The Tribe March 29, 2009
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Ahh, yes, that’s the name we chose for ourselves and look! So fitting.
I don’t even really know where to start: it’s been a heck of a time, frankly. The beginning, probably a good place.
Mark came in, ear infection and head cold, and met me outside Union Square. We happened to be there the same time as Cat-Hat-Man, which was epic to say the least. He looked frazzled, that special way people do when they get sick the first day of vacation. We ate mac and cheese and meandered back to Brooklyn.
And then, the Jew Party! Purim, or something like that, and there was an RV filled with Hasids driving around my block, blaring rock music with Yiddish lyrics. You can’t make this stuff up. We crept out onto the stoop and stood, pretending to smoke our cigarettes, but sneaking peeks into the buildings when the doors would open up and the people would spill out. Celebration!
Mark and I got bagels, which he found to be amazingly delicious, and then he had to get back to Times Square to meet his travelling partner.
And then Travis showed up that evening, and there was MoMa, vegan soul food, Margaritavillefest ’09.
And, as always, back to Pittsburgh; a six-hour drive through winding hills and damn I just wanted to be home.
I kicked my feet up, relaxedddd and essentially did nothing for a week. I did catch glimpses of the Sonic and Five Guys being constructed in Greensburg; so exciting! Good food, so close now!
And then, back to Brooklyn and a ludicrously busy week: confirmations, news searches, complicated trips by train and then! The Vagina Monologues. Not quite as exciting as last year, but we pulled it off, raised $115 for charity, which I’m considering an accomplishment.
And now: veging time. My stress level back to normal [somewhere between a 4 or 5 on a daily basis, on a scale from one to ten] and I’m done.
This took far too long to get posted, and for that, I apologize. I am not good with promptness.
Babies? Hardly. March 9, 2009
Posted by Katie Oh in : Such As , 1 comment so farHere’s a smattering of quotes that illustrate why I sometimes want to curl up into a ball at work.
Jaiden: [pokes my belly] Miss Katie, your belly is soft. And big!
Kyla: [takes my hand, examines it closely] I like your nail color! But they are all messed up.
and, today:
Yvette: [touches her finger to my chin] Miss Katie, you have lots of bumps on your chin. [I sigh.] They’re all over your face, too!
Red Fish, Blue Fish March 2, 2009
Posted by Katie Oh in : Such As , 2commentsThe babies [kindergarteners; try spending any time with them and not want to call them your babies] have been so adorable recently. Caleb tapped me on the shoulder during quiet time and declared that “Taerica says she’s a hundred years old!”
“No she’s not,” Paul said. “People can’t be a hundred! Sea turtles can, though. Sea turtles can be a hundred.”
“People can be a hundred,” I said. “Not a lot of them, but some.”
“But then they’re about to die,” Paul said. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Today is Dr. Suess’ birthday and also marks the first time in five years that the NYC school system declared a snow day. This is disappointing: the kindergarteners were going to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday today, and I was going to collect all the books of his I could find from the America Reads office. I will, of course, take them on Thursday, but it’s still a bit of a disappointment to not get to spend the week with the books and the kids.
I love Dr. Seuss. The Lorax is probably one of the best children’s books that contains a moral. My senior year, Dave Majewski, the only teacher I’d had every single semester of my high school career, sat down the kids about to graduate and read us “All the Places You’ll Go,” his own way of telling us all goodbye. I teared up quite a bit, because I was going places, farther away than the rest of my classmates. Oh, the places I went.
And speaking of places, my new favorite place is in my apartment, with pizza and friends. We’ve all been having a hard time recently: our personalities seem to be leeching off of that of some of our friends, and we all feel discombobulated. This is what college is all about, though: records on the player, flipping through fashion magazines, spending too much on cute underwear. Nights spent feeling like things will never be back to normal, whatever normal is.
And it’s not just here: my friends back home have been dealt blows, disease, divorce. This is where the distance is difficult; I want to offer hugs and laying in bed together, eating ice cream and watching 90′s sitcoms. I do have some comrades planning to visit: Mark is going to come for a day, stay on my couch, go to the diner, meet my here-family. Travis is coming for a few days, and he’s going to take me back to Pittsburgh. There will be readings and exploration: a slice of my life.
I am glad I do not have class today. Given, I am still keeping somewhat busy, with some reading and assignments I need to do, and a trip to Park Slope with April. But there’s something nice about not having to peel yourself away from your comforter until noon. Sleep in.
Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss.