Marie Javins's Blog, page 5

Staying Warm

Catching rays without getting cold.

I Wish I'd Seen the Cover

I’m at the coffee shop near my Jersey City home, first thing Saturday morning after putting my sheets in at the washer at the laundromat a block away. Old-school JC is nowhere to be seen here. Balthazar pastries compete with locally designed cup sleeves for my attention. Five-dollar coffee once seemed to have no place in my neighborhood, but this thriving shop opened the year I bought the house, and has since expanded to other branches.

There are two Jersey City police officers in the coffee shop this morning. Their squad car is outside and they are on break. They sit two tables apart. One stares absentmindedly at his phone, his thumb occasionally brushing the screen. The other is deeply engaged in a hardcover book, something with a scarlet dust jacket. He’s halfway through. His wrists peek out of his uniform sleeves, and they are covered in tattoos, something dramatic, flowerly, professional.

As I wait for my large oat latté, a family of three sits between the two cops. Bored cop tilts his head to stare out the window, THAT stare evident, you know the one where you’re trying hard to not eavesdrop but it’s really hard as the conversation is going on a foot away.

The tattooed cop keeps reading, deeply engrossed in his book.

Yet Still They Share It

The Kitty Tube is only just big enough for an adult feral with its winter look.

Off to the Storage Unit

A couple of fun things I found in my storage unit today. 

I’ve got plenty of other color charts but didn’t find them. 

I left the Finch paper there. I’ve only needed it once in at least a decade.

Poor Li'l Possum

I wonder if the world wants a book called "The Poor Little Opossum," about a wet opossum frantically searching for snacks in a cat bowl on a patio in the rain on New Year's Eve. 

I can't think of how it should end, though. Maybe a human sees it, puts out cat food, which is then eaten by a raccoon, and then the poor little opossum befriends a nun who offers vegetables from her garden.

Bye to 2022

As we see out the year 2022, I reflect back on leaving one office for another, of whales and submarines, of opossums and raccoons and a beagle, of Belgium and Mexico, Luxembourg, Toronto, Austin...and that great moment at the start of the year when I spent time with old friends in Austin and was able to talk about Daniel Johnston and Jack Kirby.

The years have all blurred together and I no longer have a sense of the passage of time other than now, in the pandemic, and in another world we all kind of recall.

I once was a writer. Then I got a job. Possibly as a game warden. It all depends on your definition of wildlife.

Let's see what tomorrow brings. Probably more semi-wild animals in the convent yard, but maybe something more.

Purple Prose

Last night, I got a forty dollar rush ticket to see 1776 on Broadway. Or sort of on Broadway. On 42nd Street near Broadway if you must know.

I hadn't seen 1776 since watching it on a VHS tape in Latin class in high school. I realize that memory is incorrect, as there is no reason to watch 1776 in Latin class. Maybe it was history class.

Anyway, 1776 doesn't really hold up given the inevitable comparisons to the more electrifying and modern Hamilton, and watching Congress fight felt a bit like something I could just see in the news. The cast was distinctly not white male property owners, which elevated the theme that compromise in 1776 led to incremental change over time, and you want to yell "NOOO don't do it" at Adams and Jefferson, but you can see how cornered they are.

It was rough watching the rot at the core of the apple of democracy as entertainment .

lol, did I just write apple of democracy...

More Fun With Ferals

I read an article that recommended plugging in an oil-filled radiator next to a feral cat house, and I'm thinking of trying it.

It wasn't that long ago I didn't even like cats...

Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time

I had the brilliant idea to take the plane back to Newark from Virginia because I could use points and it was then only $5 for tax.

But the plane is still in Newark and I guess it’s gonna be a long night.

I wonder how Amtrak is doing.

Christmas Beagle

Charlie says happy holiday.