Enter the Sam(man)

Dear Glob,

Phew, what a week… Not only did we welcome little Samuel into our crazy family, but I also accepted my first “real” job and have hardcore started to look for apartments in the city. Sheesh, so much to digest, yet I welcome all the “mo m e n t u m ! ! !” Bring it on, 2007!

Sam… Before he was born, Little Brother and I were talking about how weird it was that there was another member to our immediate family who we hadn’t met yet. We didn’t know it’s name. We didn’t know what it looked like. We didn’t know exactly when it would come. Heck, we even didn’t know if it was a boy a girl! Now that he’s here, its like we’re all in a daze, going through the motions of holding him, changing his diaper, talking to him in that silly “baby voice,” but it still hasn’t sunk in, at least for me. This little baby is the continuation and combination of the Whale’s and our family; our hope for the future. The feeling is too big for me to fully explain…

I distinctly remember watching P. head off for her first year at Cornell. It was a bittersweet moment, mixed with both sadness and complete awe. How cool she was, all grown-up and leaving to live on her own! “Wow,” I thought watching the car pull out of the driveway, “I’ll never be ready to leave for college…” Next thing you know, I am 5 years removed from my NYU days. P. is and always will be my eldest sister, but during this time the age difference had evened out. We were both at a stage where we had grown-up jobs in the city, and enjoyed doing grown-up things together. We would occasionally meet up for lunch in the park to talk about work issues or hang out at a bar with the Whale for pints of beer and curly fries. Most importantly, I didn’t feel like the annoying little sister always wanting to tag along with her cool older sister.

Now enter the Sam(man).

With the new addition, P. has now jumped up another level. And again I’m the little sister who doesn’t understand, getting in the way, and only allowed to touch the baby’s feet*. But unlike college, which was an eventual event in my life, a baby, for me, is not. How cool she was, all grown-up and having a baby of her own! “Wow,” I thought watching her hold Sam in her arms, “I’ll never be ready for a baby…” Oy vey, we’ll see…

*When my little brother was born, I was deemed to young and… er… unsanitary to hold the new baby, and was only allowed to touch his feet. If you sift through all of Little Brother’s baby pictures, P. or Mojo are usually holding him with me grasping one of his feet. Typical, eh?

Its a... BUN!

Dear Glob,

"Hi Sam, I'm Chewie"

Samuel James
Born January 10, 2007 @ 6:35pm
8lbs & 12oz (ok, so I lied on my txts)

Pics and Glob reactions to come soon!

BUN WATCH: 2007

Dear Glob,

P.'s water broke early this morning and Roommates are a buzz with excitement...

BUN WATCH: 2007

More Bun coverage to come soon...

LATEST NEWS (7:38am): P. and the Whale are headed to the hospital - the first contractions have begun!

Goodbye, Christmas...

Dear Glob,

Today we de-Christmasized our house. Although post-Holiday cleanup is never any fun, this year was especially hard. It seemed like just yesterday the Roommates and I were picking out our perfect Tree… And now we were dumping it on the side of the road to be mulched. The Whale and P. told me that Bronx Zoo (foreshadowing, ha!) gives their discarded Trees to the Grizzly Bears, who have a grand old time tearing them to shreds. At least someone is enjoying the end of the Holiday season.

Just as I was wallowing deeper into post-Holiday depression, P. and the Whale, with their impeccable timing, called to invite me to the last day of the Bronx Zoo’s Holiday Lights. Desperately trying to hold on to the last dregs of Holiday spirit, I happily tagged along. Here are some highlights from our trip the Zoo:

1. Inside the Reptile House, a mouse, presumably dead, laid overturned on a branch. Perched not even a centimeter away, a Constrictor snake, as still as a stone, stared intently at his prey. The Whale, P. and I all waited for him to pounce, but even after we had returned to his cage after perusing the rest of the Reptiles, there they both were, snake and mouse, exactly in the same tantalizing position. Maybe this was fate’s way of keeping me a Carnivore.*

2. Watching a mouse nervously cling to the wire ceiling of its cage.

3. Making and eating a S’more, although I got melted marshmallow stuck all over my hair. Yum!

4. Petting and feeding sheep, cows and goats at the Children’s Zoo. The goats stole the show by being extra lovable and soft – who would have thought? While the Whale and P. remained enamored by the goats, I watched the peacocks sleeping high up in a tree, not knowing until that moment that peacock could fly.

5. Sharing a hot pretzel with mustard at the Dancing Crane Café, and catching a surprising Italian Karaoke performance.

6. Riding the Bug Carousel – I got to ride a Carolina Beetle, and even had my picture taken by the Zoo staff (to be posted in 1-3 days). The Whale and P., who is still very much pregnant, opted for the Dung Beetle pushing a “dung ball bench,” but then moved to a Honeybee, which P. rode while the Whale nervously stood beside her like a nervous parent. Ah, a Garp in the making.

All in all, I had a wonderful time - Thanks the Whale and P.! Although it was a bit weird to walk around listening to Christmas music a couple of weeks removed from the 25^th, in the end it turned out to be a great way to say one last “Farewell” to the season.

“So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!”

*After watching SAP’s snake chow down on a couple of baby mice, and unsuccessfully trying to save one, I became a vegetarian for over 3 years and only recently began to regularly eat meat.

Roll Call: Part Deux

Dear Glob,

And my adoring fans write in! Woohoo!

What’s up y’all
Whatcha gonna say?
Who’s on the phone with Ed, Lisa and Dre

Aye's the name and I hate my Job
So I spend my time stalking Chewie on her Glob!

That’s sounds cool and that may be
But where you come from?
Baby what’s it to you (but sound’s like T)

I’m callin’ from work, the Land of the Geek
This is where I’m at each day of the week

Aye's in the House, Aye's in the House, Aye's in the House with the Roll call

What’s up y’all
Whatcha gonna say?
Who’s on the phone with Ed, Lisa and Dre

My name is Ally, but they call me Bong or Emcee
I’m a Big Fan of the glob by Tita Chewie

That’s sounds cool and that may be
But where you come from?
Baby what’s it to you (but sound’s like T)

Roosevelt Island is where I dwell
Where the Redbus is a quarter and life is swell!

Emcee's in the House, Emcee's in the House, Emcee's in the House!

Oh man... So good. Vielen Dank to my Loyal Readership. Let’s keep ‘em coming…

Its the Roll Call!

Dear Glob,

The following was sparked by a Gchat conversation with my friend Emcee:

What’s up y’all
Whatcha gonna say?
Who’s on the phone with Ed, Lisa and Dre

My name is Chewie and I have a cool Glob
I’m as smooth and sweet as Corn on the Cob

That’s sounds cool and that may be
But where you come from?
Baby what’s it to you (but sound’s like T)

Rockland is my State of Mind
There a super cool Glob you’ll find!

Chewie’s in the House, Chewie’s in the House.

Man, what a good throwback. Calling all you poets, who don't know it (yet...) Submit your own Rol1 Call and I'll post them on my Glob!

Hello 2007!

Dear Glob,

2006 was a roller coaster year for me: Super happy high points and free falling pits of despair. In addition to Karma and Horoscopes, I’m a staunch believer in Biorhythm. As a Little Chewie, I clearly remember when my eldest sister, P., explained life’s cyclical ups and downs in classic TV moment style. I was having a bad day (something monumental in the eyes of a kid, like falling off my bike or losing a quarter) and P. assured me that I was just in the lower trenches of my Biorhythm. She assured me that since so many “bad” things had already happened I was now definitely on the upswing, and sure enough in a couple of days I was back to my happy-go-lucky self.

As I grew older and, arguably, wiser, I modified this theory to factor in degrees of happiness/sadness: The higher the rise, the harder the fall. Some years were marked by a mellow Biorhythm, where I complacently coasted through the months in a general serene state. Events weren’t GREAT, but then again they weren’t HORRIBLE, you know? This past year I dug myself in a really deep hole. I was a raging alcoholic, who didn’t know where I was half the time. Alienated, horribly lost and just bent out of shape, I made some big changes and decisions and slowly climbed out of the pit, ultimately to a point of lucid happiness. By the final months of 2006, my Biorhythm evened out and I was back to the chill state of life I find myself in today. Retrospectively, I learned a whole lot about myself during my year of self-destruction/discovery, and finally feel that I’m walking in the right direction, albeit in Baby Steps. So I cheer to you 2007 – bring on the life lessons and, if its not too much trouble, happy moments to balance out the bad.

My New Year’s Resolutions (and, Mr. 2007, I’m not asking for crazy things like winning the Lottery, but for reasonably attainable goals):

1. Be a good Tita Chewie (Bun – where are you?!??! Come soon!)
2. Rejoin an orchestra – Yay Violas!
3. Ride an Airplane/Travel at least twice this year (Bonus points if I need my passport)
4. Fit comfortably into my pants (by restraint, ha!, or running)
5. Learn a new skill
6. Watch the Knicks in the NBA Playoffs
7. Find a job that doesn’t make me feel like a bad person every morning/has regular hours (*and I’m almost there… cross your fingers)
8. And, of course, regularly update my Glob