UPDATE!

Yes, I know, these posts are becoming more and more infrequent again and I'm not even undergoing another PeopleSoft conversion... but I am undergoing an apartment changing conversion so please bear with me, I promise better and more interesting posts to come! So just to update, the plan to move to 75th Street (just a block away from my current pad) is underway - the only piece left is to actually sign the lease and fork over the rest of the moolah owed and that should be taking place sometime in the next few days. But all other arrangements have begun: boxes are being taken home each night on the subway and my things are being packed, bit by bit. That's right: Howl's Moving Castle is being dissassembled and portals are being changed. The movers are coming on June 8th to do an estimate/walk through and bring me more boxes should I need them and then my actual move date is the 15th and the air conditioners will follow me on the 16th. I feel a bit out of sorts though - a Magpie told me that's because I'm so into having my "space" and nesting and its all in chaos and ending and beginning all at once and when I get settled in the new place, I'll feel better. I hope she's right - it's half-exciting but half scary too because its all going to be brand new again and I've just been remembering how happy I was when I first moved into this place, how perfect I thought it was and then how many issues I've had there and how disappointing it was - but that's life, isn't it? I made the best of it and I think I've learned how to not let everything get to me as much, so maybe that was why I needed to be in that apartment. I also learned how to stand up for myself because I had such an ongoing battle with the Crazy Man Upstairs and its the first time I've ever had to go head to head with someone like that. I really loved that building, I like the super, the other people who live there - I just happened to be cursed with That Man over my head day and night. But if you believe that things like this are for a reason - which I do - then I need to understand what the lesson was and take it with me to the new place and know that I can handle whatever may come up there. I guess that's my biggest fear - is not being able to handle what MAY happen - not what is going to happen or what has happened - but that unknowable factor. But the time has come to take another leap, so I'm off and hopefully, I'll be more peaceful here than I was in the current situation.

So this weekend, I: had shrimp curry with The Cohens and Magpie for Mrs. Cohen's birthday, shopped a bit, packed a bit, rested a bit, had Argentinian food with the Stanley's, got lost on the #3 train in trying to get to Zeus's apartment (where he oh so sweetly had an Absolute egg bagel waiting for me - that's why we like him) and shopped some more and had dinner at Flor de Mayo and then Monday was spent trying to shake a terrible migraine that lasted all day. Now, I'm back to normal and feeling more like fighting the good fight.

On tap for this week: more Indian food and X Men 3 for the Grand Magpie Festival! More packing! More throwing out of unneccesary clutter and putting a little Feng Shui into my life! Wish me luck!

AND THE METS WIN!! THE METS WIN!! YANKEES LOSE!

It’s Subway Series time, folks, and this game was worth the 20 bucks I paid, plus the 6.75 for a Brooklyn Lager and 4.50 for a hot dog...you have to have a hot dog at a baseball game, it’s criminal not to...anyway...the game was EXCELLENT, very exciting and so much fun. As the guy behind us kept saying, "this ain’t your grandmother’s Mets". First inning, Yankees are up 4-0, but then Mets are at bat and Carlos Beltran hits a 3 run home run - awesome. It was tied for most of the game 6-6 and then in the top of the ninth, ENTER SANDMAN (which I guess is some sort of controversy, because Yankee closer Mariano Rivera has the same entry song - get over it, people). This was fantastic - they play that Metallica song while closer Billy Wagner runs out from the bullpen and starts his warmup and knocks the big Yanks down one by one - Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, and some other dude - not a hit! Then, bottom of the ninth, Paul Lo Duca gets on base and then its two outs and they intentionally walk Carlos Delgado and it’s David Wright at bat (my boyfriend, for all who don’t know this - he’s a cutie!) and he hits it over Johnny (Billy Ray Cyrus) Damon and the game is over, METS WIN 7-6!! And the crowd goes crazy, and the fireworks go off and now it’s the long trek through the crowds to the subway amid the cheers of "Yankees Suck"...and an hour later, I’m home watching the game rerun on TV and my voice is hoarse from screaming WOO HOO!

And I have one thing to say about Yankee fans: stay loyal. You are not a true fan if you only support your team when they win, when they play well. In the past two years, when I’ve gone to games and when the Yankees have lost, I hear so many Yankee fans say on the way out, "oh they suck, oh they are shit, Jeter sucks" etc...what kind of fan are you to only like your team when they are winning? Now, this is the difference between Yankee fans and the rest of the team’s fans - and not just the Met fans. The Yankees have won so much and been so stellar and most fans, most teams, that great year or making the playoffs, let alone making the World Series is few and far between. You appreciate it when it happens, you love the team when they are doing well, but if they are not so hot, you love them anyway and say "maybe next time". So stop putting your team down and be grateful for all the great games and years they have given you!

That being said, I’m spending the rest of the weekend watching the remaining two games in support of My Mets while packing for possible new apartment! I am loathe to say MY NEW APARTMENT, simply because I haven’t signed a lease yet, I’ve only given the binder fee so that Otto the Broker doesn’t show it to anyone else while I gather all the necessary documents - references, credit checks, salary and employment verification, etc. So I’m happy that I’m going to be starting over in a new place and away from the crazy psychic vampirism of the Crazy Man Upstairs. So I will share more details as they become available.

She's BACK!!!

here are some pics..starting with the beautiful strawberry pie I made for Mother's Day - you can see some nibbles have already been taken off of the crust!






Charlie, the Master Barbequer! Check out those bratwursts and burgers!

A lovely Mother's Day in the mountains...I got sunburned but it was a perfectly lazy, lovely day








Fondue time! We had loads of fat, I mean fun, cooking all this goodness in oil! And drinking Charlie's Margaritas ... Alright, I'll post a bit more later on, but I just wanted to put the few pics I took up...later!

Homeward Bound

JetBlue rules again! Can’t say enough to promote this airline…and this time, there were only about 30 people on the whole plane, so I had the whole aisle to stretch out in –which was needed, I was so tired, I didn’t sleep well the night before since I was so excited about the possibility of the new apartment – I was arranging furniture and decorating in my head while trying to fall asleep. But, I shouldn’t count my chickens before they’ve hatched, so until I hear a YES from this lady, I won’t speak or think another word about it…”hold thumbs” for me as Granny Magpie would say :-)

So, Big Daddy picked me up at midnight from the airport and then made a quick stop at In ‘n’ Out burger for a West Coast treat of a hamburger and that was that. I was home! Since then, I’ve just been relaxing and resting, sitting outside drinking my homemade smoothies and coffee in the morning and reading (just finished Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat – beautiful prose, all about a Haitian mother and daughter; I want to go buy Krik? Krak! now – I really loved this book…and she went to Barnard, so you know…)

Today was shopping and dinner with Mom and Glenda the Good Witch and maybe in a bit, I’ll start reading The Da Vinci Code in preparation for the Second Incarnation of Kool Kids Movie Club. This weekend, I’m making Juicy Mama a strawberry pie and then we are off to the mountains to cookout and hike on Sunday … I’ll let you know how that goes – until then, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there and one last mention …

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZEUS APOLLO!!!

Nikki's Bon Voyage!

(someone out there might find that title..amusing...)

Yes, I know...my blogging abilities have been lacking lately...but it's mainly because I've known for awhile that I'll be going home for a week and I was super excited to get the hell away from my life for awhile and that's all I wanted to blog about, but I couldn't because it was supposed to be a surprise for Mother's Day for my dear Juicy Mama. But, she was being a pain and wouldn't listen to my dad's suggestions to "take some days off" so we had to break the news to her early...plus I was worried that if I was just sitting in the kitchen on Wednesday morning, that she might totally have a heart attack or think I was somehow astrally projecting (and I only do that with Mervyn the Texan). SO: the big news is: I'm GOING HOME!! WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!

Other than that, I'll list what's been going on: apartment hunting, the Munch exhibit at the MOMA and tea with the ladies afterwards; training the Boss to do my job while I'm out; watching the Mets win and win and win (and lose 2) on TV; Act V at the Georgia Diner on Friday; IKEA and the LES on Saturday before meeting up with Tio Pepe and getting ever-so slightly drunk on some margaritas and fantastic shrimp fajitas (and seeing Mr. Mustachio from our IT Department just a table away, something that I couldn't stop giggling about - why exactly was it so funny? I don't know, that's the magic of tequila!); and to cap it all off, a day with ZeusApollo, who was nice enough to deliver some much desired egg bagels to make Juicy Mama even more ecstatic than she already is - come on, not only am I arriving on Tuesday, but I have 2 dozen (well almost 2 dozen...I seemed to have "misplaced" 3 of them...somewhere) bagels in ziploc baggies at the bottom of my suitcase for her!!! How awesome is that?

And tonight, I'm looking at a one bedroom apartment only 2 blocks away and in my friend's building...I'm hopeful that it's nice and this albatross of an apartment hunt is off my back and I can relax already!

SO: I'm off to Las Vegas to relax and get some peace of mind with the two crackerjacks I call Mom and Dad...later for you, NYC!

The Humor Test - I'm the Shock Jock!

the Shock Jock (52% dark, 53% spontaneous, 52% vulgar)

your humor style: VULGAR | SPONTANEOUS | DARK Your sense of humor is off-the-cuff and kind of gross. Is it is also sinister, cynical, and vaguely threatening to the purer folks of this world. You probably get off on that. You would cut a greasy fart, then blame it on your mom, and then just shrug when someone pointed out that she's dead. Yours is hands-down the most outrageous sense of humor; you like things trangressive and hardcore. It's highly likely (a) you have no limits b) you have no scruples and (c) you have no job. Ironically, it's your type of humor that can make the biggest bucks in show business. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Howard Stern - Adam Sandler - Roseanne Barr The 3-Variable Funny Test! - it rules - If you're interested, try my best friend's best test: The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Masterpiece

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 49% on darkness You scored higher than 72% on spontaneity You scored higher than 79% on vulgarity

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Evil TomKat Baby Theory

Juicy Mama (a.k.a Mother Swarts) had a good explanation for the birth of the TomKat Baby...she agrees with me that Tom did not father this child...she believes that they have kept L. Ron Hubbard's sperm stored in the Scientology Center Vaults and one by one, the Scientology women and being impregnated with his sperm and little L. Ron and Ronette's are being born every nine months until there is an entire Scientology army to go along with their already established navy (their Sea Org) ... you have been warned!! Teegeeack (their word for Earth) is under attack! All will worship Xenu!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu

The UN-Doubtful Guest

Unlike the weird creature of Edward Gorey fame, I have a Magpie staying with me for a few days and so far = FAB. It's been fun to have another person in the apartment, I don't really have guests/visitors too often. We went on a walking tour of Jackson Heights and its many cool buildings and gardens, ran a couple of errands - drugstore, strawberrry and hummus purchases, and then home to watch Howl's Moving Castle - I loved it!! Miyazaki is so over-the-top creative with his colors and scenery and its nice to know that this type of artistry still exists - they hand draw and color each cell, unlike most animated studios that use computers to do all the work. Absolutely amazing - and I love this story...Spirited Away is still my favorite though (next I need to see Kiki's Delivery Service) .. and you may want to check out Magpie's own comments about the apparent unbelievability of certain romances... Howl was quite..David Copperfield-ish...to say the least... but he was "voiced" by my future husband Christian Bale (once he divorces his current spouse)...so anyway - this film: highly recommended!!

Disappointment, Anger, and the Hair Eater

This weekend, I did very little..but that's okay, I'm feeling a little weary so I thought I'd rather be easy-going now so that I can gear up for the months ahead - The Move! It's funny to me, because since I found out that I had to move, the Devil Upstairs and the Crazy People Downstairs have been soooo quiet...so quiet that I almost thought "well maybe I should stay?" but...this past week, they've been terrible and in essence (ha ha - HELMUT!) reinforcing my desire to move and finally have some peace!

So: Friday - I watched the Mets WIN - woo hoo! and then to bed early...so that I could get up and look at some apartments, none of which were very nice or worthy of me and my cool stuff and I was disappointed because I thought maybe maybe one of these places might work for me and I'd be done... then I met up with the Stanley Family and got some cuddles and playtime in with Mr. James ... then Sunday I was up early again to get ready for some people and realtors to come by and look at my apartment - and anger followed because NO ONE SHOWED UP. I move my plans around for these appointments and they don't even bother to call and let me know they aren't coming??? TO HELL WITH YOU THEN!!! So I decided I'm not going to make myself very available to show the apartment anymore...I told them this time I'd be there from 10-3 and that's giving them far too much leeway. From now I'm giving them one hour, one day a week and if they can't make it, tough on them. This has happened at least 4 times already and it's annoying - it's not my apartment, it's not my responsibility, so why do I care? The only thing I'm responsible for is finding my own apartment, I don't care if he sells it or not...whew! Okay, I'm done with that venting session...next it was off to Film Forum in Soho to meet Cousin Megan and we saw an old Roman Polanski film with Catherine Deneuve called Repulsion which was pretty creepy and weird - and we had a celebrity sighting! Willem Dafoe was there, but he went to see Days of Heaven, not our choice...he's TINY...really short, not that much taller than me and super scrawny...afterwards, we walked to Sephora where I finally was able to purchase my Rouge Du Monde - a pretty perfect all-around lipstick color - and then I was homeward bound...on the train was the grossest lady - SHE WAS EATING HER HAIR. It was making me gag to sit next to her once I realized what she was doing so I had to move, but then I was also strangely facinated by her so I kept glancing over because I was curious. She was perfectly "normal" looking, not like some crazy homeless lady you see on the E train in the mornings (that train seems to be a favorite of homeless people and junkies), very well-groomed and hip-looking actually and she was listening to her iPod and then she just started to space out and she didn't look "all there" and she started to play with her hair repetitively and that's when I noticed what she was really doing: she would pull a few strands out, look at them intently, roll them up and stick them in her mouth and chew on them like gum. Then, she would pull out the wad and look at it again, chew some more, and then swallow it. She would repeat this every minute and she seemed so spaced out while she was pulling it out, she didn't even seem to be aware that she was doing it and that everyone on our side of the car was looking at her strangely. I've heard of some "hair pulling" disorder and I think I read something about people who eat their hair as well...so anyway, it was sort of in keeping with the theme of the creepy movie I had just watched, so that sort of capped the night off well :-)

TBS Lord of the Rings promos

Okay, did anyone else catch these? HYSTERICAL!!! You can see them all here...

http://tbs.com/broadband/videoplayer/0,,70632,00.html