We Have a Nice Little Saturday Planned

These weeks have been flying by. To think I've been living in Astoria for 24 days and I've only been out to dinner once! Well, we go to Neptune Diner all of the time, but that doesn't count.

Last night we hit up Aliada a Cypriot and Grecian restaurant on Broadway that we used to frequent when Dan lived in his first apartment in Astoria. Aliada has made some upgrades: the horiatiki salad no longer has those thorns in whatever green they serve and they no longer have those annoying metal chairs outside that I used to slide off of. Their falafel is still wonderful. I've been eating lots o falafel since I've been back in Astoria. It seems to grow on trees here.

We went to Home Depot so I could by some plants and a light fixture for the bedroom. It seems all of our light fixtures are gone and I can not stand the bare bulb look. One light fixture I actually broke very shortly after moving in. Tried to swat a big mother fuckin' mosquito.

Anyway, did I mention that the family is coming over tomorrow: Grandma, cousin Ally, Amy, Peter, Andrew, my aunt and uncle. Hopefully my cousin Amanda will make it too. Dan is going to cook up a storm. My bro is going to stay for a week. I have to make it to Brooklyn tomorrow to picks Grams up. Bets on how badly I will get lost?

Tonight - more Cosco to pick up my birthday cake and some cheese for tomorrow.

Much to Say Today Today

OK - so I'll fully admit that I really liked the movie Rent. I've never seen the Broadway show, which I'd like to now...that's if it's still on Broadway. As most of you know, I'm the girl who fell asleep during Les Miz because I was bored to tears. I'm not too in to musicals...oddly enough, Dan is VERY into musicals. He was singing along to the movie. Queer.

Anyway, I think Rosario Dawson is really hot. From the young slut in Kids to the cool fast food restaurant owner in Clerks II, she's come a long way...SO we are adding her to the hot list. Yes, women will now be on the hot list - BECAUSE - well, it's my motherfuckin blog and I like to look at pretty women even though I'm hetero.

This weekend we were all over the place. We went to Dad's house in Shrub Oak to: drop off Amy, bring some boxes and assess the size of the highboy chest of drawers. We were able to fit half of it into the car. Highboy dresses are usually built in halves. This of course meant that we had to go back the next day to get the other half. At almost 8 feet tall, the dresser, which was my mom's and once owned by the Vanderbilts, it extraordinary. It's now Dan's.

We hit Home Depot, Marshall's, National Wholesale Liquidators (scary), Home Depot and Cosco.

We only have two more boxes left to unpack. Phew. Getting this home settled is taking so long. Normally I'm quick, but I wanted Dan to be more a part of the process this time.

Anyway, interesting article in The New York Times today about city kids taking longer to graduate from high school http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/education/21highschool.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin.

My sister and I talk about this subject often and I started to think about the point of forcing a kid to go to school who literally has the capability of walking out the front door whenever she wants and cutting class. Amy told me she just didn't think she could go back to high school again. She can't "deal with that shit." We talked about her getting a GED. She said 75% of colleges accept them.

Sometimes I think we need to just accept things for what they are. This is a kid who just can't do high school. Does that mean she can't go to college. Does that mean she's not going to be successful in life? The statistics are certainly against her, but a lot of things have been against her, and she's managed to survive. Then again, I don't want her just to survive. I want her to be ahead of the curve. How is it possible that a kid in AP English in an upper class school district fails to graduate?

I suppose we are all to blame, but what's the point now. How do we help?