Family is Family

Met Julia and Erin for a 10AM brunch. I never get out of my door on a Saturday before 2PM. So seeing NY and the Lower East Side so quiet and bright in the morning was a real treat. I need to get out earlier to enjoy more of the day. Julia's kids were surprisingly well behaved. Baby Sarah and I were drawing with blunt colored pencils, and Hannah was cautious but smiling. The last time I saw them, they were screaming their asses off, trying to disappear into their Mom to get far away from me. BRATS! They turned out very sweet and smart. So far. Good job Julia.

My sister Lily met me at the restaurant to go get my Mom in Jersey for a family get together. She lives in Elizabeth near the Newark airport and the Budweiser bottling plant. Ah, the smell of yeasty hops and distant chemical exhaust was lingering in the air. We were celebrating birthdays. Went to Veniero's bakery to get my brother's wife favorite dessert, tiramisu cake. For some reason, my family kept insulting the intelligence of me and my two nieces. Telling us to use a fork because it'll be easier for us than chopsticks, wear a jacket because it's a little drafty and you may not realize how chilly it is, use a straw to drink from a can because that's what straws are for, don't drop the camera because they're fragile and expensive pieces of equipment. DUgh. I can't believe it. If we wanted to WE WILL. SO strange. But despite that, it's always great to see my family all in one place.
Bumped into Kathy H. and her friends in the street frantically searching for illegal Fendi designer bags. Some stranger was leading them to a secret location in the back basement of some back building where supposedly a room was full of every knock off bag imaginable. Hmm. Sketchy. If I don't hear from you on Monday, I'll make sure to call the cops.

Took my Mom home and on the way back, we stopped at my brother's house to pick up my Les Paul Standard electric guitar. It'll be good to get finger tips calloused again. It's odd to be visiting Jersey City. It feels so unfamiliar and a little scary now. My brother Tom wants me to go in with him to buy a house in downtown Jersey City. I don't know. Maybe for an investment that I'll rent out but I don't want to live there again. Driving back home along 14th Street and up 3rd Avenue, it really hit me with how comfortable and how much this city is home to me now.