Motherload

I wouldn't call myself a cynic, but honestly, what’s up with Mother’s Day? Commercials advertise jewelry for mothers, and Moms on the schoolyard are making plans. When we invited a friend of Annie’s to spend the day with us in the country (an unusual treat for a city kid and an offer that most don't refuse), the girl’s mother declined, saying that they needed to get ready for MOTHER’S DAY! Please tell me, how does one get ready for Mother’s Day A WEEK IN ADVANCE? Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mother and I love my own mother. I have had lovely Mother’s Days in the past and I will probably have another one this Sunday. But I just don’t get the whole phenomenon behind it. Will someone explain to me diamond earrings, brunch reservations and nail salon gift certificates? I mean, who needs it?

Maybe, for me, Mother's Day is a bit like Valentine’s Day. (Although I'm not opposed to Mother's Day and I am opposed to Valentine's Day. Love me 365 days a year or don’t bother loving me at all, something like that). But those are not my sentiments regarding Mother's Day! In fact, I think the day should be reserved for new mothers and grandmothers. Somehow that works for me. That's sweet.

I like holidays, I really do. Well, maybe I don't. There's just so much "Stuff," you know? So much junk and clutter surrounding what's real. I just want to take it off, peel it away, toss it the hell out.

Like I said, love me 365 ...

Monday Night

Annie talks to me while I'm in the kitchen making dinner.

Annie: "My friend told me that in one year we shouldn't eat birds because the Bird Flu is coming to the United States. He watches the news and that's how he knows"

Katie: "Kids shouldn't be watching the news. They should just be kids and leave it to the adults to worry about the world."

Annie: "But it's fun to have a little drama sometimes."

Favorite Film

Practice Makes Perfect

Annie gives me a sloppy kiss on the lips.

Katie: "Save it for your lovers."

Annie: "You're my little dummy that I practice on."

Quote

"Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself.”

--Oscar Wilde

Listening to at the Moment ...

Oakley Saves His Pal

A few nights ago, Greg, the owner of the farm where Oakley resides, went outside to have his last cigarette before going to bed. Oakley greeted him with a whinny and Greg waved hello and continued his smoke. But then Oakley did something unusual. He whinnied again, and then again, and soon his whinny became an undeniable message that something was wrong. Greg got up, ran toward the paddock and saw that his horse, Pal, was missing. When he spotted a busted fence at the far end of the paddock, Greg called for his wife, Laurie and they started searching for the horse. Eventually Pal was found close to the road, frightened with a bloodied face and leg.

Needless to say, Oakley went to bed that night with a scratch on the belly and big bucket of fresh carrots.

All in a day’s work for the Oak Man.

Oakley left, Pal on the right.

Plastic is Your Friend

A hero needs to be brave, so here's Oakley during a training session with me, attempting to demystify something horses hate, big plastic bags.

Quote

“If E-mail had been around before the telephone was invented, people would have said "Hey, forget e-mail - with this new telephone invention I can actually talk to people.”

--Unknown

Note From Me:

Please go to Annie's blog, you'll find it in the "Links" section. She saw a picture of a rabbit and made up a story about it on the spot. It's called, "The Educational Bunny," and it's worth reading.

Set Up

Annie: "If someone said you could take a little box of presents or a big box of presents, which would you take?"

Katie: "The big box of presents."

Annie: "Mommy, I don't mean to be disrepectful, but that's kind of greedy."

Saturday Night Sunset

From the Roof. Click it.

Down in Oakland

This picture of a baby goose was taken over the weekend by Tai Moses.

Quote

"If I left you, I'd spend the rest of my life looking for someone like you."

--Katie Bowen, May 6, 2006

Favorite Film

Towel Dry

Listening to at the Moment

Blogging on a Saturday? Unheard of!

Before I start getting all dolled up for a wild night on the town, (Okay, okay, the truth is, Annie is sleeping over at a friend's, Dave and I will stay in, watch the Kentucky Derby, and it's salad & baked potatoes for dinner), I need to let you know that Monday night's reading of David's scene has been postponed until the end of the month. So please, don't show up! I’ll repost the new date and location when I get it.

While I'm here ... I just returned from the OTB (Off-Track Betting), and here are my wagers for the Derby. $10 on horse #6 to win, $10 on horse #1 to win, and a $6 Trifecta box on horses 6, 7 & 11. (I only bet to make money).

The horse on the left of the picture is "Jazil," horse #1 for today's race.

And I'm OFF!

For Immediate Release

No, my Mexican American friend (Is that still okay to say?), Kristian Gonzales, is not being profiled on the blog as part of today’s Cinco de Mayo theme. I’ll get to the reason in a moment.

Kristian and I met a few years ago when we were editing a documentary series for BRAVO called, "The It Factor," and he has been a dear and close friend ever since. He is a talented editor, but his heart is in horse racing. He loves betting on the ponies, he studies it, and has it down to an art form as well as a science. He’ll be the first to tell you he doesn’t win all the time.

Last year when I was working in Florida, I phoned Kristian to get his picks for the Kentucky Derby. He loves a good long-shot so he gave me a horse called "Giacomo" with 50-to-1 odds. I stopped at a gambling facility and put $6 down on the horse to win. Later, when my cameraman and I watched the race on TV., who should take the lead but Giacomo, and when he crossed the finish line, I was $300 richer.

Please see the link for Kristian's new website, “The Betting Life” in the "Links" section of this blog. I'll be taking his picks for tomorrow's Derby ... you can bet on it.

Had to ...

Just had to.

Blog resumes Monday.

Feliz!

More Memories of Mexico

I know I’ve been talking a lot about Aaron, my ex, but my husband is fine with it and I’ve recently been visiting my past and Aaron is a big part of it. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.

When Aaron and I traveled in Mexico, we spent a few of our last days in Mexico City. There was a restaurant we frequented and I'll never forget it. It was built in the 1950s or 60s, it was huge, the size of an auditorium. So big that I can’t imagine it was ever filled. We went there a few times in the morning and were the first to arrive. We were given the option of sitting anywhere we wanted, so we’d make our way to a corner table and order breakfast and coffee. And each time an unusual thing would occur. Whoever was the next to arrive would also be given the option of sitting wherever they liked. The customers would glance around the enormous room, scope out its countless tables and chairs, and once they spotted Aaron and me, they’d come and occupy the table beside ours. Every person after that would follow suit until we were a happy herd of hungry humans.

In this restaurant, where a person could eat breakfast a football field away from their fellow man, the people of Mexico City thought that being close to one another was a more natural and satisfying option.

Mexican Maiden

Annie wanted to dress for the occasion. Here she is this morning on our bed. Click to see.

Quote

"In Mexico an air conditioner is called a politician because it makes a lot of noise but doesn't work very well."

--Len Deighton

Can't Stop Listening to ... At the Moment ...

Nothing expresses life for me as does music, and in this moment, the piece “Neo” off of this Miles Davis album.

I hear every note, every instrument in every moment, and every space between those moments. A meditation in sound, a churning of emotion, a stomping, a calling that extends itself upward until there’s no more air to breathe, then plummeting, resting, offering calm just when it’s needed.

I used to agonize over the feeling that if I couldn’t play it, I couldn’t get inside it. But I’m not on the outside; I’m not simply responding to someone else’s expression or interpretation of life; I respond because it’s already a part of me. It is mine. I am close enough, I’m standing right in the center of it, motionless and in motion, enveloped, taken.

Mom in Mexico

This picture was taken somewhere in Mexico, sometime in the 1950s. It's my mother with her first, oops, I mean second husband. (I won't tell you how many she's had ...)

Out of Costa Rica

This is my dear friend Tai on her recent trip to Costa Rica. I miss her.

Me & Baby Brother

This is as close as I ever got to a high school graduation. June 1981.

This Monday Night

A scene from David's screenplay, "The Show Might Go On" was selected to be read this Monday night at the "Raw Word Reading," sponsored by IFP (Independent Film Project). It's free, it should be fun, and the best part, you get to hang out with me and David after!

Monday May 8th 8pm sharp.
Crash Mansion
199 Bowery, (between Spring and Rivington)
NYC

These Are a Few of My Least Favorite Things

I know, I know, but Annie assured me this was needed ...

Floral perfume
Eggplant
Carpeting
Rodents
Splinters
A cheap bra
Torn pages
Polyester
Gourmet coffee
Remote controls
Horror movies
Rollercoasters
Pet clothing
Broken toys
The Weather Channel
Undercooked pizza
Situation comedies
Aggressive drivers
Bad dialogue
Goodbyes
Wet socks

Another Fine Establishment

Santa Cruz 95060

David said of this photo: "The only one that looks happy is the guy in the middle. The rest of you look as if you're in varying degrees of discomfort."

Aaron just emailed me this picture and I'm hesitant to post it. I like to remember my twenties as a time when I beautiful, but here I look, well, doughy. (Was I doughy back then?) I love it nonetheless.

From left to right, Aaron, me (Wet hair and oh, those bangs!), John, (A fellow India Joze chef), Tai, and Bill, another chef from Joze.

Below are two more pictures Aaron sent, I must admit it’s trippy to see them and brings back memories. And you know I'm ALL about the memories ...

Tai & Katie ... in the 1980s

California Cooks in New York

I must have taken this picture because I'm not in it. Aaron and Bill took over my mom's kitchen on 86th Street and cooked a killer meal. I admit that living with a great chef spoiled me, but it was great to share the culinary experience with the family.

From left to right, my brother Mike, I Think that's our friend from L.A., James, but he's hidden so I can't tell. Mom, Dad, Aaron, New Jersey girlfriend of Bill, and Bill. Click on image to make it big.

Favorite Film

Listening to at the Moment

Thursday Morning

Katie: “I'm going to give up this notion that I'm a narcissist."

David: Laughing, "Okay."

Katie: "What's so funny?"

David: "You're not a narcissist."

Quote

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good News

Since Bush "became" president for the second time, I have not read a newspaper, watched televised news, or listened to news on the radio. And I'm not ashamed to admit that since then I'm only interested in one kind of news ... GOOD news. John Stewart gives it to me, and the rest I get from David, so I was thrilled to hear the good news that Stephen Colbert delivered a MIND-BLOWING speech, right in front of George W. at the White House Correspondent's Dinner this past weekend.

Watch the speech on video or read the transcript. I have posted links for both in the "Links" section of this blog.

Below is a thank-you that David added to the thousands sent to Mr. Colbert.

"Satire delivered with a sword and a sledgehammer. Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks are applauding in heaven.

Stephen, you are not only a comedian. You are a patriot." --David Kosh, NYC

What's Kickin'?

We live in one of 5 pre-war buildings that make up our co-op. (Never mind). Each building has a staff of doormen, and after 8 years of living here, most of them have become fixtures in our lives in various ways.

Every morning Annie and I pass by all 5 buildings on our way to school. Annie likes her rituals and routines, and one of them is to play with Victor, the doorman at the top of the hill. She greets him by putting up her fists and asking, "You wanna piece of me?" They talk ghetto together, push each other around, and Annie ends the encounter the same each time: by running away from him shouting "Coward!"

Recently, Annie greeted Victor by making a fist, tapping it on her chest two times, and extending her arm and making a peace symbol with her hand. She said, “What up dawg?”

Katie: “Victor, do you think I should get Annie out of the city and raise her in the suburbs where she can grow up a proper young lady?”

Victor: “Nah. If you keep her here she’ll be a more well-rounded woman. She’ll know how to cook her man a steak AND kick his ass.”

Quote

“How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being?”

--Oscar Wilde

Favorite Film

Annie Says:

“You look cute Mommy. In a woman sort of way.”

Another Fine Establishment

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Annie requested I post a list of some of my favortie things, so, here's my Julie Andrews moment ...

Earl Grey tea with cream and honey
Vetiver
Peanut butter and jelly
Owls
A good bra
Storm clouds
French soap
Cotton
Italian sangria prepared by Maggie
Clean sheets, (no softener or scented detergent please)
Eating popcorn in a movie theatre
A great play
Street lights
Caribbean sand
Socks out of the dryer in winter
The smell of Paella cooking in my kitchen
Upstate New York after a big snow
The British TV show, “Absolutely Fabulous”
Western saddlles
Homemade lemonade
Hot showers
Lilacs
Nutella
Sail boats
Buying presents
Pomegranate Peach Passion white tea
Votivo candles
Pigs

Listening to at the Moment

Jumping For Joy

A Roof With a View

High above Manhattan are thousands of rooftops and to some, the scenery from up there may not be a thing of beauty. This is my rooftop and it's where my family and I watch fireworks on July 4th, it's also where I go to be alone, or with someone, or to escape, or whatever. The view from up here is beautiful and there's no better place to be on a summer night at sunset or a spring day like today, with a bumblebee and a lone butterfly to keep me company.

From North to South, miles of sky rest over the Hudson River, and just below, from the George Washington Bridge, the soft hum of engines mix with a singing bird; the sound becomes a comforting melody.

I can see New Jersey, the Bronx and Queens. I can see the empty space in the Manhattan skyline where the Towers once stood; the buildings that surrounded it still stand, looking almost like orphans.

New York City is where I was born, but where I’ll end up is in the air. Like I am, here on this roof.