This Week in a Photo

Operation Spring Cleaning Part 1

As you can see, this is operation Spring Cleaning Part 1 - part 2 will be posted next week (this way I'll be held accountable if nothing comes of this idea). This will take some planning, which I will do tonight and tomorrow I will head out to my local arts store or container store on Saturday to get the goods.

The mission: optimize closet space & give the room a face-lift.

The projects:
-Making the closet manageable

-providing potential extra safe play space for Bella Tuna

-Make shoe holder

-Find a better way to store purses/bags

The reason for why all of this has arisen: si, we have entered the era of spring, which thus means that it is time to clean. And for me, this means maximizing the organization of my living space. Also, last night Bella Tuna discovered her meow, so I'm hoping to make the room interesting to her so that she does not wake me in the pre-dawn hours to convey her feelings of boredom. 

I am strapped by certain constraints - the common area in my apartment is off limits for personal goods, so I may not simply move my things elsewhere and consider the new empty space as "organized." The apartment is not mine - so no holes in the walls. I live in a 15' by 8' space and the closet is disproportionately small. I intend to spend no more than $20 on this project and I do not want to purchase traditional shelves (although they would help) because moving them out from my apartment someday could turn into more of a pain than worth.

As a child, when I wasn't watching the History Channel (back when it had shows about history) or Nickelodeon I was watching home renovating & interior decorating programs. I know off-hand a number of tips to make a small, dull space look livable and welcoming. For example, back in the dorming days, I bought bright sheets (pink and green) to add "happy" colors to what otherwise was a very droll living space. Likewise, I bought a standing lamp with multiple colored shades to also add color. Using vibrant colors in small spaces as accents really helps to bring light into the room. Today, I have cream-yellow colored walls, so I bought a red-wine colored coverlet to make the color of the walls pop. It looks really good  and it helps to highlight the other reds in my room, such as those in my rug and that of my Chat Noir poster. 

Later that night...

When I made it back home after work, Bella greeted me with much more cuddle-status than usual. At first I thought, "Awww, how cute! She's finally become a cuddle-bug!"

Nope, as it turns out, she's in heat. Awesome. So after being stressed out about what that actually means (having no experience with a cat in heat), a cat that will not stop meowing or begging for attention, and being so distracted that I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store to pick up muffin-baking supplies, I ended up organizing my closet and room with the available supplies. It turns out that while it is not nearly as colorful as I would have liked, I'm really happy with the closet. The purses fit perfectly in a drawer emptied of its winter sweaters, which are now in the top of the closet. And Bella has a soft box and a DSW bag to play in, both of which are under an end table of my room. It's already turning into one of her favorite spots.

Now, to figure out what to write for next week...

Ten Years

Ten year anniversaries are pretty serious business, especially when you've only two decades of living under your belt. Ten years ago, we embarked on the war in Iraq. Ten years ago, the world had the SARS scare. Ten years ago, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean (the original)  and Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King were released. (How 'bout them apples?) But, there was one more earth rattling event that happened in 2003, one that was missed by the major news networks (actually, by all news networks) and it was: the eighth grade field trip upon which Victoria and I became best friends. (There's no way you were expecting that.)

Yes, this month marks the tenth anniversary of my best friend and me, and I cannot honor it enough - we've been through thick, thin, and so many inside jokes that we can't even keep track of them all. 

The Way We Became Best Friends

The tale of Miss Victoria and I goes back beyond our decade of being best friends. Waaaaay back in 1998, we met in the sunshine of the playground of our elementary school. The circles that we traveled in were composed of different packs, so we did not really get to know each other too well (it wasn't a large school by any means). We did have a short time together in a group on the corner of the streets holding enormous "STOP" signs to direct cars, when 9-10 year old crossing guards was not considered a horrible idea. I remember that we were not in the same classes together, until fifth grade. We started to talk around about this time, but nothing too serious. We attended weekend classes together, and our distaste for the curriculum began to draw us together.

Come middle school, our groups began to gather in the same spot in the morning, by the old brick wall on the west side of campus - this was the cool spot. There is a distinct memory that comes to mind of Victoria walking up the hill in her bright red Elmo shirt and one of our friends, who used to hide behind a wall of shrubs leaping out onto Victoria's backpack. While funny at the time, probably wasn't the best thing for Victoria, but a morning without Courtney jumping on her was like a day without bread. The goblin awaiting her in the shrubs thing eventually stopped and all was well.

It was during seventh grade that Victoria and I sat next to each other in History Class. Victoria would probably insert here, "You mean, when there wasn't a day when you wouldn't drop your pencil." Fact. Every time that class met, my pencil would fall off the desk at some point and because they were those awkward tablet desks, I could never reach the pencil, so Victoria would have to grab it - the bond between us grew.

It was around this time that Victoria and I started to hang out beyond the confines of school. On the night of our Elementary School's annual Halloween Carnival (the best in the nation, if you ask me), Victoria told me that she was going to win the cake walk - of course I doubted her resolve. Of course, she won. So we presented to my grandma a lovely black cake and Victoria spent the night - it was the first sleep over and we spent it sprawled out in grandma's living room. At 5 in the morning the door bell rang: it was my Uncle Buzz, telling us that the glow on the horizon was not the sun rising - it was the entire east county on fire - where his and my Aunt Deb's house was at the time.This was one of the biggest fires to hit Southern CA, and it was a doozy. I'll never forget that morning.

Different costume, different year, different cake,same concept

In the next year, Victoria and I became hyper-competitive. We used to race EVERY DAY from our home rooms to a pole that was between the classes. We used to race during warm ups in P.E. We even used to race to Math class. I wouldn't have made it through math class without Victoria.

We both signed up to do the eighth grade field trip, which was to fly us across the US to tour historical sites in Virginia, D.C., Pennsylvania, and New York. When we landed in Dulles, there were two buses and Victoria was supposed to be on a different one than me; I can't remember why, but she ended up on the bus with me. We didn't sit together at first, but after dinner at a buffet, in which ice cream was spilled and Virginians welcomed us into their culture, we sat together as we did for the rest of the trip.

With our peers, Victoria and I walked the grounds of Gettysburg, toured Monticello and Mount Vernon; we ate the best fried chicken ever in Amish Land and sipped lemonade that was so good, wasting a drop would have been extremely embarrassing. We walked the crazy, mad wild streets of NYC - seeing Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, the Lion King, and Central Park. 

Off to see The Lion King

I think that it is safe to say that we have shared over a thousand adventures together. I'm grateful for every popping Jalapeno popper, trip to IN-N-OUT (mmmm, animal fries), adventures at the Del, spontaneous sleep-overs, and backyard bonfires. (I've been at Victoria's house and hung out with her family more times than I can remember. My memories of Sea Port Village, the Del, and the Market Place would not nearly be as rich without them.) We've added an inch or two to our heights since 8th grade and our hair styles have changed, but our endless laughing when we are together has always stayed the same.

Ninth Grade at the SD Zoo

Junior Year ~ October Breast Cancer Walk

18 ~ Seniors

Easter Recess, 2012

Victoria, long live the CHI, "churn my butter-scotch"! And of course, happy anniversary!

Your humble writer,

S. Faxon

PS -

Cupcakes, Bridges, and Trolls

Having to lean this way and that to write as Bella Tuna has decided to wage war on my computer screen in pursuit of the unattainable enemy; the cursor.

Last weekend, I guided my class of students on a tour of the old Five Points, Tenement land, and South Street Seaport. This was my first time going to the Seaport since the super-storm and it was a shock. Walking among those empty, cobble stone streets, where the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse stands was comparable to walking through a graveyard of  dearly beloved and dearly missed businesses. But not everything is gone and I strongly encourage anyone who is around the Seaport to go and support the businesses still standing, as they need your/our support.

While wandering around the Seaport, my mind fluttered through a hundred memories of laughter, training, evening strolls, freezing evenings and blazing hot summer days. This was where my parents took two of my really good friends, and their families and me to celebrate our graduation. This was where my friends and I spent several nights laughing, dining and enjoying life. This was where I would go to feel closest to my own Seaport back home.

College life was nuts. No, not like in the movies (or maybe more normal college experiences); there were no kegs, togas, frat or sorority parties involved in my college experience, but that does not mean that it was any less insane. One memory in particular comes to mind, rather, one adventure.

In my junior year of college, I was the Chair for my campus' Breast Cancer Awareness group, which was a part of an umbrella organization called Bridge the Gap. My colleagues and friends in the group, Julia, and Victoria had created this absolutely fantastic idea for fundraising and student engagement; a scavenger hunt. But not just any scavenger hunt, one that would cover a good portion of the Financial District and would lead to the Campus on Staten Island. It was a well planned, well advertised event. On the night before, we spent the evening baking cupcakes and decorating them in their pretty pink. We also made a ton of sandwiches for the participants, anticipating providing lunch for them. We did it all on an incredibly low budget (hoping to not spend a dime that would not be doubled in return) and we did it with a lot of laughter. We had a number of confirmations of people wanting to attend, all was looking good and then came the rain.

April's showers do not just bring May flowers - they also diminish eagerness to participate in outdoor activities. But I am not one to give up so easily.

"What are we going to do with all of this food?" Julia asked, her disappointment and frustration from all of the effort made and lost screaming through her softly spoken words.

"We're going to give it away," I said, my own frustrations and disappointments empowering me to do a bit of good.

"Give it away? To who?" Victoria asked, holding up the remaining tray of cupcakes. We had spent the morning at a table in the cafeteria, hoping to sell cupcakes to salvage at least some part of our fundraiser (and our prides). All that we ended up gaining was criticism for not selling coffee and a recipe for pasta from very enthusiastic conference participant that had nothing to do with us...I'm pretty sure he did not even buy a cupcake.

"This is New York," I declared, my sense of hope and determination ringing through, "There's bound to be someone hungry on the streets. Let's go find them and give them the sandwiches. They'll appreciate it. We'll still be able to do some good."

"But it's raining," Julia reminded.

"We have umbrellas," I insisted.

"But where are we going to find them?" Victoria asked.

Scooping up bags and bags of sandwiches and putting them into our rucksacks, I led the way out from the kitchen and to the hall toward the elevator. "We'll find them. We're do-gooders and we have a cause. We're going out. We're distributing sandwiches. Let's roll."

Sighing, but following, Julia said dryly, "Damn you and your California sunshine."

Thus began the journey. We decided to follow the trail of the scavenger hunt so that the clues that we had labored to produce would not go to waste. We cut out the sections where we thought the likelihood of us finding homeless people would be less. Weaving through the streets of Manhattan, on a cold, wet April day, loaded with sandwiches hoping to be given away, turned out to be a load of laughs. For one thing, it was a nuts adventure in general, for a second thing we could not find homeless people. None. Not one.

"Maybe under the bridge?" I said, thinking that the elevated FDR, the expressway on the East River, would be a reasonable place for people to seek refuge from the rain.

"What?" Victoria laughed, "Homeless people don't live under bridges. Trolls live under bridges!"

After the morning that we'd endured, I would have been more than happy to share sandwiches with trolls.

Indeed, she was right - we could not find anyone hungry or homeless under the bridge, there weren't even trolls. So we proceeded to the Sea Port. On the second floor of the Mall on the Pier, we sat at a round table that overlooked the river and the Brooklyn Bridge. We were hungry - and, conveniently enough, we had a feast in our satchels. While eating the peanut butter and jelly, and the ham & turkey sandwiches, I started to laugh uncontrollably about how we had not only set out to do one good deed and failed, but two. Our hearts were in the right place, but fate was just not having it that day. In retrospect, I realize now that it was a good lesson; even the best made plans are subject to the inevitability of unpredictability and fate. Adapting our plans that day, did in fact lead to one of the most beautiful adventures that year. We eventually found one homeless person and we gave to him a sandwich. We saw another, but by the time that we got out the sandwich, he disappeared  So our journey continued.

We marched down to South Ferry and saw the toil of our ancestors.

We discovered Ireland.

We conquered a mountain.

I guess, looking back, we conquered a couple that day. In the end, here was our grand total:

Total of Cupcakes: two-dozen (most of which, we ended up eating)
Total of Sandwiches: thirty (at least half a dozen of which, we ended up eating)
Total number of people helped: 1
Grand total of participants: 0
Total time spent laughing: not calculable.

We helped at least one person to be fed that day, who otherwise may have gone without food. And that was  indeed something to be proud of.

I sent out an email to the people who had donated or who had helped us to spread the word, telling, essentially the story of this blog. The best response was:

"Well, look at it this way; at least you got to enjoy a couple of cupcakes, no?" -Fred C.

I'm a big champion for the little things, and I could not agree more with that perspective.

The friendships I made that year were very inspiring, not just for this blog and life's reflections, but for one of my books. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about "Golden Spiders;" several of the supporting characters within that book are based on the friends I made my junior year in college. On one evening, I read a scene of the book to this group of friends and they laughed uncontrollably because of how accurately their traits and habits had been captured on the page. The book was one of my favorites to write and it is one to which I look back  frequently. Hopefully, when someday it is published, it will provide for you the same sort of warmth and humor as it did for my friends and me.

For those of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter!
For those of you who do not, may your weekend be just as joyous!

Your humble writer,
S. Faxon