But Call Me Betsy

Was walking back from the grocery store and right by the mess of Pat and Geno's steak eateries, saw this guy just throw his big white Styrofoam cup on curb as he climbed into a massive black Hummer. I wondered what he would do if I picked the cup up and knocked on his window with it, saying, I think you dropped this. It would definitely not end well. It pissed me off no end though; and I had him classified in seconds--dumb Republican white kid from the burbs who doesn't care b/c it's not his neighborhood, after all. But then maybe that's totally wrong and he has a heart of gold or the gigantic Hummer belongs to his mean dad who would beat the son up if found any Styrofoam in the car. And then I thought that there are people who would probably think I was the same way kind of because I don't recycle everything. I have been known to throw plastic and newspaper and bottles into the trash. And that's lazy too. I don't flatten out all of the cardboard boxes after...

Last night was the first meeting of this fiction class I'm taking at Penn. I think I'll like it? The story assignments are really short--no more than 5 pages or 1,500 words. I have written a couple of short pieces, but it's hard to write a complete story with that word constraint. I will try. At least I'm not the oldest person in the class; though 90% of the students are in undergrad, two of us are older (plus the teacher). We wrote a couple of free-writes--we wrote about one of our favorite books as a child ( Little House on the Prairie. Someone else in the class choose Eloise at the Plaza, another one my favs), and then later we wrote about our favorite movie as an adult ( Annie Hall ) and how the two are alike somehow. Our 1o minute free-write for each day this week is to describe a physical action in detail such as washing the dishes, mowing the lawn, plucking your eyebrows, eating spaghetti. This morning, I wrote about taking out the garbage, an activity I hate ve...

Manny has helped me to save these scanned photos for your viewing pleasure. Below, please find me being smooched by my Grandpa in his overalls while Grandma slaves over a dirty oven rack. Or possibly it's one side of a cage they were building to put me in. My cousin Charlie and me. He's about two years younger though I don't that should excuse his thumb-sucking to this day. I believe in this picture, he's eating either M&M's or Fruit Loops. We were allowed pretty much anything we wanted. My favorite meal was an open-faced Spam sandwich with melted Velveeta cheese and ketchup on top. My mother in a boy haircut and dress to show her gender. She's holding one of her 7 brothers--I think this must be Tom and then behind her is possibly her sister Margaret. There were ten in all. Love this photo of mom getting her bath on the kitchen table, Grandma in her apron. To this day, she still prefers baths to showers.

I have the opportunity to write a noir story for this anthology set in Philadelphia and am having trouble knowing exactly what's expected. Seems like it must have murder, intrigue, and a sort of fatalism; also, the occasional leggy blond and criminals getting away with murder. There's also this hard, dark edge and somewhat of a lack of humor. I guess? But I'm a little confused, I think, about the differences between this genre and the hard-boiled detective piece. I've read a few of the other anthologies published by the same press, and they range from first-person narratives told from the guilty party's perspective to third person tales of revenge. I had an idea that I could write a story where the first line is something like, "It all started with the cats..." And then it would be something about a girl who is trying to fend off the growing number of feral cats that keep appearing on the cement wall behind her house in the dead of winter. Somehow, she dis...

I realized today on my walk to work that I have even more photos of the house--just a few. I don't know why I didn't take really any pictures of the kitchen. I was relieved that the inspector told me I could put in a mini dishwasher if needed. Maybe I can find an Energy Saver that I like. But enough about me; let's talk about the house. A picture of the open door. Totally exciting. Note the child's drawing of a sun. That will come down immediately! Here is the back fence. It could use a coat or two of paint, but I like the lattice-work. Wonderful place for flowers and or herbs or vegetables, though, unfortunately, I am completely unable to grow things. Not even sea monkeys survive under my care (that's not exactly true. I have a plant Carrie gave me for my birthday about 2 years ago that is still limping along, despite the fact that the cats chew on it regularly. I keep it on my kitchen windowsill so as not to forget to water it. And then I forget anyway). Staircase...

The house inspection went so well today that I'm suspicious. Nothing wrong with the roof, the plumbing, the air ducts, the floors, the foundation, the front, the back, the side, the toilet. I won't therefore be asking for any additional $ to be taken off the house, which is a relief to me because I want to move this along. I took a lot of pictures today, especially since it was only the second time that I even set foot in the place. I still really liked it and so did the inspector, a very nice man who I will direct you to if you need an inspector who will take 3 hours to go every inch of an 830 square foot house while you flip through the current owners magazines. The photos are really in opposite order; taken from when we were leaving to when we first arrived. Okay, this is the church across the street from the house. I can't wait to be awoken at 6 AM every Sunday morning for mass. Photo from across the street. Exterior. Will probably replace the address numbers with new s...

The house inspection is today. I hope that the dude doesn't find that the foundation is almost rotting and ready to fall in. Here are some other ideas I thought of for a blog focus (see previous entry): 1. Reproduce a work of classical art every day. 2. Write about the squirrels on campus (would be hard to track them on the weekends though) 3. Try a new fruit or vegetable or other food product each night (though my local grocery store doesn't carry very much exotic stuff. For instance, I wanted to find bean sprouts the other day but they were not available). I have still been taking photos on my way to and from work. Evidence below. A praying monk. The owners of this house yelled out the window at me after I took the picture. Not very religious of them. The best, best, best window covering. It's a Virgin Mary of Guadalupe sheet. Shy kitty. Not shy kitty giving me a high five.