Yellow Rat Bastard

Back from our trip!

What an experience. The wedding in Florida was beautiful and wild, a three-day party on the beach. Then NYC with the monk! The Met! MoMA! SoHo, LoHo, East Village, Chi-town, Bowery, slices, dogs, subway....

Too much!

I feel like I'm ready to explode with all of these images, sounds, smells...a lot to process. Way too much to tackle all at once, so I'll just put up a little bit every day or so for the next hundred years.




Here's my girl on the subway just a few hours after arriving in the big city. She's a country mouse, but you'd never know it to look at her here. She must have accessed her Mother's genetic memories of growing up in the city...she looks like she's been riding the subway since she was born.



Yolie and Emily on Canal




Monk & Girls on Ludlow



The city feels changed from when I last lived there in 89'-90'....I suppose it is as a result of 9/11. Every single person we met was friendly and helpful. When we asked someone for directions, half the time they would walk us to our destination and talk to us the whole way.

A guy came up to Yolie and I as we were walking the upper West side at around midnight and asked us if we could give a dollar to the United Negro Pizza Fund. I gave him a dollar, he gave us a blessing and laughed, we all laughed together. Then I turned to Yolie and asked her where she wanted to get something to eat. The guy came back to us and asked what we were interested in. He took us to this hole in the wall Chinese joint where we both ate brocoli in garlic sauce till we popped- for three dollars total.

The vibe is much friendlier, and there is a feeling that everyone is kind of looking out for each other. On the subway this wacko-looking guy got on the train and knelt down on the floor and started digging into his backpack. I was watching him really closely, getting into cop mode and getting ready to take this guy out if it got weird- now this is nothing new for me, it's how I live, but Yolie pointed out to me that when the guy started to dig around in his backpack EVERY SINGLE MAN on the train looked over and started leaning forward, ready to go into action.

It was wonderful. And chilling.


The world is changed. We are changed with it.




ABUELA:



Abuela is 99 years old. She's one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. When she sees you, she grabs hold of you by the hand and stares into your eyes and she GETS you. She sees into you and through you, then she smiles and pats your hand and tells you what she sees.

I sat with her for an hour or more, just listening to her. I'll never be the same again.




Okay, more later.







Oh, yeah, it's good to be home.