Friends, Mom, and Herman Melville

I'm currently between the visits of my three favorite women. My best friend Robyn came to Da Bronx a few weeks ago and it was lots of fun. She wrote about it in her blog, and did such a good job I'm not going to try to compare to it, so read it here. We didn't do the usual touristy New York things, thank God. Robyn is smart enough to know that the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building are less interesting and more expensive than having lunch with a dead Herman Melville or going to awesome bookstores. We also found joy in funny-named frozen desserts and shopping for really cheap clothes. That is why I like Robyn. She likes the same things I do.

After I left Robyn at Grand Central to catch her bus to LaGuardia, I walked a few blocks to meet one of my oldest friends, Diane, who is also kind of like a mom because she was with my dad for many years when I was growing up. I think of her as my friendmom. She was in town with her son visiting her husband who is working here for a few months. We hadn't seen each other in about a year and a half, so it was fun. We went to the Central Park Zoo, which I hadn't been to since I was 8. Her son is a fun boy and I had a good time. I wish we had more time together, but Diane and her husband Brian had a play to go to, so I walked back to the train and went home. I got pretty sad, having to say goodbye to two friends in one day.

Mike and I have had things to keep us occupied though, It's not like we're bored or anything. Last weekend we went to a Yankees game with Aaron and Sara. We had seats waaaaaaay up in the last row, which turned out to be the best seats because it started pouring and they are the only ones that are covered. There was a fight when some guy showed up late wearing his "Mets Gear". It was funny because he got escorted out after being punched by a few different guys, though the guys doing the beating got to stay. I guess the cops were Yankees fans too. Then there was a rain delay, which ended up with the Yankees winning. Sara and I had some crappy pretzels.

On Sunday Mike and I went back to visit Herman Melville and his pals at Woodlawn Cemetery. The note that Robyn and I had left was still there, as were the sticks you should have read about in her blog. I didn't leave him anything this time, but we did have lunch with him and I told him I'd be back soon. We walked around for about 4 hours and met other "deads" (that's what Robyn calls them) and some funny names. Here lies Mike T. I'm sure that the afterlife would be much more enjoyable for him if he had his seltz.

We also found headstones with the names Coffin, Self, and T.B.A. which were amusing.

And now the next thing I have to look forward to is my mom coming to visit. She came out last year when we moved to Brooklyn and I've only seen her once since, when we went to Florida for Mikes graduation. It's weird to not see her very often since we had live in the same city for so long, but it was time for everyone to get out of AZ. I'm glad we did. It's always nice to have her visit, and I'm glad we have a guest room this time. I'll probably take her to visit Herman Melville. And I know while she's here my floors will be spotless. That's what moms do.

My mom