Last Saturday I'm having coffee with a friend, a guy I've known for about 10 years. It was the first time we've had to catch up since I moved back. It was great to see him. During our hours long conversation, he starts laughing, some might say giggling. A mutual acquaintance mentioned to him that she knew I was gay. He told me he laughed out loud and said, "Kate's Not Gay!"
What? Maybe that's the reason men aren't beating down the door to ask me out? Am I giving off some kind of 'gay vibe?' I mean to each his own, but I'm totally straight (and a good catch, in my opinion!) So I can either believe that men are just clueless or I'm giving off a vibe. Hmmm, I think I'll go with (and I'm using about 20 years of dating experience here) that men are clueless!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Biking To Church, Only 1 NDE
NDE=Near Death Experience. Easy to come by when you ride your bike in the suburbs. I can not believe how careless drivers are with their cars. I rode my bike last night about 9 miles from my home to church. And had to be so alert it was unbelievable!
Okay, here's my NDE. I'm riding on the sidewalk down John R. towards Square Lake Rd. As I'm approaching an intersection, a street, at a fairly good pace, a woman drives up and across the crosswalk. She never even looks to her right, only her left. She's on her cell phone. I slam on my brakes and my bike skids out and I come within an inch of her car. I really wanted to hit her car, but since my bike would have been damaged, and because it wouldn't be the right thing to do, I didn't.
I yelled something like, 'hey, lady, watch out!' She still doesn't look at me--too busy with her cell phone conversation, probably--and I yelled something else like, 'you almost hit me! get off your cell phone!' She never acknowledged me, I'm not sure she ever saw me...scary.
Since I'm on a rant, I may as well finish with how to walk/jog/bike on a sidewalk--just some common sense things. So if you ever walk/jog/bike on a sidewalk, keep these things in mind. And if there's something I'm overlooking, please share your comments, I want to be a polite pedestrian/runner/biker.
Keep to your right. Don't have your ipod on so loud you can't hear someone yell at you. When you hear 'on your left' that means someone is behind you and going faster than you and is planning on passing you on your left--don't move to your left, just stay where you are. If there are three of you walking and you see a biker coming from the opposite direction, one of you should move. Really, just one. If your house has bushes that block the sidewalk, please trim them. When someone passes you and says, "thank you," it's ok, and even polite, to say "you're welcome."
To those few of you, and I do mean few, who let me pass in front of their car, waved me through, and the one guy who said, "you're welcome," THANK YOU for making my ride safer!
Okay, here's my NDE. I'm riding on the sidewalk down John R. towards Square Lake Rd. As I'm approaching an intersection, a street, at a fairly good pace, a woman drives up and across the crosswalk. She never even looks to her right, only her left. She's on her cell phone. I slam on my brakes and my bike skids out and I come within an inch of her car. I really wanted to hit her car, but since my bike would have been damaged, and because it wouldn't be the right thing to do, I didn't.
I yelled something like, 'hey, lady, watch out!' She still doesn't look at me--too busy with her cell phone conversation, probably--and I yelled something else like, 'you almost hit me! get off your cell phone!' She never acknowledged me, I'm not sure she ever saw me...scary.
Since I'm on a rant, I may as well finish with how to walk/jog/bike on a sidewalk--just some common sense things. So if you ever walk/jog/bike on a sidewalk, keep these things in mind. And if there's something I'm overlooking, please share your comments, I want to be a polite pedestrian/runner/biker.
Keep to your right. Don't have your ipod on so loud you can't hear someone yell at you. When you hear 'on your left' that means someone is behind you and going faster than you and is planning on passing you on your left--don't move to your left, just stay where you are. If there are three of you walking and you see a biker coming from the opposite direction, one of you should move. Really, just one. If your house has bushes that block the sidewalk, please trim them. When someone passes you and says, "thank you," it's ok, and even polite, to say "you're welcome."
To those few of you, and I do mean few, who let me pass in front of their car, waved me through, and the one guy who said, "you're welcome," THANK YOU for making my ride safer!
City of Troy, You Should Be Ashamed
Yes, ashamed! Your sidewalks are in terrible shape. They end without warning. They're not smooth. Not easy to navigate when having to bike everywhere. Lord knows I wouldn't dare drive on the streets with the crazy MI drivers! So I am forced to use your sidewalks. But I'm not happy about it.
City of Royal Oak, It is a PLEASURE to ride your sidewalks and live in your fair city! Kudos!
City of Royal Oak, It is a PLEASURE to ride your sidewalks and live in your fair city! Kudos!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Last Visit with My Father
I am so often inspired by something I see, hear or read. This is not the first time I was moved to tears and to write after reading MOTPG. (Mom of the Perpetually Grounded. I'd insert a link to her blog, but you, my readers, should know I don't know how to do anything technical like that!)
The summer before I turned 40 (5 years ago, I can hardly believe the passing of time...) I took my very first vacation. Not the first vacation I've ever been on, but the first vacation I've ever been on for me. I went to Georgia for the weekend to learn how to climb trees at Tree Climbers International. (see above for link insert.) That was a great trip which sparked a new but ever-present hobby, but the connection it holds to this post is that I was out of town.
My Dad had been living with my sister for about two years before that summer, up until a few months when he went into a nursing home. Now nursing homes have a special memory to me, and it is not a good memory. My Great Grandmother was in a nursing home in Benton Harbor and when I was young, I don't know, 6 or 7 or 8, we used to be taken there to visit her. I really have no memories of my Great Grandmother other than her in a nursing home. She was an old woman who would yell out in German to us. She would say things to my Grandmother and she didn't recognize my Mother. For me, I just wanted to leave, but I also realized how important it was for my Mother and Grandmother to visit her. And my dear Great Aunt Dot (who I later learned was called Dot not because she wore polka dots, but because it was short for Dorothy. I still smile and am comforted by polka dots to this day because of her and my memory of her.)
So it was hard for me to see my Dad in a nursing home. And I didn't get the chance to visit him often there as he died soon after moving in. My son was away for the summer, interning at the White House. My son and Father were very close. I was a single parent and we lived the first twelve years of his life with my parents in the home I grew up in. (The first ten with both my parents, until my Mother died.) So they were close; there was a great relationship between my son and both of my parents. My son never had to see his Grandfather in a nursing home, and I think that was my Dad's plan. I don't know what it says on my Father's Death Certificate and what was the official cause of death, but for me it will always be that he just was too tired and he just gave up--It was just too hard for him to live.
So that brings me to my last visit with my Father. My son was away for the summer and I was about to go on my first vacation. I went to visit my Dad a few days before I left. I pulled the curtain closed on his semi-private room; I sat with him on his bed; I gave him a manicure. He was pretty much non-responsive, at least until I cut a nail too short... I read to him from the Bible. I still remember what passage. Psalm 51. I'm sure I was inspired to read that passage to him. I hope it gave him some relief, some peace. It remains one of my favorite Psalms, bringing me both peace and sadness when I read it. He died less than a week later when I was in Atlanta.
I know my Father is in Heaven along with my Mother. I look forward to seeing them both again one day. I will always remember the last visit with my Father. And I will remember the last gift my Father gave: not having my son have the memories of visiting his Grandfather in a nursing home.
The summer before I turned 40 (5 years ago, I can hardly believe the passing of time...) I took my very first vacation. Not the first vacation I've ever been on, but the first vacation I've ever been on for me. I went to Georgia for the weekend to learn how to climb trees at Tree Climbers International. (see above for link insert.) That was a great trip which sparked a new but ever-present hobby, but the connection it holds to this post is that I was out of town.
My Dad had been living with my sister for about two years before that summer, up until a few months when he went into a nursing home. Now nursing homes have a special memory to me, and it is not a good memory. My Great Grandmother was in a nursing home in Benton Harbor and when I was young, I don't know, 6 or 7 or 8, we used to be taken there to visit her. I really have no memories of my Great Grandmother other than her in a nursing home. She was an old woman who would yell out in German to us. She would say things to my Grandmother and she didn't recognize my Mother. For me, I just wanted to leave, but I also realized how important it was for my Mother and Grandmother to visit her. And my dear Great Aunt Dot (who I later learned was called Dot not because she wore polka dots, but because it was short for Dorothy. I still smile and am comforted by polka dots to this day because of her and my memory of her.)
So it was hard for me to see my Dad in a nursing home. And I didn't get the chance to visit him often there as he died soon after moving in. My son was away for the summer, interning at the White House. My son and Father were very close. I was a single parent and we lived the first twelve years of his life with my parents in the home I grew up in. (The first ten with both my parents, until my Mother died.) So they were close; there was a great relationship between my son and both of my parents. My son never had to see his Grandfather in a nursing home, and I think that was my Dad's plan. I don't know what it says on my Father's Death Certificate and what was the official cause of death, but for me it will always be that he just was too tired and he just gave up--It was just too hard for him to live.
So that brings me to my last visit with my Father. My son was away for the summer and I was about to go on my first vacation. I went to visit my Dad a few days before I left. I pulled the curtain closed on his semi-private room; I sat with him on his bed; I gave him a manicure. He was pretty much non-responsive, at least until I cut a nail too short... I read to him from the Bible. I still remember what passage. Psalm 51. I'm sure I was inspired to read that passage to him. I hope it gave him some relief, some peace. It remains one of my favorite Psalms, bringing me both peace and sadness when I read it. He died less than a week later when I was in Atlanta.
I know my Father is in Heaven along with my Mother. I look forward to seeing them both again one day. I will always remember the last visit with my Father. And I will remember the last gift my Father gave: not having my son have the memories of visiting his Grandfather in a nursing home.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Shutter Island
Well, I'm just going to write this so others can read it. It's kind of a confession and I'm feel a little sick to my stomach as I type. I think Leo DiCaprio is a good actor. That's right. I THINK LEO DICAPRIO IS A GOOD ACTOR! He did a great job in Shutter Island, which I highly recommend.
Funny, I have always liked his movies, from Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I haven't seen a lot of them, I admit, but the ones I saw I thought were really good. And with Titanic, I really could not understand all the hoopla he received. I enjoyed the movie, and his character, but didn't picture him as a sex symbol. Thought he just happened to get the right part. But now I have to (swallow) take back my previous opinion. He may just have been a good actor all along.
So here's to you, Leonardo DiCaprio! Cheers!
Funny, I have always liked his movies, from Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I haven't seen a lot of them, I admit, but the ones I saw I thought were really good. And with Titanic, I really could not understand all the hoopla he received. I enjoyed the movie, and his character, but didn't picture him as a sex symbol. Thought he just happened to get the right part. But now I have to (swallow) take back my previous opinion. He may just have been a good actor all along.
So here's to you, Leonardo DiCaprio! Cheers!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Mermaid Parade
Another post I started in June but for some reason, never posted...until now.
You may or may not know, but NYC is a city of Parades and Festivals. There is a street fair every weekend in the summer somewhere in the city. And more parades than you can count. Of course the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is popular. And there's the St. Patrick's Day Parade that is also quite popular. Then you have the Gay Pride Parade, Puerto Rican Festival and Parade, Halloween Parade, all many of you have heard of. (I've actually been to all of these parades/festivals except for one this past year; can you guess which one?)
Pic of me, Brad and Mike at the Macy's Parade 2009.
One you may not be familiar with is the Mermaid Parade. And that's where I was today. At Coney Island in Brooklyn, watching the most unusual parade I've ever heard of. (Or seen, and considering my first paragraph, that's pretty unusual!) The main street (Surf Ave.) is blocked off and hundreds of people dress in a variety of costumes. There are a lot of mermaids, of course, along with a variety of fish, sharks, seahorses, a man wearing a suit of used metro cards and his wife a dress of the same 'fabric,' octopuses, etc. There were also plenty of people who collaborated and came as a group. For example, there was 'Scarfish' some gangster looking mermaids and mermans holding a sign that read, "say hello to my little fish." Very clever.
The best part (the best part of all my city adventures) is the friends I went with. Kansas, his boyfriend, and his roommate. We were even joined by a girl from my church (who gets the credit for the photos.) How I'll miss the quirky events from NYC and how I already miss Kansas and James!
You may or may not know, but NYC is a city of Parades and Festivals. There is a street fair every weekend in the summer somewhere in the city. And more parades than you can count. Of course the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is popular. And there's the St. Patrick's Day Parade that is also quite popular. Then you have the Gay Pride Parade, Puerto Rican Festival and Parade, Halloween Parade, all many of you have heard of. (I've actually been to all of these parades/festivals except for one this past year; can you guess which one?)
Pic of me, Brad and Mike at the Macy's Parade 2009.
One you may not be familiar with is the Mermaid Parade. And that's where I was today. At Coney Island in Brooklyn, watching the most unusual parade I've ever heard of. (Or seen, and considering my first paragraph, that's pretty unusual!) The main street (Surf Ave.) is blocked off and hundreds of people dress in a variety of costumes. There are a lot of mermaids, of course, along with a variety of fish, sharks, seahorses, a man wearing a suit of used metro cards and his wife a dress of the same 'fabric,' octopuses, etc. There were also plenty of people who collaborated and came as a group. For example, there was 'Scarfish' some gangster looking mermaids and mermans holding a sign that read, "say hello to my little fish." Very clever.
The best part (the best part of all my city adventures) is the friends I went with. Kansas, his boyfriend, and his roommate. We were even joined by a girl from my church (who gets the credit for the photos.) How I'll miss the quirky events from NYC and how I already miss Kansas and James!
Check Out My New Wheels
Yep, I'm back living the life of a 12 year old. My mode of transportation. Pretty fancy, huh?
Thanks to my future daughter-in-law for this picture. I left their house a week ago the same time they did. I could hear their laughter as they pulled next to me and snapped this action shot. Sometimes I think I can still hear their laughter...
Thanks to my future daughter-in-law for this picture. I left their house a week ago the same time they did. I could hear their laughter as they pulled next to me and snapped this action shot. Sometimes I think I can still hear their laughter...
Keys
Ok, so I moved back to MI from NYC almost two weeks ago. I'm finally feeling adjusted. I must say that I'm more relaxed than I have been in probably years. There is so much that I want to write about, the transition, the move, things leading up to the move...But since I haven't posted in so long, I'm going to just start writing about what is happening now, and maybe at some point I'll get around to the past month or so.
So what I was thinking about today is, I have a keychain with three keys on it: One for the House I'm staying at with friends; One for my 10' Storage Unit in Rochester Hills that I never got rid of (good thing, because that's where most of my stuff is! Everything except two suitcases and a few plastic bins, some of which is with me, some which now resides with my son.); and One for my Bike lock.
I don't think I've ever had so few keys on a key chain before. And it feels pretty good, too!
So what I was thinking about today is, I have a keychain with three keys on it: One for the House I'm staying at with friends; One for my 10' Storage Unit in Rochester Hills that I never got rid of (good thing, because that's where most of my stuff is! Everything except two suitcases and a few plastic bins, some of which is with me, some which now resides with my son.); and One for my Bike lock.
I don't think I've ever had so few keys on a key chain before. And it feels pretty good, too!
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