Mouse Tracks

Every year, well since I moved to New York anyways, I have gotten yearly visits from the mice that roam the street. Really its only ever in January when its cold and unbearable outside. Who wants to brave the elements then? Surely not I.

Ivan, well that’s the mouse, generally sets up camp for a few weeks, avoids our traps and munches on some of our food. He is a bit of an annoyance, but as soon as we turn lights on he scampers away.

Little did he know that he would have to face my current crazy roommate. The bane of my existence becomes the bane of his. My way of dealing with him is to keep the place extra clean, and indeed it is cleaner than it has been in years past. Her way is to put out traps and complain to our super everyday.

I explained to her my disdain of sticky traps, asked her to put them away (rather I went around and cleaned them all up). I went down and spoke to the super, asking him if he would come up and repair our mouse hole so that my roommate wouldn’t attempt to merely plug it with steel wool.

The super repairs the hole and she plays nice with me. Only problem is that I think he repaired it while the mouse was hiding somewhere in our place. She puts back out all of her sticky traps, which I then have to track down all of them again.

I have a talk with her again about how much I dislike the sticky traps… to which her reply is “I think you care more about the mouse than you do me.”

She did have a point. I don’t particularly care much for people who are completely heartless, selfish and think only how things affect them. To everything I say or do, her reply is “you realize you’re not the only one in the apartment.” Is she so self absorbed that she thinks the world should revolve around her, or that I do things to deliberately piss her off?

No matter. I clean up the traps and think nothing of it anymore. The mouse is safe, for now anyways, until she decides to put more traps out. The next morning I out and go grocery shopping, come home and hear awful and terrified squeaking. I drop my bags, hoping that my eggs don’t break in the process and look for the poor thing. Right behind the trash can was a trap, damn I missed one. Poor Ivan was stuck. How stupid could I have been? I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed my keys and walked out the door in tears.

I come back a little later and check on the mouse again and as I move things he runs quickly to his safe haven. I let out the loudest cheer I can. He was seriously stuck when I saw him earlier and he managed to work his way free. Ivan is clearly Mighty Mouse. He has won for now. Go Ivan! I just hope he has enough sense to stay out of my apt and away from my crazy roommate… she will never let him live.

The Case of the Grey Fedora and the Big Trade Off

It was a dark, cold and dreary night. Okay so maybe it was only dark and mildly cold, but I wanted to set the mood for the story.

Let's start over. Truthfully, it was a night like any other Friday night in the city. The big debate is whether or not to brave the cold, or to stay in. I, while currently out of work, was inclined to just stay in. The social part of me, however, urged me to go out and be social as I'd been a homebody most of the week and I had several invites. In true Maura fashion, I try to do it all.

I started the night with dinner and a movie from which I had to make a mad dash back to Brooklyn and make a costume change. Fortunately my second destination was in Williamsburg, so I didn't have to go far once the costume change was complete. My friends however wanted to go dancing, and I was skeptical that we would find a place to go dancing in Williamsburg.

The three of us, Julie, Christine and myself, meet at our local pub, have a drink and head out. My friend Christine knows the uncle of the owner of this apparently swanky bar down on Grand Street. There might be dancing, there might not be. Tonight is an adventure, we shall find out.

Huckleberry Bar, cute, but a little hole in the wall from the outside. We walked right by it three times before realizing that was where we needed to be. After passing through a couple black curtains and allowing my eyes time to adjust to the light, the bar turns out to be quite cute and polished for a hole in the wall. Were it in Manhattan, it would be called a lounge and there would have been a cover. Thank God for Brooklyn.

The night progresses and we mostly sit contemplating the people in the bar, my friends and I tend to be quite judgemental from afar. Not a bad judgemental, but judgmental none the less.

Christine is off somewhere and Julie quite suddenly perks up. "Hottie to my 1 o'clock" she says.

I look up, and sure enough an adorable guy sits down at the bar. Julie and I assess the situation and determine whether we think he is there with someone or not. Already that night, we had a run in with a guy who was popping in on his way to meet someone else, so he said.

Christine gets back to the table and after hearing about this guy, decides we all need another drink and while shes there she might as well strike up a conversation. She does and we join shortly there after.

Actor

Shakespeare

Wine

Detectives

Trade Offs

Just some of the things that came up. Some how we leave the bar having traded Julie's Fedora for his Soul. Both items to be returned next Friday, at 2am...

Likely story, Julie will probably never see that hat again. We are ever reminded that no good idea is formed after 2am.

One Week Later...

We all decide to see where this little trade off was going to take us, well that and Julie really wanted her hat back. I meet up with them a little later because the little miss popular that I am has three places to be tonight before the retrieval of the hat.

This time we perch at one of the little lounge tables in the back, so we institute the dancing. There was more dancing this week and more people in general. There was however no sign of our mysterious man. I of course spoke too soon because as soon as I was asked that, I look to the bar and there he is. We make eye contact and I quickly look away, I didn't want him to think I was deliberately looking for him.

Mission is ensued though, I finish my drink and subtly make my way up to the bar to order another and have a little chat.

He forgot the hat of course, but we chat the rest of the evening and he swears to return it... eventually.

to be continued...

Saying goodbye, severing ties and just walking away is the hardest thing in the world to do. Sometimes it has to be done.

More Scraps

You never know when its going to happen, when you're going to find someone who completes your world, and you have no idea how its going to affect you. I like to think my world is complex. Really its simple: Get up, go to work, work out, go out. That's all my world consists of. Yet, in some way my world feels incomplete, like a part of me is missing. What, I don't know. My heart yearns though.

From the Scraps of Notes

Life just kind of happens and time escapes you. Before you know it 3 years have gone by and you're sitting in a rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike wondering when it all changed. When did everyone grow up? You just heard a song on the radio: "you're gonna miss this." You try to keep this in mind as you go through each day, yet it never really hits you until you're back reliving everything.

You went to two of your really good friends wedding this weekend. For them, all through college it was never a matter of will they get married, but rather everyone asked when. 3 years after you all graduate they finally tie the knot. They are the reason to still believe in fairy tales.

Auld Lang Syne

This classic new year's saying, Scottish in origin, means something similar to "long long ago," or "Long time since." I am intrigued by this translation as a year is but a year and by the end of it so much time seems to have passed, so many things accomplished and so many memories made. Time, time is a funny fickle thing.

As 2009 draws to a close, I am left with much to ponder.
1. where does the time go once it's gone?
2. what happened to everything I was going to do but didn't?

In all seriousness I don't spend too much time pondering these thoughts. I do think back on the year and through its many ups and downs, I feel it was a good year.

I will of course always wish for more time to do all those things I didn't have time to. I will always wonder about the chances I never took, about the guys I could have dated, about the moments I might have missed while doing other things. Should I have kissed more ass at work?

Then I stop thinking. Sure, things could have been done differently, but then where would I be? I might not be where I am today. Do I want it to be different? No, I am happy with where I am and the path I seem to be following.

Now here we are at the top of 2010. Another year behind us and only possibilities ahead. I don't know what this year will bring, or even where I will be at the end of today. What I do know is that in this new year, above all else, I want to make the most of my time so that when I look back, my long long ago seems full of life.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. - Unknown

How will you make use of your present?

To Sing, to Turn, to Driftaway

Serendipity, a happy accident, an unexpected twist of fate. You don't realize what's happening until you're in it.

Wednesday my day was rubbish, I started on point but my day took a downward spiral quickly and for the rest of the day I felt completely off balance. At some point in the middle of my day I see a new email from my boss and take a preemptive effort to start a new project. I unfortunately clicked on the wrong email and ended up looking at my weekly update from Joe's Pub.

As I scroll down the email, looking for the message from my boss, I faintly see a picture of Fran Healy and Andy Dunlap, of Travis. Being taken aback, I scroll back up to look at the notice and think to myself "Cuss, I was supposed to get tickets for this show ages ago..." Quickly I look for as many details as possible, hoping beyond hope that I haven't missed the show.

I find they are playing all week, two shows to go, I sigh a huge sigh of release and with out hesitation I click on the link to buy tickets.

Sold out?! If that night wouldn't work, I could at least try the next night. Also sold out. CUSS! I click back to the first date to miraculously find tickets available. With out hesitation I attempt to buy a ticket. I'm too slow. CUSS! I don't give up that easily though, I refresh the link until a ticket becomes available to me and then I buy it.

Once my ticket is secure, I turn to my boss and say, "If its not too much trouble, I need to leave precisely at 8pm tonight." No contesting, I leave precisely at 8. There is no way in hell that I am going to miss this.

Literally, I get home, drop my stuff off, grab a bag in which I put my wallet, my book and an umbrella, and head out the door. The entire way there I am thinking that its too good to be true. In almost a trance, I hop in the line forming outside the venue, still listening to them on my IPod. I guess I never took it off when I got home because I don't remember putting it on.

I pick up my ticket and go inside, the deal is sealed! I am in!

The venue itself was quaint, tables for parties that had dinner reservations and standing room by the bar. There wasn't one place in the bar that didn't allow a decent view of the stage. Cozy and perfect to share the night with fellow fans.

Fran Healy walks out on to the stage promptly at 9pm. I have a perfect view and wish I'd though to grab my camera, but, when you're racing time to get to something you're still not quite convinced is going to happen, cameras are your last thought.

The show starts and I relax, I'm there, watching Travis, finally, in a cozy intimate setting where you feel like you're getting on on one attention with the band. To me its not just about the music, its about how it makes you feel, its about how it speaks to you. My favorite part about the show was more than the music, it was the stories shared by Fran and Andy about how the music came to be. Equipped with guitars, and a slide show, they took us on a musical journey through their trials and success. It was as if time stopped and I, for a moment, was in heaven.

There were too many good stories to recount, too much shared for me to even explain... well that and maybe I you would think I'm crazy. Before the stories my favorite song was "Driftwood." After the stories, it remains "Driftwood." A song Fran started humming to himself while thinking about "Cheers" and avoiding doing actual work. He went upstairs, recorded what little he had to revisit a little later. He came back later only to find he hit record at the end of his little session instead of at the beginning. Technology is a cuss. He sits down and listens to the entire tape to see what was recorded, hoping beyond hope that it was there. He heard some walking around, papers shuffling, walking down stairs, walking upstairs, He and Andy listening to REM Daysleeper a couple of times, and finally at the very end he hears himself walk down the stairs and hum the song while he is barely in range of the recorder. Immediately, to not lose it again, he gets to work.

The concert goes on, the hours fly by and were I to try and describe how enamored i was, I could never begin to convey it in words. Its all about how the music makes you feel and for me listening to Travis is pure ecstasy.

As they are wrapping up they explain they didn't want to bring more people on this tour than necessary (in order to promote new work), so they would be selling all the merchandise after the show. That way they could also have a chance to meet the fans. For them they actually wanted to see who in their right minds invested themselves in their music.

I'm dreaming right? This isn't happening, right? No it was and, cuss, I spent the only cash I had on alcohol because I didn't want to pay the minimum bar tab. I have my ticket stub and my phone, that is good enough for me.

I wait in line for an hour, what's an hour when you feel like you're life was changed because of their art. After thinking of what I was going to say to them, I get there and my mind goes blank. I walk up, shake their hands, and wing it. I wish I could be their best friends, I am there with them and I truly feel I could die happy. Fran actually takes picture of us with my phone... its amazing. I love them. I leave feeling complete bliss. I leave knowing that I was supposed to be there and experience Travis in that way.

What better way to further your musical and emotional understanding of the world than by listening to musicians tell stories of their inspirations to create: from grandparents, to love lost, to love found, to innocence, to children, to altered states of being, to experience, to pop culture, its all life, its all passion and its all art.