During my absence here on the old blog,

my parents were present for four days. We had a lovely time, catching up, visiting LACMA, the beach and just hanging out.  I had probably one of my top five star sightings at LACMA where we visited the Robert Mapplethorpe and Reigning Men exhibits. Look who was walking out of the Mapplethorpe:

I locked eyes with her and then proceeded to get all fluttery and goofy. She walked away, and I begged Oliver to give chase and take a photo. He came back with the proof. I then had to sit on a bench and explain to my parents who she was, what she did, why I was acting so goofy. It's Patti Smith, ya'll, looking exactly like Patti Smith.

I don't know where to start as far as catching up. At risk of too much shameless self-promotion, here's an interview I did with Amy Silverman on her wonderful blog Girl in a Party Hat. Amy is the writer who I am meeting with (or with whom I am meeting) to "engage in conversation" this Friday night at our local independent bookstore. She's written a wonderful memoir titled My Heart Can't Even Believe It. She's so generous to have promoted me on her blog by asking me some questions about blogging and my own writing.

Speaking of. My own writing. Lordy lord. I have got to get going doing it. I'm in a distracted slump. I've got short story ideas piling up and the manuscript that I worked on over the summer on my Hedgebrook residency is languishing, to say the least. The thing is I am distracted. Some of the distraction is heavenly and some is just plain laziness. My job at Marijuana.com has come to a grinding halt, too, so I really, really need to drum up some bizness. If you can think of anything, let me know.

Here are some photos that I took over the weekend. I'll be back with more words soon.

Being Sick When Obama Comes to Town

While I lay on my bed most of the day yesterday, Sophie went off to her first day of Communicamp, Henry and Oliver went up in a World War II plane over Atlanta with my parents, and Obama came to town, grid-locking my neighborhood so that he could have dinner at Shonda's house. I'm not one of those folks who gripes and complains about the security apparatus that surrounds the president, figuring I'm just as complicit as the next American to have participated in this crazy system. I'm sort of grossed out by the money-making machine element of it all and feel sickened when I begin to think that it's all going to start again -- the right-wing crazies crying that we want our country back, the big Hollywood stars opening their mansions to the big donors, all the schmoozing, all the bullshit. But the traffic? The inconvenience of it? I admit it'd be nice if Obama didn't have to travel around in a line of enormous tinted windowed SUVs with the LAPD in full regalia, but what are you going to do? Then again, I wasn't in a car, inching down our little street, but rather sitting on the stoop, blowing my nose, still in my pajamas at 4 in the afternoon. I have a horrible cold, so horrible that I'm verging on a man cold, to tell you the truth, and need some sympathy.

What else is going on around here

Grandma and Pop Pop have arrived!

What's happening in your parts?

Dear Delta,

As I ready myself to join the boys and the rest of my family -- my sisters and their husbands, the cousins, the nieces, the nephews, my parents, etc. -- for our annual trek to South Carolina at my parents' house in Hilton Head, I am reminded of the letter that Oliver wrote earlier in the spring. I used to take Sophie to this "vacation" (and I put the word in quotes because it's so NOT a vacation) every year -- did so for a decade -- but it was like going to hell on earth.

At best, I called it my life in a different location, a location with none of the accommodations and routines that we rely upon to stay sane.

At worst, it was four scary plane rides, the expectation that I would have to change a diaper in the airplane bathroom, endure the looks and stares of countless people as Sophie hummed, agitated, a week of no sleep, grotesque humidity, Sophie's seizures, Sophie's accidents (she split her head open, cracked a tooth, fell a number of times with minor head injuries), my own resentment that everyone's life went on as normal while mine did not, and sheer loss and sorrow, magnified a million times over as only proximity to extended family can provoke. 

Don't call me dramatic.

I now go to Hilton Head and join my boys and family for a shorter period of time and leave Sophie at home with her father. It's better all around, an easier loss to bear, at least for me. What I didn't expect -- or failed to realize -- is the effect of all of this on my boys and their desire to travel -- together -- as a family, including Sophie. We often overlook the profound impact of disability on siblings, the ongoing impacts -- both seen and unseen. When Oliver's teacher sent me a copy of the following letter, it hit me like a sledgehammer -- but not hard enough to make me change our plans and drag Sophie back east, again.

However, if Delta would kindly reply to this letter from Oliver, we might possibly venture back east again as a family. 

Dear Delta,

Hi my name is Oliver and I am in the 6th grade. I am 12 years old and I have 2 siblings. One of them is my brother Henry who is 14 years old and in 8th grade and my sister Sophie who is 18 and is severely disabled and has seizures almost every day. Me and my family love to go on vacations but we have to leave Sophie behind. It's not like we don’t want to bring her it's because the plane rides are just not right for her. There is not enough room for her to spread her legs and the hard surfaces are bad because she will hit her head on them and I think you know the rest of that story. So I have been thinking for a long time about making a handicap accessible plane for people like my sister and for people that are elder or have some kind of a disability. I love delta airlines but I think that this would be a huge jump for your company. I am not doing this to be famous or be rich I am doing this for people like my sister and how they might never get to experience or go anywhere on this magnifsent planet that we call earth so pleas delta pleas make this dream of mine come true.                                                                                                                                     Sencerly, Oliver.B

Camp Pop Pop and Grandma

Henry and Oliver have spent the last two weeks with my parents in Georgia, and given that my parents are in their mid and late seventies, I'm sort of in awe with what they've done with them there. They've gone white water rafting, back and forth to Hilton Head in South Carolina, and to Six Flags Over Georgia -- my father has joined them in the raft, on the roller-coasters, out in the boat -- you name it, he's done it. My mother isn't as agile as she used to be but I'm certain has loved them to death. I am proud of my boys and grateful to my parents for what they've given them.

Here are some photos of their weeks away:

 
Oliver evidently cooked Henry's birthday meal -- steak tacos and all the fixings. My father sent me this photo with the caption: He is really unbelievable.

That's my niece Mary, Henry, Oliver and my mother around the table for Henry's birthday dinner party.

That's Henry blowing out the candles of his chocolate layer cake, my mother's birthday specialty.

And here are the whitewater rafting photos -- my father is sitting directly behind Henry who is at the front of the boat -- pretty spectacular, right?

OLIVER!

Tonight is opening night for OLIVER!, and my Oliver is playing one of the orphans. My parents will be flying in from Atlanta to see the show and spend a bit of time with us this weekend. We're all very excited and some of us are very nervous. Break a leg, Big O! We love you so.

Requiem for a Television

Pop Pop surprised us with the purchase of this flat-screen television:

Rest in peace, 1996 behemoth television that lived with us in New York City, traveled across the country and sat in our living room for so many years. You served us well.

We're just spoiled rotten.

The Units are here

My parents are visiting from Atlanta, so it's going to be slim pickings on this blog. I'll keep you posted, probably with photos, and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!