But elephants don't eat people!

Last night i was dreaming and i was in two dark rooms. I knew that in the dark the super huge elephant could find me and eat me, but if the light was on he wouldn't come out. I was scared and by myself and then I said aloud in my dream: "This is my dream, it doesn't have to be dark." I reached for the light switch, but it didn't work. Determined, I pulled the cord on the overhead lamp, and still there was still a disappointing click with no illumination. Then, finally, I reached up and put my hand on the bare bulb. I held the light bulb and the energy up from my arm made a flicker and then, holding on, the light grew stronger and stronger. And voila! The room was lit and no gigantic elephant came to eat me.

Talk about an awesome and powerful dream. wow.

woah candidates!

Cookies and Ukuleles

Today I spent the day with my niece. I took one photo of this section of the tree because this is the only section that got decorated. Catie is 2 and can't reach very high. Also, neither can I. At one point she put five ornaments on one bending branch. I left it there as long as it could stay because I like to believe this is her artistic statement. The winds are howling and it is pouring rain. I'm finishing up my wrapping and knitting and putting away the three kinds of cookies I made today. Wanna see the christmas tree cookie and the huge gingerbread man I made out of my runny oatmeal raisin cookie dough?

I thought you might.




Today Mike and Joe put in a new toilet in the bathroom upstairs and my mom tore the house apart trying to find something which she later found. I baked all day. Catie got her birthday present a little late and loved loved loved her little guitar. it is actually a toy ukulele. It's yellow with palm trees and she likes to dance when you strum it and understands that it's for her just like a miniature tea set might be Catie-sized too. When she opened it she yelled, "DADDY I GOT A TAR! A TAR!" and ran to him. He was covered in plumbing gunk and perspiration. It was cute. Here is a recent picture of Catie (and a little shot of the tip of my finger. just the tip):


In other news, I graduated from NYU with a Masters and got a job last week. And even more shocking? Sarah Raz got a cell phone!

Dear Catie...

Dear Catie,

Hello to my favorite little niece! It's only for a few more weeks that I can say that before you have a baby sister. You're going to be such a good big sister...but you knew that, didn't you? You are so smart.

You might not know very much about correspondence yet, but letters usually start off with pleasantries. I might tell you about my job, you might tell me about yours. I hear that you're doing really well with language acquisition and complex abstract connections, that means you're good at talking and playing pretend. You're getting SO good at understanding when mommy and daddy explain things to you or read you a story. I hear that you've been a really good big cousin, too. Taking care of Wyatt and Gabe and baby Collin. A big part of your job right now is growing up strong. I hear you're doing that great too!!! Oh and me? Thank you for asking. You are so polite. You're probably doing a better job than I am right now of sleeping through the night. This morning I woke up at 5 in the morning and made popcorn balls. What a silly thing to do! My job is going well. I'm growing too!

I put up a christmas tree with my roommates. Our christmas tree is as tall as I am and covered with shiny ornaments (mostly red and white like peppermints.) There are lots of things in New York City that I'd like to show you and I didn't have the chance to on your last visit. During Christmas time, everything seems to glitter and shine and ring like little bells here. tingle-ling. tingle-ling. Are you excited about Santa Claus? I am too.

Yesterday I saw a man on the train who looked like an otter. He had a mustache and a big tummy and he was sleeping sitting up in his seat on the train and boy oh boy was he snoring! It looked like at any moment he might dive into a lake -- but we were on a train, so it looked like at any moment the doors would open and he'd tip his hat to me and say "well jessica, you see I am an otter and this is my stop. Have a good day!"

I love you more than there are stars in the sky!
Love,
Aunt Jess.


P.S. Happy almost birthday!!!! I can't believe you will be 2 and so, so soon! You are the best almost-two-year-old on the whole planet!

Better Than Rockefeller Center

....but you know, a little bit smaller is all.

Whoops

Today I dyed my hair black by accident.

Concerned with my growing number of gray hairs ( which my students keep commenting on, by the way) It ends up nice n' easy brand hair dye's concept of "darkest brown" is actually down right Eighth-grade-goth-SHUT-UP-MOM-i-don't-ever-want-to-leave-hop-topic black. And it was only a few months ago, on a similarly misguided gray coverage/i need a change attempt that I dyed my hair that eighth-grade-friends-with-that-hot-topic-goth-burgundy-red. So of course, no one likes looking like adolescent but I'm in a situation where the adolescent girls i teach everyday look more mature than me.

I should have kept the grays.

"Dear Jessica,"

Oh! Also, you should read this blog that consists of letters someone writes to me about his exciting life in New York.
I'm on a new side of a blog than ever before.

Read DEAR JESSICA

Thinking cap

Our apartment is freezing cold. I am working on a unit plan to hand in next week. This is one of my last assignments as a graduate student. Things are really winding down. Adrian and Nic are downstairs watching television and I just heard them laugh out loud, real loud, to the golden girls. In an hour or so, we are getting a christmas tree.

In my procrastination from working on my project I found a bunch of old love-letters from boyfriends in college and high school and I was thinking how lucky i've been.

I can't believe i'm almost done with school. the job hunt will soon begin.

There is a wreath on our front door and the evergreen smell makes you close the eyes as you turn the knob, remembering christmases of long ago, magical ones where you swore that you heard prancing and pawing of little hoofs on the roof.

I found that gift certificate for MAC makeup that i thought I lost.

Wow, the golden girls must be really funny, seriously.

I'm currently wearing my thinking cap....so you'd imagine that I'd thinkof more things to write to you about...

soon enough, i suppose. soon enough.

(E) None of the above. (S-E-U-R-A-T)

So, you've missed some class, let's see if you can follow along. Use this spelling-mistake-ridden instant message conversation as your text. Try to pick up where you left off and answer your choice of the following questions in the comment area below : (A) What is the same and what is different than before? (B) Why is Jessica so awesome? (Remember to be specific and use descriptive language!)



...oh then thrusday nic met me after my presentation in class and we went to a gallery opening to drink free wine
it was this photographer who made ladies dresses out of meat and took their pictures

jeanne: woah woah woah

jessica: it was really crowded though, and the meat dresses were gross (fish
specifically) so we chugged our wine and left and drank a forty on the train home and were asleep by 10.

I think i'd like the fishdresses if there werent so many people there.

jeanne: haha that is a weird week

jessica : wait. then friday
nic picked me up at school and came into my school right at the very moment that i was wiping a tear from a child's eye.
i told him i paid her and she was actually a midget

i got offered a job -- but not a teaching job, just one to hold me over working in the school

jeanne: hahaahahaha
woah!

jessica: then nic and i got pizza and went to the MoMA --it's FREE on fridays after 4 !!!
There is this wooden sculpture artist there i like a lot
also that pointilism guy
surat?

jeanne: he was a pointilism guy!
I think it's cerat?

jessica : next time you come up on a friday we should go

jeanne: we totally should
jessica: maybe, but i swear i saw it written.
maybe i'm wrong

oh there is a new musuem opening

called

the new museum

we should go

jeanne: maybe seraut. i dunno something!
haha we should go to that

it sounds new

jessica: yeah seraut, it hink
think

hahaha

oh yeah, after the musuem after that we saw the tree in rockefeller center and the animated macy's windows. and then we thought we caught a cold from walking around in the freezing air and went home to sleep really early.


oh and saturday was another nic and i date.

jeanne: I see a theme

jessica: but this time it was our "three month anniversary"
we called it our quarterly review
and he had tickets to do the oldest white couple thing ever-- we saw garrison keillor and a live performance of a prairie home companion

we were the youngest people there

by far.

jeannee: oh jesus

jessica: we had a great time and ate BBQ afterward

then we met up with russell and had some laughs -- also went to franky's party. it was a canadian halloween

i wore two ties with big ben on them

and was TIES TO ENGLAND

you have to wear something canadian

me: hahahaha
you are such a nerd

jessica: franky was snidly whiplash

jeanne: oh nice

jessica: oh, and i talked to someone in the bathroom line there whose BREATH STUNK SO BAD
IT SMELLED LIKE
THEY ATE CHINATOWN

seriously

after that we saw Mike G. and Max, but buy the time we arrived there I was already drunk. max said that if i started blogging again she'd read it, which got me psyched to blog.

oh yeah, also, nic is trying to make the past tense form of freak to be FRUCK
like i FRUCK the fuck out
as in, jennae fruck all up on her man on the dance floor.

jeanne: hahaha
oh well that will really come in handy

oh have you seen my art blog?
http://wanderinggenie.blogspot.com/

jessica: not since the new banner

jeanne: no this is my blog

jessica: oooh

jeanne: its a sort of temporary site so I have some internet reference crap to send people to

jessica: that's awesome

jeanne: there's some new stuff on there maybe

jessica : the boar rules
AWWW you linked me
I'll link you right now.

jeanne: haha yeah