Thursday 3 December 2009

Good news and bad news

Well, the good news is that I'm going to spend Christmas and New Year with Susan in New York and New Jersey (where her family lives, in River Edge). The bad news is... well, I suppose I've not been sleeping too well lately.


My flight is happening thanks to a mightily generous Christmas present from my mother. I fly out on 14th December (a week on Monday as I type this) and back on 11th January, so it gives us almost a month together, during which, as I mentioned in a previous post, I can meet her friends and family, not to mention Eliza, Bailey and Stella (her cat and two dogs who live with her relatives). And she will get to meet friends of mine who live over there, too.



We have tickets for Shrek the Musical on the 17th, so that'll be me turning into instant wee boy at least for a few hours. Ground Zero, Strawberry Fields, the Empire State Building and Lady Chrysler are on the agenda, and who knows what else. And the last time I was in New York, for a couple of days in 1999, I got six or seven poems out of it, so I'll have to make sure I have a notebook with me.



The readers of Dodophobia will be the first to know what happens there (well, other than Susan and me obviously, and you won't be getting any gory details either), so stay tuned.

7 comments:

  1. River Edge! Heavens, it's been a long time since I was there. Her family is quite close to where I grew up, Cam! I spent several of my formative years in Tenafly, NJ. Dan Clayton, the Zitis family and the McManus family all hailed from River Edge. We went to visit there quite a bit. And there on Route 4 between River Road and Forest Avenue exits was the best Mexican restaurant this side of the Rio Grande. It was a hole-in-the wall looking old-fashioned diner but the food was the best. Elizabeth's parents or grandparents might remember Huffman & Boyle, there in River Edge. When I was a little girl, my mother would take me there and we'd go upstairs and I'd get my hair cut. I don't think they're there anymore though. Well, well. Have a lovely time and don't get married too fast!

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  2. Cameron,

    If you want to check out the literary scene in NYC, Hassanal Abdullah is a good friend of mine and he han gs out with the biggest names in poetry in New York. They have regular readings at NYU, Columbia etc. Let me know if you want to meet him and I'll be happy to make introductions.

    Mehul

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  3. Surely the bad news is you won't be spending Xmas with me?!

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  4. What's the bad news? LOL it all sounds good to me :)

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  5. Mehul yes, that would be wonderful.

    Jessie, she often talks about a diner in River Edge, mayhap it could be the same one.

    And Cheri, yes dear.

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  6. Cam dear~
    I'm left to wonder why you're shirtless in your pic...has there been an infestation of moths, or is it laundry day in perpetuity and you've got nothing clean to wear?
    Needless to say I'd love to film a documentary of your pursuit of American love, but unfortunately I can't...sitting through Shrek could never be, as I've long had a phobia of green ogres.
    Enjoy yourself, can't wait for the update. Happy Holidays to you and to Susan...
    Jetta/Wishy

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  7. Ah, Wishy, yes, well, I had just had my hair cut by my niece Cheri (she of the comment a couple or so back), was pleased with the result, and wanted a photograph of it. The photo was even better than the haircut, so I've been using it ever since. Cheri's omnicompetence should be really annoying, but somehow it isn't.

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