Mary and Jesus' Wedding

Okay, so I'm not trying to be sacrilegious: my cousin Mary got married this weekend to Jesus, the love of her life from El Savador.

It was quite the multicultural event. How many times in your life do you get to polka, salsa, twist, and rock 'n roll in one night? ...Oh, and I nearly forgot listening to Kermit the Frog sing "The Rainbow Connection." I actually discovered this muppet tune happens to be my brother-in-law's favorite. It was difficult to say which was more precious - Christian singing with Kermit or the overzealous flower girl (my cousin Diane's daughter Gabby) who was so intent on dropping her rose petals. The simple pleasures in life ....

There were extraordinary things happening left and right throughout the evening on Saturday. Steph even got Grandma on the dance floor. I thought I'd showcase the lovely dancing duo here. Cheryl Burke and the rest of Dancing with the Stars better watch out.

Driving home in my hotwire.com deal of a car -- $99 for four days with unlimited mileage -- a silvery blue Kia that handled extraordinarily well through the mountains near Hazelton and Scranton and made me feel a bit like a Nascar driver provided a much needed change of environment and pace. Words here will not do justice in conveying just how supercalifragilisticexpialidocious it was to be home. Of course, my mother over did it a bit with home decorating, but nonetheless it was home, and it was restful, and it was glorious. Indeed, my brother and I were inspired to rename the road on which we live from Dunham Hill Rd to the Hill of Dunham.

As you can see, I was in need of a good dose of home. And, now it is time for some sleep. I've been horribly undisciplined of late about getting enough rest. I have this silly habit of staying up late doing senseless things like downloading my photos and blogging.

American Psycho - Yes, I am :(

I'm psycho at times. I kid you not. My blood pressure rises and my heart beats extra fast when disputing bills. I just got off the phone with a Verizon Wireless representative - excuse me, I mean my 5th or 6th Verizon Wireless account representative to dispute the fact that an extra 100 bonus minutes clearly stated in my 3-year contract are nowhere notated in my online account. Basically, this past month's bill included an extra $17 dollars in overage. That amount was credited after I successfully disputed the charge, but Verizon said there was never any citation of an extra 100 promotional minutes. I even have my contract - a hard copy no less - which I faxed last week. Well, to make a long story short they are unable to add those 100 minutes to "My Plan" because a different division handles promotions and they could only do so with a contract extension. Gosh darn it - my contract is through July 2008 as it is! I was not pleased with this option. So, they decided they would monitor my usage and should I go over my allotted monthly peak minutes, but stick to the extra 100 promotional minutes, they will credit me that overage. Having a little legal experience, oh, and simply the hard knocks of life, I asked for this agreement to be sent to me via email. The response: No, a different department handles legal issues and Verizon emails are preformatted. Basically, I can take them or leave them at their word. Given this spate of billing and contractual issues and incorrect billing on my DSL account when we moved from VA to DC (thank the good Lord my math skills are up to par!), I am seriously rethinking my relationship with Verizon once I come to the end of my contract. In today's age, we are presented with "bundles" - that is a complete package of DSL, phone, and TV - BUT, the joint billing doesn't take place until 2 or 3 billing cycles take effect. Bottom line: upfront costs are higher and reading wacky bills causes a psycho anal-retentive person such as myself to develop non-existent heart disease. So much for this age of convenience! NOT!

I confess I even went so far tonight to recite part of the Verizon Wireless creed or rather their lengthy and jolly recording back to the representative: "Committed to working for you, our Customers!" Of course, I also spent some time apologizing. My gosh, I just realized that my deepest, darkest fears of adopting some of the argumentative traits of my mother and godmother have suddenly appeared in moi! I spent years of my childhood shying away from ANY form of confrontation and frequently hid under the table when customer service in a restaurant wasn't to our liking or when an ordered product was broken or of sub-standard quality. And now, I'm a ranter and a raver reciting company codes and pledges back to customer service representatives! I definitely need a chill pill.

Before I close, in case my aunt or mother might read this I feel compelled to add a special note: I love you, Aunt Pat and my amazing mother, Mary Lou! If there is one think I learned from the Wyszkowski side of the family, it is to stand up for one's rights and principles. I guess the next life lesson I'd like to learn is how to finesse my displeasure and disputes. Hmmm, I think my brother Mark might be able to help me in this area....He is quite the smooth talker let me tell you! Actually, I'd settle for suave, straight-shooter.

Sushi, Psycho Judge, and "Goyishe Kopf" make for the perfect Amtrak ride

I finally have a laptop after endless weeks of Dell-ays! It's quite unbelievable; I'm even up and running on the Internet. So far the keyboard on my Inspiron 1420 seems comfortable, and I think I'm glad to have the anti-glare screen, but we'll wait for the full jury a few more weeks after more use.

So, I'm just back from NYC. What a lovely, lovely weekend I had. The Big Apple was at its very finest. Granted there was one walk through midtown on Sunday night where WWIII seemed to have hit with garbage strewn everywhere... Steph and I could quite figure out whether all the bags of garbage were broken open, stamped upon, and/or exploded or whether the garbage was part of some movie set. It was disgusting to say the least. Apart from this aberration, I was impressed at how beautiful New York was - awesome vistas north and south when crossing the avenues, looking out over the East River from my friend Sandy's 6th-floor walk-up, strolling through Central Park, brunching at the Times Warner Center at Columbus Circle. It was pure fun AND it made me itchy for more of the city. Both Steph and I were lured back by the pulse of the city, the wildy diverse peoples, and the exquisite culinary treats on nearly every corner. Let's see, this trip we sample Afghani food in the East Village at Kyhber Pass, sipped Frozen Chocolate at Chocolate Bar on 8th Ave in the West Village, and feasted upon (well, I feasted upon) Junior's famous scrumptious cheesecake with strawberries. Oh, and least I forget, after church on Sunday we hit a favorite brunch spot on E77 and York - Barking Dog. We shared chocolate chip and dried cherry pancakes and a country sausage omellette with NYS cheddar cheese and Empire apples. YUM! Whatever you do in NYC, make sure you eat! You need not spend tons of money to give your taste buds something to jump for - that is the good news. There is something for every budget.

Turning from food, well, maybe not yet... right before I made my way to Penn Station, I stopped to get sushi and made a rush trip to Korea town to pick up some sweet rolls at a Korean bakery. Mission accomplished. While waiting for the train track to appear in the main hall at Penn, I ripped open one Korean bun and finally sat down to enjoy my spicy crunchy salmon and spicy tuna and crunch shrimp rolls once on the train. I was in my own little heaven. Some days you can actually have your cake ere sushi and eat it too!

I've never had such an interesting train ride... Scratch that - this one ranks up there with my trip last March when I was humbled by the guy sitting next to me whose screen saver included pictures of him and just about every famous world leader you can think of... ranging from famous senators to former and current secretaries of state to heads of state and celebrities. That was wild - tonight's ride was interesting and unexpected. The personalities included a former attorney turned writer just launching her first novel on a book tour, who noticed me reading and gave me a copy of her book. And, there was Dave who lives and breathes Yiddish and could not help but tell me all about his 3 week trip to Lithuania where he studied Yiddish intensively and connected with Holocaust survivors who speak the language. By the way, the phrase Goyishe Kopf means "Gentile Brains", which I believe was/is a bit of a derogatory remark. I learned it in the context of a story about a professor in Vilnius who headed up a Jewish philosophy department whose favorite Jewish philospher is the 12th century rabbi, physician, and philosopher Moses Maimonides. When my train companion Dave asked the professor why he preferred Maimonides, the professor replied, "Because he had a 'judishe Kopf!"" - that is a Jewish brain.

You might see that I did not get a wink of sleep on my Amtrak ride home to DC. But, I sure had some interesting travel companions and walked away with a book and some insight on the differences between Lithuanian and Polish Yiddish.

Okay, and on a side note, get a load of this extraordinary find on the streets of the Big Apple... A little Gnome!!!!