My Cat Is Famous

Apparently, Open Salon (where Marco has taken up residence) declared today post-your-pet day in an effort to break from the distressing noise of the markets and the economy and the election and the world. And our Amelia Bedelia (a.k.a. The Mouse) made the front page!

She is purring with approval right next to me. Meanwhile, the pic above is not The Mouse but her beloved yet departed brother, Sam I Am. I figured, it was only fair.

Oh no -- I did it once again -- I cat blogged! And with that, I sign off for the weekend. Enjoy :)

MadDawg Siegel

And speaking of family pics, this is my uncle, Norm "MadDawg" Siegel, musician extraordinaire! For those of you in sweet home Chicago, MadDawg will be playing on July 13 at Bill's Blues Bar (1029 Davis, Evanston) at 7pm. He'll be cutting loose with a mix of some of Chicago’s best singer songwriters from the great Folk era of the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Following Norm will be Jim Fine, a former Evanstonian singer songwriter and guitarist.

And since I can't seem to refrain from wedding blogging, one more tidbit about Norm: he has taken time out to learn acoustic renditions of Dodi Li and and Erev Shel Shoshanim (Jewish wedding tunes) that Marco and I picked out and will be playing us down the aisle A WEEK FROM THIS COMING SUNDAY. What an uncle, huh?!

Girl with Upside Down Book

So Marco and I are digging up childhood pictures in honor of that age-old sappy of sappies tradition: the wedding slide show. This is me, pretending to read, and caught in the act. Goodness knows where I got the hat.

Toddler with Keyboard

Weekend recap:
I look away for one minute and Talia, age 3,
has figured out how to post on my blog!

Male Bonding: Marco and Gabriel

This here's a shot of my dude Marco eating our friend Daphne's baby, Gabriel, while Gabriel tries to eat his own arm.

That's Daph in the back, furiously trying to pack up and get back to the city, which is where we're headed tomorrow morning too. Alas. It's been wonderful communing with our wedding site out here in upstate NY! I feel like Speed Bride; we got so many wedding errands done that now I'm ready for a vacation :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MOM & DAD!

When I did an image search and found this one, I must admit, at first I thought the champagne glasses were a kid. They're not. They're champagne glasses. As in cheers, and celebration. (Um, only child, much?!)

So Mom, Dad, wishing you bubbly and happiness and much nachas and joy in each other today, with love...from your one and only!

Image cred

Bridal Zen?

People keep asking me if I'm freaking out because our wedding is in 3 weeks. I have to say, I'm feeling pretty calm. Hotel still under construction? So we switched. Food at the restaurant we'd chosen for dinner the night before sucked? So we found a new one. I guess after living through the wrong marriage, planning for the right one feels pretty effortless, no matter the obstacles thrown into the course.

Maybe it's the mambo. Marco and I had our class again last night and learned a few more tricks: the crossover, the walk around, and my personal favorite, the susy q.

I think we're getting hooked. One thing's for sure: we're getting hitched. In 3 weeks.

Yikes?!

Serendipity in Central Park

I met the most amazing woman, and the most amazing 3-legged dog, yesterday in the park coming back from a visit to the place I've come to call the fertility farm (alert! I am NOT fertility blogging, just mentioning where I was coming from is all). These two have a pretty amazing story, and, as it turns out, Scheki (the dog) and Lori (the human) were profiled in April on WCBS. Schecki is short for "Schekayanu," the Jewish blessing of gratitude for reaching a happy occasion.

Finding Schecki, a victim of a bombing most likely, in Israel was a happy occasion, explains Lori in the clip. She also says: "Scheki has taught us to have this strength and love of life and not to look at what we don't have, but rather look at what we do have in life, and embrace it with a passion and exuberance."

Amen (and woof) to that.

Feminist Seeking Crinoline

Yes, it's true. I'm decking out in costume as a 1950s bride at my wedding--which is now 4 weeks away. I figure, if I'm going to be a bride, why not play the role? Though I'm not wearing white--it's blue. And today my cousin Jen and I are going crinoline shopping. If anyone has ideas about where to find an inexpensive one, I'd totally appreciate the tip!

Mambo-mania

Taking a break from all the heavy stuff to share a moment from my weekend, post-NCRW conference. Marco and I took our first mambo lesson yesterday from Glenda Heffer (aka La Mambera), who is dancing here in this video with her partner Mambo D. We are not quite looking like them yet. Ok, so we will never dance like them. But hey, we've learned the basic step - it's a start.

Fertility Semantics

Ok ok, confession contagious. While I PROMISE that this site will not become Girl with Pen: Bridging Feminism and Fertility, I've had an interesting week and without getting into the subtext (which you will no doubt figure out) I must throw this question out there to all you gals out there who I know have gone down the fertility road: Why do they refer to it as being treated for "infertility" when really it's just expediting one's fertility? I mean, doesn't "in-" means "un"? Words hold psychological and ontological power here, people, and methinks the medical establishment might consider redefining its terms. But then, I would think that, being an English major and all. Rant over. Back to being UNconfessional now.

...But I'm curious. What do others think? Rhetorical question perhaps, but is this why folks turn to midwives? Do they use different language over there?

Girl with Tutu

This is my cousin Shaina, at her ballet recital. She's a bumble bee. Aw. I took ballet at Shaina's age too and didn't quit til college. When the ballet teachers started telling some of the girls in my classes to lose weight I cut loose. I liked me my HoHos. So enjoy the dance of the bumble bees Shaina, but if you keep at it, fight for the right to your Hoho, too :)

Paging Feminism

I'm just curious to know whose idea it was over at Washington University to grant Phyllis Schlafly an honorary degree. Genius. NOT! And hey, wait, Phyllis, what are you doing accepting an honorary doctorate when women are supposed to be barefoot in the kitchen? Um, hypocritical much?

Feministing weighs in here, and Katha Pollitt weighs in at The Nation. (Thanks, Va, for that heads up the other day. Oy.)

Spy Cat

Regular readers know I rarely catblog. But Marco just sent me this image, and I just couldn't resist. This, my friends, is the sneaky Amelia Bedelia in the tub, who we are convinced has been on some secret government mission all along. This confirms.

My Whereabouts

Last night I heard amazing ladies--Laura Flanders, Carol Jenkins, Gloria Steinem, Marlene Sanders, Mary Thom, Marie Wilson, Pat Mitchell, and newfound friend Suzanne Braun Levine--talk about women, media and politics ("From Bella to Hillary") at The Paley Center. I promise promise promise to post about it early next week.

I'm rushing off to catch my plane for Chicago, where I'll be doing a blogging workshop at the Council on Contemporary Families Conference (with the help of blogger extraordinaire Veronica Arreola). If the conference venue is wired, I'll try to do some live-blogging from the conference, but if not, I'll be back over here on Monday of course.

Meanwhile, tonight kicks off the second class of Progressive Women's Voices back in NYC and I'm only bummed I won't be in town to join them all for dinner. (The WMC crew are now accepting apps for the 3rd class, btw, so if you didn't make it this time, you can try again!)

And on a personal note, my parents are currently in Turkey, teaching therapists over there and getting hot stone massages. Not that I'm jealous or anything.

Happy spring weekends to all...!

Baby Girl with Pen

This is my baby cousin, Lia, with a pen, and making her cyberspace debut. I just couldn't resist.

(Got a picture of a girl with pen you'd like me to post? Send it my way!)

I'm Back (I Miss the Mountains Edition!)

A hearty THANK YOU to all you awesome guest posters last week! And to Urbanartiste, Pop Feminist, J.K. Gayle, and others for their comments. I can't tell you how amazing it was to be out in rural Wyoming without interweb connection and know that GWP was chugging away! So many people responded to my request for guest posts, I'll be posting the rest during this coming week.

Meanwhile, this here's a pic of the sheep ranch where my father and I were staying. I attended my first 4-H Club meeting. I rode with the rancher, who is also a friend, on his horse-drawn sleigh to feed the sheep. I'm trying to find their website to share -- will circle back with that soon!

Girl with Book

Me, at Marco's folks' house in FLA, during the break...That dude's always catching me at goofy lookin moments I tell ya.

New York Smells Good

Happy and Merry to each and all! Hannukah starts tonight, and I think we're about to invest in our first joint menorah. It will NOT, however, look anything like this moose menorah here.


And speaking of holidays, while walking home from a synagogue function last night, Marco and I came upon this truck full of trees. Ok, so from an eco pov, maybe it's not so cool that a forest was virtually imported on a flatbed. But it was amazing to see this truck, and I swear, it smelled soooo good, all the way home.

For those of you celebrating Hannukah tonight, may all your latkes be just the right amount of greasey, and may your candles burn long and bright!

Post-Thanksgiving Gratitude Post

I hope ya'll had a fabulous feast!

Five things I'm feeling grateful for right about now:

1. My family and friends, who have embraced Marco and me with incredible warmth and love
2. Stuffing
3. Health
4. Central Park
5. That book you unwittingly come upon that gives you just what you need...!