This morning, a small Asian man with a Christmas-green sports coat got on my subway car. Once the doors closed, he said, "Excuse me," and then burst into a heavily accented version of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (I think) through two subway stops.
When he finished, he thanked us and then left the car. WITHOUT asking for money!
For a moment I felt like I was back in NYC (barring that whole transit strike they have going on today), but then, with a whoosh, I was brought back to earth. The man didn't want any money! And I would have gladly given it to him, seeing how inappropriate for the cold his coat was.
But this situation proves exactly what the holidays are about: celebrating with family and friends, and being kind to strangers.
His song certainly lit up my corner of the world.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Absolut Insanity
You don't know where you've been until you see the pictures. At least, I'm sure that's how several of us felt after spending Friday night, of all things, celebrating Eric.
Yes, yes, he has finally passed into his 26th year, and just in time for 2006.
In any case, we came, we saw, we drank Jameson, we grabbed each others' nipples, and before you knew it, we were feeding Eric water through a straw. It was GLORIOUS.
There are many pictures illustrating the event, as can be seen through Kodak Gallery if you quickly make friends with either Dave or I. The only other problem (i.e. other than being friends with us) is that we have a difficult time sending them out because they make both of us look awful. As in "we never should have brought these cameras" awful. Basically, I reign as Queen of all Things Experienced with Eyes Closed, and David is the King of Nostril Hair. Enough said.
In other news, I went to see Derek's band play on Saturday night and redeem myself for missing his gig last weekend (which was merely 5 blocks away from my house). I'm not entirely sure what happened, except that the first band that played lost their drummer for about a half hour, the bartender(s) stole our money right in front of our backs, and Derek's band took an hour to set up. By the time they went on, it was after 1AM. WAY past my bedtime. Like the whiny little girl I am, I checked out early. Maybe next time I can see their entire set, but that night wasn't in the cards. I needed my down pillow - and fast.
Sunday was spent pretending we were going out of the house. Okay, so it did happen, but that wasn't until around 4:30PM so we could check out a junk shop before meeting Eric and Jeff at Ben's Chili Bowl. After buying a homeless guy a half-smoke, Anthony joined Peco at the hockey game and the boys and I visited my apartment. Which is the site of one good old-fashioned Scattergories timer disassembly.
Eric insisted that the timer needed batteries (it didn't), unscrewed the back, and all the gears fell out. He and Jeff then spent the entire game of Trivial Pursuit (obviously, Scattergories was out of the running) putting the darn thing back together. But that's just because they didn't want to admit defeat. Damn you both and your ambition.
So now I'm one Scattergories timer richer. And boy, is that rich!
We ended the weekend with a jaunt to our local hotspot, the Black Cat, to attend a garage sale. That's what they called it anyway. The lighting was awful, but we managed to pick up a handblown glass vase, a handblown glass necklace, and a blankety-blank for Eric's mom (I can't tell you what it is - what if she finds my site and discovers her gift before Eric has a chance to be seen as the giving son he is?!). It was, for all intents and puposes, a success.
And by success I mean I only had to deal with Eric calling my holiday card "slightly creepy" once.
Yes, yes, he has finally passed into his 26th year, and just in time for 2006.
In any case, we came, we saw, we drank Jameson, we grabbed each others' nipples, and before you knew it, we were feeding Eric water through a straw. It was GLORIOUS.
There are many pictures illustrating the event, as can be seen through Kodak Gallery if you quickly make friends with either Dave or I. The only other problem (i.e. other than being friends with us) is that we have a difficult time sending them out because they make both of us look awful. As in "we never should have brought these cameras" awful. Basically, I reign as Queen of all Things Experienced with Eyes Closed, and David is the King of Nostril Hair. Enough said.
In other news, I went to see Derek's band play on Saturday night and redeem myself for missing his gig last weekend (which was merely 5 blocks away from my house). I'm not entirely sure what happened, except that the first band that played lost their drummer for about a half hour, the bartender(s) stole our money right in front of our backs, and Derek's band took an hour to set up. By the time they went on, it was after 1AM. WAY past my bedtime. Like the whiny little girl I am, I checked out early. Maybe next time I can see their entire set, but that night wasn't in the cards. I needed my down pillow - and fast.
Sunday was spent pretending we were going out of the house. Okay, so it did happen, but that wasn't until around 4:30PM so we could check out a junk shop before meeting Eric and Jeff at Ben's Chili Bowl. After buying a homeless guy a half-smoke, Anthony joined Peco at the hockey game and the boys and I visited my apartment. Which is the site of one good old-fashioned Scattergories timer disassembly.
Eric insisted that the timer needed batteries (it didn't), unscrewed the back, and all the gears fell out. He and Jeff then spent the entire game of Trivial Pursuit (obviously, Scattergories was out of the running) putting the darn thing back together. But that's just because they didn't want to admit defeat. Damn you both and your ambition.
So now I'm one Scattergories timer richer. And boy, is that rich!
We ended the weekend with a jaunt to our local hotspot, the Black Cat, to attend a garage sale. That's what they called it anyway. The lighting was awful, but we managed to pick up a handblown glass vase, a handblown glass necklace, and a blankety-blank for Eric's mom (I can't tell you what it is - what if she finds my site and discovers her gift before Eric has a chance to be seen as the giving son he is?!). It was, for all intents and puposes, a success.
And by success I mean I only had to deal with Eric calling my holiday card "slightly creepy" once.
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