unusual activity

Like I did a few years ago, I'm applying for background work in various media.

I get an offer to do a commercial. And, they are offering a wardrobe voucher. Something I've never been offered before.

I speak to my friends who also do this kind of work, and they'd never gotten a wardrobe voucher either.  I have visions of walking into Bergdorf's and buying some great outfit.

A week or so before the shoot I get the voucher. 

$56 on Amazon. It covers both the top and pants. In a color I'd never buy. In a material I'd never buy. In a style I'd never buy.

I am waiting to hear from Amazon, with an email like ones I've gotten in the past from credit card companies that begin, "We've detected some unusual activity on your account....."

celebrating michael

My exceptionally wonderful nephew Michael is turning 40 and my sister and brother-in-law are hosting a small gathering. Just family at Val and Abbey's Country Club.

It doesn't happen often enough that our entire family gets together, and with everyone's schedule it's not easy. Michael and his family are in from California, and Jean and Jim drive up from the Cape. Yet we are still missing seven people (including four young kids). 

The seven kids who are here are all adorable, rambunctious and wild (three of them are two or almost two), and they follow their older cousins around with awe.

Alexander and I take the train up to Rye. We probably could have dressed more casually. (And after seeing these pictures, I may never where a scarf again).

Rita, the grand matriarch at almost 103, is present in every way. She has every reason to be proud of the family she's created.

My sister makes everything look effortless, but she never misses a single detail. 

Michael, like his brothers, is self-effacing. It therefore makes it kind of funny that his gorgeous face, at different stages of his life, is everywhere. In framed photos on the two tables. And on the cupcake desserts. He is even edible.

My three nephews are now all married and have families. 

They have always been warm, accomplished, funny and handsome. So it's not surprising that they married like-women. And fathered like-kids.

It's great to be able to celebrate Michael.

Because it has rained, the kids make the golf course their playground. We watch them naturally divide into two groups. The boys endlessly knocking each other over, while the girls practice cartwheels. 

It's the perfect end to the day.

disappointing outcome

A few weeks ago a good friend calls me. She's sees something on her boarding school newsletter that she thinks might interest me. A son is looking for someone to help his mom stay organized.

The mom, I'll call Mrs. Q, is a recently retired film and TV executive. She lives only a few blocks away. Is in good health. And needs someone to help organize her busy life, as she no longer has a personal assistant to do that for her.

Mrs. Q doesn't think she needs anyone to help out. Her two sons disagree. They are tired of unjamming the printer.

I'm a great organizer.  Mrs. Q has Apple products but needs help using them. I love Apple. I'm a good teacher. We share similar backgrounds. She lives less than a 15-minute walk away.  The pay is fair. The hours flexible. I apply. 

The first Zoom call occurs in early June with one son. A second Zoom calls happens soon after with both sons. I start to get excited. It seems like a perfect match. 

The next and final step is to meet Mrs. Q. The first meeting in late June gets cancelled as she isn't feeling well. It's rescheduled for the following week. That too gets rescheduled. She is still not feeling well. A third meeting gets scheduled for next week.

Then I get an email. It thanks me for my time, but says, in part: "Things have changed since we last spoke. We need to find someone who can do medical management, which will probably not be interesting to you. "

Hmmmm. I think the mom just doesn't want anyone. Or maybe it's something else. But whatever it really is I'll likely never know.

I'm getting tired of trying to question that keeps me up at night, "Now what?"

an ironic lost and found

Having thought I left my wallet at Agata (a local grocer where I shop most days), I go in, just as they are about to close, and ask.

"I don't think anyone's turned in a wallet today. But I'll check," says the manager.

He opens a cash register (used only by managers) and says, "This is where it'd be if we had it."

As he's rummaging around, I see something that looks exactly like my keys.

I bought this for the express reason that it would be hard to misplace, and easy to see in my purse.

"I think that's mine," I say, pointing to the pink fluffy set of keys. I doubt anyone else would have a key ring like that. And now that I think of it, I haven't seen mine in a while (I have several different types).

So the manager hands me the keys, but concludes that my wallet is not in the drawer.

I get home, open the door with my "new" keys, and see my wallet nearby. 

What are the odds that I would go to a store looking for something I thought I'd lost (but hadn't), and return with something else that I had lost (and didn't know it)?

so so hot

I don't think I can remember ever experiencing such hot weather in this otherwise amazing "concrete jungle" I call home.

My apartment is surprisingly comfortable, even without turning the AC on (except of course for sleeping).

But outside it literally feels just like a sauna, even when the sun's no longer present.

So here's what I haven't been doing:

• Walking more than a couple of blocks.
• Doing anything that involves outside activity.
• Swimming in the nearby, big city pool for fear of what might be in the water.
• Taking long strolls along the Esplanade at night,
• Going anywhere outside my neighborhood.

And here's what I have been doing.

• Watching good (The Wrecking Crew) and bad (but fun to watch) TV (The Worst Neighbor Ever).
• Reading (highly recommend Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth).
• Imperfectly organizing  my long-sleeved shirts (though I'm guessing this won't last long).

• Being on the phone more than normal.
• Posting things I rarely wear on Poshmark.
• Seeing my friend Robyn who lives next door to watch a fantastic doc from 2017, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Such an extraordinary man.
• Starting random conversations with strangers; I like the solidarity but liked it better when it was about The Knicks.
• Reading the daily NYT and completing four of its games: Wordl, Connections, Spelling Bee (to Genius level), and the Crossword (regular and mini), But this I always do. Hey, don't want to break any streaks!

I'll take sub-freezing weather any day over the heat!

incredible!!!

Even if you never watch basketball.

And even if you've never heard of Jalen Brunson.

And even if spectator sports is not your thing.

It doesn't matter.

It feels like every single person in NYC is caught up in the thrilling win of last night's game. Another come-from-behind victory to clinch the series against the San Antonio Spurs, and become the NBA Champions, for the first time since 1973.

I have lived in this city for over 40 years. 

I have watched the city unite after the horrific events of 9/11.

I have seen the city act in solidarity at 7pm every night during the early days of Covid, cheering out their windows to thank essential workers.

But this is the first time I have ever seen the city come together for a joyous reason. 

I do not follow basketball.

I don't know the game beyond the very basics.

And before the playoffs, I couldn't name the coach or one player on the Knicks team

But the buildup to last night has been contagious.

People wearing Knicks shirts everywhere. Local news talking about the possibility of a win for weeks. The topic of basketball coming up in conversations where it never has before.

I even teared up after their win. It was hard not to. Watching Jalen Brunson hug his dad. Or Bruce Beck, a local sportscaster, getting emotional recalling the many games he watched the game with his dad. Or seeing big, muscular men release all their pent up emotions.

Oh and finally, it was nice to see a smile on the faces of Mike Brown and Jalen Brunson.

The absolute joy spreading through the city is electric. Seas of blue and orange everywhere.

And the unity, for such a happy reason this time, is just plain incredible.

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZkUrf6yMZS/

4th and goal

Today is my fourth colonoscopy. And my last. 

The procedure is easy; the prep is not.

Yesterday:

Drank two small bottles of Clen-Piq; one around 1:45pm and the other six hours later.  With a coupon, I paid only $162, but was told by friends it was worth it. Hard to know. It wasn't too hard to drink but the cloyingly sweet cranberry-flavored mixture was barely tolerable.

In all, I drank 98 ounces of clear liquids only:

• 8 ounces: Lemon-Lime Gatorade

• 24 ounces: Ginger Ale

• 24 ounces: Chicken Broth

• 32 ounces: Water

I was up almost hourly throughout the night.

Today:

Walk a mile and take subway to a place in midtown.

I arrive early, but procedure starts exactly on time at 9:30 am.

By 10:30 I am told that everything is great. No issues. And that I never have to do this again. I guess that's good, but it's also kind of sad to be aged-out of a colonoscopy.

My son picks me up. 

He even accompanies me home (because he needs something from the apartment, not because I need his help). 

We have lunch (him pizza, me steamed dumplings) and watch an episode of The Sopranos (we finally only have 3 episodes left; we started the series years ago (him for the first time, me for the second).

Then I sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

Mission accomplished.