my tragic right hip

Now, I’m calling this #50.5 because I didn’t actually read the book but rather listened to it on CD. Sue Limb’s cute YA novel about Jess, a totally overly dramatic, dark-haired pixie of a girl with self-described ‘podge,’ is forced to go on a vacation with her librarian of a mother just as her relationship with her boyfriend Fred heats up, could be described as “ultimate” girlie fiction. It’s got a cute, Gilmore Girls-like tone, tells the story of British Jess with panache and humour, and actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times. The story, while predictable, was still somewhat fresh, and I liked listening to it.

It’s taken a bit of time to get used to the idea of audio books, but now that I’ve started, I’m totally addicted. I listened to half of The Husband by Dean Koontz (I KNOW!) and it was awesome and now I’m on to John Grisham’s The Last Juror. It’s funny how fiction I would never, ever in my life admit to reading, I’m more than happy to pop into the CD player in the car. It’s the auditory equivalent of watching Law & Order or some other cop drama, or what that stands for in my life, something passable to make the time fly by as I’m getting from one place to the other (usually from being awake to being asleep).

Anyway. Do audio books even count toward my final reading goals? I don’t know and don’t much care, for now, I’m always going to count them as point fives.

Or so I thought on our way home yesterday:

1. That I probably shouldn’t have had that one last glass of wine at the awesomely cool Tribeca Grand hotel bar because it made me very cranky.

2. Why do many people no longer use the passing lane as, well, a passing lane and insist upon driving in it therefore slowing traffic down to a halt?

3. New York City is so large that it’s even hard to imagine when you’ve driven pretty much from one end to the other. And you can walk for hours and still be in a part that’s considered downtown. And there’s so much to see and to do that even though you’ve walked through Soho, the East Village, Greenwich Village, the Upper East Side, Alphabet City, a small part of Brooklyn, and the Financial District, you’ve barely scratched the surface.

4. Silence is good. As well as the “mix tapes” from a friend in Ireland. How fun is music by people you’ve never heard of?

5. You should really be driving a hybrid car but that doesn’t stop you from giving obnoxious Hummers the finger—even if your mother did teach you to be polite.

6. Running around Brooklyn in high heels, playing “find the person” and sliding down a slide really seemed like a good idea at the time. Honestly, it did.

7. The border people are much nicer on the Canadian side.

8. Travelling truly messes up your sense of days. We got home on Sunday night and watched our usual shows but we both had to keep reminding ourselves that it was Entourage night and not Brotherhood night.

9. I wish I had a camera for all of the cool things I saw on the side of the road.

10. There is a limit to the amount of junk food one can eat.

The wedding was phenomenal. The weather—still hot—the city—still looming—Brooklyn, absolutely smashing, and I cannot believe I am still awake.

The giant blister on my foot atests to what a great f*cking day it’s been.

There is no relief from the unrelenting heat in NYC. We drip the moment we step outside and smog-filled humidity has a hard time pumping oxygen into my scarred lungs.

Isn’t amazing how so many people live in such a small place? We walked through the Lower East Side tenement museum today. The apartment looked so much like our own apartment in TO – the same walls, the same windows between the doors.

Then we took a cab to the MOMA because my work badge got us free admission. There’s a fascinating DaDa exhibit going on at the moment. Then we walked around 5th Ave (we went in some stores – but only for the air conditioning.

We meet our friends for dinner at the Oyster bar in Grand Central station, something I had never done before – truly amazing even my $30 fish was a wee, wee bit dry, it was still awesome food and service.

But I think I need to come to NYC in the fall with some female friends and shop because I am missing all the shoes – my one birthday treat to myself (well that and Jackson).

And we missed the free exhibit at the NYPL, but I am hoping we can squeeze it in tomorrow before the wedding.

Walked past the Empire State and the flat iron buildings. And saw at least three Mies van der Roew (sp) chairs that I have been coveting for years in the MOMA. Aren’t Clooney et al making an 0cean’s 12?

There is no relief from the unrelenting heat in NYC. We drip the moment we step outside and smog-filled humidity has a hard time pumping oxygen into my scarred lungs.

Isn’t amazing how so many people live in such a small place? We walked through the Lower East Side Tenement Museum today. The apartment looked so much like our own apartment in TO – the same walls, the same windows between the doors.

Then we took a cab to the MOMA because my work badge got us free admission. There’s a fascinating DaDa exhibit going on at the moment. Then we walked around 5th Ave (we went in some stores – but only for the air conditioning.

We meet our friends for dinner at the Oyster bar in Grand Central station, something I had never done before – truly amazing even my $30 fish was a wee, wee bit dry, it was still awesome food and service.

But I think I need to come to NYC in the fall with some female friends and shop because I am missing all the shoes – my one birthday treat to myself (well that and Jackson).

And we missed the free exhibit at the NYPL, but I am hoping we can squeeze it in tomorrow before the wedding.

Walked past the Empire State and the flat iron buildings. And saw at least three Mies van der Roew (sp) chairs that I have been coveting for years in the MOMA. Aren’t Clooney et al making an 0cean’s 12?

Perhaps they can swap some furniture as their next heist and donate it to the ragdoll needs to renovate her house and will make mad deals with any one willing to capitolize on her mad skills.

HA!

Kick it! We saw “a” Paul’s Boutique today as well.

Okay off to bed. Must rest my 30 – 40 blocks walking legs.

We ate breakfast in Scranton. Can you believe it? I was this-close to my dream of eventually being on “The Office.”

The giant map of NYC sucked us in and we got wicked lost. The best part? It didn’t end up a full-on fight.

Our hotel is steps away from Ground Zero. We walked by and I can help but think of it as grave yard to some extent.

Then we spent 4 hours walking around. We had dinner at the mac & cheese place I read about on Tara’s site (holler! Taraariano.com).

This city is amazing. It’s sweltering. You sweat just by stepping one beat down the road.

I love that we drove though. I thought a lot about Kerouac and the long trips they made. Damn I love a good road trip. Last night we stayed in rub-down motel off hiway 81 – there was a bug in the bed.

Heh.

It’s such a strange thought to think of my mother in labour, pressing me out into the world, as if she or I had any choice in the matter. Birthdays generally make me more sad than jubilant, for the most part because they make me think of losing my mother, and now as this year I pass the her fatal age (last year I turned the age she was when she had the accident), it’s kind of hard to even think about getting older.

I think there’s some psychological breakdown when you lose a parent at a youngish age (I was 14). They become suspended in time for you, of course, but you also have a hard time imagining yourself getting past that age. You simply assume your life is going to end somewhere around that time too. It’s not logical and maybe it’s a product of a sort of grief. Who knows.

But I’ve had a lovely birthday so far (starting yesterday): my work colleagues got me a gorgeous cake and a cute little present, I got a nice card from my father and stepmother, I’m having brunch with my friend Tina and tonight we’re going to NYC.

And now the year starts again—a kind of new year revolution for me: what do I want to accomplish this year? A first draft of one of my novels, finish the house, be an extra in a movie, read lots, write more, and most of all, be healthy.

Bernice Eisenstein’s book is important, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s got that charming, graphic novel style that reads more like a series of memories than a pure narrative. Her illustrations are charming and I liked learning more about life in Toronto for her Jewish immigrant parents. Especially reading about Kensington Market thirty or forty years ago.

But, and isn’t there always a but, I wasn’t blown away by it as I probably should have been, and I might put that down to the fact that I’m not entirely convinced I like graphic novels.

But perhaps I’m just reading the wrong ones?

And, well, I might as well give up my Summer Reading challenge—it’s totally gone to pot. And Page A Day? Well, I’m doing a bit better—I’m at 82 (double spaced) and am hoping to break a hundred by mid-August. Now that’s not too bad!

It’s now moments from birthday and I have now discovered how to use my new Blackberry to blog. I just finished watching Underwold: Evolution, and am blissfully on the couch in the company of John Cusack & Diane Lane.

Only hours to NYC.

Oh, and the grossest health-related crap yet: I have ecoli in my pee.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Sigh.

I’d really like to buy a pair of Del Forte Denim jeans, especially after reading this interview where owner/designer Tierra Del Forte explains that it takes two-thirds of a pound of pesticides to make one pair of jeans. But I doubt they’d have sizes that would fit my rather ample behind…