Oh the Trauma

Augh. We had a vet emergency today. An expensive one. So yeah we have five cats (I know, I know) and the (three) boys fight once in a while. We usually let them duke it out, our logic being that maybe one day they'll realize just how silly they've been putting so much energy into being enemies and they'll start loving each other, as cats should. Well. Apparently Jonah was bitten on his back by one of the evil boys the other day and last night, Nate discovered that a huge lump had developed in the area of the wound. After a bit of Internet research I discover that it's an abscess, and that yeah, we should probably go to the vet (DAMNIT). So we go to a vet's office in Park Slope, one that Nate researched out when he got a couple of his cats' shots updated, and learn from our vet that the abscess has to be lanced. So lance it they did and poor Jonah had to be drained. Poor thing. He was so terrified and in so much pain that he peed in the cat carrier on the way home, so Nate tried his best to clean him up in the tub before we gave him his first round of pain meds and antibiotics. This was extremely difficult, you know, what with the large gaping wound that we weren't supposed to touch on his back. We were instructed to place him in solitary confinement for a few days, so he's in the guest room with his own litter, food, and bed. I feel awful for Jonah, but ohmygod, what a pain in the ass.Jonah in his sickbed. The wound is on the other side. Believe me, you don't want to see it.

City Livin' 2

I just figured it out. The kids are rollerskating up there. I am so serious. Rollerskating! Or rollerblading, whatever it is they do these days. You've GOT to be kidding me.

City Livin'

A very nice family moved into the apartment directly above us about three weeks ago. Until then the apartment had been blissfully empty, and we enjoyed the uninterrupted silence for a good month and a half. The new family has three very cute, very bouncy children. They bounce a lot. Like, all evening long sometimes. And apparently the family rearranges their furniture almost every evening as well. At least, that's what it sounds like. All of a sudden something will roll from one side of my ceiling to the other. I don't know quite what to do about it. All I know is that I'm on deadline. And they're moving furniture. Again.

Post-script: By the way--though really annoying, mostly because I have to write right now--this isn't as bad as it was in my bedroom in Albany. I'm sure some of you remember me telling you about the morning when the guy who lived upstairs from me there threw a chair through the window, which was located directly above my bed, at about 4:30 AM. That was fun.

Politics as Usual

Mike shows me a Web site that is designed to help you choose who you're going to vote for.

Me: it tells me i should vote for kucinich
Me: wasn't expecting that
Me: 95.92%
Mike: uh oh. you better change your mind to start better suiting the band wagon
Me: oh? which bandwagon am i supposedly on?
Mike: knowing you? well. i'd say obama for you....let's see...
Mike: young?
Mike: yes
Mike: female?
Mike: yes
Mike: jewish?
Mike: yes
Mike: NYC?
Mike: yes
Mike: works next to the times? mouth piece of the left?
Mike: yes
Me: lol
Mike: that's an obama supporter.

Midterms DONE

Ugh let's not do that again soon, shall we?

I got some awesome feedback from school peeps (like professors and such) tonight, and I am riding high. That is, until I pass out. Which will be in 3... 2... 1.

Oh God

Two midterms tomorrow. HELP!

Week in Review

The week, in highlights:

--Wednesday, I went on a ride-along with a couple of NYPD cops to check out what they do every day (hence the bulletproof vest a couple posts down). I went to Precinct 107, which is in Queens, where apparently they don't have cabs. I had a mile-and-a-half walk (run) from the subway stop. Other then that, it was fun--I got paired with a couple of young cops who were very sweet and chatted openly about the force and about public perception of policepeeps. Very informational.
--Wednesday night I attended Stephen Colbert's reading/signing of his book, I Am America (and So Can You) at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. The guy is good.
--Yesterday, I attended a study session for the Legal & Ethics midterm that's looming in my immediate future. AKA Monday. I am, in a word, terrified. Also Monday: Research Methods midterm. Here's hoping I survive the day.
--This morning in Interactive, we made our first audio slideshows public, and got our first video assignments. We made mini-docs about making PB sandwiches as practice. I have to say--so far, video is seeming like a lot more fun than straight audio. We'll see.

Cranberry Cap

Bullet Proof

I will be wearing one of these tomorrow.

Nate's Random Pearls of Wisdom

"I feel like in other countries, the only thing that excuses you from being American is being from New York."

Girls

Me: I want to come to Switzerland.

Mario: You can come whenever you want, but it's cold here.

Me: I want cold! I want autumn! I'm sick of this heat.

Mario: You're crazy. As soon as it's cold you will change your mind!

Me: I know, but for now my mind's made up.

Mario: . . . girls.

Firewalls Be Damned

Mike and I are able to video chat, finally!

Busy Busy

SOOOO-freakin'-BUSY!!!!

A lot has been going on, needless to say. Grad school has me going mach 3 at all times. Very little sleep going on over here. It's beginning to pay off, I think. I got my first freelance story published in Chelsea Now. Hooray! Hopefully there will be many more clips to come. I'm working on a story now that I hope will end up in a paper somewhere. I will link it if it does.

Gram came into the city yesterday and we had dinner at Carnegie Deli, which was appropriate, as we went to Carnegie Hall for a show after. Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mr. King-O-Broadway himself, gave a concert to benefit the Actors Fund. There were a bunch of guests, including Reba McEntire and Phylicia Rashad, who were both great.

In the midst of my grad-school busy-ness, Mike came to visit for the weekend, which was a blast. We went to see Chicago (which is now starring Brian McKnight, who knew?), ran into some Albany peeps in the Village, chilled in Central Park, etc.

Mike and I had Ethiopian for lunch on Sunday.

I Heart New York

Safety first!
14th Street

Avery Has a Middle Name

Her name: Avery Mae Chase. Too cute. :-)

Love This

Courtesy of the New Yorker, of course.