I didn't mind the rain this morning. I had hot tea for breakfast, and flicked the wisteria bushes on my walk to work remembering how much I used to like walking to school on drizzly days when I was a kid. My shoes were trashed by the time I got home in those days (and they're pretty wet now) because puddles were just not meant to be avoided. And apparently, to a bus, I am not to be avoided when it comes to making contact with a gutter full of water. Jerk.
KaStinkasaurus Rex now follows me around when I get ready in the morning. But she does it in her Zoom fashion. ZOOM! into this room. ZOOM! under the couch. She has yet to let me touch her, but we'll get there. There's plenty of bonding time to come. I can't even tell you how much I love this cat. She breaks my heart when I look at her, she's so cute. She's eating in the kitchen now -- sporadically, mind you, as eating in the kitchen requires being among the humans. Shocker!
Tomorrow, I'm off on vacation. For 10 days. Don't miss me TOO bad. I'll try to write a few updates from the road... you know, beautiful men sitings. I mean, really cool historical thing sitings. Errr...something.
I forgot to thank all my neato friends for coming over on Saturday night. THANKS! And to Emma for the bamboo... I have never owned such trendy plant life! It's very cool-looking in its new home in the livingroom.
Wanna know what else is cool-looking? The scar Katinka gave me on my wrist. Some woman on the bus clearly interpreted it as a suicide attempt. *shaking head* I swear.

Let's do a weekend recap!
Friday, Nora and I went to see XXX. I am so in love with Vin. He's fabulous and I don't care WHAT anyone says, the movie was great. He could make a toilet paper commercial and I'd sit through it over and over and over. As long as he took his shirt off in it. hee hee. We picked Caryn up at the station after the movie, went home...and DYED HER HAIR. It looks so great. Better than great. She looks hot as a redhead.
Saturday was clean up the house, get ready for the party day. Cleaned the rugs, bought some booze, etc. The party was nice... fun to have everyone in the same house for a bit. We even got super nerdy and played Settlers... *sigh* we're hopeless.
Katinka slept on my bed on Saturday night and even came out (in a mad dash) to the living room last night. She's very silly... she will pounce and play as long as I pretend not to care if she plays with me. She's successfully avoided all of my attempts to Scoop N Snuggle since Saturday. Jenn calls it my Military Tactic. I'll just have to be extra crafty when I come home tonight... so we can have successful scoopin and snugglin. She's so frickin cute. I am in love with a cat.

Katinka Inga Borgovina NaNa made friends with her litter box last night. There is a God afterall, my friends.
Caryn is coming tonight! I'm so glad! The party tomorrow will be small, it turns out, but nice. The regulars, hanging out, doing the regular thing. Maybe we'll get a chance to cheat Corey and Amy at Asshole?? hee hee.

Anna went into false labor today. FALSE. Why, God, why must it be false?!!?!?

What am I supposed to do with a kitten that won't use a litterbox!?!?!? My rug is not a litter box!!! This is driving me nuts.

I just had some really great Katinka break-throughs! The previously SILENT kitten now purrs. Not only does she purr when I pet her, she purrs when I talk to her. AND, she played with a catnip mouse WITH me. Tadum! We're gettin' there folks. One day she might actually even come out from under the bed. THAT will be a good day.
Have I mentioned I love this kitten??

New York was a whirlwind of fun! Caryn and I had a grrrrreat time at Webster Hall on Saturday Night. Dancing fools, we are! Katinka joined us on Sunday. Very freaked out and still kinda sick. We had a little vet visit yesterday, and I think the situation is already vastly improved. She's not a real big fan of me dragging her out of under the bed to give her antibiotics and gooey eye medication, but she'll thank me for it one day. When she does let me hold her, she's very sweet and has THE cutest little face you've ever seen. Her tiny white paws are what fascinate me. Jenn and I adore her. So what if she never ever wants to come out of under my bed. She's cute as hell.

Dinner tonight with Mike Lewis, off to New York tomorrow with Eleanor and then on to spend some QUALITY time with Caryn, and THEN, pick up my Katinka!
Honestly kids, I'm exhausted. This weekend is going to be great, which is keeping me going. But after Sunday, it's crash time. I've been pulling 10 hour days at work, sans lunch, doing ACTUAL work, which you all know is quite foreign to me. I've had the whole moving/setting up house thing to contend with (good news, the curtains are finally up and I have found a way to circumvent the broken phone jack issue and now, once again, am on line at home). Plus, this heat is really getting to me. I don't sleep well when it's so darn hot and humid. It's gotta break soon. The heat will or I will.

Heather & Caryn
Constant Contentment versus... not

HLH5: But isn't part of the greatness of our being happy due to the fact that we can look back and compare now to how it was then??
See Solly: is it?
HLH5: I think so. When it's all the same, you take it for granted
See Solly: There definitely is merit to that, totally. But if i had a choice in the matter, I'd choose to be happy
HLH5: All the time?
See Solly: Why not?
HLH5: I benefit from suffering -- even a little suffering. My writing, my appreciation of people, my understanding of human plight...
See Solly: I do too, of course
HLH5: I woulnd't give that up
See Solly: What are you living for? My goal in life IS to be happy all the time. I wouldn't turn that down
HLH5: My goal is to be complete
See Solly: Then that is where we differ and why we think what we think - ta daaa!
HLH5: Absolutely

It's about the Ups & Downs

Amid the irritating glitches of poor cell-phone connections,Caryn and I were talking the other night, (both of us in a minor funk about work and other miscellaneous stresses), when we stumbled upon the realization that we were, despite minor funks of various kinds, very happy. The year 2002 did not start out in a grand fashion -- January and February being months blighted by disappointments and frustrations -- but slowly, transitioning from month to month, things improved (On a personal level, I will admit it was greatly my attitude doing the improving.), and here we are in August, quite content. Certainly there are funks (some tepid, and some coming to a rapid boil), but overall, I am glad to say, I am pretty satisfied with me.

Jenn and I had a related chat yesterday evening while lounging, listening to Leah Siegel. Seems like I'm doing a lot of therapeutic chatting these days... (Perhaps it's to take my mind off this heat, and these aggravating, sticky streams of sweat that don't seem to shower away). Would we rather be constantly and completely happy or complex and at times, pretty pathetic and tragic? Jenn's vote was for complex. Happy all the time would be boring, she said. I have to agree. I think it was a character in Vanilla Sky who said something about having to taste the bitter to appreciate the sweet. God, I hate the bitter. And I do so love the sweet. But bitter certainly does inspire an appreciation for the sweet... and well, we all know that too much sugar can give you a headache, a toothache and make you intolerably hyper. And fat. Don't forget fat.

Like the Duchess and the poor, poor Ass-Baby.

Thank you for calling...

A celebration is in order. This morning, when I opened my work email, there was a New Staff Announcement. Her name is, coinceidentally, Heather. She will start working tomorrow (8/14), and she will be... ANSWERING PHONES. A receptionist. Without any advance notice, a big bright ray of hope has shined upon me. Resolution. Starting tomorrow, I'm in my new corner office space, ALL day long. No more half-days pretending I don't have a degree, pushing that damn blinking button on the phone, faking enthusiasm when I say,
"Thank you for calling the Stubbins Associates"
and grinding my teeth when I hear,
"Is this the Stubbins Associates?"
"Did I stutter?"

New apartment, (re)new job, new kitten. New, new, new. Nice.

If you love me, you'll come to my house for a party on the 24th. I'll e-vite ya, but here's fair warning.

Little Joe Cook & the Lady at the Beauty Shop

He's ancient. Jenn will tell you that he's 102, and looking at him, that will not seem a huge exaggeration. He's tiny. I was taller than this man by at least a head. And he sings blues/funk/jazz at the Cantab Lounge on a somewhat regular basis. And he was adorable.
"Lady, at the beauty shop... you make my heart go bip-ber-de-bop" No lie... those are Little Joe's lyrics. He's like a piece of walking, singing folk art -- the man that time forgot. And I couldn't help but buy his CD (which he autographed!). I don't think Nora was as impressed with his CD as I was... but perhaps you have to have the full Little Joe Experience to understand my new amor.
On another note, this coming weekend promises to be a full one! I'll be heading down to NY to dance, write and adopt a kitten with my girl, Caryn. Perhaps, as a result of the weekend, you'll even see a sequel to Justin Timberlake Goes to Vermont. We'll see.

The move could not have gone any better! Thanks to everyone who helped make it go so smoothly!