We flew to Seoul and spent nine days there. Our hanok style hotel was lovely--our room had a balcony overlooking a garden. We stayed in the Bukchon neighborhood and enjoyed tromping around looking for restaurants and cafes. We went to many of the museums I had already seen when I was there by myself but I was glad to go back.
The radiosurgery was tedious but uneventful. I had to dose up with benadryl to prevent an allergic reaction to the iodide contrast dye. Every stage of the check-in inolved hurry up and wait. The actual radiation was a little uncomfortable because of the mask, but it didn't hurt. Now I have finished with active treatment for both the breast cancer and the unrelated brain tumor --surgeries and radiation-- except that I must take an aromatase inhibitor medication called anastrozole for seven years. So far the only side effects seem to be the occasional hot flash (which could also be just a response to the hot weather we're having, and some fatigue when I get out for a walk. Because of the weather I have been laying low and hunkering down in front of my fan. I went to the store today to get coffee filters and a few other things. I can only get the filters at the organic deli and they have lactaid but only whole milk. I will go to the other store in a few days to get salads and fruit. I stopped drinking as much because my PET scan showed a fatty liver. No more daily beer. I have still been having a drink about once a week when i go to a restaurant or sometimes I'll get a tall one for home. I have been having ice cream because they have been putting it on sale at my market.
I was supposed to have two MRIs last week for the brain follow-up but they didn't authorize them in time. We rescheduled and I called my insurance company and they said it takes fourteen calendar days. Today I got copies of the authorization letters in my mail. They authorized the brain and all three segments of the spine. As far as I know, they only need to do the cervical spine but we shall see. Rosemary offered to go with me but there's really nothing for her to do except wait a long time so I told her no need. She may be out of town any way because she's going to Spain to see her yaya who was in the hospital and has had to move into a residencia. No more living on her own. At least in Spain it is affordable. When my sister and I were starting to look for a similar housing situation for mom it was hideously expensive. In the end we did not need it--she went so fast.
It has been a little strange to be done with the active phase of treatment. I've been a little bit emotional after being so distracted by the logistics of traveling to clinics and getting procedures done for all these months. The MRIs coming up are to see if the tumor that was removed is growing back and if the little baby tumor they left behind is growing bigger. Then I will have more MRIs in August for the breast surgery follow-up. I am left to be more or less anxious about scans in between time.
I saw the brain radiologist and learned that I would need one radiation surgery treatment to blast the remaining bit of the tumor that was not removed during the crainiotomy. I will go in to have a head mask made and some CT scans done that will be merged with the post-surgery MRI to target the tumor for the radiation beam. This will happen next week, after I'm done with the breast cancer radiation treatments. The actual radiation treatment will be a week later. I have just one more breast cancer radiation treatment left, tomorrow. The main side effect of the radiation has been a sunburn-like skin change in the area that is being radiated with a couple of itchy sore spots. The radiologist told me to apply hydrocortisone cream as well as the Aquaphor lotion three times a day. Honestly it could have been a lot worse, both with the skin changes and the fatigue levels. I've been a little tired but not unable to take the subway to the clinic and back. My mystery lower intestinal distress issues have slowly been resolving as well, after ten days of real pain in the butt.
It turns out that they will be using iodide contrast dye for the CT scan and I am allergic to it. So they want to dose me with prednisone and benadryl before the scan. Needless to say, this is freaking me out. I will need to take three doses of the prednisone before the test: one 13 hour before, one 7 hours before and the last one an hour before along with the benadryl. I will need to have someone accompany me home because the benadryl will make me drowsy. I am trying not to be anxious about this. They said there will be nursing care there in case they need to inject me with something. Yikes.
Tomorrow I will see a neuro-oncologist to follow up on the genetic testing for VHL. So I will have the radiation treatment at the clinic in Chelsea and then the doctor's appointment uptown. Another day of subway rides between clinics. I have been to just about every Mount Sinai clinic and hospital in Manhattan.
As part of the breast cancer diagnosis I had some genetic testing done. I had no mutations associated with breast cancer but I did have a mutation associated with tumors on the adrenal glands. It was recommended that I consult with and endocrinologist so I did and she recommended that I have my oncologist order some scans. I ended up having a PET scan and MRIs. The PET scan showed no adrenal tumors but did show two areas of concern: a spot on my pelvis and others in my brain. The MRI showed two brain tumors, one fairly large and the other rather small. I was referred to a neurosurgeon who immediately scheduled surgery to remove the larger tumor and who said it was likely a metasteses of the breast cancer. Within a week I had a craniotomy to remove the tumor. I was in the hospital for three days so they could give me three lumbar punctures-horrible--and then they sent me home with a bunch of prescriptions for steroids and anti-seizure meds. They only shaved a narrow strip for the incision up the back and on the left. The surgeon said that the baby tumor was connected to the big one but that we should treat it with radiation once I had recovered from the surgery.
The experience in the hospital was OK in spite of how hard it was to sleep with the automatic blood pressure cuff that would inflate every so often. I was hooked up to monitors and IV lines and had to ask the nurses to unhook me so I could go to the bathroom.They also took blood at midnight for some reason. My brother drove up for Maryland and my daughter's dad flew in from Spain to be there for the recovery. Once I got home they cooked for me, did all the shopping and dishes, and basically waited on me hand and foot. I was so grateful they were there to support both me and my daughter who was very brave and positive throughout the whole ordeal. I am very fortunate that I have been healing well with no head pain or incision discomfort. Just fatigue and post anaesthesia grogginess.
I was trying to wrap my head around having stage IV metastatic cancer while waiting for the tumor pathology report to come back. After ten days I got the report and it turn out that the tumor is not breast cancer related. I have a relatively rare but benign tumor called a hemangioblastoma. It's a primary brain tumor meaning it originates in the brain and is not from cancer elsewhere in the body. It could be a stand-alone tumor or it could be due to a genetic mutation called Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. If that is the case than multiple tumors can occur and it can grow back. I have an appointment with a radiologist tomorrow so I'll have a chance to ask questions, and I see the neurosurgeon at the end of the week to have my stitches and staples removed. My oncologist talked to me on the phone about the report and said she would refer me to a neuro-oncologist since she is a breast cancer specialist and doesn't know much about brain tumors. UPDATE. Neuro-oncologist says there is no Von Hippel-Lindau as per my genetic testing panel--yay!
So I'm enormously relieved that the tumor is benign. Bone scans have also shown that the spot on my pelvis is not cancer either. So I'm not stage IV. I still have to complete the breast cancer radiation treatment (I have 7 more sessions left so a week and a half). Then we'll see how many and what kind of brain radiation I will need to have to blast the baby tumor.
My oncoscore is an 8, very low. I was told this morning by the nurse who called me that it means no chemo! The oncoscore is what you get when they take some of the tumor tissue and run the genes through a database that correlates with survival rates after ten years. If you score low it means that no additional benefit would result from chemotherapy. Amazing. I will meet with an oncologist tomorrow to talk about the treatment plan so I'm glad that result is available to her. The next question is whether or not she'll recommend radiation. I had one lymph node with micro bits of cancer out of the three that were taken out. I don't know what kind of cutoff there would be: any cancer, radiation? If it's radiation, there could be one month of five days a week sessions. Even though each session is only about fifteen minutes, the commute will be at least 45 minutes each way plus the fifteen minutes to check in. But if they recommend it I will try to have a good attitude about it because I don't want to have lost a breast for nothing. There's an appointment with a radiologist for next week. I have a follow-up mammogram/ultrasound on the left side for six month from now.
I got a letter from my insurance company saying they denied the claim for hospitalization. I called them and was told I didn't need to do anything because they would resubmit the claim with the the proper procedure code. I'm not feeling very trusting so I could call the Mount Sinai team to find out if that will happen. The guy on the phone said they'll do it because they want to get paid. Hmmm.
It's been a long time since I wrote in this blog. I've settled into living in Brooklyn. It was interesting to reread my entries about the move here, my explorations and adjusting to my new place.
A lot has happened. In September I was diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram. It is early stage, so I was reassured by everyone that it is very treatable. It took a long time to get a referral to a breast surgeon but I finally was seen by a doctor at Mount Sinai. The breast clinic is at the end of the L line in Chelsea, so it's easy to get there. I like my doctor very much. At first it seemed as if I would be able to get a lumpectomy followed by radiation. I had two biopsies and one site was negative while the other was a tumor. But then I had an MRI which showed that the left breast was clear but there was a second site on the right side, too far away from the first to do breast conserving surgery so the recommendation was now a mastectomy. There was a lot of hurry up and wait with all the appointments and procedures. A complicating factor was that we had planned a trip to Tokyo and Seoul at the end of November, originally to coincide with Rosemary's artistic residency in Tokyo. But she postponed the residency so she could come to all my appointments with me. Bless her. I am so glad she was able to do that.
Long story short: we got to take the trip and then I had surgery at the end of December, just a few days before Christmas. It went well. I have one surgical drain. The pain was manageable with oxy and tylenol. The oxy gave me horrible constipation. I should not have taken it. The drain is gross but I get to have it removed tomorrow. I have been mildly uncomfortable as I heal--more in the armpit than around the big old incision. I chose not to have reconstructive surgery; I'll get fitted for a prosthesis. I have gone amazonian.
I have an appointment with an oncologist next week. Then I'll get to find out (I hope) what follow-up there will be. The surgery was successful in that there are "clear margins"--no cancer left. One lymph node was cancerous so they are going to do more pathology on the tumor tissue to determine my "oncoscore." If it's low, it should just be radiation. If it's high I might need chemo. I'm going to hold out for no chemo, but we shall see. The whole experience has been more about the anxiety of logistics than life and death fear. I'm so lucky it was caught early and the treatment seems very straightforward. I have a follow up mammogram and ultrasound for next August. I'll have to have scans every six months. And I'll be taking some kind of hormone suppressor for five years. Maria and Drea both told me they had no side effects so I'm going to hope and pray that that is the case for me too.
Rosemary and I went to a Nick Cave exhibition at the Guggenheim. It was powerful work, with one floor dedicated to his earlier work and influences, another to present sculptural assemblages, and a room of his Sound Suits which we really love. When you see the earlier stuff, his engagement with the politics of black and queer representation are more overt. The sound suits began as a work of assembly that functioned as armor against racist violence. I'm sure he has a studio of assistants and "fabricators" that help him with the very labor intensive assembly of plastic and metal flowers, bird statuettes, buttons and beads, the detritus of thrift stores, fabrics and toys.
Up next: Brooklyn Art Museum's Thierry Mugler show "Couturissime" which Rosemary says is really excellent.
The Poster House has two shows up that are worth a visit: Made in Japan and Black Power to Black People. I always appreciate the way the Poster House makes the most of its space to mount exciting shows.
There's a Georgia O'Keeffe show at the MOMA.
(wrote this Nov 6 then never hit publish)
BAM is the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I went to a movie with a MeetUp group there. It's an easy ride on the C and just a few blocks from the Lafayette stop. I saw Decision to Leave again and this time it made more sense, although I still don't get why she dies at the end. I got a senior membership and went back today to see the Met Opera simulcast with a nice little lecture before about Verdi's life. We got all the way to the death scene when the livestream cut out because of a stupid automated bandwidth saving deal--so dumb. But it was revelatory, how much of La Traviata I remember listening to when I lived with Bill. I don't think I've ever seen the opera but I knew almost all of the music. There are several programs I'm interested in seeing, including a production of Trojan Women by the Korean National Theater that incorporate pansori.
Here's Tito Gobbi singing "Di Provenza il mar, il suol" as only he can, so powerful and yet so expressive and flexible. No shouting.
When I first arrived here I sought out the closest library branch to get my card and to have a destination for walks. I was disappointed that the branch I visited had no magazines or newspapers, although it had a large children's section. Today I visited a different branch, one that is actually closer, but which doesn't have any magazines or newspapers either. I did read Alison Bechdel's latest book The Secret to Superhuman Strength. At one point the fire alarm went off, but we just sat through it until they figured out how to turn it off.
I placed a hold on a biography of Margaret Fuller that inspired Bechdel--I'm going to see what kinds of resources there are at the Brooklyn Public Library. It looks as if they do not have Kanopy or Hoopla, so I'll keep my Berkeley Public Library account open.
It's time to experience fall weather in New York. It has been rainy and in the 50s during the day. I have not wanted to go out walking on the days it rains, but I did get out on a Sunday to have lunch with Rosemary. We went to Sally Roots, a Caribbean place in Bushwick that serves brunch on weekends and a good guava juice cocktail. Another excursion was a lovely walk in the southern half of Central Park. And then our friend Carol was in town visiting and we met up with her and Maria and walked in Prospect Park after having lunch at a Middle Eastern place called Zaytoons on Vanderbilt, very good spinach pie.
In my neighborhood, as part of my explorations, I walked to the store that carries Rancho Gordo beans and passed a Mexican-Salvadoran place called Maya Fusion Cafe. It turns out to have decent home-style cooking, so I got "una horchata y dos de lengua." I'll go back when I want hearty Mexican meal.
I started seeing a new therapist. It took a while to connect with the practice, but I'm seeing a student in a location that is right near Maria Hernandez park, so an easy connection on the L line. I like her! And after my session today, I met up with Rosemary and we went to a cool vegan place called Hartbreakers. The salads were a generous bowl of kale plus romaine for me and shredded carrots and cabbage for her, with avocado and cherry tomatoes, good dressing. We added the chik'n seitan which was surprisingly good. A filling meal that is light on the calories.
My next mission is to try out the Al-anon meeting closest to me on Saturday at 10. It's about half an hour away on foot, a little past Milk and Pull café.
Now that I want to eat more frugally, I hauled out my crock pot to make some beans. Not just any beans: Rancho Gordo beans. I used to be able to get them at the SF Ferry building but they closed down that store, so I got them at the Berkeley Bowl (Oh, how I miss the Berkeley Bowl!). They are very fresh, heirloom and special cultivars that have terrific flavor. I went to their web site and you can search for locations that carry them by zip code using a map tool, so I found a store that is about twenty minutes away on foot, and went on a shopping trip today. It's a cute little cafe with some pantry items. I didn't stay to eat or drink anything because I'm on my weight loss program but I got black beans and pinto beans, just the basics. The company also has a bean club that there is a waiting list for, so I signed up for the waiting list. Here's company founder Steve Sandoz cooking his beans without soaking them:
Today I joined my daughter, her friend Hannah and Hannah's mother for an excursion in Manhattan. We met up at the Chelsea Flea Market and then had Korean food. It was lovely weather--the perfect temperature and no wind. Hannah's mom and I talked about life in Minneapolis, moving to Brooklyn and those times in our lives when we've done a big purge of stuff. She tells me that things in the Twin Cities have really declined--so many places have closed, neighborhoods have lost their cohesion, there are murders and car-jackings, a big gang war, lots of unhoused campers. Uptown is apparently almost empty with most of the stores and restaurants closed down, the movie theater closed, Calhoun Square an empty shell. We really were lucky to have lived there when it was lively and fun. I'm sad to hear about the decline and the cost of living sky-rocketing at the same time.
what I"ve been watching lately:
Finished watching and liked: A League of Their Own, Ted Lasso, Reservation Dogs.
Ongoing: The Good Fight. I binged ALL the seasons and caught up to the latest (and last) season's premiere and second episode. I find it both entertaining and a little disturbing because it is all about the anxiety of today's politics.
House of the Dragon. Creepy sexual politics in the third episode, still watching it to see what happens next.
Rings of Power: Good, lots of parallel storylines.
Industry: creepy characters behaving badly while conducting incomprehensible financial shenanigans. Not great but I'm hooked.
Kdramas: watching three, but need to start a new one that is good. Maybe I'll rewatch something.
Little Women, gripping, still early days.
When I Wish Upon You, Ji Chang Wook is so beautiful, I will watch this show just for him.
Once Upon a Small Town, another one of these slice of rural life shows in which the Seoul transplant is the fish out of water. Our hero is a veterinarian.
One of the features of my new apartment, which is on the ground floor, is that the back door gives out on a garden with a couple of trees and some benches. I have not been using it this summer because of the heat and because the vegetation is overgrown and harbors mosquitos, but I expect that will change as the weather eventually cools down. Some of my bird neighbors are a family of cardinals. I heard a thumping noise coming from the kitchen and saw that a bird was bashing into the window. I was worried that it was not seeing the glass but when I approached, it flew away. There are bars on the window so it seemed odd that a bird would fly into it. A few days later it happened again. The bird was knocking on my window! I realized it was a female cardinal. A while later I met my landlord for the first time when he came down to mow some of the tall grass. I told him about the bird knocking and he said that this is because one of the tenants used to feed them, and that he himself gives them a nut every morning. I put some granola out and it got eaten but it didn't seem attractive to the cardinal pair. I had better luck with sunflower seeds--I threw a handful out and got to see the pair come down and eat them. I also saw a neighborhood cat try to sneak up on them. Apparently the back yard fence is referred to as the cat superhighway. I haven't heard the birds knocking on the window again but I also don't give them sunflower seeds every day. I did see that a juvenile was with them begging to be fed. I just put out some more seeds and heard their distinctive food chirps. Sure enough, the dad cardinal and one of the babies were out there eating, and the baby was being super-annoying and begging even though it was perfectly capable of eating the seeds off the ground. I"m glad to have cardinals as neighbors here because there were always cardinals near my home in Minnesota and I missed them in Berkeley.
Today is Sunday and my anticipated excursion was to hop on the L and then walk to a couple of vintage shops on 3rd Ave not far from the L stop. But when I got on the L, it said it was only going to Myrtle Ave so I had to change my plan quick. I got off at Myrtle-Wycoff and got on the M that took me to the Lower East Side near the Metrograph and then walked about 30 (short) blocks up to 3rd and 22nd to the vintage shops I had mapped. I was looking for a couch or other living room furniture. The stores only had a few items, and none of the couches I saw would fit or were worthwhile. So I got to see what was in the stores and I got in a long walk. I took the 6 and then the J back. The day was hot and humid and while I was standing in the station waiting for the J I was literally bathed in sweat, completely wet. I had bought a bottle of water so I didn't pass out from dehydration but it wasn't the most fun. Accomplished: left the house and checked out the stores, had a long walk. Did not find a sofa. I need to check the Reuse America site every day.
Came home and finished binge-watching Partner Track which was a very entertaining romance set in Manhattan law firms with a Korean-American lead and a focus on racism in the workplace. The main character has two love interests who are both white but the audience ships her with the Asian character Z and I can definitely see them getting a story in season 2.
After several days of hibernating sluggishly, even though it's no longer in the 90s, I took a long walk to an Italian restaurant in Bed-Stuy: Trattoria Macosa. They were serving a limited lunch menu, so I couldn't get the papardelle with oxtail ragu, but we shared a burrata with peaches and ripe tomatoes, arancino with a spicy sauce, and chicken livers sautéed and served on crostini. For dessert we had a Crenshaw melon granita. I had a Negroni with prosecco. It was just enough food and everything was good. The owner who waited on us was very talkative and friendly, and we got stories about a transformative experience of being waited on kindly in a diner. I'll gladly go back in the evening to try their pasta. It's good to have an Italian place in the greater neighborhood.
Rosemary brought me up to date on her good fortune in her work life, and is off to spend the weekend in a big house with a pool in New Jersey. I walked to and from the restaurant--45 minutes each way. A challenge for my sluggish bod, but I did it and the rain was not too bothersome with my umbrella. Now it's raining harder and humid, but I'm cozy in my armchair with my fan.
In news from Berkeley, one of the two peregrine falcons I watched grow up and fledge, the female chick Lindsay, was found dead on campus. Apparently the survival rate for falcons in their first year is not high. She might have been attacked by some hawks who have a nest in the area where she was found. She was beautiful:
Today I met my friend an we went to lunch at a Palestinian restaurant called Al Badawi on Atlantic Ave just a block away from our shopping destination, Sahadi's. I have been in search of aleppo pepper for months now, and this Middle Eastern deli and spice store had it along with lots of other exotic ingredients. I also bought some dried fruit, cheese, and sweets, and noticed other things I might want to try later. They have bulk nuts, good cheeses, olives, baked goods and even a little produce and frozen food sections. Next time I go I might get the tray of mixed baklava.
Just down the street is a cookware shop called Whisk that does knife sharpening--something I need to get done. You bring in your knives by Tuesday and they return them a week later. Maria says she has a knife block for me that she found on the street!
Just when I thought I was done with estate business from my mother's death, I got a property tax bill on her condo that we sold. I was confused because I thought that the bill should go to the new owner. I called the tax office in SF and discovered that a new law in CA means that her death triggered a reassessment such that we owe money on the difference between what her property tax bill was, based on the Prop 13 valuation at her purchase price, and the price for which the property was sold since none of her heirs made it their primary residence and applied for exclusion; we owe about $4500. We still have some money left in her account for unexpected expenses but not that much, so we will each have to cough up 1/3 of whatever is left to pay after I close out her bank account. The lady who talked me through the explanation on the phone blamed it on the voters who did not understand the proposition that had been placed on the ballot as part of a package about fire relief. I am mildly resentful but resigned.
I knew when I moved here from temperate Berkeley that I was in for some torrid summers and cold winters. My experience in Minnesota means I'm not unfamiliar with temperature extremes of both kinds. It's the case that I cannot put a window AC unit in my apartment because of window bars so I've been using a fan. Today it is in the mid-nineties so I will not leave the house. It's a little frustrating to be stuck indoors but I do not do well with heat and the times I've gone out for errands and excursions I have been reminded of that fact. I'm just treating 90+ temps as a reason to stay indoors and catch up on my Criterion watchlist. Yesterday I watched Myrna Loy movies and Charade. Today I will watch Arabesque. I"m halfway through season 1 of Sandman.
Today's event was the arrival of my Task Rabbit guy to hang my art. He is a very small cute guy from Ukraine who is very careful in his measurements and positioning of each piece. I called him back after he hung my drapes and attached the vanity mirror to the dresser. I didn't have him hang the pieces for the living room because I don't have the furniture situation in hand yet, but all the other pieces are up in the rest of the apartment. Yay!
I had a doctor's appointment to talk about my blood work. I need to lose weight because my latest blood work showed an elevated LDL cholesterol level. If it weren't so bloody hot, I could go back to my daily walks, but when I have gone out for errands or excursions, the heat has made it really hard. My cholesterol is not bad enough that medication is indicated, but it would be a good idea to lose weight as one way to manage it. For most of my adult life, I weighed between 120 and 125 and was in relatively good shape. When I got pregnant I gained a lot of weight, and after that it took a few years and a lot of ballroom dancing to get my weight back down there. But a combination of factors has meant a significant weight gain. I stopped dancing due to frozen shoulder problems. Menopause changed my metabolism. One of the medications I tried out caused a wild weight gain. Illness and inactivity for a couple of years were also surely contributors. I got up to 180. None of my clothes 'fit any more and I experienced a lot of fatigue and foot pain, A couple of times I have been able to take off ten pounds or so, but I never got below 150.
In the last month I have started to slowly lose weight due in part to eating at home in my new apartment where my pantry is still not really stocked. I just broke the 170 barrier this morning. If I can continue to lose weight at this rate--about a pound a week--I could conceivably lose twenty more pounds in five months, by the end of the year. A modest goal of losing 20 lbs feels doable. I am cautiously optimistic.
I bought a mattress when I moved and had it installed before I actually took up residence. I was so happy to have accomplished this goal. But I woke up every morning stiff and in pain--the muscles of my torso, my ribs and around my spine were sore. I could not lie on my back or my sides without pain when I breathed. I exchanged the mattress with the same manufacturer for a firmer one, hoping that it would do the trick. No luck--I was still experiencing pain every morning. It didn't hurt when I lay down and went to sleep but I'd wake around 4AM unable to get back to sleep and too tired and sore to just get up. Once I was on my feet or sitting in my chair, the pain would mostly go away. I thought it must be the memory foam top layer making my spine curl up funny, so I scouted out the location of a nearby Mattress Firm store and went in and got a new firm mattress with no foam topper. Thank goodness the store was only a few stops away on the L line. But it turned out to be even more uncomfortable--I overdid it on the firmness. I tried folding my winter quilt and using it as a topper and it was just a little bit better, but still painful. Now I am on mattress number four--I went back to the store yesterday and laid down on a couple of mattresses, and decided to get one that has a gel and foam top layer with coils underneath. The sales people pointed out that if I didn't have proper lumbar support, my body would sag into a bad position.They were very generous and allowed me to do the trade-in for the same price even though the new mattress was more expensive. The delivery will be in the next ten minutes or so, and I'll ask them to help put the mattress protective cover on. I'll hope and pray that I can sleep without pain again.
OK, delivery complete: the mattress has to poof up because it was rolled up in a box. They did put the cover on for me. These delivery teams are so efficient--not a wasted motion as they strip off the plastic, set it up, then bundle up the one to be removed with plastic as well. I hate the idea that I'm "wasting' a mattress, but pain-free sleep is a basic for life.
UPDATE: first night with the new mattress, woke up with ALMOST no pain. Still just a teeny bit stiff but able to lie on each side and turn over without pain.
A great Saturday matinee at the Metrograph: Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985). It was apparently the film that launched the careers of its director Tim Burton, composer Danny Elfman, and writer/comedian Phil Hartman. I had seen it with my daughter when she was a kid, and it's a favorite of hers still, so it was fun to see it again. I hardly remembered any of it, except my favorite bit of the whole film:
With a move comes the need to make a trip to the DMV to get one's license transferred. Today, I took the C train to downtown Brooklyn to the DMV, armed with all the documents required to get a Real ID: passport, social security card (that I got in Berkeley), a utilities bill and a bank statement with my address on them. It was an easy ride on the subway, no need to transfer, and a short walk to a little mall that had the DMV on the second floor. (I noticed a Burlington Coat Factory store where I can go to get a winter coat when it comes time). I had made an online appointment. A greeter gave me the form I needed to fill out and a number. A robot voice announced which window each number was called to. I was called fairly quickly to get my signature and photo done, then told to wait for my number to be called again. The overhead announcements were continuous and you had to pay attention to the display monitor. It took about fifty minutes to be called again, during which time I experienced chest pains of the kind that had me go to the ER the first time it happened. Now I know that if I drink water they will go away because it's some kind of esophageal spasms probably due to acid reflux. But there was no water to drink so I just sat there trying tot endure the pain while I sweated. Finally the pain subsided and my number was called. The actual process went smoothly and now I have a temporary license and my new card will come in the mail in about two weeks. Back to the C for the short ride to Rockaway station, about four blocks from my place. I stopped for a juice at Beets, a little juice bar near the station: beets, celery, kale, apple, carrot, cucumber. Super healthy and delicious, a better choice for lunch. I'm continuing to be encouraged by my slow and steady weight loss; I've lost 4-5 lbs. If I can keep this up, I hope I can get rid of the meno-potbelly. Today I feel competent because I overcame DMV anxiety.
All this sitting around because of the heat has meant lots of binge-watching. Lately I have watched:
All of the Sopranos, yes, all seven seasons of it. Made me want to eat Italian pastries!
Better Call Saul, seasons 4-5. So good!
The Great British Baking Show's latest season. Peaceful.
Stranger Things, all four seasons. Some pacing issues in the last season that had to do with dropping long speeches into propulsive action sequences.
the last ten episodes of Luoyang. Glad I finished it.
the first half of Loot, with Maya Rudolph. Great cast, sometimes weak writing.
For All Mankind, the first half of the latest season, a show I really like.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a movie with Emma Thompson. B+
a miniseries on Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman directed by Ethan Hawke.
Empire Falls, an HBO miniseries based on a novel by Richard Russo, with Woodward and Newman, and a very strong cast. It was decent until it threw in a school shooting.
Just started The Expanse, on Amazon Prime, a space opera.
Two of those "Before" Linklater films with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy. Can't say I share the level of enthusiasm of fans of this series.
Finally watched Pakula's The Parallax View after having it saved in my queue for ages. Another of the 1974 paranoia films (like The Conversation)
kdramas galore. I finished Tracer, in spite of the challenging dialogue that was never quite translated with enough context for a plot based on rivalries in the internal revenue service and tax corruption. Right now I'm in the middle of two that I like, Extraordinary Attorney Woo (great characters) and Alchemy of Souls (shows the influence of cdrama blockbusters with its "schools of mages" fantasy).
In Berkeley, I had three walking routes that were like doing laps around a track. Each one involved checking the Free Little Library boxes and an ever renewed appreciation of the plants and flowers along the way. That's not available to me here. The other day I took a walk west to the cafe Milk and Pull. It's about 20 minutes, and only a few of the blocks have much in the way of plantings, although there are a few that are nice. I had planned to have a sandwich but their kitchen was closed because of staffing issues so I just had an iced chai latte, my new favorite thing. I sat and read The New Yorker's fiction issue and enjoyed the music and friendly vibe. Then I trudged back. I'm so out of shape! So this is now officially one of my walks. Next time I do it, I will try the ramen restaurant across the street-they are open 11-3 and again at 5 every day except Monday when they don't do lunch.
It has been so hot the last few days--in the 90s--that i haven't wanted to get out and walk far at all. I walked a short way to the mailbox and was dripping with sweat by the time I got home. I feel slightly guilty that I'm not getting in a daily long walk or exploration, but I only have the fan to keep cool and I don't like getting heat exhaustion. I went around the corner and got empanadas and that was enough of a walk in the heat. It's going to be in the mid-nineties for at least a week so I will need to get out to some destinations with A/C. I will make the round of cafes with my New Yorkers and catch up on my magazine reading.
Today's excursion was a short walk down to Fulton St. to the Macaron Bakery. I had hoped it would be a cute cafe I could sit in, but it's really a storefront. I got an assortment of six macarons in a cute little box and then went and had an iced latte and sat in the Daily Press cafe a block away--chill music, good vibe, a nice place to read the New Yorker. Now I'm back home in my cool and shady apartment where I have been slowly slowly putting things in their place. I should decide where to hang my art, next.
I'm in a lull between the first round of tasks and the next. I've set up banking with a credit union and got my health care situation in place; I have a new Medicare Advantage plan; I like my new primary care physician; I have a pap smear and mammogram scheduled; I'm caught up on my vaccines (covid and shingles). I've located decent groceries and a few places to eat out in my neighborhood. I've done laundry around the corner, recycled tons of cardboard boxes, bought furniture and unpacked just about everything. I have a library card and I'm registered to vote. I've found a good place to go to the movies in Manhattan and got started on the round of museums. My place is comfortable and feels more and more like home.
Next up comes some more challenging stuff. I want to find a therapist. I'd like to find an Al-Anon meeting nearby. I'd like to try finding some dance class of some kind: sevillanas would be fun! are there any meet-up groups for seniors? I'd like to set up a kind of excursion rotation so I don't wake up wondering what I'm going to do that day.
Today I got a message from my friend Maria asking if I was up for a trip to the Guggenheim to see the Cecilia Vicuña show. I was able to hop in the shower and then hustle on over to Museum Mile (the L then the 4) right in time. We went to the Bluestone Lane cafe before to have iced chai and yak, then ambled over to the museum. I had been planning to buy a membership which would then allow me to take a guest for $5 because the entry fee is $25 and a membership is $75 but Maria has privileges from working at Pratt and was able to get both of us in for free!
The Vicuña show was very worthwhile. It included a large installation of three quipu, hanging installations in red, black and white, of fiber, wool, felt and gauzy textiles.
We stayed and looked at the Kandinsky show, and a small but fascinating installation by Eva Hesse. I had forgotten that Kandinsky was a co-founder of Der Blaue Reiter and I found myself most moved by his earliest work. The Hesse show, "The Hesse show, "Expanding Expansion," was of a large piece she had made out of latex and cheesecloth--fabric-like panels suspended between poles. With time, what was supple and textile-like latex has hardened and deteriorated such that the very act of hanging the piece might mean its destruction; the show documents the debates over restoration and artistic intention as well as the decision to go ahead and try to restore the piece to the point that it could be displayed again.
I made my daily excursion a trip to a Korean market not far from here--4 stops on the C line--to get some takeout and see what they had. I don't know if the named it BTS because of BTS or as a little in-joke, but it's funny. They have mochi donuts, which I did not buy but I'll get a half dozen next time I go. It's smaller than I expected and more focused on flowers than groceries, but a really sweet little place. I got japchae, kimbap, fried chicken and they gave me some free soup! I asked for a shopping basket when I went in and the lady went to the back and got me a little woven basket. I found the ride over a little challenging. I got the Manhattan bound C train at Rockaway, and rode four stops and that was fine, but on the way back I entered the station and then had a long long walk to cross over to the other side. I probably needed to go in at a different entrance. I hate it when they divide up the entries like that. But after hiking a long way I did find the correct platform and made it back. It doesn't feel like a friendly ride---the stations are narrow and grotty and the trains are old on the C line. Not like the L. Next time I go there I could try walking. It's a longish walk but it might be worth it when it's fall and the weather is cooler. Today was pretty hot--I was dripping sweat by the time I got home. Now I'm going to finish that Chinese drama I started a few months ago, and then I'll cancel the streaming service it's on.
Today I went back to the Met with Rosemary. I got to use my membership to get both of us in! We wolfed down a lamb gyro on the front steps. I wanted to see the other Fashion exhibit that I missed the last time around--the period rooms in the American Wing had been repurposed as "one-frame movies" by several directors who used costumes and the stories of designers to create tableaux. Called "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" it highlights the emergence of an American style in dialogue with France, and the rise of the named designer as a force in American fashion. Directors Julie Dash, Chloe Zhao, Sophia Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Tom Ford, Janitza Bravo and others.
We also spent some time in the Greek and Roman rooms looking at inspiration for her big project, The Song of Achilles. It's amazing how a personal connection can alter the attention I pay to the objects. After, we recovered our energy at the Bluestone Lane Cafe on 89th just past the Guggenheim--juice was not cheap but it was good and it's a cool space in a church. Now we know a place we can go when we visit the Met. Another place to try is the Viennese style cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Gallerie, an Austrian museum.
The ride back on the subway was packed, but I'm starting to get the hang of getting to the right platform: the 86th St. station has two entrances and you can't cross over inside, so you have to go back outside and cross the street if you haven't paid attention to the signs. The other thing that is clear is that the Google Maps app sometimes has a better connection to which train is coming next than the signs themselves in the station. I was waiting for the 4 and it kept saying that the next train to arrive would be the 5 and that the 4 was still ten minutes out. Not so! I need to investigate, though---does the 5 also stop at 14th St? Because if you are in the Maps app and it is telling you to take the 4 you can't peek at the 5's route to compare. Hmmm, apparently it runs the same express stops as the 4 for that stretch. The 6 must be the local. At least not during peak time. Ugh, so much to learn!
Today I have an appointment at a health care clinic that is about 15 minutes away on foot from home. I switched to a new Medicare Advantage plan because of the move-- I filled in some form on a website and was contacted by a broker. I'm sure he was getting paid to push the plan I ended up with, but he went over it carefully with me and it's going to be cheaper and just as comprehensive as Kaiser. I was paying a monthly premium for Kaiser and this plan has no premium so it won't be deducted from my social security. No more Kaiser! no more convenience of a massive HMO. So I looked up the Wellcare practitioner list and pulled a name out of a hat and called for an appointment at the Betances Health Center. It's just up Broadway. I walked by it yesterday on my failed produce excursion. I was so disappointed--the store was crowded and the produce looked stepped on. I did buy some green beans and kale. I passed another organic market on the way that I will go to it today on the way home from the clinic. It's right across the street.
The doctor I had chosen was not available for new patients so I'm going to see a nurse practitioner. The receptionist did not tell me she was a nurse practitioner so that was a surprise. I don't know if she will have the authority to prescribe my meds but I want to get in they system at a clinic near me. They have a dentist on staff so I can see about setting up an appointment to get my teeth cleaned.
Things to review in my appointment: skin cancer check; mammogram and pap smear; prescription renewal; weight loss plan; dental care; shingles vaccine; covid booster; location of nearest urgent care center/ER.
This morning I walked about 20 minutes to a cafe called Milk and Pull, in a little zone that has some restaurants in it. It's not an inspiring walk but it's flat. I had a latte and a chocolatine. They have lunch food and are open until 5, so next time I go I'll try one of their sandwiches. It's pleasant to sit in and I was able to find a table and read the rest of Olive Kitteridge. The book was made into an HBO miniseries with Frances McDormand which I watched this afternoon. Martha Wainright plays a character who has her own story in the novel, a piano bar singer. Here she covers The Carpenters:
This afternoon, I cooked the gai lan with green onions and tomatoes. Every time I cook I am discovering how to use this kitchen space. There's counter space but it's far from the stove so I will have to get used to using bowls to prep with since my chopping area is not next to the stove. But I was able to adapt, and used by new universal pot lid with the large sauté pan. Now I have rice and veg to fry up tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will walk up Broadway to a market that bills itself as a produce market. I hope it turns out to be better than the ones I've seen so far. What would I do without Google Maps?
Today's excursion was a Sunday trip to the Met. I bought a membership with the idea that I can make multiple visits and bring a guest. I wanted to see the Fashion exhibitions, and a show about called Kimono Style. I was overwhelmed by the size and sheer volume of objects in the galleries one has to cross in order to arrive at a specific exhibit and started to have a sharp pain in my upper left-hand back quadrant. I found the cafe and got a grotesquely overpriced and very dry sandwich and OJ and the pain went away. I just need to remember that the subway trip to the museum requires an expenditure of energy and that I get very tired after a couple of hours, and keep my visits focused. I saw one half of the show, the Fashion Lexicon, but missed the Fashion Anthology displays in the American galleries. I'll go back!
I am now the owner of a fancy rice cooker. It was on sale from Amazon. I broke my no-Amazon rule because I did not find it at the H Mart I went to, and I wanted this specific model. I also got a rice drainer whose sole purpose is to wash and drain the rice without dumping it in the sink. A bag of Nishiki brown rice was more expensive than I expected at my little "organic" bodega, but I got it anyway so I could try out my cooker. There is a manual with really tiny print that told me everything except what I needed to know--how much water to put in. I just eyeballed it and it turned out fine. One cup yields enough for multiple meals. I made bibimbap with the banchan I got at the H Mart.
Yesterday I went to my friend's apartment in Park Slope with the idea that we would drive back to my place with a rug. But when I saw the rug rolled up, I chickened out because it seemed like it would be too big for my place. I don't want to end up with something I can't use or get rid of easily. My friend was understanding, and I ended up coming back on the subwat with two bags of stuff: the casserole dish, a silicone baking mold for banana bread, a coffee grinder and a mini food processor. I turned down a couple of other items. We had a lovely lunch at an Italian place called SottoVoce which is one guy who does all the cooking and waiting on tables by himself. He came out an recited a huge list of specials, and I ended up having orrechiete and sausage, in a tomato sauce, just what I wanted after watching all 86 episodes of The Sopranos in which all the characters were eating all the time.
My friend's place is heaped with books! Mine is still heaped with boxes and stuff I don't want. I will try today to put everything away somehow. That is my goal. I stuffed most of my boxes in a big box but I realize that the recyclers will not take it like that and I will have to tie the boxes in bundles. I did find some kitchen string and there is some tape around. I have a pile of stuff that I don't want but I don't know how to get rid of it. I cold put it on the street. But I need to check to see when it's going to rain again. Ugh, I find so many things to fret about.
I took a shower and got a message from the landlord Jason that some ConEd workmen need access to the basement between 12-4 so I should stick around. That will be when I am working on finishing the unpacking and tying up the boxes. I so do not want to have to do this! But I must!
I have just one more box left to deal with! I repacked some stuff and put boxes in the corner of the living room, next to my dresser/shelf set-up. I have one more box of random junk and two containers I can redistribute it in. I still have at least one empty dresser drawer. While I would prefer not to have these boxes stacked in the corner, I've reached capacity with all my dressers. All my clothing and books have been stored and so has most of my random stuff. I also bundled the boxes with packing tape and will put them out tomorrow night and HOPE they get taken away!
Excursion of the day: I went to the laundromat for the first time, right around the corner. It was just a little crowded but I got machines right away and used my bag of quarters and the soap I bought earlier today, and did a New Yorker crossword puzzle while I waited. I can see it being a chore when the weather is not good, but I'll deal with that when the time comes. Now I have clean stuff and yet another set of sheets that needed the sizing washed out of them. I got the laundry soap this morning along with a shoe rack--gotta wear the shoes or give them away! It fits perfectly in my entryway storage area.
This morning I had my coffee and then set out for an exploratory excursion to the H Mart that is close to the L subway station at 3rd Ave and 14th St--it's three blocks down 3rd Ave. It's a rather petite store as H Marts go, but it was clean and well organized. I didn't even look at all the packaged foods in the aisles. They did not have an accessible rice cooker, so I just picked up a few frozen dumpling and easy prep meals, some banchan, and a box of fried chicken fresh out of the deli. I had one tote bag and everything fit perfectly, including the gai lan. It is not the cheapest perhaps, but now I have some stuff in my freezer. I ate some of the chicken and saved the rest for later. I also took advantage of a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime and ordered the rice cooker I want, on sale, and a rice washer-strainer, and a universal pot lid for all my skillets. Can't cook the frozen gyoza without a pot lid for the sauté pan or the cast iron skillet. I have some trepidation about delivery on Friday, but I will hope for the best. Here's hoping it gets left by the mail boxes.
Found a drawer for all my scarves, but I want to move them to a dresser. I have one drawer filled with knit hats, gloves and woolly scarves for the winter, and a scarf drawer for the fall and winter. I still have three large dresser drawers that are empty, in the living room. I could just dump all the stuff that is currently in boxes cluttering up my rooms into the drawers and at least it would be out of the way, even if it's an unsatisfactory temporary fix for the storage dilemma. I feel as if I need to rearrange all my clothes so I can more easily remember where things are and I won't have to run around opening all the drawers to find something to wear.
I cooked some potatoes and kale. Everything is different and it feels a little strange, but I was successful in navigating the awkward prep layout and getting everything ready without dropping anything. I will have to use those prep bowls I bought to transfer stuff from the cutting board to the stovetop in a way I didn't used to have to do when my prep area was right next to the stove, but the sink and drainer are in the way and there's only a small space between the sink and the stove to put the small cutting board on. I'll adapt. Meanwhile, the veggie broth is cooling and I'm glad I have three pyrex containers. I'll need more storage for the fridge and freezer--some more tupperware and some freezer bags. Slowly figuring things out.
Today I went over to Rosemary's for brunch. It's an easy trip. We had quiche at La Cantine,
her corner shop, and then I went to Hana, the natural food store that
is expensive but has the kind of salsa and crackers I want, as well as
sushi and decent meat and chicken. And they are apparently open 24
hours! I just got a few things that I could carry in a bag on the subway
without being too weighed down. I will probably end up shopping there
when my local markets are too depressing. I need to consider carrying my
larger, blue purse again so I can tote around a spare reusable bag. I have a dozen bags and totes that keep piling up.
Tomorrow: I think I'll make the trip on the L to h mart to see if I can buy a rice cooker. I think I want the smallest Cuckoo, although the fancier models have their temptations. I'll bring some tote bags!
Wednesday, I will go to Maria's and help her load her car with the stuff she is going to give me: a coffee grinder, an espresso pot, a casserole dish, a food mill and a mini-food processor. Also a rug that belonged to her mother, that I hope will fit in my living room. If not, I'll put it in the bedroom. I'm taking a chance that it will not be too big. I should bring some of my dozens of bags to pack the stuff out in.
Later this week I will try to see a movie at the Metrograph. Maybe The Age of Innocence on Friday at 12:30, a good matinee!
Currently watching a kdrama that promises to end tragically. I have one more episode to go, and I can't figure out who is going to die. Probably her, not him.
I moved around a few boxes, unpacked a little bit more. I have to adjust my expectations and do things poco a poco, one object at a time. I put some boxes of shoes under my bed. A later project will be to figure out where I can donate stuff, like a good will or salvation army.
It's very hot today. Luckily my place has not heated up too much and the new fan I have is quiet and effective. I walked a few blocks to check out a cafe that I had hopes for as a meal place, but while they serve good coffee and have good music and beer, the only food they had was a stale chocolatine; they were out of bagels. So not the meal fallback I had hoped for. The little place across the street, Beets Cafe, turned out to be a juice bar, not a restaurant, and while the juice I got is full of vitamins (I'll have it for dinner tonight), the only other food was what looked like empanadas, and I'd rather get mine at Nelly's. Oh, well. Excursions are for information, and I'm learning that my neighborhood does not have good restaurants with the exception of Salud Bar and Grill, at least so far. The Pita Point place never looks open and I'm not wild about Middle Eastern pita sandwiches in general. I should go back to Little Skips East and try their sandwiches. They are only open until 3, though.
I went back to the closer supermarket and got a few things, but it's really a wasteland. No good crackers. No good bread. Really sorry looking meat and poultry, almost no fish to speak of and nothing I would actually buy. I did get an onion, a few potatoes, some cherry tomatoes, garlic, green onions, mango slices, swiss cheese and tortillas for quesadillas (but i forgot to look for salsa), a red bell pepper, some baby carrots for the hummus.
I will go to h mart in Manhattan tomorrow or Tuesday. I will get some gai lan and banchan. I also need good rice and a rice cooker.
Still surrounded by open boxes and the task of stowing away all my junk. But the garbage people took my garbage, and at least some of my recycling, and someone snagged the hangers. Inexplicably, the bagged packing paper was left behind. I may need to just put it in a bag for the garbage pickup.
Unpacking update. Found: some of the sweaters, the pajamas, the mattress cover, some more cushions, the printer, multiple boxes of flotsam and jetsam. Still looking for: the took kit. I'm sure it's at the bottom of one of the five boxes of junk that I have stalled over unpacking. Pretty sure my yoga mat is gone forever riding around in the truck. It's going to take some time before I can stow all this stuff away, and some of it may end up in the trash. I put garbage and recycling out for pick up today but it's still out there. I hope, I hope, I hope it gets picked up! I want the system to work.
I slept well in spite of light from the street through my no-curtains windows. The TaskRabbit will come by at 2;30 today and I hope, I hope, I hope he will live up to his advertising and be able to install the curtain rods. My little step-stool is tall enough for me to reach the casement so I'm assuming he'll be taller than me and able to reach it as well. I'm dealing with a severe lack of trust in the universe this morning. The experience with the movers really set me back. I just need to take it one object at a time. I'm at the stage now where I'm not emptying a whole box in one go; I have to take each object out and figure out where it should live. I still have a few drawers left but I'm running into the issue of a lot of small objects that have to go into one deep drawer---it just becomes a junk drawer with a jumble. I have a whole big drawer filled with small notebooks that I have accumulated over the years. I can use them for my morning pages and then toss them out as I go. Goal for today: curtain installation, vanity mirror mounted on dresser, remake the bed with the mattress cover. Anything else will be gravy. One day at a time. Serenity prayer! Higher power, where art thou?
This is a good opportunity for me to work my Alanon program. Maybe I can look for a meeting to go to. I find the NYC page with the listings to be overwhelming. It's well organized but I don't know how to join a zoom meeting by a phone number. I tried reading the instructions I found online and it makes no sense to me. Do I call and then give a password? I looked at it again and just felt so discouraged. I can still attend Bay Area meetings if I can find one at a time that works. This afternoon I will go to the Dyke March and see if I can meet up with Rosemary at Bryant Park. Ha! how to find her in thousands of people.
After all the drama of the move, the actual unloading went smoothly. I have unpacked most of the stuff and managed to find a place for most of it so far. I'm annoyed that they packed some stuff that was clearly marked "Do Not Pack" and I am missing my sweaters, my pillow, and my mattress cover. I still have a few more boxes to open, and lots of itty bitties and junk to dispose of, but I do have room for all my clothes, and all my books fit--just barely-- on the shelves I have. I will have to look into a way to get rid of books I no longer need or have read and don't want to keep. I could leave books on the subway, I suppose but they'll probably just get thrown in the trash. Aha! a search with My Free Library's map tool show that there is a box just a few blocks away on Marion Street just past Rockaway and by the park. I will stroll down there and see if it is still around and, if so, I will have a book drop! I need to rearrange the books according to topic, etc, but that will be a project for after I have broken down the last box. I put my recycling and trash out since it's supposed to be picked up tomorrow. I get to see if that works.
Rosemary came over with coffee and empanadas and cake from Love, Nelly which we ate in the garden on the bench. She likes my leopard print-adjacent seat covers on my four groovy chairs! Last night I ended up going back to Salud (very friendly!) after trying unsuccessfully to be served at a place just a block away where a 'security' guy wanted to search my purse before he would let me in. The music was awful and the server never came back out to take my order so I just left. Maybe they didn't want an elderly white woman there. It felt like a neighborhood hang-out with hookahs. I don't need to go there--the excursions are a way of revealing failures as well as successes.
This afternoon, as a break from unpacking and turning in circles, I went to the little crowded organic deli and got a few basic grocery items: tuna and sardines, some Indian veggie pouches. eggs and milk, kale and green onions, a few pieces of fruit, some yogurt and hummus, some jam and Aidell's sausages. Enough to have some breakfast tomorrow. I need to start cooking and eating at home. I have no silverware, but now I have knives, pots and pans and most utensils, some bowls and plates, glasses and coffee cups, my coffee and tea set-ups, salad bowls. I need to get a rice cooker, and some mixing bowls. Maria is going to give me a coffee grinder and a casserole dish, a mini food processor and a food mill, and a rug that I can put in the living room. I'm sitting in my comfy chair surrounded by half unpacked boxes. I still haven't found my tool kit or the mattress cover, but last night I was able to get to sleep in spite of the light shining from across the street and my uneasiness over lack of privacy. I set up an appointment with a TaskRabbit person to come mount the curtain rods and also to attach the large vanity mirror to the dresser because I don't have tools and I don't want to mess it up. It'll cost me about $100, but the curtain situation is urgent. I need to attach the black-out panels to the curtains with the hooks so that they are ready to hang when my Rabbit gets here at 2:30. If all goes well, I will join Rosemary at the Dyke March that starts at 5 at Bryant Square Park.
Like an ant carrying grains of rice, I've been making small trips to and from the house goods store to get stuff for my new apartment. Today's purchases were a small trash can for the bathroom, a dish drainer, and a pair of kitchen shears. And this morning I finally got confirmation from the driver that my stuff will be delivered tomorrow afternoon! YAY! This whole process has been tedious and nerve-wracking, but the end is in sight! Next comes the unpacking, breaking down boxes, collecting all the wrapping paper. I just hope everything is there and that it is all intact. I'm so good at rolling on to the next reason to be stressed instead of enjoying the small victory.
Today I got the vintage furniture place to deliver a black wire shelving unit for the kitchen. They were supposed to deliver a bed headboard and footboard that were part of the set of furniture I bought last week, but apparently it was left on the street to be picked up and somebody took it before they got it. So I suggested that we apply the $50 I had already paid to the purchase of these shelves I had spotted a few days ago. They were agreeable, so I was there during the afternoon to take delivery. It fits perfectly in the space by the entryway door. I will be able to use it to store the crock pot and other small kitchen appliances, my cookbooks, maybe a plant. This photo has shadows that make it hard to see what the actual shelves are like, but this gives the idea.
We made a late afternoon excursion to The Poster House to see two shows: Soviet film posters of the 1920s, and a show about the work of American poster maker Ethel Reed. On a previous excursion there we had both been really impressed with how well the space was used to present the work of Julius Klinger, and this time we were equally impressed with how dynamic the exhibitions were. I know my reciprocity membership should get me in for free, but I forgot to use it. It's near the Flatiron building and Eataly in midtown.
Then we walked about ten minutes to a fabulous izakaya-style Japanese restaurant called No No No where we had chawan mushi, yakitori, and really special mushroom dishes. It reminded me of Ippuku in Berkeley. Very good value for the money.
Another warm day, so the thing to do is to go to a matinee in a nice cool theater. I went back to the Metrograph to see Howl's Moving Castle. I had seen it before but I hardly remembered it. I'd forgotten how much it was about war and bombing. I also got a Metrograph membership because it involves access to streaming content as well as a discount for tickets: $10 instead of $17! Only $50 for the year (or $5 a month).
To inaugurate my streaming, I'm going to watch a William Klein film, a documentary about the French Open, since we just saw a big retrospective of his work at the ICP.
I finally got through to the dispatcher for the moving service and she said my stuff is leaving today and it should take 5-7 days to arrive. The driver will call me 24-48 hours ahead. I will need to have $500 in cash as well as the postal orders for $1500 I already got. I'll need to hit up the ATMs. What a relief! I was beginning to feel a little desperate at how hard it has been to communicate with them.
So between now and then I will do some cultural excursions. I'll have to look at my reciprocity list!
The Guggenheim has a big show on Kandinsky, as well as a show by Cecilia Vicuña. I see that there is a discount for membership for 65+. If I wait until my birthday to join I get the discount, but I'll have to pay full price for entry until then, and I'm sure to go at least twice.
Also on Museum Mile is El Museo del Barrio at 5th Ave and 104th Street. They're closed M-W and open 11-5 the rest of the week.
The American Folk Art Museum is free! It's by Lincoln Center and is having two exhibitions that put the museum in the context of folk art in general and its past exhibitions in particular.
The Poster House has two shows I want to see. They are also closed MTW and open 10-6 the rest of the week. They are in one of my reciprocity networks. There is a Japanese restaurant called No No No about 15 minutes walk from there
Added to the list: The Museum of the City of New York and the Jewish Museum.
I want to return to the Noguchi Museum although all their Akari lamps are sold out.
This is just a first pass at the potential cultural excursions!
Today's excursion Lower East Side and a movie.
First we went to the Essex Market food hall. Took the L to the M at Myrtle-Wyckoff and rode across the river to the Delancey-Essex station. The Market is right there, and we strolled through all the glossy fruits and vegetables, the cheese and bakery, to the restaurant section where we had pernil with arroz y gandules, and maduros. We also got passion fruit-lychee iced tea, so perfumed and delicious!
The Internantional Center of Photography Museum is right across the street. Their current exhibition is a retrospective of the work of William Klein, who directed Who Are You, Polly Magoo? and whose photography of the streets and peoples of various cities were arresting and evocative. He also had done a lot with abstraction in painting, photography and book design.
After that, Rosemary went off to Book Club bookstore and cafe/wine bar to work, and I went in the opposite direction to the Metrograph Cinema for a 2PM showing of Ozu's Equinox Flower. It was his first color film and stars the red teapot.
Here's a sequence from William Klein's film skewering the fashion world:
Today I got the delivery of the second set of furniture I got last Wednesday: a bedroom set by Vaughan Bassett. I looked at some prices on their bedroom sets and they run in the thousands of dollars. I got the whole set for $750: a 5-drawer highboy dresser, two nightstands with two deep drawers each, a low bureau with a huge mirror, and a headboard/footboard bed. The bed wasn't available for delivery today, so the guy said he'd get back to me. I wish I knew what kind of wood it's made out of. The hardware and shape of the mirror are not showing up on their website as something you can buy now, so I'm assuming it's a discontinued line, but I haven't found it on eBay. The closest color is called Amish Cherry. Things I like about the company: their furniture is made in Virginia; they contribute to reforestation; not made or shipped from overseas reduces the carbon footprint. I lucked out because what I was looking at from furniture sites online was all stuff I'd have to put together myself. These pieces are solid and the condition is excellent: no scratches or dings.
BTS released a three-CD anthology with four new songs, and a bunch of their greatest hits including remixes and demos. The third CD is only available if you buy the hard copy so ARMY all over the world have had to invest in CD players. This time around I did not race to buy it because I'm still camping out at my daughter's and don't trust the mail delivery at my new place yet. I will get it later.
ARMY was especially excited about the release of "Born Singer" which they had performed years ago, but which wasn't available for streaming until now. It's based on the song Born Sinner by J Cole. I like 'Run BTS' a lot. There's a fan-appreciation ballad "For Youth" that I will probably appreciate more if it's on a streaming playlist.
Today's excursion: a walk on the High Line from Gansevoort Street to the Little Spain market. The plantings are all lush and some stretches are covered by a canopy of leafy trees. First we had a bagel sandwich with sausage and egg and then I left at 9:30 with Rosemary who was on her way to a New Jersey pool party with her friend Noella, whom I met in Japan when we were there. I got off at the end of the L line and walked a few blocks over the the beginning of the High Line, then walked north to Hudson Yards where I was able to use a clean bathroom and an ATM before walking back to check out the L.E.A.F. flower festival. It was like an outdoor version of museums' Bouquet to Arts events, with florists creating flower plinths and pop-up photo op sites.
Yesterday was a super busy day. I went and opened an account at the credit union in the morning. I needed to go the apartment for a piece of mail to prove my residency. Then I stopped for coffee at a nifty cafe-bakery called L'Imprimerie. I'll surely return when I have business at the bank.
After noon, the vintage shops were open. First I went to a place called Green Village just around the corner from Rosemary's place, run by two small Orthodox Jews. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but then I discovered a bedroom set that I liked, jammed in with all the stuff around it. I got a tall dresser, a low dresser, a mirror, two nightstands, and the headboard and footboard that were all part of a set, in very good condition and with all the hardware. I paid $725, which included a delivery fee. It will be delivered either Sunday or Tuesday. After that, I slogged my way through the sweaty streets to a place called Reuse America, which is only open on Wed afternoon, where I was able to buy a table and four nifty chairs, and a chest of drawers with a bookcase unit on top. Those items were delivered today and they look great! I'm so happy. It was intense, making decisions that cost thousands of dollars and that I'm going to live with when I was just trying to see the pieces in the crowded piles of stuff. I went over to the apartment this morning to wait for the delivery. I was a little anxious about the whole process, but now that I have done one successfully, I feel a little more confident about the next delivery and the arrival of the movers.
Excursion of the day was to have lunch at the closest restaurant, a place called Pita Point that serves Middle Eastern food and bills itself as Glatt Kosher. The owner gave me extra servings of the side veggies with my pita lamb sandwich. Then three guys came in and her broke out a bottle of booze and served them shots. A few minutes later, he started gesturing to me and I finally figured out that he was offering me a shot as well! It was tequila. That's one way to treat your new customers!
Today I had to wait for the gas technician to come turn on my gas for the stove. I was told to wait from 8AM-10PM. I was prepared: I had a book, two magazines, and my laptop to entertain me while I waited. Lucky for me I also have a bed so I didn't have to sit on the floor the whole time. I watched the rest of season one of The Sopranos and shopped for furniture online. I also ducked out for some empanadas, a latte, and cake at Love, Nelly, the closest source of espresso drinks to my new place! The gas guys came at around 4PM and quickly solved the problem, made sure the pilot lights were lit, and were super polite and friendly.
I was already at the apartment because a locksmith called me at 6AM (!) to fix one of the locks. There are multiple front doors: the outer front door is next to the mailboxes. It leads to a tiny foyer with another door to the hallway. In the hallway there is a door that leads to the bedroom. I don't intend to use it. There's also stairs to the basement and up to the parlor level. Then there is a door to my entryway that leads to the kitchen. That door has a button lock that was not working, so the landlord hired a locksmith. Luckily the repair was just the replacement of the strike plate, the little metal piece that has a catch hole that the lock tongue has to catch on. It's not the most secure type of lock, but it will keep out casual intruders.
One thing about hanging out all day is that I got to see what the noise levels are. I can hear the upstairs neighbors walking but it's not too loud. There is some traffic noise, but it's half a block away. I can hear the elevated subway over on Broadway, but it's not too intrusive--like a distant wave. I can close the bedroom door to keep out the noise of the fridge. I can also hear birds in the back garden! I had the back door open for the breeze but there were also flies, boo hoo.
Dinner with Rosemary was happy hour at a neighborhood craft beer bar called Salud with Latin American bar food--plantains and yucca but also sliders and chicken wings, and a very nice kale salad with mango, walnuts, cherry tomatoes and radishes. A nice space with loud but good music--I will definitely return.
Tomorrow I have an appointment to open an account at the Brooklyn Coop Credit Union, but I forgot to put a piece of mail with my new address in my backpack, so I'll have to go back and pick one up from the apartment. Just a quick trip on the L. Then I'll have to go back on the L but get off at Myrtle-Wycoff. If I leave by 8:30, I should have time for the trips and to get some coffee somewhere. The afternoon will be devoted to vintage furniture shopping. Let's hope I can find some stuff I like because this online furniture shopping is not fun.
Breakfast was two Czech-Mex kolaches from Kings Kolache. Savory had spicy sausage with cheese, while the sweet was banana Nutella. I did not know that this is a popular Texas food! Little sweet squares of triple-raised dough with fillings.
Business today was supposed to start with a visit to a vintage furniture place around the corner but they were closed. So on to the post office to get a postal mail check for payment of the final installment of the moving expenses, which I was informed had to be by either postal order or cash. When I tried to use my debit card it was denied. So I was left trying to figure out how to get $1550 in cash from ATMs with my debit card limit. Then I got a call from the credit union asking if I had authorized the transaction and it turned out that they had been alerted because it was over my daily limit (duh). The first person I talked to said she would try to increase my limit but that I might have to call customer services if it didn't go through. So back i went to the post office where just about everyone else--customers and staff-- was speaking Spanish. I tried again, but it was denied again. So back to the phone I went and this time I got a person who was able to authorize my expenditure and then it worked! so now I have the final payment for the movers. I will need to have some more cash on had in case there is a "shuttle fee." Ugh
It's warm today. I went back to R's apartment to get settled down after my daily dose of being on hold with representatives, and decided to try to get a new Medicare Advantage plan. I googled around and clicked on a page that said it would give me quotes, and unwittingly entered into communication with a broker. He reviewed a plan with me and honestly it is cheaper and has more features than my current plan with Kaiser. It's a PPO so I am not bound to one HMO network. The whole transaction took almost an hour, but it was a very thorough review of a plan and its features. I could have shopped around for other plans but I decided to go ahead and sign up for this one because there are open enrollments again when I reach 65 and for the usual end of the year period, so if for some reason I decide to change, I can do that. We also looked around for a primary care physician within a close distance of my house and he helped me find a clinic that turns out to be a very cool community health center. Next on the agenda is to locate the nearest urgent care center within th network in case I need urgent care like stitches or something.
I also made an appointment to open a new account at the Brooklyn Coop Credit Union. Tomorrow I have to be at my apartment from 8AM to 10PM for a gas technician to come fix my gas issue (that there is none even through the account says it is supposed to be on). So I'll bring my laptop, book, and magazines and do some furniture shopping. I need to see if there a doorbell that works, too. With any luck they will not keep me waiting all day and all night, but you never know. While I"m there, a locksmith will be coming because one of the front door locks isn't working.
I'm checking things off my list! My voter's registration was processed. My replacement credit card arrived. I'm waiting for my meds to arrive by mail. It's all starting to feel real.
Time to shop for furniture!
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