And here it goes.

I know, I know. IknowIknowIknow. Here I am, back from blogging dead. A little background on my life, post-Montreal (which I swear I'm putting up soon):

My grandma died. She'd been in the hospital with shingles for a week and out for two days recovering when it happened. In that sense it was a surprise, but she had diabetes and we think the meds were just too strong for her kidneys to handle. She was 89, and in surprisingly good health otherwise. Her eyes were pretty bad, but her mind was still so sharp. It sucks at times on a surprising level that hits me during those quiet moments, like while I'm in the car or in line somewhere. She was my last grandparent, and in a way it's the end of an era. Grandparents are the ones who truly love you unconditionally and root for you no matter what, without the unspoken hopes and scattered disappointments that your parents experience.

So that prompted a trip back to Omaha a week prior to a visit I'd already planned for the next weekend (Labor Day). Back on a Friday, viewing, funeral, cleaning up her apartment with my Dad, back to LA on Sunday. Then unpacking, laundry, packing again, and back to Nebraska on Friday. (This time I managed to have some fun, going to the opening Nebraska game and to the State Fair with my Mom, which was marred after the fact only because I found once I got back from NY that her oldest dog, Sunny, had died of cancer, which made the trip bittersweet. At least I got to spend some time with her, but I loved her like my own.) After that it was back again to LA on Monday, unpacking, dry cleaning, laundry, packing for an eight day trip, then out on Saturday to go back to Boston for vacation, leaving for NYC that Wednesday, then finally back here the Sunday after. I'm JUST now back to my normal life, and I'm not leaving this city until Christmas.

Boston was a lot of fun. I stayed with Joy and KB, and finally met Nolan. What a little guy. I'd never spent that kind of time with a baby before. Man, are they exhausting. He's a great kid, don't get me wrong, but the experience of being aware that many hours in the day was overwhelming. It was kind of a lot to take in, but it was fun. It's just like you hear, experiencing things for the first time. And there's nothing funnier than kids. Just watching Nolan fall to the ground to play with the wheels on an old woman's walker, or on the carts in Quincy Market, or on a wheelchair, was enough to endlessly crack me up.

We went to a block party in Joy's neighborhood and later went to a fabulous dinner party at the home of one of KB's co-workers. We visited the aquarium, which, as Joy says in her blog, was probably enjoyed more by us than, you know, the child we brought. We met KB after work and strolled around the North End and ate at my favorite Italian restaurant. Tuesday I met my college friend Jackie for lunch, and then trapsed all over Back Bay to the point where my legs felt like jello. I stopped on Marlborough St, near where my dorm was, and fought back tears because I don't live back there and unless I set my career goals really low, I won't. Unless one of you finds me a hot Harvard professor to marry. Hell, at this point he could even teach at BU.

I met up with Joy and KB to celebrate Joy's birthday and ate really yummy Asian food (they had all kinds there: Korean, Chinese, Japanese...). Joy had two martinis and we went across the street to Solas, an Irish pub (in Boston? get out!), where we each had a couple more drinks and decided to call it a night.






The next day I left for NY and saw a really great comedy show in the village called Invite Them Up. It's full of smart, irreverent performers, the kind we all like. I saw a couple of stand outs, including Will Franken and Mike Birbiglia. Thursday I met up with Julie, my college friend whose wedding prompted the trip back there, for a little shopping and lunch, and then saw my transplanted LA friend Sarah over dinner. That night I went to the opening (red carpet and all) of a swanky new comedy club in the Meatpacking District called Comix. Sarah Silverman hosted and Josh Blue (Last Comic Standing winner this year) and Flight of the Conchords (a favorite of Doc Broc's and mine) performed. I ran into a few people I knew and met a bunch of people I didn't know, so the night was fruitful on all counts.

I meandered around on Friday, even in the pouring rain (a time when NY is only romantic INSIDE) and went to a cocktail thingy that night that Julie's family hosted. Saturday I went to the new MOMA (not sure when they're going to stop calling it "new"). It definitely lived up to the hype. I spent over an hour on just the top floor, which included sufficient time drooling over the Warhols. No matter how many Monets and Rembrandts I've seen in person, it's still a little overwhelming to take in Pop Art that you've grown up with (or maybe I'm just confusing it with all the Campbells Soup I ate as a kid).

Saturday night I went to Julie's wedding, which was elegant as well as touching. With all the rain that New York had seen that week, it finally cleared up in time for her to be married on a rooftop in midtown. The weather couldn't have been better. After the ceremony, we feasted on steak and sushi and inhaled the open bar and danced like crazy.


<-------Julie and our friend Casey, acting very wedding-y.






And that pretty much makes us current.