the writing and photography of Neil Kramer

Tag: socializing

The Last Few Days

It was a wild last few days, and by wild I mean I left the house and spoke to people.

On Wednesday, I had a long lunch with my friend Noel, who is an extremely talented and funny musical theater composer.  He told me what to see and what to avoid on Broadway this year. Here is one of his songs I found on YouTube —

“Marry Me” by Noel Katz

On Thursday, I sneaked into the end of a corporate demonstration of some new-fangled kitchen blender. The event was being held at the ritzy Mandarin Oriental.  A company had FLOWN female bloggers from around the country into NYC for the big moment!  I have a feeling you are going to be seeing a lot of “positive” reviews for this “mind-blowing” kitchen appliance this week on about fifty blogs.  I was there to say hello to some blogging friends, and procrastinate from writing.  After their catered lunch, I guided a few into Central Park for a “tour” until I realized that I had nothing of historic or city lore to convey.

“Uh, and this is a TREE in Central Park,” I told Sarcastic Mom.

On Friday, I went to a reading at a small theater downtown.  The show was titled Expressing  Motherhood.  Ten mothers of different ages and styles told stories, some funny and some sad, about motherhood.  It was terrific.   It is an on-going event, and there is a new cast each time, so you can audition yourself for the next LA production!

In this NY cast were Liz of Mom101 and Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored.  I wanted to support my fellow bloggers, even if they are evil mommybloggers, even if most of my recent interaction with them was complaining about their “Blogging With Integrity” badge.  It was certainly difficult to reconcile my previous image of them as mommyblogging dictators with the friendly mothers on stage, telling funny stories about their kids (even though Mom101 was wearing these cool leather boots, but they were way more sexy than anything Mussolini ever wore). Both bloggers were wonderful on stage.

On Saturday, I met more bloggers.  Yvonne of Joy Unexpected, a long-time online friend of mine, was in town visiting HER buddy, Isabel of Alphamom.  The night with this group of bloggers such as HeatherB and Torrie (so many freakin’ names and links to remember!)  is a bit of a blur.  I know we started out eating cheeseburgers at the Shake Shack,  which is a snootier NYC version of California’s In-N-Out, but without the New Testament quotes on the wrappers, but somewhere, somehow, there is apparently a video of me singing Prince’s Little Red Corvette at a karaoke bar.   I didn’t get home until 3AM.

I hope one day to get drunk and sing karaoke with all of you.

Tonight is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.  I don’t want to give the impression that I am religious in the traditional sense, but I do fast during the day, and I like the idea of the High Holidays.   It is also a day of remembering family members who passed away.  You light small candles, called yahrzeit candles, that stay lit all day.  It made me a little sad to see how the number of candles has increased throughout the years.

lights

Should I Hug You?

shakehands.jpg

One of the bloggers I met during my trip to San Diego was Modigli.  Meeting her was particularly exciting because I’ve been interacting with her as a blogger for more than a year.  I’ve “been with her” when she lived in Cleveland, when she took a trip to Florida, when she fell in love with another blogger in San Diego, when she moved to San Diego, when she couldn’t find a job, when she took a crappy job at Starbucks, when she finally got a teaching job, etc. 

I know more about her than some of my real friends.

So, I see her for the first time as I’m getting out of my car in front of her apartment complex.  But do I feel joy?  No!   Being a neurotic person, I feel only anxiety.  Why?  Because all I could think about was, “How do I greet her?”

“Do I hug her?  And do I hug her in that fake way or give her a real hug?  Should I give her a kiss on the cheek?  Will she think I’m too forward?  Will her boyfriend get mad?  Should I just shake her hand?  Should I kiss her “French” style on both cheeks?  Will she think me unfriendly if I don’t kiss her at all?” 

Luckily she came and gave me a big hug so I didn’t have to worry anymore (until it was time to go home when the thoughts came up again).

I enjoy meeting other bloggers, but I don’t like feeling anxious.  So, please help me and tell me now AHEAD OF TIME how you would like to be greeted – in case I ever meet you in person.

Would you like me to:

1)  Hug you weakly?
2)  Hug you strongly?
3)  Kiss you once on the cheek?
4)  Kiss you on both cheeks?
5)  Kiss you on the lips?
6)  Kiss you on the lips with tongue action?
7)  Kiss you while feeling you up?
8)  Kiss you while squeezing your ass?
9)  Kiss you while grinding against you?
10) Shake your hand?

Thanks for your help. 

And remember, tomorrow is Blog Appreciation Day.   Show your love to another blogger!  If you are sending a photo to someone, and you’re not afraid of revealing your location, show the daily newspaper or something specific so the person can feel proud that his blog is being read in Memphis or London, or wherever else you might live.

 

A Year Ago in Citizen of the Month:  Can Anybody Find Me Somebody to Hate?

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