Am I back?

Maybe. Maybe it's time to turn this gig around. Upbeat -- that's the goal. Making a deal -- if I blog can I please have some sunshine in return?

I have two days left to teach this semester -- two days!

I didn't get it all done; so what else is new?

Well, that was my warmup. If anybody responds I'll post the mincemeat story from Thanksgiving.

Hey Blog, S'up?

Dear Blog,
You miss me.
I miss you.
That's the way it's gonna be for awhile, I think.

Ya know sometimes things just don't work out

So here I am in front of D's computer, having been up for hours coughing, spewing and hacking. I'm basically killing time until Urgent Care opens at 9:00 so I can find out whether or not I have Swine Flu. Yes, me the most stubborn thickheaded clod of an I'm in denial -- I've finally given in. I clearly have -- and have had for a week -- some kind of flu. Two things are at play with going to the doctor. One, I feel D_U_M_B even saying "gosh I think I may have Swine Flu": two, I'll feel horrible if I do, like I ought to round up all my students and loved ones and dip them in bleach simultaneously.

House Painting?

Well, next Saturday's the scheduled day for house painting, so I'm trying to round up a posse. The glitch is that the weather forecasts a 40% chance of rain. I will compare the place I live now to the place I used to live -- Pocatello, Idaho. In Idaho 40% meant it probably wouldn't rain. Here it seems to mean that it might rain buckets, maybe small maybe big ones. What am I gonna do?

Lemme just say . . .

two things. Greetings from Ithaca, NY, and -- if I lived here I would be huuuuuuuuuuge! I mean Fusillo (for you CNY locals) huge, but I don't mean car selection. Soon I will be posting:
- a detailed description of all the amazing things I've eaten (and the great coffee I've consumed) in the past two days, for those who appreciate everything from pastries to Thai food
- a photo montage (done my way, so expect a little weirdness) of Ithaca at 7:15 on Sunday morning
Predictably, both will be as much about me as they are about the place I'm in. After all, that's why I have a blog.
Peace
MNYAGG (and the now sleeping D)

The other white Utica

When I was in that kingdom far ago and long away, the one that I call Idaho, people often thought I was moving to Ithaca, NY. Most folks have heard of Ithaca, fewer of Utica (or Beautica as I like to call it.

Well, I moved to Utica, yes, but this weekend I'm going to Ithaca. I have a list of things we want to eat (D and I loooooooove to eat), and yeah we'll do some active stuff too, like walk from the Thai restaurant to the bakery. I jest.

Anybody know any really good restaurants and/or stuff to do in Ithaca?

MNYAGG

I wish I had time to blog , sigh

But I don't right now. I'm teaching an overload and trying to spend time with a certain handsome boyfriend. I'm also taking time to do things like clean my shed (Saturday) hook up my desktop (this morning), and continue ridding myself of old clothes by ferreting out things I no longer wear with a vengeance -- a vengeance I tell you!!!!
So if anyone's still out there, please give a shout out and tell me how you are -- just as busy as I am, I suspect.
Cheers,
PS: Missy goes to the vet on Sept. 11. Briana and I are convinced she has cataracts. I hope we're wrong.
More Later, I Hope

LOST in LOST

I shouldn't admit it but I'll be spending a ridiculous amount of my spare time rewatching LOST, which I watched when I had the two ruptured discs last fall. Apparently I missed an awful lot of what happened since I would fall asleep and then think I'd watched more of an episode than I had.

Don't think that this endeavor will get in the way of my dedication to my career -- oh no. I'll still be grading those papers, prepping for class, all that stuff. Maybe my creative writing class should be based on watching LOST and writing creative non fiction about it. Surely there have been MLA panels on the show. Anyway, gotta go -- season 1, episode 4.

Okay, I'm writing on the blog

but really I got nothin'. I start work today for reals, meaning the "with students" kind of work. I'm pretty excited. The first week is always fun and exhausting.

Yesterday I watched Missy trying to eat tomatoes off the vine in my backyard. So for those of you who have known me long enough to remember me saying that deer always get my tomatoes, I'm rethinking that one. Sometimes Missy goes out in the backyard at night and stays there for a while, so now, after all these years, I'm putting two and two together -- genius, huh?

For those of you who call and then tell me you like the opposable thumbs part of my phone message, don't you agree that really she doesn't need them after all? As long as I grow things that she can pilfer once I turn my back on her, she ought to be happy.

I guess I'll post my first day of work song so you can have an insider view of what's going on in my head this first day of the semester:

Overture, curtains, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, you'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

And if you want to look at it like I just did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnbyDT9-qA

That's all folks!

Well, what did I expect?

If ya don't post on your blog people stop reading it. So, new goal (added to a list of many goals that are part of Pat reformation) = post more. Too bad I'm so boring, but here's a little tidbit that's had me tingling (just a little) since my roommate told me about it:
The National are coming to Hamilton College!
I can't verify when on their website, but even if it turns out not to be true just the thought is exciting.
Other news: CCK restaurant in Albany still has a-kickin' food, but the crispy duck on taro wasn't as good as usual. Oh well, anybody can have an off night. D learned about a bakery on Lark Street, so yours truly has a nutella croissant waking for later. I found the perfect shoes at DSW, but I'm trying to beat the price on the Internet.
Oh yeah, and I start teaching tomorrow, so it's back to my version of professional dress. I will feel itchy and constrained in clothes that approximate professional attire. Well, that's life and there are worse things a person could have to do.

One last tidbit. Missy, at her advanced age, has revived a heinous behavior from the past and peed on B's (new roomie's) bed the other night. Super! I thought we were over that. She probably wanted to pee on my bed but the door to upstairs was closed. Abandonment issues suck! Lord knows what she'll do when I go back to work for reals tomorrow. She seems unsettled all the time and extra needy. Perhaps I can get her in a creative writing class and she can work out some issues. Maybe she'll become some canine Sylvia Plath. And, btw, she farts all the time lately; I mean more than usual.

What's been new with you?

Back to Work

Well, it's that time of year again, when summer ends and academicians everywhere drag their sorry butts back to work. I'm getting pretty excited about going back to work, even though our rainy weather makes me still feel cheated out of summer. I'm teaching an overload, so I'll be inundated with freshpeople. My other class is creative writing, something I always look forward to warily. After all, I've never actually taken a creative writing class myself, so it's the area of writing I have the least pedagogical training in. Oh well, I have some great essays for my students to read, including the entire Me Talk Pretty One Day. It was a toss up between that and The Glass Castle, a book that is ultimately uplifting but too sad and disturbing for my fragile little psyche right now.

I'll give a bronchitis update -- I'm doing better but last night I made the poor decision to forego cough medicine. I had to take it at 5:00 in the a.m. -- live and learn.

Today D and I are going to Albany. You might think wow that must mean your syllabi are done, and you'd be partially correct. I'm suffering from feast not famine in the form of so many good essays for my prose non fiction class. Well, it's better than the alternative.

I always start my creative writing classes with "The Learning Curve" which Sedaris begins with the following:
"A year after my graduation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a terrible mistake was made and I was offered a position teaching a writing workshop."

I am like Sedaris, well intentioned but without a pedagogy. Thank goodness I have the imagination to come up with oddball writing exercises to get students engaged and started. And thank goodness for folks who share their stuff by putting it on the Internet.

So whether you're going back to work or you never left it, how, my friends, are you spending this weekend? I'll be throwing in a little (joke if you've seen my lawn) lawn mowing tomorrow just for shits and giggles.

Here's the first shout out for house painting. I'd like to try to get the painting crew together for the weekend after Labor Day. Here's the deal--I supply the paint and brushes (duh!) and the pizza, beer, soda, wine (or other food that I'll prepare if people tell me what they want). I also supply the house with the new roof (yay!) that badly needs painting. We paint until everybody realizes that they don't really like me that much and can't imagine why they volunteered in the first place. Sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?

P.S. new goal for self: get back to blogging more often.
Happy Weekend!
Murf

Home Again, Home Again

Well, I put a few thousand miles on Ruby and had a great time with Big and Pin, but it's good to be home again. Here's my brief and limited feedback:
Northampton MA -- cool enough but a bit touristy and a lot of reeking with money
Portland ME -- very cool, easy to walk
Brattleboro VT -- is what it is, quaint and all
NJ -- of course is what it is, but has the advantages of family and Victor's pizza
Providence RI -- way cool and nicely put together
That's it for now.
Whatchu all been up to?

Pink Pills

I don't usually blog about anything too serious, but I've talked to quite a few friends in the last several weeks who have suffered from depression and are hesitant to take antidepressants. We've all heard the stories about people who have to try so many different things before they find the right medication, and of course nobody wants to put shit in his/her body that might have only god knows what side effects. But, I gotta say that there are things that can help -- family, friends, and sometimes medications when the latter two and all their love and good wishes aren't enough. So don't be scared. That's all -- off my soapbox.

I wonder if anybody still reads this thing

Yeah, I brought it on myself by not blogging when I was, well we'll call it depressed for lack of a better word. Now that I'm feeling better, I thought I'd give an update about what's going on in Pat's little world.
1) I have a cold. Big got sick from the plane and now I have it, wha!!!!!!
2) I am determined that said cold will not ruin today's blueberry picking fun, which btw is only fun to D and Big. I will be sitting in a lawn chair.
3) I have a sunburn, slight one, from going to Slyvan Beach yesterday. It makes me feel like I'm not fish belly white (I made that one up) even though I know I still am.
4) Roof work should be starting today. I'm getting a green steel roof that should look pretty cool. Then house painting (also green) can commence.
5) This one's exciting. My new roommate has moved in and she's just as cool as I thought she'd be.
6) I'm taking Big to see her gp's in NJ. That'll be good for all of us.
7) After having a rough patch of nervousness, Missy is starting to calm down. She likes my new roommate (yay!!!!!)
8) The only little downer (and it is little I'm aware) is that I'd like to mow the lawn today before I leave, but I feel crappy, wha again.
9) Oh, I almost forgot one: the other day while Big was "renovating" a closet for my new roommate's arrival I took my handsaw and clippers and went to town on the shrubs in front of my house. One will likely not come back, but I'm going to cover it for winter and see what happens. But the other two look so much better. I kept the one by the living room window tall (about 12') because I like to see Robins eat the berries on them. I felt pretty accomplished after doing it. I've never been much of a horticulturist. I also felt sore enough to want to curl up in a ball and cry the next day, but I got over that after I curled up in a ball and cried for awhile.

Well that's all the boring middle class shit I can think of. How are you guys doing?

I don't wanna sound too gaggy, but . . .

it sure is good to have Biggie Head with Fries around. Now if it would only stop raining! Obviously I'm a bad person who is never satisfied. I mean Portland was 107 yesterday, so I should quit whining. And I will -- soon.

For all you Uticans and former Uticans who come back for visits and love pizza as much as I do, here's mini review of Antonelli's (sp) in the North Utica Shopping mall, the depressing one with the Price Chopper.

The crust is amazing: crunchy, light, almost thin enough, and it has the whole dusted with semolina thing that I like (a lot). The sawsage was cut correctly (long ways), and while it was not great sawsage, it was good enough for me. There was too much sawce, but I'm sure they'd adjust it if you asked. We got a pizza with too many toppings, so I can't make a final decision until I have a sawsage and thin sliced onion one with less sawce, but it says on the menu that they'll work with you. Next time I'll ask for the crust a little thinner too. But overall, a really good pizza, not as good as Daryl's though.

You must wonder why anybody would actually eat pizza with me because I'm such a pain in the ass about it; I know I do. I consider it one of the worst character flaws of the New Jerseyian, that we are such pizza snobs, and I wish I wasn't one. Pizza is just a personal (and regional) idiosyncrasy, but pizza also = love, so I guess it's just so hard to eat a crappy pizza, like dating a guy all your friends know is a loser and knowing that they know and knowing that they're right.

Oh well, next up Joe's in Whitesboro.
Any other places I just have to try?

Well I'm Back Again

and in a much better frame of mind, I'm happy to say. In part, my new found euphoria (okay, I'm overstating that one) is because Big is coming from Portland tomorrow. I am so excited that I might even forget what a horrible summer it's been.

And, I'm putting out a query to all you CNYers. What should we do while she's here? So far I have blueberry picking at North Star Orchards, trying a new pizza place in North Utica (Antonelli's I think it's called), trying Joe's Pizza in Whitesboro, and going to Green Lakes. I think she'd also like to go to Saratoga Springs because she sounded pretty excited when I told her I'd gone there the other day. She'll probably want to go to Nine Cornered Lake, and I've got a trick card up my sleeve because I found another cool lake nearby that we could do in the same trip -- Jockey Bush Lake. What else should the Big and I do? I guess a Utica Monday Night is in order, and maybe I'll even break down and go to a Saranac Thursday. Big loves beer with a fervor I don't share or understand but do respect. I guess it's due in part to the fine Portland microbreweries and the fact that she gets a discount on the stuff at work.

Any other suggestions?

She will also want eat cannoli, another passion I do not share, but hey it's her vacation. Here's a potential soundtrack I could be singing on the way to the airport:
Licia's Comin' -- sung to the tune of Eli's Coming and with word changes
I'll Be There -- nice and cheesy
Mother and Child Reunion -- also super cheesy

That's all I can think of for now.

And, btw, if anybody's still looking at this blog and knows Rochester, that's where I'm going today. So far I have the Eastman House, the U, the "beach" and a Mexican place called Selena's (sp?). But if you know of other fun, or a great restaurant, please let me know.

To my western friends who read this blog (if you still do) I hope you find ways to stay cool. It sounds like it's crazy hot back there.
Happy Tuesday

There is such kindness

Well, these haven't been the best of times for me. That's all I'll say about that. But sometimes something happens, some tangible reminder that you mean something to someone and the little axis of all that is spins a bit better. To the person who left Fire To Fire on my doorstep the other night, thank you.

To hold a book and know that somebody thought enough and knew enough that it could be an anchor -- I am such a lucky person and I'd better start remembering that.

If I put into words all that Daryl has done for me the words would make it all sound trivial, invaded by what we have to do to say things and somehow wrong because of that.

I am a lucky person.

Get Serious

An 88 year old man opens fire at the Holocaust Museum, and I'm blogging about nicknames? Yes I am. Sometimes I think I should make more serious commentary instead of silly topics like candy bars and things I like about summer in CNY. But, you know know what? There's enough misery in the world and out there in the blogosphere. So you won't find much serious content until my taxes go up. Then the hounds of my middle class fury will be unleashed. Until then . . .

I love nicknames. I love coining nicknames and believe that some people's names were meant to be nicknamed. There's my friend Ginger, whose name is so easily converted to Gingersnap. There's Clark who became Clark Bar to me in graduate school. I call Zora Zoraster, in part because she drives a Forester. And there's a D-licious out there, cringing as he reads this because some of you know who he is. Every year or so I used to come up with a new nickname for Terry Engebretsen (talk about a patient person), and so Mr. T, T Rex, and my favorite T Bone were coined, among others. I have also coined other nicknames for Pin and Big, and rarely call them by their real names unless referring to them in conversation. Over the years I have called Missy the following:

Miss Thing, pronounced Thang(stolen from Sam)
Missypotamia (stolen from Daryl)
Missy Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles
Mississippi
Missy Poops
Missy Poops a Lotta
Stinker Fuss (because her feet stink like corn chips, but not corn chips you'd want to eat)
Sweet Sally Sue (which Pin loathes)

That's just a partial list, but I want to get on to my main point. Rarely does anyone nickname me. I think when you have a name like Murphy, the "Murf" moniker replaces any real nickname. Brandon Hall used to call me Fatty or Fatty Patty because I wasn't, and occasionally students call me Dr. Pat, but I WANT A REAL NICKNAME. Suggestions?

Do you have a nickname? How did you get it?