year end 2007

Oy fucking vey. Has this year been Mr. Toad's Wild Ride or what? More "or what" than anything else. From leaving L.A. - wasn't that home? Hadn't I paid hundreds of thousands for what? No Equity of any kind? whatever. -- to arriving in Shingle Springs and living all double-wide with Steve and Mike... then... coming to the East Coast with high hopes and....

Arriving with high hopes. Staying with sister Charlotte and her husband Tom - offers of houses on Martha's Vineyard and Provincetown (am I repeating myself?) but giving it up for the chance of work with Badger Balm in Gilsum, NH -- NOW, I KNOW that I'm repeating myself, because if I haven't chirped about this here already, I must be dead.

I lived in bucolic rural Gilsum. I painted daily like my life depended on it. Well... it did. My rusty hinges of loosely hinged sanity.

"But there ain't no Sanity Claus." Thank you; now we know.

Split-second timing and the involvement of busy friends and not-so potential employers, I arrive in Bedford at Chez Schwerin - home of Peg Schwerin, home of her brood and her recently deceased husband, Charlie.

Having that same moniker (Merrimac?) gives a certain jeannie sasquatch to all this, as the French would say. Answering the phone as myself using my own name -- a voice of Charlie gives rise to some. Oh well. I doubt he'd answer the phone if alive.

As it is right now, the house has cleared after a few days of family doing that holiday thing. On Christmas day, I was with Charlotte's brood and all that at her daugfhter Lori's abode. First time with them since 1975. 32 years.

It will be at least that before I do it again. Seriously.

Tomorrow, New Years Eve, I have volunteered to work at the Hynes Auditorium for this occasion - a first time First Night for me. I got the 4-9 there. I will leave and proceed to partay wherever the party leads me.

I will spend the night/morning and (thanks to you, public transportation!) the next day too. That'll be fun. I spent Xmas eve there and we watched V for Vendetta. Me likey lots. Then Auntie Mame, yet again; one of those standard holiday movies for me.

It looks like snow. We've had our share already so far this year. Slippery icy nastiness. It's like Heaven. Just a wee little bit... if at all.

Sundays and the special flavor that they have

Since childhood. Late afternoon Sundays have this certain laziness and lost time feel to me.

Good time for a matinee. A nap. A tea dance and a drink. A bump. Something without commitment or bother.

Gray day. Snow due, maybe slush storm. Went to Boston for what was supposedly an hour trip; ended up, by fate, spending the whole day running around getting things done. I liked it. Downtown has that certain thing much like this feel for Sunday afternoons. But so much has changed. Not me.

Sure.

Got a hangnail type of calloused skin off of my middle right finger last week. It got some totally debilitating infection that made me ill for several days. What is this? Looks like gangrene, as it travels down the side of my throbbing blue-black finger. It's still there a week later. Ow and scary. This failure of an aging body sucks. Shall I testify?

No, we'd prefer you keep it to yourself. Please.

Life does go on.

tick tick tick

Last month of 2007

Holidays.

Sisters.

Things.

Me.

Combine and watch, wait, stand back and.

Here at Chez Schwerin, Casa Peg, all is going as to be expected. Daughter Sarah arrives soon, maybe while I do this here now. Sarah was the lucky first person to sit next to me when I first came to Bedford and attended public schools - Third Grade - Wilma Gennetti's class - Wilma lived just down the road here on Hillside. Yeah, so? Just sayin'. There's a gazillion Gennettis in this town. A district/neighborhood is entitled Gennetti Circle.

Speaking of, due to the heat being pumped up late last night, the dreams were fever pitch weird - and I incorporated Sandi Silva - a schoolmate of 'ours' from Bedford days of yore, and a dear friend - into a dream. She was entering the arena which I had just left, where some sort of near Public Access type of community theater (NO) dealio had me involved in some film production that got increasingly more bizarre and sexual as the production continued. I was given speaking lines, which addled me, as I forgot them and was concerned that this was all becoming much more than anticipated, plus, big plus, was I going to be compensated for this added dialogue.

But, there was Sandi, me holding and hugging her as she went down the steep ladder stairs into this realm to = what? I have no clue, but bid my farewells, I as was done and doner by whate'er had transpired before all of this.

Dream On!

The heat came on in a blast - this after discussions with the neighboring unit (that is fashioned out of the whole of this house) that has domain on the thermostat. The steam was whistling as it got thrown into hyper drive some time after 11. The first time heat arrived in my upstairs room; so much so that I was duly uncomfortable. And Peg had nightmares from this also.

Was this not the focus of discussion just yesterday - the enormity of the bills for fuel? DUH.

I wonder if sister Mary, visiting from Boulder Creek California will make contact. I have initiated such since her arrival a week ago last Wednesday. Whatever. We did a lunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord and a drive around the bordering towns - as far as Framingham and other places seemingly so distant but not.

La di da.

Sundays. SO evocative unto themselves. Flavor. Roast beefs... company... the cast of characters from the past... Mary Rod, after organ work at the church .... cards being played with any number of Down Easties visitng and drinking. As kids, we eventually got the neighboring kids banned by their parents from playing cards with us Sinclairs - we would take them to the penny ante cleaners, we would.

Ah, so long ago.