Long Island @ MindSay 
Friday night party at the Vanella's
- Mrs. Vanella, I like everything you do - I like the way you move! - Sean
- Thumper
- Yohe, Chris, Josh, John with the funny shirt(s)
- Jimmy Buffett in the kitchen
- The lights going out...twice...
- Bomb punch chugging contest between Joey and his mom
- 13
- NICOLE
- 43 year old women; Quinny and John. Discuss.
- Rick Rude baseball games.
- 3 bouts of rain and storm, and then...the sprinklers came on.
- Nicole and I told Kathy the hotdog story...
Saturday night block party in Island Park
- Lindsay, Kristina, Nora, Jaimie
- EDWIN. And Edwin remembering the good old days when I called him EdLOSE <3
- Erin not able to call me
- Etienne. Etienne actually GREW. Maybe 5 inches? I think he broke 7 feet a whiiiiiile ago....eep!
- "I've seen Emily more in the last 2 nights than I have in the last 4 years" "6 years, Chris" "Shiiiiiiiiiit"
- "You look really familiar. I know you" - Dan Travers, who I used to live around the corner from. The boy who used to offer me rides - such a nice family. Glad I didn't mess up and call him Sean. I can't believe Sean has been dead for 5 years. I can't believe I didn't go to the memorial while I was so near by. I wish I knew him better; I have never heard a bad word spoken about him.
- Bomb and his cousin, La Bamba.
- Old crushes. For the first time since I was a senior in high school, I was in the same vacinity as Danny K. We took our time to talk to each other (though I talked quite a bit to George, to be shared below), but eventually got there. Joked about how I don't live in WH anymore, had to get to Mass, and how I was turning tricks to get there. I was able to be brave enough that when he said that was a lot of tricks, I told him '2 at the most; I'm just that good'. 5 yaers ago I would NEVER have had the balls to deliver a line like that. Baby steps. He's still really cute, unfortunately. He got heavier (I saw photos) but looked better last night. Couldn't see his eyes in the darkness, but I know they're still gorgeous.
- George: "When we had that class together, we were friends". We were friends? George and I? Hilarious. Also, I called George 'Rob' by accident (actually, I said, 'where IS George' and he said "I AM George". I miss Rob).
- John with the funny shirts (last night's was about squirrels) went to give me a hug and just went and picked me up.
- Getting to put my feet up on George's back.
- Realizing I STILL don't like Mike T., and that it's OKAY that I still think he's a douchebag. I don't have to like everyone, and I really don't like him. He was such a jerk back then, and even though we didn't exchange words, I know he's still the same kid. Hasn't evolved at all. Chestnut's probably the exact same way. I have forgiven everyone else; I mean, I hugged and kissed Yohe, who I know was one of them....but I will never forgive Teich and Chestnut for continuing it. And it feels GOOD to not just forgive them because time has passed.
As with most American kids, fourth of July was always a high point of summer. School has a distant memory, the soles of my feet had developed some good calluses for barefoot streets, the parental units had stopped asking when I was going to be back from the beach and I had all perfected the breathing capacity to dive from a float and pick up starfish in one breath. I grew up in a posh little beach town along Long Island’s north shore and the beaches that surrounded us on three sides were community access only. We spent the summer in bathing suits with uncombed hair, loving the taste of salt water on our skins.
And on the fourth the usual lazy days became charged with the energy from picnics and guests from the city, a concert in the band shell and the evenings fireworks at Morgan’s Park. A barge would be anchored in Hempstead Harbor from which the explosive would be shot, making it safer and letting us not only see the sky spectaculars but their reflection in the water below. We would carry sparklers, the neighbors next door would light roman candles and my brother would experiment with cherry bombs and snakes much to the dismay of my mother who generally hid away somewhere wondering if she should binge or purge.
even as the teen in me was to cool to spend the evening with my parents, my pack of friends would congregate at the park for the yearly ritual, drinking pop and sharing lipsticks and discussing who was cute... but it was all a coverup to see this riotous exercise of america and it's celebration of freedom.
As an adult most fourths were spent in Aspen. They had a little community parade, a free Souza concert in the music tents and later an explosive night of light on the mountain. The fire alarms would start ringing around nine which meant get off your porch and meet at the base of the main ski mountain. The night ended with a small fire on top of the shorn mountain and a slow exodus back to houses and condos. Once in Denver we attended a concert with a military salute and as the star spangled banner soared with the words the rockets red glare, the sky shattered into light. Corny as hell and it took your breath away.
once lying along the Platte river the DSO played rhapsody in blue with fireworks coordinated to Gershwin’s city summer movement. Even Montgomery managed to excite us with displays over the river which we could watch from our front porch.
The older I get the more anxious I get about fireworks. Aware of the harm they can do and liking to see them from further away. While all exploding thrills are illegal in Oregon, people buy them anyway and neighbors start shooting off rockets anytime after the end of june. I prefer the large safe and well regulated event rather than the amateur pyrotechnics that take out eye and start brush fires. My husband grew up in the country playing with gasoline and guns. It doesn't bother him all that much. Maybe it's a guy thing.
Portland will have a big show along the Willamette tonight at 10 pm (it gets dark late up here) as part of the blues festival. living in the hills of the west side we can easily drive to any opening in the terrain and trees and see the downtown skyline.
Abi hates the sound and smell of fireworks and so she must be get locked in the bedroom, windows closed, fan muffling some of the noise with a new feliway infuser to keep her calm. I wish they’d invent a people infuser, then I could enjoy the holiday as much as I did with a child.
So while I can be highly ambivalent about our government and it's foreign and domestic policies, I am never conflicted about the joys of living in this country and all the blessing it sheds on us. Those founding fathers never imagined much of what we must cope with in this very complicated world. But they managed to get a hellava lot of it right. Happy Birthday America.
Long Island is fun. Lonelyish, but fun. Got back to Erica's house (without Erica), and took a walk to 711. This is when the guy came out of Billy Brady's and told me "the chocolate martinis are the shit in there!". I was sooo tempted to be like, 'oh yeah? buy me one' but I just kept wakling. I do NOT need to deal with strange men in this instance at 10 pm alone on a Friday after getting up at 6
I got a dr. pepper slurpee at 711 and I will not lie to you - it is GLORIOUS. I definitely think the last time I had a slurpee was in 8th grade (I'm a senior in college now, so that's about 8 years). MmMmMm.
I got to sit in on a science lesson with Carmelo today. It was phenomenal. Soooooooooo loud, but phenomenal. He made me hold a mealwrom, though. Whatever. I think I love him because I realize sooooooooo much about him reminds me of Heath. His voice, how he is with the kids...he even LOOKS like Heath, even though Carmelo does NOT sound like a Jewish name. In no way, actually. Or maybe Heath is ItalianJew? I'd love him even more.
I can't tell Marni or Lauren apart, and it makes me so sad.
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]