you can handle the noise until you try to sleep through it. So this room was reincarnated into a library/study. Well, I had to have someplace to put my vast book collection! Actually, compared to many book collectors, mine is just somewhat big. There are three bookshelves, and they are not even full after opening all my boxes. Still, it is mouthwatering to look at.

I've devoted one shelf to my public library books, and it looks like it'll be full for a while. I took 3 books out today - two from Alexander McCall Smith which don't take too long to read - and there are others waiting for me on that shelf. But that's my personality. I can't read only one book at a time. Like cable tv, I have to have something else to turn to after a while. There's always a few rejects that I tried to read the first few chapters of, and couldn't go any further.

I'd post pictures, but at the moment I have houseguests in that room. I like them - it's nice to have someone else in the house at certain hours - but of course it will be nice to have my library functioning as a reading room again.

It beckons. Can't wait to devour another book. Maybe even one I own!

My teas are in exile for a little while too, but the restoration will be a fabulous one.

Let's Get Together and Feel Alright!

Post #200!
Celebrate With a Love Moment!

Slightly Furious

I just finished Henri Murger's The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter. I knew there would not be a happy ending, but I was met with a more frustrating outcome than I'd anticipated.

This is really Murger's only well-known work, at least in the English speaking world. The opera La Boheme was based on it, as well as the Broadway musical Rent. Even Moulin Rouge was loosely derived from the novel, or collection of stories pertaining to the same characters in a somewhat chronological order.

I wasn't actually entralled with the story, as it really should have been called "The Budget". Constantly the four main characters are trying to make ends meet while living out their Bohemian lifestyle. The reader finds out what everything cost in France around the 1840's. If I wanted to read about financial struggles, I could read my credit card statements. I was kind of annoyed at the mooching and the refusal to pay rent or other bills, even when one of them successfully sold their work. I'm not the shining example of responsibility, but these guys are brazen. Okay, it's kind of funny sometimes.

I knew there would be a tragic tuberculosis-related ending, and I really wanted to see how this would be presented. For some reason, though, my edition had missing pages all throughout the ending. Completely blank. So it turned out terribly choppy. I think the guys sell out after the death scene, but I'm not sure. This is frustrating as the only existing edition of this book in the New York Public Library system was in my hands (and overdue), and any other editions are expensive, even on Amazon or Alibris. I won't tell you how much, or I will begin to sound like Murger the Second. Suffice it to say I'm frustrated. What kind of *&((^$! book is this?

I'd see the opera, but it might dig into my rent money.

Tea Lushes

It's true, there's nothing like a tea cocktail to make the evening Gata-esque. Just look at this NY Times article.

Sometimes I'm a purist - a good cup of tea doesn't need any enhancement. But I don't scoff at my favorite drink being used as an ingredient for cocktails, ice cream, even chicken sandwiches. It's fine either way for me, though I'm not sure the health benefits hold up in alcohol. Not a bad solution to a sore throat, though.