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Saturday, November 29, 2003
The last few days... My brother called to wish me a happy Thanksgiving. As we were saying our goodbyes, he said, "Oh I almost forgot..." and continued to tell me that our Uncle and Aunt had split up and that our Uncle was living with his new girlfriend. They were never officially married, but had been together for over 20 years... This is such a weird revelation. Those two as a couple were such a huge part of my childhood. I can hardly imagine them apart... Its just a totally bizarre piece of news. I remember their playful bickering. And after one particular exchange that I remember as though it was yesterday, my Aunt asked my Uncle where she should put a package of hot dogs since the freezer was full because he had packed it full of other crap. He responded, "Why don't you put them next to your cold heart!" She threw the package of hot dogs square at his head and he ducked to miss them. It was the fastest I had ever seen him move. Everyone in the family always said, "Those two will be together forever." Apparently, forever, isn't as long as it used to be. I spent Thanksgiving with Lori. We went to a pre-dinner party hosted by a friend of mine in Cayuga Heights first. (For those of you who don't know, Cayuga Heights is the more affluent area just outside of Ithaca. Doesn't it just sound like it has lots of money? Cayuga Heights?...) Anyway. It was an experience I was not properly dressed for. I was wearing jeans and my favorite but well-worn sweater while everyone else was in their Sunday best. The median age was probably about 60 and noone said, "Hi." They all looked at our hands first and said, "Do you need a drink?" before making eye contact. The draw for this party was the overflowing punch bowl of Whiskey Sours and the pot of Bloody Marys which they assured us were "not too strong to interfere with driving to our next party." All I could think was there are going to be a lot of half-intoxicated 60-somethings on the road by early afternoon. Watch out Cayuga Heights! Dinner was at our friend Jackie's. It was immediately apparent how much hard work and love went into preparing this meal. No Whiskey Sours or Booldy Marys were served, but much more typical thanksgiving fare was on the menu... turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallow, corn casserole, stuffing, buttermilk biscuits, some amazing bacon dip, and what was perhaps the best peanut-butter pie ever. (I'm sure there was more to be had that I missed because it wouldn't fit on my plate.) The women had spent all morning in the kitchen and the men were out hunting deer. When the hunting party returned to eat, (we had started earlier...) they regaled us with stories of near misses. ("I would have hit it if that tree wasn't in the way" seemed to be a common excuse.) The whole thing reeked of Thanksgivings past spent on my Grandparents' farm, and therefore very comfortable. Thanksgiving night I saw Shattered Glass, a movie about a young up-and-coming journalist for The New Republic, Stephen Glass, who was basically making up stories for print in the magazine. The movie was about the discovery and consequences of his fabricated stories. The movie was really well-done and timely considering all of the recent drama over the New York Times journalist, Jayson Blair. Lori and I got up at 5 AM Friday morning to shop at Best Buy and Target. Continuing a tradition started in Ohio a few years back, we decided to partake in the commercial holiday that is Black Friday. Those advertised deals in the circulars seem less appealing when you have to stand in a check-out line that circles around the store at 6:10 in the morning. Even a $20 DVD player was not going to get us in line, we left Best Buy empty-handed. Target had a much more reasonable crowd. There, I got a new shower curtain and a very-cool looking toaster oven. We hit Homo Depot by 8 AM, which was practically empty. Lori had never been so I felt required to help her maintain her "lesbian in good standing" status by making her walk the aisles for a bit. The big purchase there? A Teeny can of WD-40 which prevents my new apartment's front and back door from creaking and annoying the shit out of me. It was well worth getting up at 5 AM for. I was back in bed after shopping by 9:30. :-) Since then, nothing terribly exciting has happened... I've been trying to catch up on New Yorker magazines... watching friends' animals who are out of town... and attempting to unpack and create a pleasant, homey atmosphere in my new apartment. (It's coming along VERY slowly due to lack of motivation...) Tonight, god-willing, some friends and I will go to a drag show in Elmira. But that's only if the snow doesn't fly... | private feedback | |
Hey! I'm Shane... a proud gay progressive Democrat who has recently relocated to New York City from Ithaca, NY. As I am no longer in Ithaca, I haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. Drop me a line!
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