Birthday Hugs for Christine and Dan
Dr. Jean Grey Queens; Jillian and Malcolm Blissfully Unaware
The cat was acting strangely last night. She all-out assualted the dog, somehow landing up on her back and clawing at her while the dog tried to get away. Then, she became unusually affectionate, which would have been fine had she not been leaving spots of mysterious blood all over the house. I feared spontaneous abortion, put the cat outside, and let her back inside in the middle of the night.
Look what happened this morning while we, by some stroke of amazing good fortune, were asleep:
Only two, it seems, which was good luck, as well. Am I stoked on the amount of blood and uterine fragments there are scattered around the house? Not so much. Are we incredibly delighted to have missed out on the crying, contracting, sack-tearing, umbilical cord chewing, placenta-gobbling, and possible consumption of stillborns? You'd better believe it.
Now what?
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February 24, 2007
Photo Essay: On the Town
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February 22, 2007
Question
Q: What in the name of holy hell is this thing?
Name: Unknown
Type: Insect
Size: Approximately 2"
Stinger: Yes, large
Location: Progreso, MX
Flight: Unknown, further data not desired
Speed: Slow moving
Strength: Survived Initial Cinderblock Offense
General Appearance: 70% scary, 100% fugly
Status: Deceased, with great prejudice
Any Yucatecan wildlife experts care to fill in the blanks for us?
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This Just In: Adulthood, kind of a trip
Who knew, right? Not so long ago, we were considered successful in our peer group. Our knowledge of stuff, geek-chic tech junk, hip lit, bars, bands, and pop culture in general, all made us fairly cool commodities. Not super cool, mind you, but we got by in Brooklyn, birthplace of hipster babies, hipster mommies, and even, god love em, hipster mannies (that's a nanny who is a boy).
Now, however, we are extracted from all that. We removed ourselves from the white noise of low culture, as well as from our good friends, acquaintances, enemies, frenemies, dopplegangers, and nemeses. If you wear an ironic t-shirt in Mexico and nobody is here to see it, does it still increase your cool points? All that accrued knowledge and power and social cache doesn't matter anymore.
It's better really, reliable, like polished concrete, this new knowledge. We are not entirely unused to conversations of substance, mind you; it's just that in the past they were often punctuated by a song and dance in a fountain routine or prefaced by a trip down the slip and slide. It's not just us, or rather not so much a product of our new environment, as it is our advancing age. It's happening and it cannot be helped or held off any longer. I don't want to return to Williamsburg; I don't want to be 24.
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February 21, 2007
crAsh Wednesday
The party of parties has come to an end. We experienced only one night in Merida, but it was, as promised "Tacos for the Eyes."
The Festivities in Merida:
In the Yucatan Carnaval is family-friendly
this is the crowd that swallowed our friends
The People's Procession
Novelty liter of beer. Nothing novel about it.
And Progreso:
Fearful Symmetry
You're Fancy!
vendors in the zocalo
Elote is corn on the cob with cheese and spices
awesome
Lots of cool details in this picture. Be sure to biggify.
Now back to our regularly scheduled food, lights, parades, and happy families
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February 20, 2007
Announcing the Beta Launch of Hallway Wars
If I may take a break from Mexico for a minute, I would like to officially announce the launch of Hallway Wars: The Ultimate High School Battle Royale! We have been developing this online multiplayer browser-based game for a while now. In Hallway Wars, you choose one of four high school cliques to join in a battle for control of the school. Of course, each clique has different strengths and weaknesses. And best of all...the winners of each round get REAL CASH PRIZES. Check it out.
We learned a lot while we were developing this one, and have already started putting together our feature wish list for version 2.0, which we are working on now. In the meantime, please help us bug test by joining, playing the game, and reporting any bugs you find in the Hallway Wars forums. Thanks, and enjoy!
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February 18, 2007
Risking Peppermint Tea
A norte has been blowing for days, creating cool days and truly chilly nights; the ocean is foaming with three rows of waves and all that churning left a lot of organic debris on the beach. We found dozens of horseshoe crabs and star fish and mounds of seaweed. We're staying in today to watch movies, drink tea and get some work done. I rode around on the bike for a while and it felt like spring, as if an entire imaginary winter had passed and I was out in just a sweatshirt for the first time in months. We hear that this is rather cold, even for February and we know that the weather all over is strange. I wonder what it all means. If anything?
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February 17, 2007
Meat Fugue
Ever since Wednesday, when we went to El Argentino for Valentine's Dinner, we've been stuck in a fugue state, a contrapuntal composition on a carnal theme.
"The beginning of the fugue tends to be written to definite rules"
I just generally wouldn't order the meat. It seems undainty and overwhelming. But I know when the code of conduct supercedes my inclination. At an Argentine restaurant, one must tango with steak. I was pleased with the Arrechera - translated as "skirt steak" on the English language menu, made it seem ladylike enough - cooked medio and served with a bacon and sour cream filled baked potato. A bottle of red and a same colored rose complemented the rich warm flavors of South American romance.
"The fugue rarely stops after its initial exposition, more often continuing to one or more developmental episodes"
Thursday evening we picked up Mac in Telchac and starving, stopped at Los Compradres in Progreso on our way home. Carnaval was poised to descend and from our table we could see parade floates being assembled and revelers making ready to revel. Perched on the edge of the little zocalo, we enjoyed tacos, two of each kind: gringas, chorizo, puerco, and pastor. The vertical pork was sliced from the spit by a swarthy guy who relished his power. Hand made tortillas and Victoria beer were pitch perfect accompaniments.
"A fugue may end with a recapitulation"
By 1 o'clock yesteray we were totally famished. Friday is our errands day, when we put on long pants and go into town. I exchange libray books and then we have lunch. My driving skills are really highlighted by the crowds in the narrow streets of Centro; we pointed out the church and the tourists and the parade ready square. We stopped to refuel at La Parilla, a grilled buffet extravaganza. The arrechera was good not great, but they make up in spectacle what they lack in outstanding cuisine. Four words: margaritas in the afternoon.
The past three meals have been so gloriously Baroque, but I think it's time for a salad.
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Hey Sneaker Thieves
An open letter to the wanks wearing my blue New Balances:
Listen, jerks, it is totally unhygienic to wear used shoes. And, secondofall, I was going to get new ones anyway this weekend. I hope you get athlete's foot or corns or ingrown toenails or some other podiatric problem.
Step off,
JMR
p.s. Malcolm is also mad about the theft of his Vans flips.
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February 14, 2007
Look What I've Got
For those of you that don't know, my Dad moved here to the Yucatan (specifically, Telchac Puerto) last week, about six months after we arrived. We haven't done a blog entry in a while, because this is so obviously The Big Thing that needs to be written about, but I really have no idea how to write it. It's complicated, and I can't seem to organize my thoughts into complete sentences. The best thing may be to take a page from Jillian's blog entry style, and do it in fragments.
It's so complicated, it's so very simple. It's so new, it's so familiar. It changes everything, it changes nothing. It's amazing, it's terrifying.
Malcolm A., Malcolm S.
Mac, Malcolm.
64, 28.
So far, it's been wonderful, and I am so happy to have him here. I've never lived this close to my dad, and we are having a great time just hanging out in the sun. It's looked like this:
Taking in the new scenery.
In general, it seems we spend a lot of time showing each other stuff.
First beer in Dad's new digs in Telchac.
The breeze, gettin' shot.
Showin' off my mad $3 BBQ skillz.
Taking in the new scenery.
If you've got the time, contrast these with the last photos we took when my dad came to visit. They are so much the same...the interactions, the people, the cast of characters. The setting, however, has gone totally bananas.
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February 12, 2007
The Miracle of Life is Gross
Dr. Jean Gray got herself in trouble. Don't blame us, Bob, because it likely happened a little more than three weeks ago, which was before she became our dear pet. Having kittens, like jumpstarting a car is one of life's mysteries that I don't entirely understand.
Once again, I turned to the internet for guidance. My eyes. What I have seen today, and will reluctantly share with you, is intended for mature viewing audiences only. Do not try this at home.
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February 08, 2007
Mashup: Brave Ulysses
You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.
Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
The colors of the sea blind your eyes
And you touch the distant beaches
By the sirens sweetly singing.
that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tennyson/Cream
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My New Hat
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February 06, 2007
The Internet is the New Looking Glass
I have been seated at my desk all day today.
I 've been here, at the brand new super sleek glass topped desk, since 8 am. That happens before noon. Getting up early is my new thing. Even though my new thing should be surfing with Kelly Slater or having lunch with the ghost of George Plimpton. Since my writing has to be in New York by 10am (time shift) and I can never seem to finish the day before ...well, there I am.
It is now 8 o'clock at night. And I have done...nothing. I can't even tell you what I learned or accomplished. The Internet pulled me across the fourth wall and all I have to show for it is a sore butt and bleary eyes.
Let's walk through it together. I started reading new blogs. I watched footage from fashion week and contemplated Anna Winters' bob and Bryant Park in winter, both icy and elegant. I considered unflattering photographs of celebrities. I viewed a bunch of music videos on youtube: Joni Mitchell, Jenny Lewis, Beth Orton, Luscious Jackson, Feist. I read about space and racism, global warming and Flannery O'Connor in the Times online, moved over to the couch for a little Vineland by Pynchon, ran and rode my...alcolm's bike. I also made lunch, took sales calls, arbitrated a hissy/taunting fight between cat and dog, chatted with my sister online, took photographs, did some research on St. John of the Cross, went to the market and noodled around the house. I annoyed Malcolm, whose "desk" is the dining room table not a foot behind me and I achieved a level of procrastination I have not attained since college. It's eight o'clock. Time for a glass of wine and a walk on the sand. Tomorrow I'll be up before six. The beach is so pretty then, however will I concentrate?
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This Sheep Lives a Few Doors Down
can you see him?
there he is!
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February 01, 2007
Uh Oh.
On my way out of the kitchen tonight, I thought to myself, "Chrissake, what a menagerie." Here's why:
We have been alternately calling her "Det. Olivia Benson" and "Marishka Hargitay." Stay tuned to see which one (and if the dog thing in general) sticks.
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