Sibling Rivalry

It is so fun having all these animals in our apartment and watching them interact with one another. Right away, Blacula let Basil know she was in charge, and every now and then she will just walk through the house, hissing and/or batting at whatever creature she passes. She still loves to surprise-chase Frida, and Frida still hates her for it. Blacula has no desire to play with Basil but enjoys being in the same room with him and watching him spaz out while looking at him like, What the hell are you? Basil is super respectful of her space and doesn't push it at all anymore because his nose got smacked one too many times.

However, Basil has a serious crush on Frida, following her around the house and constantly trying to play (he gets boners when he's around her!). He'll also get really close to her when she's sleeping, once even nibbling on her tail, but then she'll wake up and get spooked. She's totally in love with him too though, just a little weirded out and still figuring out how to play. She'll sit on the bed, get his attention, then sprint through the bedroom, the bathroom and into the bathtub and he'll come running and flop down by the tub. Then they'll make eye contact and she'll sprint back to the bed, him in tow and flopping down on the floor beside her corner of the bed. Then they repeat; it's sooo cute. Frida also sniffs him when he's sleeping and they're getting closer to each other when both are napping. I'm seriously excited for some future cuddling. Yesterday, Frida came all the way out into the living room (huge for her!) just to playfully bat at him! This morning she did the same thing, and he got so excited that he spazzed out and she freaked, running back to her hiding place in the bedroom window sill. He sadly resorted to a tennis ball instead.

The most intense rivalry comes out surrounding food time, which is a pretty lively and hilarious few minutes for us. Blacula is a beast when it comes to food, always trying to scavenge anything. She wants to eat all the time, literally inhales her food without chewing, and then will go chase Frida away and eat Frida's food, too. It took a lot of work to convince Frida to stick up for herself and to train Blacula to stop eating her food (meaning Bla will lay a foot from Frida while she's eating and Frida will anxiously eat under Blacula's stare). But since Basil has joined the fam, Frida has gained this confidence she didn't have before (perhaps his affections have boosted her?). Recently, she came all the way into the kitchen, and ate some of Blacula's food!!! Bla was beside herself, hissing and growling and charging at Frida. Frida ran off and hid, sooo proud of herself, and Bla went into the bedroom and started eating Frida's food. Then, Basil ran in and finished Blacula's food! Blacula heard him, abandoned Frida's bowl and went into the kitchen to find her bowl empty. So she ran over to Basil's bowl and started to eat his food! This really pissed off Basil, so he came into the kitchen, barking and growling, and before she ran off, Blacula smacked him. Then, he didn't even eat his food but rather laid down right in front of it. Meanwhile, Frida retreated from the window sill and finished her food in peace. They are soooo crazy!

Animals are fun. I'm very thankful to have all of them! Every second I'm at home, I'm interacting with a creature in some way, and I love it. Either a cat or dog or guinea pig are asking for food, or cuddling, or playing, or licking me, or something. It's glorious! All of you, go out and adopt a pet right now!

The Fix Tape Exchange

Once a month on a Sunday evening at Soundfix Lounge, Steven Smiles (nicknamed by Dave because of his contagious smile) hosts the fix tape exchange, a fun event where people make mixed CDs according to a theme and trade them. Taylor, Dave and I have been doing this for a few months and absolutely love picking out the tracks and designing our packaging and checking out what we get. Last night's theme was "Food/Eating," and a friend of ours made an entire menu, laminated with a cool cover and everything, with the various songs organized by appetizers, entrees, etc. It was AMAZING. So amazing that he got a free shot for it! Also, if you bring an actual tape you get a free shot, but then it kind of sucks for the person who receives it because few people have a tape player anymore.

Anyway, my packaging this month was pretty cool. I wrote, "Fooooooooood, YUM" in funny letters at the top of a piece of bright orange construction paper, listed the track names and artists down the left, and drew a cow on the right with a bubble coming from his head that said, "ME??" Then I folded it up to make an envelope for the CD. Steven made a sandwich for his, and Taylor made an entire folder with inserts and "food" written in various languages all over it. Other people get really into it, too -- we have fun!

Past themes have been People's Names, Cities, Instrumental Songs, Songs to Lose Your Virginity To, and Animals. The mix I got in return during the instrumental month was an MP3 mix instead of a CD, with 300 randomass songs on it. Even though I was initially excited about receiving it, once I got all the shit on my computer I was cursing the fix tape exchange. But the mix I got this month is sooo good. The packaging looks just like a real CD, and the songs are awesome. Here's the track list:

what's that cookin -- Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-fonics
cornbread -- Skavoovie & The Epitones
eating people -- King Missile III
beek jerky -- Cibo Matto
starfish & coffee -- Prince
cheeseburger -- Gang of Four
pancakes for one -- Of Montreal
food -- Nellie McKay
sweet potato -- Imperial Teen
Gyoza -- Shonen Knife
ice cream soda -- The White Stripes
filipino box spring hog -- Tom Waits
eat steak -- Reverend Horton Heat
i love beans -- Brak
milky cereal -- LL Cool J
skanin pickle -- Smorgasborgnine
eat to the beat -- Blondie
corn on the cob -- James Kockalka Superstar
country salty balls (p.s. i love you) -- Chef
banana puddin' -- Southern Culture on the Skids
the scrapple song -- Robbie Fulks
ham -- The Bill Nayer Show
the spaghetti song -- White Knuckle Sandwich

My mix list (not nearly as many songs, I've gotta step it up!):
Diners Only -- The Avalanches
Mean Mr. Mustard -- The Beatles
Southern Flavor -- Bill Monroe
Peaches & Cream -- Beck
Caffiend -- Audible Mainframe
Big Rock Candy Mountain -- Harry McClintock
She Don't Use Jelly -- The Flaming Lips
Dishes -- Akudama
Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg Cover) -- The Gourds
Sipping On The Sweet Nectar -- Jens Lekman
Poppin' Popcorn -- Peanut Butter Wolf
Sugar -- Billie Holiday
Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk (Reprise) -- Rufus Wainwright
Jazz Potato -- St. Germaine

My general guidelines for mixing are, 1: include as many genres as possible, and always at least one hip hop song, 2: always include one song from Bill Monroe, 3: always include one song from Billie Holiday, and 4: always include one song from an underground artist.

Next month's theme is Seasons. If you're around, come out!!

Official Biker Babe

Saturday I decided to work off a bit of the food and beer I consumed all day on Friday (Happy 4th ya'll!) by going on my first bike ride in Manhattan. The concept of biking in Manhattan has terrified me before, but I've slowly entertained the idea until I finally built up the courage to do it.

First off, biking to the Williamsburg Bridge is really easy because it's just straight down a not very busy street in Brooklyn. And then biking up the bridge is a bit challenging but not really -- works up a slight burn in the quads which is joyously repaid with the ride above the cars and subway, staring over the East River lapping up against Brooklyn on one side and Manhattan on the other, with the buildings all reaching high. It was beautiful. When the subway came rushing past, I looked down through the rails of the bike path, watching the top of the train car rush by and feeling its rumble (but not in a scary way). Because the path is so high, when I looked up I saw the structure of the bridge, all its beams and posts and whatever else makes it a bridge. It was gorgeous! Then the path slants back down and I absolutely flew, zipping around walkers and zooming straight down. It was awesome to ride that fast without worrying about cars or anything, truly close to what flying must feel like.

Then the path dumps out into a huge median in the middle of crazy busy Delancey Street. It's like, I'm a bird, cruising above the subway and the cars, staring at the tiny boats from my way up high spot, to HOLY SHIT MANHATTAN! But it was actually really cool. I instantly switched to this mode of paying insanely close attention to everything, completely aware of all my surroundings, while controlling my bike in a way I hadn't before in order to make turns and dodge pedestrians and "avoid accident."* I felt empowered, like, I am completely in control of this machine underneath me, manipulating its wheels and bars to move my body around Manhattan streets in a fast and fun way. It was exciting and also boosting; if I can bike in NYC, I can do anything!

I rode through the Lower East Side and then turned onto Bowery just to say I've biked on Bowery before. The car lanes are actually really wide, and there's also a wide bike line on the side, so it was a rather easy street to manage. Then I turned onto East 3rd Street, following it to to the west side (Noho maybe?) and around NYU zone. I was a little confused but got my bearings straight and navigated through Astor Place, down 4th street and back toward the bridge. I thought it might be nicer to bike on a side street, so I took Mott, thinking it would intersect with Delancey at some point. Well, either it does and I completely missed it or it doesn't at all, because I ended up right smack in the middle of Chinatown and was waaaay overwhelmed. I don't like walking in Ctown, much less biking along the narrow streets with cars parked on both sides and people walking whenever they want and cars honking. The streets that did have bike lanes were lined with people double parking, and I was just like, Oh my, get me out of here! After about five minutes, I found my way to Delancey and gratefully pumped up the hill and cruised over the Williamsburg Bridge again. The serene view brought my Chinatown anxiety back down and by the time I made it home, I had been out for over an hour and developed blisters on my palms. Now I know people wear those fingerless glove not just to look badass but for a legit reason, and I'm on the hunt for a pair.

Someone pointed out to be while I was bragging about my bold biking that it was a Saturday on the 4th of July weekend and Manhattan was very empty and calm. Oh well! I guess it was a good way to start out, and I can't even imagine Chinatown during a weekday. But no matter what, I still feel empowered.

Basil updates: He LOVES Frida Bat! She likes him very much too but is still figuring out how to play with him. He's very happy with us, obviously demonstrating love in the sweetest, most adoring ways (kisses, tail wags, cuddles, extremely happy greetings with such vigorous tail wags that his whole butt moves back and forth!). He snoozes like the dead and spazzes out when he wakes, but post-spaz is able to sit and chill out. And the spazzing is amazing -- everything he does is just so damn cute. So far he has chewed two pairs of sandals and one bra, though I rescued the bra before it was totally destroyed, the tail off of my Popple (from childhood!) and partly through a strap from Dave's shoulder bag. Poor guy is losing his baby teeth and therefore wants to chew constantly. But he's really, really good at dropping things when we say, "Drop it!" and relaxing with a dog toy instead. Stupidly, we left the closet door open while we were away for a few hours, so that's where the damaged goods came into play. But no worries, I've already replaced the shoes. Also, no more baby gate! He now has free reign of the house and Frida is totally happy with him in her bedroom. And even on her bed! Blacula likes him, too, but often let's him know who's in charge. If he gets too close, she smacks him and hisses and he whimpers and chills out. He's still best buds with Toby from across the hall, and makes friends every time we go out anywhere. He's a mini-celebrity! When we're walking him, people come up and say, "Oh (insert boyfriend/girlfriend's name), this is the puppy I was telling you about!" He also loooooves cuddling and sleeps with us and Frida at night. Sir Basil Diego is the best.



* "Avoid accident" -- on the subway, the recorded announcer every ten minutes will list all the things you shouldn't do on the subway (like hold the doors and run down stairs and stick your baby's arm out the window), then will say, "Avoid accident, and have a safe day." Avoid accident? What? This is a joke between Dave and me because the sentence is so ridiculous. Isn't the definition of an accident something that just happens, or is unavoidable? Who knows. So anyway, avoid accident, and have a safe day.