The Lavelle Clan December 29, 2007
Posted by Katie Oh in : Such As , add a comment“i read your blog,” jen said to me last night. “are you going to mention the lavelle christmas party?”
“i already did,” i replied, “i described the lavelles as catholic, liberal, and sassy. except for you. i said we thought you were only economically conservative, so we forgave you for it.”
“i’m socially conservative too,” jen said, “but thank you for separating me from the liberal crowd.”
the lavelles are quite the experience. i believe everyone should meet them. my aunt linda is oftentimes confused with my mother (although she is taller and dons glasses most of the time). her daughter, jen, is the aforementioned conservative. she and her mother sass me about my lack of capital letters in my blog. my uncle patrick and aunt cheryl are in love with classic rock — not like pink floyd, more the beatles and rolling stone set — especially bruce springsteen. they have two daughters and a son. lisa, the oldest, and her husband bobby run marathons in their spare time. nicky, the next oldest, and her husband brian love books, and have the cutest baby in the world. they gave me a volume of lawrence ferlinghetti poetry as a graduation gift– “a coney island of the mind” — a perfect gift. the youngest, sean, has apparently given the same grab bag gift two years in a row. it makes me laugh. my other uncle, jim, is consistently m.i.a. from family shenanigans — he always lives too far away to make it.
the lavelles are bookworms and movie nuts. the most popular grab bag gift, prior to the banning of gift cards, was the ever-present $25 to barnes and noble. this year, scene it showed up [“is that the pittsburgh version?” “there is no pittsburgh version.” “if there were, it would be called ‘scene-ed it ‘n’ ‘at’.”] and a booklight with tea. it was a pretty glorious grab bag this year. i ended up with an bag that included bailey’s, an irish mug, and a tin of irish coffee [sean’s gift, allegedly the same one given last year.] you can never go wrong with irish things and lavelles. especially if they are irish and involve liquor somehow.
after the grab bag came “apples to apples,” which, for those of you who have not played, involves matching nouns to adjectives, in a humorous way. combinations: “talented – regis philbin” “crazed – rush limbaugh” [jen: “i wish i had ‘voting democratic’ in this round”] “intelligent – the kkk” [not really, but bobby thought it should have been, haha.]
there is something so glorious about this clan. everyone should meet them.
The Family We Make December 27, 2007
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gratuitous pictures of kittens are for winners, obviously. hey scout. she has taken to trying to eat my fingers.
the holiday season is so much about family. it’s interesting, if not a bit depressing for me this year. my family has shifted and is not what it used to be. it’s been stressful.
however, i have come to appreciate the family i’ve had — or, rather, the family that has been made for me. polly and fuddy in particular — they are the most interesting family relationship i have, due to our not being related by blood.. or even, really, related at all.
polly and fuddy are my half-brothers’ grandparents, and, really, i’ve come to just call them my grandparents. their daughter, nancy, is/was a bit crazy. my father married nancy when they were young and, uh, dumb, and he grew close to her parents. they divorced, and polly and fuddy seemed to be closer to my father than their own daughter. as they were my brother mikie’s grandparents, we kept on visiting them. now, it’s even more absurd — my father is slowly seeming to edge out of the picture, but my mother and i are still very close, in location and relationship, to polly and fuddy. we have no genes in common, but i am closer to them than a good portion of my blood relatives.
speaking of the blood relatives, my mother’s side of my family [actually, my only family -- my father never kept close to his family] is having their get-together tomorrow. i am very excited. it involves grab-bag gift exchanging and chasing after lots of small children. it will be glorious, i am sure. the lavelles are interesting people — irish, liberal, and sassy. well, liberal except for my cousin jen, who, from what i can gather, is only economically conservative. we’ll forgive her for that.
my father is coming to take me coat-shopping on saturday. i am wary. i saw a cute rocawear coat at gabriel brothers today [for those of you out-of-towners, think a low-budget tj maxx. if you don’t have a tj maxx... think a super-ghetto target, minus the cleanliness, and with cheaper and less match-y things.] but, alas, they only had one, in a small. i was seriously bummed. i hope they have the same coat wherever he takes me shopping. i love rocawear. anything to help jay-z build his empire. but, yeah, my dad. it’ll be awkward, i’m sure. eugh.
all in all, despite the general bummed-outedness of this holiday thusfar, i am thankful for the family i do have — the one i was born into, and the one i have made.
Meet Scout December 23, 2007
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i am such a bad blog-updater. i apologize. having said that, please meet scout. she is my new kitten. she is painfully adorable. her claws are still intact, though, which makes her a little painful to cuddle with. also, i promise that i am not choking her in that picture. she was squirming. also, she is all-white and, allegedly, part siamese. she’s very smart. i am a fan of her.
i had my last few days in michigan last week. i managed to see just about everyone i really cared about (or cared to see, for that matter.) it was interesting. by the end, i just wanted to get the hell out of there. i read a quote the other day that feels oh so right in this circumstance: “Every true New Yorker feels like people who live anywhere else are in some way kidding.” – John Updike. while i would not go as far as to dub myself a “true” new yorker, i do echo the sentiment. i feel like i am kidding any time i’ve lived anywhere else. new york is just so right.
i am excited for christmas. i got my kitties little catnip-filled mice. i got my momma a linus blanket and a charlie brown christmas tree. what did you guys get your families?
Leaving Brooklyn December 14, 2007
Posted by Katie Oh in : Such As , add a commenttomorrow morning, i am catching a cab at 5:15 am and in two hours, i will have left brooklyn for the start of a month-long stint away. i do not know how i feel about this.
last night was open mic night at tillie’s. it was also my last class with ryan chang, a fellow writing major who decided that pratt was not quite right for him. it’s a little heartbreaking, to have those tiny everyday interactions with someone for over three months and then realize that it may never happen again. he played guitar and sang at the open mic. he’s extremely talented. i will miss him.
word is that both lyndel and gillian will be leaving at the end of the year. i am closer with them, and it will hurt more, i am sure, but i have until may to figure out how to say goodbye. i saw the weakerthans with gillian and i eat dinner with lyndel four days a week. i quite enjoy both of them. it will be depressing, i am sure.
oh, to be away from brooklyn for a month. it will be interesting, i am sure.
Why I Love Pratt December 7, 2007
Posted by Katie Oh in : Such As , add a commenti do bitch about this school a lot. it’s run in a very unorganized manner. the financial aid seems to suck. no one seems to know what the hell anyone else is doing. i have to ride the damn g train. [har har har.]
but i really do love it. i choose to believe that i would not meet anyone like the people i’ve met here anywhere else. amber, a spunky feminist from tennessee who is always fun to talk to. emily, who i can really only describe as very business-womanly, she almost went pre-med in virginia. robert, who appreciates literary lolcats, a breezy guy from oregon. stephanie, from “the bad part” of maryland, who could beat my ass both physically and in a formal debate. sarah, from scranton, pa, who writes limericks about our science class. gillian, a longislander, who loves the weakerthans and has the cutest purses. lyndel, a floridian, who spent two weeks in switzerland making out with a british boy, met a guy who fly her out for a date in their private jet. jenny, from colorado, who is perhaps the smartest person my age i’ve ever met. these people are all amazing. they are the people who i have made my stand-in family here.
and, oh, the work i’ve done here. i’ve written mostly sad pieces since i’ve been here, and i can honestly say that between the new adjustment and the stuff i’ve had to deal with from my family, this will have been the hardest semester i’ll probably ever take. but i love the things i’ve written. i’m working on making chapbooks, my triad of short stories that was my final project for studio. i should have them with me when i come to mi. because i am poor, i am going to sell them for $3.
and brooklyn is, well, brooklyn. i will always prefer manhattan [something about being in that rush all the time, so exhilarating!] but brooklyn isn’t too shabby. there are more characters here. myrtle ave and bergen bagels. so amazing.
in short, i love it here. it is perfect for me. you should all come visit so you can experience it, too.