Bat dog
The Boy and I went to a Trenton Thunder minor league game on Saturday night. The team had a "bat dog" that actually went out and picked up the bats after the players were done with them in the first inning. It was a Golden Retriever, I think. They also featured a dog later on that was up for adoption. So, definitely my kind of game. Anyway, we left early because it was soupy-hot that night. The Thunder apparently won 7-0. The next night, they played a 14-inning game!
Bloggin' may be light over the next month. But I will write something about the first day of school soon.
8/27/2007
8/23/2007
Uh oh!
A boy read my diary! It was my fiance! Okay, so it was my diary from when I was 8, but still...no boys allowed.
Now that he knows that I didn't get invited to Johanna's birthday party, or that my brother got better Life Savers flavors than I, I hope he will still be kind enough to marry me.
And I tried so hard to keep those things a secret...
A boy read my diary! It was my fiance! Okay, so it was my diary from when I was 8, but still...no boys allowed.
Now that he knows that I didn't get invited to Johanna's birthday party, or that my brother got better Life Savers flavors than I, I hope he will still be kind enough to marry me.
And I tried so hard to keep those things a secret...
8/22/2007
8/21/2007
8/20/2007
8/16/2007
This just makes no sense
Today I got an e-mail whose subject heading said "Help! My boyfriend's p*nis is too big to fit in my mouth!"
Interesting dilemma! I had never heard of the person who was sending it, but I was quite concerned for her (his?) well-being, so I opened it. It said:
"Dames always shrieked at me and even gentlemans did in the water closet! Well, now I smil at them, because I took Mega-Di*k for 6 months and now my c*ck is dreadfully longer than average."
I don't understand this crazy logic. If it gets bigger, then it will have even less chance of fitting in the mouth. Maybe this person should take Mini-Di*k for 6 months. Hmmm. Count me puzzled.
Today I got an e-mail whose subject heading said "Help! My boyfriend's p*nis is too big to fit in my mouth!"
Interesting dilemma! I had never heard of the person who was sending it, but I was quite concerned for her (his?) well-being, so I opened it. It said:
"Dames always shrieked at me and even gentlemans did in the water closet! Well, now I smil at them, because I took Mega-Di*k for 6 months and now my c*ck is dreadfully longer than average."
I don't understand this crazy logic. If it gets bigger, then it will have even less chance of fitting in the mouth. Maybe this person should take Mini-Di*k for 6 months. Hmmm. Count me puzzled.
8/14/2007
I am officially even more lame than before
I am afraid to go on rollercoasters. Not just rollercoasters, though. The last time I rode on the Buccanneer in Great Adventure, I was scared and decided I'd never go on that again, either.
Last time I was coaxed onto a Ferris wheel, I also decided I would never go on one again.
Now that I see that people actually died on one, I have more reason - although I know that's incredibly rare. Still, I think I'll skip it if I can.
I am afraid to go on rollercoasters. Not just rollercoasters, though. The last time I rode on the Buccanneer in Great Adventure, I was scared and decided I'd never go on that again, either.
Last time I was coaxed onto a Ferris wheel, I also decided I would never go on one again.
Now that I see that people actually died on one, I have more reason - although I know that's incredibly rare. Still, I think I'll skip it if I can.
8/13/2007
Talkin' baseball
The Boy and I had a nice weekend. We decided to see a minor league game out of the area. You may have heard of the incident a few years ago when people at a Toronto Blue Jays game witnessed a couple having sex in an attached hotel. Well, the team we saw also had an attached hotel, although we provided no such "free shows."
The minor league team, the Manchester New Hampshire Fisher Cats, were an affiliate of the Blue Jays.
Here is the view from our room:
The night we were there, the local Boy Scouts had a "sleep over" on the field. The Boy and I both agreed that it would have been a cool thing to do when we were growing up. However, by 6:30 the next morning, most of the people were packing up to leave. I could tell the adults had just had enough.
We went to a game the next day and had a lot of fun. There were fireworks after. Unfortunately, the boy caught a free t-shirt and injured his finger in the process.
There was a little non-sporty entertainment, of course. We took a walk downtown by the dozens of former mills, and enjoyed a view of the Merrimack River.
So if you are a big baseball fan or are in love with one, it's a weekend I recommend. We also soaked in the homeplate-shaped hot tub (no photo, sorry).
I might be pretty busy this week and not blog so much, so have a good week!
8/10/2007
8/09/2007
Good news
Starting today, Cablevision of New Jersey is getting the 24-hour "Sound of Music" channel! It replaces ESPN!!! I look forward to watching it on Sundays at 10 a.m. instead of "Sports Reporters"...Captain Von Trapp is much more handsome than Mitch Albom.
Anyway, apparently there was a huge storm yesterday morning that wreaked havoc all over the NYC area and even caused a tornado in Brooklyn, and I slept right through it. I've nearly lost the right to call myself a Weather Weenie.
Update: The Boy had this to say in response:
and as for the rest of the cablevision press release..........."not available in all areas, one of them being [our town] and even if it were available in [our county], we would simply move Sports Reporters, along with sports guru/genius Mitch Albom, to ESPN 2." Still not sure what you have against a show you may have spent all of five minutes watching. You are usually doing laundry, bathing or working out when Sports Reporters is on. You probably had to look up the show online to see who the moderators usually are. They tend to vary from week to week, but Albom is usually a constant.
Whatever. The Hillllls are Aliiiiiiiiive....
Anyway, he's wrong...I liked "Sports Reporters" when they were talking about The Sopranos.
Starting today, Cablevision of New Jersey is getting the 24-hour "Sound of Music" channel! It replaces ESPN!!! I look forward to watching it on Sundays at 10 a.m. instead of "Sports Reporters"...Captain Von Trapp is much more handsome than Mitch Albom.
Anyway, apparently there was a huge storm yesterday morning that wreaked havoc all over the NYC area and even caused a tornado in Brooklyn, and I slept right through it. I've nearly lost the right to call myself a Weather Weenie.
Update: The Boy had this to say in response:
and as for the rest of the cablevision press release..........."not available in all areas, one of them being [our town] and even if it were available in [our county], we would simply move Sports Reporters, along with sports guru/genius Mitch Albom, to ESPN 2." Still not sure what you have against a show you may have spent all of five minutes watching. You are usually doing laundry, bathing or working out when Sports Reporters is on. You probably had to look up the show online to see who the moderators usually are. They tend to vary from week to week, but Albom is usually a constant.
Whatever. The Hillllls are Aliiiiiiiiive....
Anyway, he's wrong...I liked "Sports Reporters" when they were talking about The Sopranos.
8/08/2007
8/8
I guess I did enough dwelling on myself and my days o' youth on Monday, right?
I'll spare you that today.
What can we do instead?
How about we look at puppies?????
I guess I did enough dwelling on myself and my days o' youth on Monday, right?
I'll spare you that today.
What can we do instead?
How about we look at puppies?????
8/07/2007
8/06/2007
When I was at the crossroads
A friend of mine recently noted that people only blog when they're upset about something. It's often true of writing in one's journal, too. Through the years, I mostly used my journals to help write out my feelings on things, more bad than good. As a result, most of my journals aren't of great literary quality. There are a few writers whose published diaries are so honest and heartfelt that they're fun to read, like Sylvia Plath's. But in reading hers, you can tell she actually tried to make them well-written. (At least, it seems that way.) I never had the patience - I am pretty sure my jottings won't ever be published.
Anyway, I thought it would be funny to take out my old "One-Year Diary" from when I was 8 or 10 (I got diaries for my birthdays those years) and transcribe a bit of it here, because those diaries are NOT angry - I was too young. They were mostly full of "We went to Wildwood today. The beach was butiful [crossed out] beatifull," which is always fun.
However, I couldn't immediately find them, though I know they're here somewhere. I did open a random journal that turned out to be from when I was 22.
Unsurprisingly, the literary quality was not high. But I did get pretty detailed. Detailed about the holding pattern my life was in. After graduating from college, I was broke, isolated, and desperate to find a job I really loved during an unforgiving economic recession. I didn't know what I would do, who I would love, who I would be, and whom to talk to about any of it.
The thing that saved me was typing skills I had honed since high school, because I knew I needed to get good at typing if I was going to write novels. Even though I couldn't land a publishing job right after college like I wanted, I was pleased that I was accepted for short-term temp jobs based on my typing speed, although they were not very fulfilling.
My only social activity was doing some college-related activities with other recent grads (like attending a Penn/Columbia football game), not because I had had a great time in school, but instead, because I figured maybe the social skills that had eluded me would allow me to enjoy all those college activities now that I was older and wiser. Besides, the only people I knew in the NYC area were two or three people who had graduated with me. There was no internet and not much of a way to make new friends in my new neighborhood.
I was, in other words, at a crossroads, and the journal makes that clear.
Just now, I typed up a few of my sample entries from that journal. These are not indicative of everything that was going on (I'm cutting out some family stuff below), but...a pretty good account of a recently graduated English major in Generation X...
8/26 10:28 AM Natalie [temp woman] gave me a six-day job at $14 an hour! Cool! I gotta learn Lotus tho. Not so cool. But at least I don't gotta get up every day & make phone calls searching for work.
A woman said she's been in word processing for seven years and refused to take a typewriter test. I agreed w/her in principle. But who cares, cuz I'm GONNA MAKE four hundred smackas.
This morning I saw a REALLY old guy reading the personals. It was depressing.
Another free weekend is coming up. I don't want to take my car anywhere far until I get Triple A. [Editor's Note: This was a used car I bought for $800 after graduation, and used it to move all my stuff from Philly up north.]
8/27 10:34 AM What a temp job! $14 an hour for the next 6 days - and it's a nice financial place. I'm up on the 19th floor right now. I'm listening to Howard Stern. This company is one of those that takes care of its employees. Free juices & water...whee! I only hafta answer phones. Barely.
1:28 I just chowed down on free Chinese. Top things to do at a temp job:
1. Make long distance calls
2. Make copies
3. Steal software (duplicate it)
I do not advocate these things, however.
8/28 8:38 Weird dream! Weird dream! Something about making G.F. [someone I had a pretty intense unrequited crush on in college] take a job on a bus or something. It all escapes me now.
8/30 9:07 AM I went past the new CBS David Letterman theater this morning (For those who don't know, he left NBC). Z-100 was broadcasting some contest w/Jason Priestly.
Last night I read that Elton John had a hit with "Your Song" at the age of 23. One year older than I, and I still haven't accomplished anything. I hang on to hope w/the Jason book [a kids' book I was working on at the time]. Without that project, I'd probably feel completely worthless.
8/31 They showed the Letterman scenes on the news. He came outside a few times.
Heard on the street this morning:
DAD - We're having sushi tonight.
LITTLE GIRL - Again?
A friend of mine recently noted that people only blog when they're upset about something. It's often true of writing in one's journal, too. Through the years, I mostly used my journals to help write out my feelings on things, more bad than good. As a result, most of my journals aren't of great literary quality. There are a few writers whose published diaries are so honest and heartfelt that they're fun to read, like Sylvia Plath's. But in reading hers, you can tell she actually tried to make them well-written. (At least, it seems that way.) I never had the patience - I am pretty sure my jottings won't ever be published.
Anyway, I thought it would be funny to take out my old "One-Year Diary" from when I was 8 or 10 (I got diaries for my birthdays those years) and transcribe a bit of it here, because those diaries are NOT angry - I was too young. They were mostly full of "We went to Wildwood today. The beach was butiful [crossed out] beatifull," which is always fun.
However, I couldn't immediately find them, though I know they're here somewhere. I did open a random journal that turned out to be from when I was 22.
Unsurprisingly, the literary quality was not high. But I did get pretty detailed. Detailed about the holding pattern my life was in. After graduating from college, I was broke, isolated, and desperate to find a job I really loved during an unforgiving economic recession. I didn't know what I would do, who I would love, who I would be, and whom to talk to about any of it.
The thing that saved me was typing skills I had honed since high school, because I knew I needed to get good at typing if I was going to write novels. Even though I couldn't land a publishing job right after college like I wanted, I was pleased that I was accepted for short-term temp jobs based on my typing speed, although they were not very fulfilling.
My only social activity was doing some college-related activities with other recent grads (like attending a Penn/Columbia football game), not because I had had a great time in school, but instead, because I figured maybe the social skills that had eluded me would allow me to enjoy all those college activities now that I was older and wiser. Besides, the only people I knew in the NYC area were two or three people who had graduated with me. There was no internet and not much of a way to make new friends in my new neighborhood.
I was, in other words, at a crossroads, and the journal makes that clear.
Just now, I typed up a few of my sample entries from that journal. These are not indicative of everything that was going on (I'm cutting out some family stuff below), but...a pretty good account of a recently graduated English major in Generation X...
8/26 10:28 AM Natalie [temp woman] gave me a six-day job at $14 an hour! Cool! I gotta learn Lotus tho. Not so cool. But at least I don't gotta get up every day & make phone calls searching for work.
A woman said she's been in word processing for seven years and refused to take a typewriter test. I agreed w/her in principle. But who cares, cuz I'm GONNA MAKE four hundred smackas.
This morning I saw a REALLY old guy reading the personals. It was depressing.
Another free weekend is coming up. I don't want to take my car anywhere far until I get Triple A. [Editor's Note: This was a used car I bought for $800 after graduation, and used it to move all my stuff from Philly up north.]
8/27 10:34 AM What a temp job! $14 an hour for the next 6 days - and it's a nice financial place. I'm up on the 19th floor right now. I'm listening to Howard Stern. This company is one of those that takes care of its employees. Free juices & water...whee! I only hafta answer phones. Barely.
1:28 I just chowed down on free Chinese. Top things to do at a temp job:
1. Make long distance calls
2. Make copies
3. Steal software (duplicate it)
I do not advocate these things, however.
8/28 8:38 Weird dream! Weird dream! Something about making G.F. [someone I had a pretty intense unrequited crush on in college] take a job on a bus or something. It all escapes me now.
8/30 9:07 AM I went past the new CBS David Letterman theater this morning (For those who don't know, he left NBC). Z-100 was broadcasting some contest w/Jason Priestly.
Last night I read that Elton John had a hit with "Your Song" at the age of 23. One year older than I, and I still haven't accomplished anything. I hang on to hope w/the Jason book [a kids' book I was working on at the time]. Without that project, I'd probably feel completely worthless.
8/31 They showed the Letterman scenes on the news. He came outside a few times.
Heard on the street this morning:
DAD - We're having sushi tonight.
LITTLE GIRL - Again?
8/03/2007
8/02/2007
Notes
Alex the Italian Carrie Pilby reader e-mailed me, and I told him I was getting married. He writes:
This is simply great and special!!! I...can't believe to that....oh Caren, l'm so happy for this great thing it is happening to you... .. It is what every man or woman would like to crown as the bigger dream in their life, specially if it is with someone who deserves this reciprocal and big heart and love! It is the best news that you ever could make and give me before!! I love it !! As i have ever loved the friendship who came up one day with you. You have been a so special person for me Caren, and it will be for ever of my life. Alex
He is sweet. I hope he finds someone wonderful too.
Alex the Italian Carrie Pilby reader e-mailed me, and I told him I was getting married. He writes:
This is simply great and special!!! I...can't believe to that....oh Caren, l'm so happy for this great thing it is happening to you... .. It is what every man or woman would like to crown as the bigger dream in their life, specially if it is with someone who deserves this reciprocal and big heart and love! It is the best news that you ever could make and give me before!! I love it !! As i have ever loved the friendship who came up one day with you. You have been a so special person for me Caren, and it will be for ever of my life. Alex
He is sweet. I hope he finds someone wonderful too.
8/01/2007
Well
I am behind on a few e-mails, so I apologize if you sent me a comment and I didn't respond. I got pretty busy.
The Scott Baio show is on again tonight. I may skip it in order to protect my relationship. Anyway, this may be more interesting, but have they gotten to home plate as many times as Scott?
My novel is now in my agent's hands and I think she will send it to editors in September, which is a good time for it. If one of them (or more) wants to buy it, I'm in luck! It's finally in good shape and I'm hopeful.
I am behind on a few e-mails, so I apologize if you sent me a comment and I didn't respond. I got pretty busy.
The Scott Baio show is on again tonight. I may skip it in order to protect my relationship. Anyway, this may be more interesting, but have they gotten to home plate as many times as Scott?
My novel is now in my agent's hands and I think she will send it to editors in September, which is a good time for it. If one of them (or more) wants to buy it, I'm in luck! It's finally in good shape and I'm hopeful.
7/31/2007
Damned if you do, damned if you don't
If you wear a skirt or dress to work, you are guaranteed to get sexually harassed on the way to work, or at least, treated differently. Okay, by "you" I mean, "me," because I always pass a few small-time construction operations during my short commute. Usually construction guys working on a street-level restaurant. But it's not really sexual harassment all the time; sometimes it's just a construction guy saying "Hi!" or "Good morning!", but I know the same one ignores me if I am not wearing a skirt.
It's really not a big deal. But anyway, the reason I mention this is that today, I passed two construction guys working on a corner bar, and one of them yelled at me, "Nice dress!"
But I was wearing pants.
I guess he wishes I was wearing a dress so he could be rude. Oh well. I ignored the remark and continued on my merry way.
You just can't win! (And by "you" I mean "me".)
If you wear a skirt or dress to work, you are guaranteed to get sexually harassed on the way to work, or at least, treated differently. Okay, by "you" I mean, "me," because I always pass a few small-time construction operations during my short commute. Usually construction guys working on a street-level restaurant. But it's not really sexual harassment all the time; sometimes it's just a construction guy saying "Hi!" or "Good morning!", but I know the same one ignores me if I am not wearing a skirt.
It's really not a big deal. But anyway, the reason I mention this is that today, I passed two construction guys working on a corner bar, and one of them yelled at me, "Nice dress!"
But I was wearing pants.
I guess he wishes I was wearing a dress so he could be rude. Oh well. I ignored the remark and continued on my merry way.
You just can't win! (And by "you" I mean "me".)
7/30/2007
Circling around New York
Even though we live here, it was very worthwhile to take the Circle Line's three-hour tour of NYC, which the Boy and I did this weekend. I saw parts of the city more scenic than I could have imagined, and learned many useful facts.
Did you know that railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt started out when he was 12 by taking his father's boat and ferrying passengers from NYC to Staten Island for money, which was the forerunner of the Staten Island ferry? I did not know that!
Our three-hour tour was conducted by award-winning tour guide Malachy Murray, who is also an author and actor, according to a Google search. He does look like a dark-haired Val Kilmer, doesn't 'e?
Here are some photos. (I'll spare the major touristy things...well, some of them.)
One of the last area companies to still use the local waters for shipping. But it closed down not long ago.
Even though we live here, it was very worthwhile to take the Circle Line's three-hour tour of NYC, which the Boy and I did this weekend. I saw parts of the city more scenic than I could have imagined, and learned many useful facts.
Did you know that railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt started out when he was 12 by taking his father's boat and ferrying passengers from NYC to Staten Island for money, which was the forerunner of the Staten Island ferry? I did not know that!
Our three-hour tour was conducted by award-winning tour guide Malachy Murray, who is also an author and actor, according to a Google search. He does look like a dark-haired Val Kilmer, doesn't 'e?
Here are some photos. (I'll spare the major touristy things...well, some of them.)
When the immigrants arrived in these waters, they didn't view this string of residential towers by Donald Trump.
Queensboro bridge looks a little rusty.
Riverside church, largest church in the world.
Columbia rowing team painted that. Doesn't even look like it's in NYC, does it?
A former smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island (formerly Welfare Island). If you look closely, the architecture is pretty intricate. But it's going to be torn down soon. Waaa! (Clicking on any of these photos makes them bigger, by the way.)
One of the last area companies to still use the local waters for shipping. But it closed down not long ago.
Can I ass you a question? (These colorful specimens were sitting in front of us.)
Okay, I have to put in one touristy thing, but a very important one. Beautiful, isn't she?? To quote Henry Roth in the great immigration novel Call It Sleep, "I hear you can go up inside her for a quarter." Well, not anymore, but anyway.
So in short, if you are a tourist or a native, I suggest you take the tour. Good suggestion by the Boy!
7/27/2007
Humbling experience
Sometimes you get so busy that you forget to step back and realize how lucky you are, and how each person with whom you deal with in your job (or on a daily basis in general) may really depend on you.
I get a lot of calls from public relations people pitching things to the publication I work for (which shall remain nameless).
Sometimes I am busy and try to handle a call quickly if it's something that has nothing to do with our readership and is out of our jurisdiction.
But anyway, a few days ago a man called and I sensed something was different.
He was talking very slowly. He started off, "Hiii...my name iiiis...Herbert..."
He took a breath and added, "aaaaand...I've written a book."
"What is your book about?" I asked.
"It's about living with a head injury," he said.
Anyway, he doesn't live in our area, so it's not something we would cover. However, we did have the chance to help him, and to help people who might benefit from reading the book. I didn't want him to waste one of his review copies on us, but I said he should send us a press release. After all, we could probably put a short listing in our health section about how to find the book.
When I got the release, it turned out he wrote the book with his mother, who is from one of the towns we cover. So it actually is something we would write about!
The guy was in an accident when he was 19. I wonder how that changed him, what kind of guy he was before, and what his life is like now. I wonder if he looks back at his boyhood when he could dance and play without a care in the world.
Anyway, it was a refreshing reminder of one of the things I do in my job, the people out there who have so many challenges to overcome, and how lucky I am.
Sometimes you get so busy that you forget to step back and realize how lucky you are, and how each person with whom you deal with in your job (or on a daily basis in general) may really depend on you.
I get a lot of calls from public relations people pitching things to the publication I work for (which shall remain nameless).
Sometimes I am busy and try to handle a call quickly if it's something that has nothing to do with our readership and is out of our jurisdiction.
But anyway, a few days ago a man called and I sensed something was different.
He was talking very slowly. He started off, "Hiii...my name iiiis...Herbert..."
He took a breath and added, "aaaaand...I've written a book."
"What is your book about?" I asked.
"It's about living with a head injury," he said.
Anyway, he doesn't live in our area, so it's not something we would cover. However, we did have the chance to help him, and to help people who might benefit from reading the book. I didn't want him to waste one of his review copies on us, but I said he should send us a press release. After all, we could probably put a short listing in our health section about how to find the book.
When I got the release, it turned out he wrote the book with his mother, who is from one of the towns we cover. So it actually is something we would write about!
The guy was in an accident when he was 19. I wonder how that changed him, what kind of guy he was before, and what his life is like now. I wonder if he looks back at his boyhood when he could dance and play without a care in the world.
Anyway, it was a refreshing reminder of one of the things I do in my job, the people out there who have so many challenges to overcome, and how lucky I am.
