Secret To A Good Nap

I have recently discovered the secret to a good nap, go to a Broadway show. It started last week with 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda. According to my friend, I actually snored. I was willing to give the show some concessions as it was the first night of previews, but I doubt that a matinee would have kept me awake. I have to say that Ms. Fonda was very nice after the show even asking those waiting at the stage door who were interested to follow her a couple of doors down to join her group for dinner. No doubt she wanted more fan feedback on her performance. We declined reluctantly. A few days later we went to see Mary Louise Parker in Hedda Gabler. This time I don't believe I saw more than 10 minutes of this performance. My friend assured me that I had missed nothing. Unfortunately, Ms. Parker was not as accommodating and even had the stage door manager stop some poor guy from taking her picture from several yards away. Last night we were thrilled to see Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King. I stayed awake the entire first act and actually laughed several times. The unfortunate thing about it was that they were isolated moments that would probably have been just as funny in a stand up routine that wasn't part of a 2 1/2 hour play. I slept through most of the second act despite the fact that I had slept 10 hours the night before. There is good news however. Ms. Sarandon is was one of, if not the, nicest celebrity I have met. She was accompanied by her husband the equally fabulous Tim Robbins who was also very nice. Mr. Rush, although slow at exiting the theater, was worth the wait as he too was very personable. If you are in the New York City area and in need of an expensive nap, I highly recommend Exit the King.

Karma 10/03 - 2/18/09

It seems like yesterday that I drove to Georgetown, Texas to meet my little companion. She was a rescued cairn terrier. It was love at first sight. I took her to a large fenced area where potential adopters get to interact with pets. I carried her from her pen. Her coat was matted with dirt and embedded with more sticker burrs than I could count. The minute I put her down I fell in love. I stood in the middle of the area and she took off for the far corner at break neck speed. Just as it looked like she was going to run into the fence, she turned sharply headed back to me. I bent down to pick her up as she raced toward me. Turning just as she did when she neared the fence, she veered around me and headed for another corner. This routine continued for about 15 minutes. Eventually, she let me pick her up again. I reluctantly returned her to her pen as I went into the office to fill out the required paperwork and begin the long 3 day wait to see if I would be approved. I called on the appointed day and within minutes I was on my way. It was a perfect match from the start. Although she would have many nicknames over the next few years, officially her name was Karma Bene Jefferies. Karma because it fit us. Bene because she stood with her front feet in first position and Bene was a ballet mistress my daughters had worked with. She was super low maintenance (with the exception of an occasional accident. She helped me recover from back surgery as we took long walks together. All my friends and family, even my mother a confirmed anti-house pets person, fell in love with her.

Two years after Karma entered my life, I decided to move to New York. In early August we were preparing to leave for the airport when my daughter's neighbor's dog attacked her. The wounds required a few stitches but were not life threatening. However, she was not fit for travel and with a heavy heart I had to leave her behind. I knew that she was in good hands with Elyse, but I also knew I would be lonely without her. Two months after the move, Elsye sent her to me. What a fun day we had the day she arrived. Our first stop was the dog park at Union Square. I soon learned just how intimidated she was by other dogs. After leaving the park we stopped at a street vendor for lunch. Even a dog has to try a New York City hot dog from a street vendor. On to the apartment, a 5th floor walkup. It didn't take long for her to learn to race up and down the stairs. When I would ring in a visitor, Karma would run down the stairs to greet them. She was a favorite of the other dog owners in the dog park across the street, because she would fly into the nearest lap when the other dogs were playing chase. Before Erin moved to New York, Karma would stay with Mary Beth and her wonderful family. Karma loved them and Mary Beth had two male standard poodles. She even had them believing that she couldn't climb stairs and Marybeth's father would carry Karma upstairs to the bedroom each night.

Then came Alivia. She adored Karma and I believe the feeling was mutual. She couldn't leave Karma alone. Sometimes she would climb into Karma's bed and lay with her. During mealtimes I'm not sure which one of them ate more of Alivia's meals. Even when Alivia got a little rough, Karma never bit or snipped at her. Watching the two of them play gave us hours of laughter. I looked forward to watching their relationship grow and wondered how Karma would deal with it when Alivia and Erin eventually moved.

Yesterday my heart was broken. My beloved pet was taken in an accident that I will never really understand. The wound in my heart is still fresh and I know that the pain will ease with time. But as I am writing this I cannot see myself ever having another animal in my life. There could never be another match so perfect. I love you Karma, Carmel, Beard and I miss you terribly.

What An Idiot

Last night I went to a poetry reading and book signing by Nikki Giovanni in the city at Barnes and Noble. It was great. Unfortunately I left my cell phone. I discovered this when Erin sent Brandon a text telling him that someone had called Elyse from my phone saying that they had found it at the library. Apparently he might not have had a great command of the English language since a bookstore and a library are not the same thing. He told Elyse that if I would call the phone, he would get it back to me. Elyse tried to explain to him that the reasonable thing to do was to leave it at the information desk at Barnes and Noble, but he didn't understand. So what he wanted me to do was call my phone which had the ringer turned off and about 1 hour of charge left. Even though we were already on the train home, I turned around and went back to the store. Sure enough no phone left at the information desk. I tried calling the phone for 20 minutes using Brandon's phone. No answer. When I called this morning and it went straight to voice mail I knew that it was futile to believe I would get it back. I'm sure he didn't write down any of the numbers in my history. Tonight I gave B & N one last call before deciding to go buy a new phone. One of my friends tried to convince me that he was trying to be helpful. I say, "What an IDIOT!"

Nite Nite

I really want to write about the snow we had yesterday, but I won't.

My granddaughter although going through the terrible twos a little early does have her adorable moments, like when she is ready for bed. She knows when she is tired, whether it is nap time or bedtime. If I am home she starts by coming to me for a kiss. Then she waves goodbye, throws me a kiss and runs to her room. She hops onto the rocking chair and waits for her mother to come. I suspect it won't be long before she learns to turn on the music and climb into bed by herself. Regardless of any tantrums she may have thrown earlier, there is not a sweeter child on earth than my granddaughter when she is ready to sleep.

Now That's A New One

Thursday night Brandon and I went to see Morning Becomes Electra. The show was very good despite the fact that it is 41/2 hours long and has two 15 minute intermissions which means 5 hours at the theater. The curtain rises at 7:00 and if you are lucky it falls at midnight. We had a late curtain, but they managed to make up the time. Despite the length, I would highly recommend the show. I would not recommend going on a work night like we did. Furthermore I would not recommend waiting at the stage door (which is really the main entrance) as we did. Why? First Jena Malone was the only member of the cast that stopped to sign programs (it's off-Broadway so no Playbill). Second when Brandon asked to take a picture, her reply was something like, "Um, no, my eyes don't look right tonight." Now that's a new one. Celebs give a lot of weird reasons for not wanting to pose for a picture and some are really strange. I wonder why they don't try, "Not tonight please. I'm sorry. Maybe some other time. But thank you for coming and spending $120.00 to see me perform.

I Love Snow?

I swear this will be the last time that I write about snow. I thought I had experienced every kind of snow. WRONG! Last night and early this morning we had a few inches of beautiful white powder. I loved it. Sometime around mid-morning the snow turned to rain. By the time school was out, every surface was covered with several inches of slush. There was not a single corner that could be crossed without stepping ankle deep in slush. Even in waterproof snow boots you could feel the wet mess. High water pants would have been a welcomed addition to my wardrobe. I didn't think I'd every meet a snow I didn't like. Today I did.

Chinese New Year

I know people get tired of hearing me say, "I love New York," but I do. There are so many wonderful cultural events to celebrate. Today we celebrated Chinese New Year. I made Vietnamese spring rolls for my class which has Vietnamese students. One of them, Preston was the one that informed me that several Asian countries celebrate Chinese New Year. Most of my students had never seen spring rolls before, but they bravely tried them. Most of them even opted for the hoisin sauce. Preston tried the roll and pronounced it better than his mom's. I doubt it. It was sweet though. At the end of the day the parents picked up their kids. As I stood visiting with another teacher, I saw Preston and his mom heading back toward me. It made me a little nervous as his mother does not speak English very well, so she seldom talks to me. I need not have worried though. This is how the conversation went.

Mrs. N: Preston say you make spring roll
Me: I tried
Mrs. N: Preston say he like better than mine.
Me: He is just being nice.
Mrs. N.: How you make?
I explained what I did.
Mrs. N: You fry?
Me: No
Mrs. N: (laughing) Most people think you fry. No, no, no. You make sauce?
Me: I bought hoisin sauce and added some chopped peanuts.
Mrs. N: awww, chopped peanuts. I try and you put garlic in peanut oil and add to sauce.

With that she walked away. As she was leaving, she leaned over and told her son. "Your teacher nice."

Who would have thought that all it took was a little chopped peanuts to make you a good teacher. I love New York.