My Parents Visited.

I would really be remiss if I didnt mention that my family came to visit. Thats right. The whole crew (Mom, Ariel, Dad, Stepmom) all flew (Mom flew seperately!) to the big apple and stayed with me for a week. Mom was only here for four days, which wasnt nearly long enough. We had a GREAT time. My parents fled NYC with me in my infancy after breathing 500ppm cockroach bits for six plus years in "Morningside Heights" in the seventies after my Dad gave Columbia the bird. They'd never come back, until October 23rd 2006. They all stayed with me in the apartment, in Brooklyn. It was so much better than a hotel cause we could just hang out and eat at home and not feel all touristy and hotelly. We went to the opera and saw those two short italian operas that always play together. I stayed awake for the first half between my mom and rick who were sawing logs, and slept through the second half which everyone agreed was stellar. They have these amazing little subtitle readers on the dividers between rows that give you the english translation of the lyrics. Im fairly sure I was kept awake throughout the first half by the greif that I felt due to everyones little reader being broken except for mine. After I was disabused of that notion during intermission when rick (ol smarty) informed me that actually the plastic was tinted from an angle so you werent distracted by thousands of red subtitles all around you, so you could only see your own, I slept like an accountant on april sixteenth.

Of course there was a certain amount of food tourism that had to take place, although I must say it was far less than I expected. We ate lunch at Katz's Famous Delicatessen on the Lower East SIde. I had never eaten there. It is an experience. The pickles are amazing. On second try, and the Kasha kind, I still think Knishes are like eating a bowling ball stuffed with mashed potatoes. Sorry Rick! I take great pleasure in seeing my dad enjoying his favorite "combination" sandwich which is a pastrami with chopped liver on rye bread. Even though its probably responsible for more fatalities a year than e. Coli, theres just something about something that makes you that happy and has that much nostalgia that has to be good for you. Food just doesnt taste like that in Spokane. We also went to the 92nd street Y and saw a rabbi who used to preside over a congregation that Rick attended in Boston, speak about the Kabbalah and read from his recent book on the topic. With Rick and his cousin (whose hair i now do :)) we took up a whole row, and i loved watching my parents soak up all the jewishness and intellectual presence in the room. Washington is so essentially gentile (even when youre in supposedly jewish places) that its an exhilerating feeling culturally to be around your own, regardless of religious commitment. They really enjoyed it and my dad asked some really salient question that impressed the rabbi and I remembered how I was always proud when I would get to hear my dad speak in public at school meetings and other stuff we went to, even when he took excessively long pauses which were embarrassing. I asked what he thought of the whole Madonna Kabbalah thing and the hipness factor. I wish I remembered exactly what he said but it was something to the effect that whatever brought people to it was fine with him. We stuck around afterward for shabbat prayer, wine, some obscenely sweet and delicious meltaway babka and the best Challah ive ever had. Usually challah is gross, I always eat a shred of it just for symbolisms sake but this stuff was amazing. ive got to (not) find out where they got it. We also ate dinner at the UWS's most reasonable restaurant, Ottomanelli's. Its cheap plentiful italian food with zero attitude and no reservations necessary. They went back later in the week too! Very cute.

Everyone came by the Salon and met Chaim and Judah and the gang. Some of the stylists were totally blown away by how beautiful mom is despite the fact that her hair is greying and she allows her skin to be wrinkled instead of botoxing and lifting. They were mesmerized by her energy and life force, daresay just happiness?? Mommy and I stayed and I blowdried, Cut then rewashed and let air dry her hair. it was really fun. We walked around the upper east side, laughing at hot n' crusty bakery, oohing and aahing at all the swanky stores and glitzy jewelery, bought me some shoes, and just hung out together in New York for the first time.

Rick was amazing and took lots of time to hang with us. Of course my family loved him immediately and would probably trade me for him if push came to shove. I had this whole driving tour of brooklyn day planned (about the only thing I had planned) but when the time came, everyone was too neurotic and busy asking what everyone else wanted to do, and Sherry was fixated on spending every day in museums and dad wanted to meet sherry and so on that no one could commit to doing it. By virtue of the F not running normally Rick took us to the L and therefore drove from my house to Williamsburg, which they LOVED and wished they had more time to tour. HELLO!?!?!? Thats why I wanted to do it, I knew you guys would get a kick out of it. So yeah, the family still has the potential to irritate. But I just let everyone do what they wanted to do. Which was get to the met on a Sat, check our coats, stand in HUGE lines to get in and then decide we're hungry only to leave and go to a deli on sixth ave for sandwiches and salad and only have an hour left til the museum closes. So glad we flew solo on that venture. He took us on a little more tour when we drove down coney island avenue to this fabulous, huge turkish restraunt that Mahdis introduced me to called Sahara. Delicious and so unlike any experience you could have at home that it was the perfect place to go. Plus you can see the crazy ebbs and flows of ethnic enclaves from russian to hasidic to indian/pakistani to bukharian jewish and all the crazy shops along Coney. thank god for that honda. which smells like burning toast above 35 mph. donations accepted.

Mom got her garage/thrift fix in with Mahdis up the block at "Larry's" where a guy named larry (who mahdis has called george for the past five years because he insisted on calling her roxana...I also (also thanks to the great miss M,) got an AWESOME salon chair from the sixties from him for fifty bucks. works like a charm!) sets out a bunch of old furniature and decor stuff on the street and in his garage every weekend. The morning of the day she had to leave, Mom bought a large, heavy and extremely fragile ceramic basket of ceramic flowers that had to be packed and brought home on the plane.


On the night before they all left Ariel Dad and sherry met me at work and we all took the F down to Dumbo and walked to the fulton ferry dock along the water where you can see the entire unobstructed manhattan skyline from just across the water. From the chelsea peirs and up all the way to the statue of liberty. Dad and sherry bought (really exceptional) ice cream from the little shop on the dock and ariel and I sat on the giant rope tie thingys and watched dad and sherry's backs outlined against the bright night of the manhattan sky. Even though it was halloween it was unseasonably warm and a totally clear and beautiful night. Rick came and picked us up and drove us home. Oh yeah, I was wearing a giant white afro wig and glittery makeup the whole time...forgot about that! We then came home and he and I left to go stand in line for some exteremely crowded and hip halloween party where we waited to get in about five times longer than we stayed. I came home and went to bed. Woke up the next day and went to work a little late. The cab i called to take everyone to the airport never came, they called another one and when I got home the house was quiet and empty, with a note for my roomate from my dad and some cash that he had absentmindedly accepted from her for some takeout thai food we all shared.

All in all , it was a wonderful visit. I cried a lot (sorry rick;)), cause it sucks being far from my family and seeing my parents so little as they get older and i get older. Also cause I dont have any kids, or any desire to ever live in seattle again. Its just emotional, this living. And especially when you are lucky enough to really love and enjoy your family. I see why so many Americans choose to estrange themselves from their families. Its far less painful to be a free standing unit, especially when individuality is the goal, than it is to love four or five people as much as you love yourself. Something will have to become clear sometime fairly soon that will illuminate a way for us to see each other more freqently. Im sure the fact that Ariel is moving here in January to pursue graphic design at Parsons will secure more frequent visits. I think it hasnt really sunk in that she is coming for me yet. Amazing. Were like mexicans in LA, one person comes and sets up shop then calls for backup.

Here I am tired and writing again, at nearly one. Time to hit the sheets, make sure the ol plantar tendons get some ice and a good nights rest. Gotta tend the feet as you get up in age dontcha know.

Will she take Svetlana up on the Russian Mafia Medicare Health Insurance??? Stay tuned!!