twelve.

Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Subject: tyler.
Time: 10:34 am.

tyler is the most excellent travel mate. she doesn't even need to stop to use the restroom on a five hour trip (it takes five hours on friday afternoons, go figure). she nevers asks "are we there yet?" she has been traveling with me for the last four to five weekends in a row and i must say she has adjusted well in her new environments. she loves running around like a chicken with his or her head cut off when we visit my mum (who happens to live in the boonies with a ton of acreage). she adjusted well when staying with jacob when nikki's kitchen ceiling decided to leak (more like a biblical deluge). she liked forty seven south kingsboro, but my roommates and i did not, but i'm sure she will love litauer place as it has a backyard too.

i've been wrestling with the idea of leaving new york for good, which has everything to do with my salary increase and potential to save more money here in new york city rather than there, upstate. pay is poor in upstate, even with a masters. some areas do pay well and it is those areas which i will be calling this week to check in regarding my resume and for interviews.

if i stay here in brooklyn i sacrifice my sanity to certain degrees at the expense of amassing my income for a move the following year.

why do i want to move back upstate? general peace of mind, my mother, a house, aunt duties, tyler, new and old friends, teaching kids who want to learn (socio-ecomomics are the same, cultural diversity is not), a certain ten year reunion (not what you are thinking, yes, i'm being cryptic).

why should i stay here? job stability, tenure, ten grand pay increase, teaching what i want (i think they are bribing me), friends.


i'm leaving this thursday. i'll be back here and there throughout the summer to visit.



Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Time: 7:22 am.

+job interview
-poor pay

+donated hair
-no ponytails

+new summer rental
-old slumlords in bleeker


there are more good things to list than bad, but because my ocd is symmetrical i cannot continue this list.



Wednesday, April 19th, 2006
Subject: sometimes...
Time: 7:14 pm.

quiet people get loud. sad.



Wednesday, December 7th, 2005
Time: 5:51 pm.

bitter cold days make me yearn for long naps.



Sunday, November 13th, 2005
Subject: erica, wait and see what the vet says, your not a doctor
Time: 9:18 am.

so, boxers are prone to vaginitis, for a myriad of reasons. tyler had a bout with vaginitis after her spay surgery, as a result of a possible mild infection, or a reaction to foreign objects within her body (dissolvable sutures).

tyler has had great difficulty with healing properly from her spay surgery, as the sutures are not dissolving as they should (for some dogs, not just tyler, some sutures never dissolve and need to be removed). one month ago a blister developed on tyler's spay incision site and the vet popped the blister with a needle and removed, with her fingers, several sutures.

now, it looks as if tyler is on the verge of developing another blister, atop of a knotty area (scar tissue, hematoma whatever) on her incision site, and we are taking her to the vet, again, to see what's up.

i believe she has an infection, as her vaginitis has returned. for the last two weeks tyler will wake in the middle of the night to lick her hind end and the sheets to which her hind end discharged some liquids. and the presence of a strong ammonia scent exists. and i notice the presence, during the day, of a greenish-whitish goo on her female bits :(

with vaginitis can come incontinence. licking her rear and then cleaning her groin area might have caused a mild rash in her groin. and i wonder if this rash is a urine scald.

i'll kept you posted (did you want to gag a few times?)!

love,

dr. mom



Friday, November 11th, 2005
Subject: hi.
Time: 1:57 pm.

today, i have off.

and i'm sitting around with tired tyler. with dirty hair and yankees hat. in four days i will be twenty-six. i'm unhappy, still, with my place of employment. and as i tyed that previous sentence i felt my jaw clench, teeth grind.

i'm reading this young adult text, crank. it is very interesting.

i bought my dog therasticks with st. john's wort and i would like them to arrive so i can try one. as i feel a need to gnaw and chew to soothe.

twenty six! where does the time go :(

also, lately, i yearn for bologna sandwiches with yellow mustard.

help me find the origin of my last name, would you?

i miss some of you.



Sunday, October 16th, 2005
Subject: i have a new i book.
Time: 9:01 am.

it's nice to travel about the house again with a little companion. i fear tyler jumping about it, so i've been walking around cradling the white mass like a newborn.

so i'm pretty excited about the new depeche mode. shut up.

also i secretly like david gray. any comments from the peanut gallery?

i have to think about what i'm going to do next year, because at this point i want to quit. maybe i just need to teach at a different school?

this summer, though, i'm going to participate in another theatre intensive and i WILL get some headshots done (how many times have i said this?).

over and out for now lovies <3.



Saturday, October 15th, 2005
Subject: :(
Time: 9:39 am.

Pure Nerd
65 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 47% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!



Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
Subject: i hate.
Time: 4:40 pm.

people who feel that they are the object of prejudice, who are prejudiced (and project it loud and clear) too.



Monday, August 22nd, 2005
Subject: I HAVE A NEW DOG.
Time: 10:05 pm.

FYI.

SHE LIKES TO DROP THE HOT PRETZEL FOUR TIMES A DAY.



Sunday, July 31st, 2005
Subject: i hate philosophy.
Time: 6:09 pm.

because of the logic and illogic.



Sunday, July 17th, 2005
Subject: i have been at my mum's since wednesday.
Time: 10:44 pm.

and i'm leaving tomorrow. i have had a pleasant and relaxing time. with her. and loki. and allen's dog andre. loki was very protective of me the entire time, and jealous of andre as well. it only makes me want a dog more. there is nothing better than running around with dogs on summer days, and lounging on carpeted floors watching the news on a dog's back as a pillow.

my mum says to me : "erica, if you get a dog, how will you travel?"

good question. i need to research amtrak policies for transporting animals.

i really didn't do much other than relax, write papers, and take in clean upstate (humid) air. i will miss it when i leave tomorrow--but i have someone i need to come home to.



Tuesday, July 12th, 2005
Time: 2:03 pm.

meat cleaver and peach trees.

and a new old bike!



Sunday, July 3rd, 2005
Subject: oh, some things.
Time: 7:22 am.

I have a friend by the name of Carlo. My mother fondly refers to him as Carlos. Every time I hear that s, I grow a new white hair. I know she is not trying to offer any disrespect to Carlo’s name, she just has a penchant to pluralize nouns. For example Wal-Mart becomes Wal-Marts and Hannaford becomes Hannafords (it is a supermarket upstate).

I thought about how she does this and decided that maybe she is right: singular nouns are useless in most cases; nouns are much better when there are more than one. For example cake should not be cake. It should be cakes (who doesn’t like more than one cake…I’ll fight anyone with one leg and arm tied behind my back).

Here is a running list of nouns that should be permanently pluralized (more to come):

Cheeses
Puppies
Unicorns
Blue Cheese Dressings
Naps



Thursday, June 30th, 2005
Subject: summer of fun.
Time: 9:05 pm.

i am so going to win at life at pete's candy store and matchless this summer.

join me.



Sunday, June 26th, 2005
Subject: o! i am a girl.
Time: 9:27 am.

i have two more days of work.

list:

house.
a dog like roxy or lilly.
wardrobe exclusively jessica ogden.
field hockey club.
running.
biking.
louie g's everyday.
a new hair style.



Monday, June 13th, 2005
Subject: will i love laundry service?
Time: 9:54 pm.

i will tell you when i get the bill!



Sunday, May 29th, 2005
Time: 8:04 pm.

what are you doing up, human league?



Tuesday, April 26th, 2005
Subject: i'm watching bruce.
Time: 8:46 pm.

that pink pool of a rug with hair and crumbs swimming about. laying in starchy shorts with dry knees and elbows, t-shirt, bad hair cut, age ten, mute to most anything except for the occasional conversation with myself, in front of a hand-me-down stereo system with two tape decks, one for playing, the other recording, staring at these black tapes.

bruce springsteen live, 1985? 1989?

muffled masculine voice similar to my father's (not his singing voice, because he could carry a tune like i can carry a two hundred pound man) coming through the old speakers. muffled because the tape is worn, without a cover (for ages?), muffled by cries from the crowd.

and i've been watching bruce on vh1 classics for the last four hours. i just bought his new compact disc. and i can only think of my father.



Sunday, April 24th, 2005
Subject: school has made me.
Time: 2:40 pm.

serious(ly).

[insert erased flickr image of me with a serious face]

hungry.

[insert erased flickr image of adam and i in a subway station]