Communing with Nature!

After spending 17 years in a concrete jungle, I must say that I'm enjoying taking walks on the wild side.  Today, I spent about 3 hours hiking my way around Maudslay State Park, a 450 acre park which was once the home of the Moseley family - a prominent family in Newburyport.  It was one of the most relaxing and inspiring days that I have had recently.  There is something to be said about shutting yourself off from everything.  Even though I had my cell phone with me (for emergency reasons), I turned the sound off and kept the phone in my pocket the entire time.  I saw approximately 10 people throughout the afternoon, so I spent the bulk of my time using my 4 of my 5 senses: smelling the pine-scented air, watching the wildlife, touching trees and enjoying the sounds of nature.  I think in this busy world that we all call home, we forget how blessed we are with the beauty of the Earth.  It's no wonder that aliens are always coming here to steal our precious resources. 

I did learn a few lessons from today's foray into nature.  One, always bring water and snack when out hiking through the woods.  Two, be sure to wear appropriate footwear.  My $20 Walmart sneakers are not very sturdy and I twisted my ankles a couple of times.  Finally and probably most importantly, always bring some sort of bug repellent.  I apparently have delicious tasting blood because every bug in the park feasted on my very sensitive skin.  I have welts on top of welts.  Otherwise, it was the most perfect day.  Even dodging the horse plop was entertaining. 

You can see the full range of the photos I took at my Flickr page.  Fair warning - I took A LOT of pictures!  And I was slightly obsessed with the wild mushrooms I saw.

In My Chest Beats the Heart of a Performer

I have just returned from my first audition in SEVEN YEARS!

For those who don't know the back story:  In 1987, I decided that I didn't want to learn about being a performer but wanted to BE a performer!  Ergo, I left college to pursue my dream.  I was going to take Broadway by storm.  Well, it ended up being less of a storm and more of a drizzle.  And it wasn't Broadway, it was Off- and Off-Off and Off-Off-Off-Off... well, you get the picture.  After 18 years of attempting to make a living as an actor (having some success in every way but monetarily), performing stopped being fun.  My final New York City stage appearance was in the Fall of 2004 and I officially went 'on hiatus' in the January of 2005.  'On hiatus' is a performer euphemism for giving up.  To fill up my free time, I decided to go back to college to finish my bachelor's degree and figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up... something that I'm still dealing with. But the desire to perform never goes away when you have the heart of a performer and I found myself missing it more and more over the years. 

Leaving New York has given me the opportunity to consider going back to performing.  Not as a professional performer, but doing amateur dramatics.  A couple of weeks ago, I received the weekly newsletter from the local theatre here in Newburyport which happened to have an audition notice for a new play.  The breakdown for the lead role was:  Christina, 34, fiercely independent and devoted to her daughter, Caucasian.  I thought, "Well that definitely is a role I could play."  But was I ready to return to performing - that was the critical question.  I decided to sign up for an audition slot regardless of my ultimate decision.  Then I spent the next two weeks hemming and hawing over whether I wanted to go on the audition.  Right up until it was time to leave for the theatre, I was still debating with myself.  Finally, I thought "it's not about getting the part or even doing the show, it's about seeing whether I'm ready to get back into the game and I won't know unless I try."  So with that in mind and knowing that there was no pressure to succeed - only to try - I grabbed my old headshot (ugh!) and resume and headed off to the theatre.

I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well and my concern about the audition mostly was how rusty I was.  I would never want to show up and give a half performance.  I walked in the door, checked in, read through the sides and started to feel more and more in my element.  They were running behind schedule.  Quelle surprise!  After 30 minutes or so, I was brought into the theatre and read two scenes with some fellow actors and it went great!  I was immediately in the zone and had a fantastic audition ... if I do say so myself.  Yeah, yeah - performers are all about their ego.  Trust me, if I had crashed and burned, I would have said so.  While I think it unlikely that I will get the role because I have a feeling this theatre is very incestuous - which most theatres are, I am proud of myself.  I achieved my goal.  I went, I performed, and I gave a kick ass audition.  So huzzah for me! 

At the end of my audition, the director shook my hand and congratulated me on a great job.  And I didn't hear that awful word: "Next!"  Time to research more local theatre companies.  Beware Massachusetts actors: I have arrived and am ready to make my mark! 

"A Cup of Friendship" - This Cup Runneth Over!

Before everyone thinks that I'm only going to give good reviews, you should know that it is just happenstance that the books I have read recently have all been brilliant - except one.  That book, entitled The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century, started out very promising with a well-written account of the assassination of President William McKinley by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz, but then quickly got mired down in the minutiae of McKinley's political and personal history, which could have used some editing.  Despite the great reviews, after 50 pages of plodding through the back story, I put the book down, never to be picked up again.  Therefore, I cannot give a definitive review.

*****

But I would like to provide my thoughts on the book I just finished reading, A Cup of Friendship, by Deborah Rodriguez.  Just as there are 'click flicks,' there are definitely 'chick reads' and this book would come under that heading.  Not that it is a light and fluffy read without any substance behind it, which is what I think most people believe about chick reads. Quite the contrary.  This book has all the earmarks of an enjoyable read for women - strong female characters, realistic romances and relationships, women's based issues, etc.  

Synopsis: Set in modern day Afghanistan, it tells the story of a group of people who have a coffee shop as the centerpiece of their lives.  The Coffee Shop, run by an American woman Sunny, welcomes anyone in search of a home away from home - expatriates, mercenaries, missionaries, etc.  Set primarily in Kabul, A Cup of Friendship tells the story of a group of people, living in a dangerous time and place but still attempting to keep some semblance of peace and order in their lives, loves and friendships.  These characters are thrown together by circumstance, bound by secrets and united by their friendship. 

Review: This bookworm went on an emotional roller coaster ride while reading this novel.  I laughed, I cried, I got angry over injustices and I fell in love with these well-written and well-loved characters.  The story is penned by someone who clearly has spent a good deal of time living in Afghanistan and has come to understand how this country functions ... or rather, doesn't function.  Ms. Rodriguez, who authored Kabul Beauty School, a memoir of her time spent in Afghanistan, has come to love the Afghan people and their traditions, while at the same time finding their antiquated views on relationships and women's rights infuriating.  Although a work of fiction, I have come away with a better understanding of life in Afghanistan and the Afghan people.  This novel is Ms. Rodriguez's first work of fiction and she should be commended for her realistic characters and beautiful storytelling.  A very enjoyable read!

Rating: 4 out of 5

A Bagel Craving Satisfied

I love to occasionally have a really good bagel.  When you live in NYC as long as I did, you develop certain standards when it comes to bagels.  I don't eat bagels on a regular basis, but I do like having a schmear and a bagel once in a blue moon.  After moving from NYC, I thought it would be impossible to find a decent bagel, particularly on the north shore of Massachusetts.  Finding great seafood - not a problem, but great bagels?  Nah!  Medicore bagels, perhaps.  Well, I have been proven wrong.  

Right in my small town of Newburyport, we have the most amazing bagel shop - Abraham's Bagels.  My neighbors had told me about this place the first day I moved here, but I doubted their veracity on the goodness of these bagels.  Today, I was craving a bagel and cream cheese and thought I'd give Abe's a try.  I walked into the shop and the smell was heavenly! Behind the counter, I saw a worker diligently making bagels exactly like I had seen them made at H&H Bagels in NYC. Holy cow! 

I had planned on only purchasing 1 or 2 bagels but I found myself buying a half dozen (3 Sesame and 3 Everything) and an individual container of light veggie cream cheese.  After a 5 minute walk back home, I opened up the bag and extracted the softest, 'hot from the oven' Everything bagel.  I was ecstatic and immediately curled up on the couch to enjoy this magnificent treasure.  Anyone who lives in NYC knows what a treat fresh from the oven bagels can be.  I immediately put the rest of the bagels in the freezer to be enjoyed in the future.  If I hadn't done that, my fear was that I'd eat all 6 bagels in the course of the next 24 hours.  Trust me, it can be done!  I don't miss much about living in NYC and now that I know I can get a great bagel when I want one, it's one less thing off my "what I miss" list.  Yum!

The Continuing Tales of Lotta, the Wonder Cat!

"Everything I know I learned from my cat: 

When you're hungry, eat.
When you're tired, nap in a sunbeam.
When you go to the vet's, pee on your owner."
- Gary Smith (no relation)

Lotta takes after me.  She
just loves reading!

As most people are aware: dogs have owners and cats have staff.  I am the chef, housekeeper, groomer, nanny and anything else you can imagine on my cat's staff.  And I will admit, that I just love, love, love my cat!  Now, I am not a 'cat person' per se.  I am an animal lover.  If I could, I would have both a dog and a cat, but Lotta is not one to share her space with any other animal.  She only tolerates my presence because I feed her.  Lotta is a constant source of amusement.  Because I've been home so much over the past few months, I've been observing her a lot and I must say I am jealous of her life.  She's treated like royalty, sleeps a good 20-22 hours a day, chases random shadows for shits and giggles and generally does whatever she wants. 

She still has her obsession with the house I live in.  Yesterday, she once again wanted to explore the rest of my building.  I was in the middle of bringing groceries into the apartment, so she escaped.  I wasn't too concerned because she cannot go very far, but this time she decided to head up to the attic for the first time, where my neighbor, Mary, has her artist's studio.  Lotta's visit scared the beejesus out of Mary because she thought it was the return of a cat that used to visit the house regularly in the past!  See, it is not just my cat who has a fascination with this house.  Despite all the naysayers, I still say her preoccupation with this building is other worldly and that she's on the prowl to find the specter who haunts this building. 

I highly recommend getting a cat for your household and just observe them.  They really are funny, fascinating creatures. 

Is there anything funnier than a cat
attempting to shove her body into a box??



Confessions of an Android Convert...

Up until a month ago, I was a Blackberry snob and couldn't imagine using any other smartphone.  When asked my opinion on smartphones, my only recommendation was Blackberry.  In late July, my Blackberry Tour started failing and I needed to buy a new phone.  My carrier, Sprint, had a bevy of smartphones available, bbbbuuuuut there was no similar replacement which was equivalent to my Tour.  They had other Blackberry devices available but they were lower versions of the one I had.  I decided to take a chance on getting an Android device and I am not disappointed at all.  As a matter of fact, Android-based devices are my new favorites and I highly recommend them!

I purchased the HTC EVO 4G which has all the capabilities (and more) that I need in a smartphone and is hands down the best phone I have ever owned.  The Internet browser is incredibly fast - easily ten times faster than my Blackberry.  There are a ton of useful apps for download, and some not so useful but completely fun - like Angry Birds and a Kindle reader.  The camera has incredibly high resolution and takes amazing photos.  The video records in HD!!!  I haven't added any music to the device so I have no idea on the quality of playing mp3s.  I still use my iTouch for music. 

Friends encouraged me to purchase an iPhone, but there are several reasons I never considered buying an iPhone - mostly I dislike AT&T and Verizon as carriers and I don't like not having a QWERTY keyboard.  I find typing on a touchscreen annoying, which is why I love the EVO!  It has a slide out QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen capabilities, which for me is the best of both worlds.  Plus, the display screen is more than twice the size of the Blackberry! I only have two complaints about the EVO.  One is the weight of the phone.  It's a bit heavier by comparison to other phones - 6 oz vs. 4.58 oz (Tour).   The second is the battery life*.  I easily need to charge the phone twice a day which is irritating to say the least.  Consequently, I need to purchase an extended battery which will hopefully fix that issue. 

Oh, and it also is great for making phone calls!  If you are in the market for a new phone, you cannot go wrong with an Android-based phone.  The EVO is a bit pricey (my cost: $350 with my Sprint discount), but I think it's worth every penny!!! 

*[Note:  I've adjusted some of my settings and the battery power drain has greatly improved.  The Android will often run things in the background which aren't necessary.  So now I really have zero complaints about this phone.  (Added 8/28/11)]

"The Red Garden" - A Beautiful Read!

Alice Hoffman's latest novel, The Red Garden, is written as a series of intertwined vignettes describing the founding and history of the fictional town of Blackwell, Massachusetts.  The novels starts with the settlement of the town in 1750 and follows the decendants of the town's founders over the course of the next 200+ years.  There is an air of mystery and magic about the town and its inhabitants which focuses on the sorrows, joys and wonders of daily life throughout the centuries.  It touches on the history of America, showing the effects that wars, famine and strife have on the average family and how these residents struggle through hard times, yet still able to celebrate life. 

This is an immensely enjoyable read.  Although the characters can ocassionally be confusing.  The town is filled with characters who are all decendants from the original 4 families who founded the town.  Suffice to say, there is much intermingling of families and lots of 'cousins' around the town.  Do not try to keep track of the familial relationships.  You'll never figure it out. 

My recommendaton: Pick up this book and settle down for a very interesting read. 

Secret Societies: Are You a Member of One? I Am!

I'm experiencing something very unique in my world, I am part of a mysterious club.  No, it's not The Freemasons, The Knights Templar or The Order of the Phoenix.  It's the Jeep Wrangler Owners club.  Apparently membership is quite easy - you just have to buy a Jeep Wrangler: any age, color or condition - and you are in.  It took me about 2 months to notice that I was a member of this secret society.  Whoops, I guess it's not going to be 'secret' anymore.  Here's my story:

I started noticing some strange happenings as I was driving my Jeep.  Other Wrangler owners would wave at me.  Nothing big, just a little wave of the hand.  I'd say to myself: "What is that about?"  It was all very strange and cryptic.  I started paying closer and closer attention to other Jeep Wranglers and noticed an increase of waves directed at me and my baby, Betty.  (Yes, I name my cars.  Don't judge me!)  Then one day, 2 men were hanging out of their Wrangler, honking the horn and frantically waving enthusiastically toward Betty and me.  I suddenly realized that I had been a member of a car club for months and hadn't been aware of it.  I began returning the salutes to other Wranglers and their drivers.  The nice thing about this membership is: no initiation fees or hazing.  For the first time in my life, I am a member of the inner sanctum. 

I started having a love affair with Jeep Wranglers from the time I was in my tweens and my best friend had the Barbie Jeep Wrangler.  I have to admit, I was envious of her.  But my Barbie remained pedestrian.  <sniff>  As I got older, I kept longingly wishing that I could afford to buy a Wrangler, but alas, it was never in my budget.  I will shamefully admit, that in the early 90s, I had a faux Wrangler - The Suzuki Samarai and while she was a good car, she wasn't quite right.  Sort of like asking Santa for a Coco Chanel bag and getting a Koko Shanel bag instead.  Close but no cigar.  After 30 years of driving, I have finally gotten my wish and am driving one of my dream cars.  Yes, I do have a few other dream cars - most of which are WAY out of my price range, so Betty will suffice for the moment.  And I am not disappointed by this vehicle, other than the crappy gas mileage.

 

Try not to be too jealous of my new found secret society.  You too can join - you just have to buy a Wrangler.  If you're really nice, I might even show you the secret handshake. 

History Rocks!

I have always been a bit of a history buff.  I find it all so fascinating: how people lived, worked, loved, raised families, etc. throughout the centuries - particularly how they lived without flushable toilets and inside plumbing.  Although I suppose I could visit an underdeveloped country in Africa to learn about that first hand, but I don't think I am quite that adventurous.  My former stomping grounds (NYC) has a lot of history, which you can read about but not necessary visit - much of it has been torn down to make way for skyscrapers, which happens a lot in this country.  Yet another reason to love where I live now.  The entire north shore of Massachusetts is an historical wonderland which I cannot wait to explore. 

Right now, I am focused on my own town of Newburyport - naturally.  If I'm going to live here, I want to know as much as possible about this lovely town.  Walking around town, there are plaques and memorials aplenty which give historical information.  It really is quite the treasure trove for a geek like me.  Each day I walk a different direction and find yet another beautifully restored home from the 18th or 19th century.  Even the houses that have not been restored are amazing to me just by the fact that they still exist.  Some have been moved from their original locations (like the house I live in) to a different site.  They were not torn down but moved.  <gasp>  I am amazed!! 

One of the many beautifully restored homes - built in 1834.

I have located two (free) e-books on the history of Newburyport.  One written in 1854 and the other in 1906.  I cannot wait to delve into both books to learn how this town came to be.   By the way, George Washington was a slut.  He has slept everywhere - including Newburyport.  I suppose, he is the father of our country - some 300+ million children.   Way to go, George!  Who knew false teeth could be so sexy?

I was going to talk about how we tear our history down, but Eddie Izzard said it best and why mess with perfection:

My Love Affair with Books

I have had a 40 year continuing love affair with books! There are quite a number of people in my life (family, friends, acquaintances) who just do not understand this affair. I will try to explain it:

I grew up with a bit of a gypsy life. By the time I had graduated from high school at the age of 18, I had attended 6 different schools, lived in 5 different houses in 4 different towns in 3 different states. In the 27 years since graduating high school, I have lived in 8 different houses/apartments in 4 different cities/towns in 3 different states. Whew! That's a lot. Not as bad as some but still very chaotic.

The one constant in my life throughout these turbulent years is books! In every location, there is always a library or bookstore where I can find all my old friends. When I was young, there were the collected works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of Peter Rabbit and all of his friends that Breatrix Potter so lovingly wrote about and so many more.  As I grew into my tweens, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and the novels of Judy Bloom were always there for me. While I was constantly forced to leave behind all my human friends, I could always find at the local library all my old book friends who have been there for me through think and thin. These paper friends would take me on the most amazing adventures. Then there were all the thousands of new friends to be made. 

40 years strong and I still rely on these same friends. If I'm ever lonely for someone familiar, I can turn to Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy who never cease to amuse and enchant me, or Harry Potter and his magical, and sometimes frightening, adventures, or the funny and wacky life of Stephanie Plum, or Huck Finn's time spent on the Mississippi.  As wonderful as my breathing friends are, my book friends will always remain true and fast.

To this day, walking into a library is like going home. I relish in the hush of the atmosphere, the smell of paper, the thousands of stories just waiting to be found. My new town has a lovely library which I visit several times a week. It is often the highlight of my day. I expect this love affair will last the remainder of my life.  I recognize that I'm not unique in my love of books.  I have a large number of friends who understand this love.  And even though I have purchased a Kindle and do like it, I will always prefer to have a printed book in my hands over an electronic gadget. 

Happy reading!

London is Burning....

...And I find that news incredibly sad. To England I ask: was it worth the five lost lives and £200 million in damages? What did you accomplish with the rioting, arson and looting? From the country which gave me Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Rowling, Firth and Branagh (just to name a few), the reports of rioting last week in England sickened me.  This is a country that I adopted as my second home after reading Jane Eyre when I was 12 years old and I consider England to have one of the greatest, most refined cultures (other than the obvious hooliganism that takes place during football matches).  Yes!  Football - not soccer, you heathens.

Even more worrisome is the fact that the riots have even had an effect in the US - particularly here in Newburyport.  There is a Best of Britain shop on the high street that has been plagued with a recent bout of mischief.  Two people nearly broke down the doors in their attempt to enter the store and I believe a bottle of soda was thrown toward the shop.  No damage was done.  So sad.  Although perhaps I'm mistaken.  It's quite possible it was just some tourists being overly enthusiastic.  This shop is probably one of the funniest stores in town because it does sell some of the tackiest items you'll ever find.  The store front alone during the wedding of William and Kate was a bevy of overpriced tourist crap, but it does carry some great British imports of candy, teas and biscuits so it's a lovely little shop to visit.  Plus, it sells a t-shirt with quite possibly my favorite saying ever:

FYI: I am well represented with this t-shirt,
being from British, German and Italian ancestry. 

If you're ever in Newburyport, I recommend making a stop in this shop if for no other reason than for the humour of it all.  Cheers.

5K Run Countdown - Yikes!

I just realized that the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure is in 5 weeks.  As I wrote in my June 27 blog, "5K Run or Bust," I had 12 weeks to train.  7 weeks later and I'm not anywhere close to being able to run a 5K.  This is part weather related, part laziness and part loss of interest.  But I think that if I put my mind to it, I can still train for the next 5 weeks to finish this run.  Either that or convince Sheryl that we should walk the event.  Take a guess which I'd prefer.

My goal is to raise a minimum of $250 for this great charity.  If you'd like to contribute, please visit my personal page. 

Platitudes Everywhere!

If I have one more platitude thrown at me, I may lose my freaking mind!  I don't know about anyone else, but these trite, meaningless phrases are unbelievably annoying.  In the past 2 days alone, I've seen or heard dozens. 

Yesterday, I went to meet a very nice gentleman who might have been a prospective employer. He is an incredibly nice person and it's the only thing that kept me from shoving him out of his second story office. We were chatting about my job situation and he said for me not to listen to what others were saying about the current unemployment situation because: "You're the captain of your ship." That's almost as bad as: "Every cloud has a silver lining" or "It is what it is." Fine, I might be the captain of my ship, but it feels like the whole crew is mutinous because we are adrift at sea without a course. 

Others that have been bandied about are:  "Time heals all wounds," "It was meant to be," "Good things come to those who wait," "Everything happens for a reason" and so many more.  People are well meaning, but just stop with these ridiculous phrases.  I'm not saying that I haven't stupidly used these statements but I am working hard to stop.  If you want to give some sage advice, then think about the quality of your advice and don't just let loose any trite remark. 

What annoying platitudes are you tired of hearing?

"In the Garden of Beasts" - A Must Read!

This is my first book review using my blog as a forum.  I hope to have more in the future as I come across well-written or alternatively poorly-written books:

_____________________

I am a huge fan for Erik Larson's books - having read The Devil in White City and Thunderstruck and found both books to be brilliantly researched and written.  When I saw that he had written new book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, I immediately checked to see if it was available at my local library.  Unfortunately it wasn't immediately available but I put a hold on it and finally got the message a month later that it had arrived and was waiting for pickup at the library.   I ran straight away to pick up the copy and started devouring this book.

Anyone who even has a moderate interest in Nazi Germany should read this book.  It is a fascinating tale of an American family - the US Ambassador, his wife and two adult children - in Berlin from 1933-1934 at the beginning of the Nazi regime.  Larson's writing style feels fiction-like with his brilliantly descriptive imagery of Berlin and the historical figures of the time but it is horrifyingly non-fiction.  Yes, in hindsight, the world agrees that something should have been done to limit the power of Hitler and the rest of the Nazi elite but what is shocking is how much the US was complicit in turning their heads away.  While we all know it was a difficult time in the United States (recovering from the Great Depression) and that Germany owed some $1.2 billion to American creditors, it still shocks the core that atrocities were happening so flagrantly in Germany and these horrors were completely evident from the early stages of Hitler's reign, but nothing was done about it except some minor wrist slapping.

Of particular interest is Ambassador Dodd's daughter, Martha who was at first completely enchanted with the Nazis and had some deep personal and (in some instances) sexual relationships with elite members of the Nazi Party.  How her views of these 'wonderful people' changed over that first year of living among them.  How she was a useful 'instrument' for the personal and political issues at hand from both the Soviet Union and the Nazis. 

Another interesting tidbit was the considerable Anti-Semitism that was evident in our own country.  Not Roosevelt, of course, but so many of the people within the government and other positions of power.  Some of the key people in government would routinely use Anti-Semitic epithets to describe the Jews.  According to Larson, a poll taken in in the 1930s found that "41 percent of those contacted believed Jews had 'too much power in the United States'; and found that one-fifth wanted to 'drive Jews out of the United States'.  (A poll taken...in 2009 would find that the total of Americans who believed Jews had too much power had shrunk to 13 percent.)" (Larson 41)  Why correct-minded people would think that something could be done about Germany when our own country ran rife with the same beliefs held by the Third Reich is delusional. 

I highly recommend In the Garden of Beasts to anyone who has an interest in Nazi Germany, US and/or World history or just wants to enjoy a well written and researched book.  I also recommend Larson's books, The Devil in White City and Thunderstuck. 

If It's Called Tourist Season, Why Can't We Shoot Them?

When I lived in NYC, this quote was one of my favorites.  Tourons are the bane of every New Yorker's day, particularly if you live and work in the midtown area - as I did for about 10 of the 17 years I lived in NYC.  Tourons annoying stroll the streets in large groups, blocking sidewalks, looking up at the big buildings, "ooh"-ing and "ah"-ing and generally making a royal pain of themselves.  There are approximately 2-3 months out of the year when it isn't tourist season in NY and those are during the dead of winter - from January through March.  Otherwise, these annoying creatures prevent NYC residents from going about their day smoothly.  I kept wishing the City would enact a law which kept tourists from being on the streets from 8-10am, noon-2pm and 5-8pm, but apparently that is not a law anyone is willing to pass. 

This week is Yankee Homecoming Week in Newburyport.  Don't ask me what Yankee Homecoming Week actually is, except that it's a tourist mecca for the north shore that has been going on for 54 years.  There is a multitude of events happening this week which include concerts, wine tasting, fireworks, a parade, etc.  I have heard several Port residents complaining about the 'crowds' of people who invade the Port and how annoying it is.  I have to laugh at these statements.  Really??  These people do not know crowds until they have tried to make their way home through Times Square on New Year's Eve or gone to the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.  If you can walk the sidewalks with comfort and still find a seat on a bench, then it's not crowded.  Although parking is a little bit of an issue this week, but I've been fortunate as no one appears to want to park on my block.

It's interesting.  When someone has lived in New York City as long as I did, it can really affect the way you view the rest of the world.  New Yorkers don't blink twice at paying rents that are four times the costs of the rest of the country, will sit next to a homeless man on the subway and not bat an eyelash and push their way through thousands of people just to get to and from work.  I'm finding that the things that annoyed me in New York, don't bother me at all here because New York always has the extremes of everything - good and bad.  If this is tourist season in Newburyport, then I can hang up my imaginary rifle for good!

Who You Gonna Call? Ghostbusters?

I recently moved to Newburyport, MA into the 2nd floor apartment of a very old duplex built in the mid-1800s.  This building has all the earmarks of an old New England home - right down to the creepy dirt-floored basement where it looks like bodies have been buried and a creaky attic where I am sure someone's crazy relative lived.  I've heard that Newburyport has its fair share of paranormal activity and I am certain that this building has some entity living in it.  Now I cannot see or feel spirits anymore.  I went through a short period in my life when I was more in touch with the spirit world and could sense paranormal activity and entities.  But alas, that's been gone for decades.  I think, though, that my cat, Lotta, senses something living in this house that is otherworldly. 

Creepy basement!

When we were living in NYC, Lotta never wanted to explore the building we lived in.  She was content to stay within the walls of our apartment and the most she ever was curious about was to sniff at the hallway as I came into the apartment.  Ever since moving to this new building, she has been completely obsessed with getting out of the apartment.  She sits at the main entrance and claws at the door and meows constantly wanting to get out.  A few times I've let her out just to shut her up and she immediately starts hunting for ... well, I'm not entirely sure what she's looking for, except I think she's hunting for something not there.  She sniffs along the floorboards both upstairs and downstairs.  She has even tried to get into my neighbor's apartment downstairs - trying to find whatever it is she's hunting.  There are two places I won't let her explore:  the basement and the attic.  They creep me out just a little too much and I'm afraid she'll get hurt from all the crap located in both.  When I bring her back into the apartment, she again meows and claws at the door trying to get out again.  Very strange.

I am used to her chasing shadows.  That is what cats do best and it's always amusing to watch, but this behavior is just bizarre.  I am certain that she is hunting for an entity.  I'm a little jealous of her.  Sometimes I wish I could still sense these entities.  Maybe I can rent her out as a paranormal hunter.  She can finally earn her keep.  Who you gonna call?? 

Lotta!