June 2002 and for the forseeable future: Brooklyn! Yay! I LOVE it! I found the greatest apartment right near Park Slope, with the best café in the world (called the Tea Lounge, with couches and forty different kinds of tea) in comfortable walking distance on 7th Ave., along with zillions of darling shops and boutiques, and an organic vegetable delivery service, and on 5th Ave. it's Mission street all over again, with 99 cent stores and Mexican groceries, and my street has a parking place in front of my door most of the time, unlike any other street in the vicinity that I have discovered. The former tenant of my apartment departed in a sadistic rage, however, as I discovered when I moved in and found the power and phone lines cut, the intercom smashed, the circuit box dismantled, and the floorboards soaked with cat pee. But after visits from many nice electricians and phone men, and a couple of bottles of Nature's Miracle, and sage and vacuums and scented candles, I have the best deal in the city. There's light and space and air, and a bigger kitchen than I've had in years. I broke down and bought Martha Stewart colors to paint the walls.Mid-June 2002: Toronto, for Allison's 40th birthday party, as promised. Twelve-hour drive through upstate NY was charming, if not precisely what I wanted to be doing alone after the three days up from Texas, and the two days up from Mexico before that, with three cats. But with no phone, no furniture, and an apartment smelling of cat pee, I decided to keep my promises. Toronto is cute. Canadians are quieter than Americans, as Al pointed out.
Late May 2002: Brooklyn, at Lisa's, house-hunting. I picked up the Village Voice apartment listing section and immediately went into a panicked stupor; Lisa said "give me that," and started circling things. Then she said, "Call this number," and I did, and the place was perfect, and that was that. Simple. We all need friends like Lisa.
Mid-May, 2002: Driving from Mexico to Texas with Pathfinder jammed to bursting with paintings and cats, and no A/C. Mooshi came down with an inflamed bladder that took two courses of antibiotics and $400 in vet and dry-cleaning bills to fix, because she would not go to the litter box in a moving vehicle. I don't blame her, but it was distressing for all of us.
Early March-early May, 2002: Guanajuato, painting like a MADWOMAN. Had breakthrough and Open Studio. Said tearful goodbyes to everybody but Russell, who got a bug up his butt because I told him my best friend was out of his league, and was snifty with me even at Course in Miracles meetings, where we are studying to know better. Thus, I am sorry to say, absolutely proving my point.
Late February/early March 2002: Stranded in Austin when ATM chewed up card. This was great blessing, as it inspired me to get this web site up and running.
February 2002: Still schlepping between Texas and Mexico. Decided to take advantage of warm, cheap climate for a little longer before moving to cold, expensive one. If anybody has any job opportunities for a talented writer, artist, bodyworker and librarian in the Brooklyn/Manhattan area, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
August-January 2002: Guanajuato. Nancy finally left on August 23. Patty and I did a major energy cleansing before I could move in.
Later July-early August 2001: Road trip across southwestern North America with Patty and cats.
Late July 2001: San Francisco. Bought used SUV. Hosted Becky and Leif for co-housing conference in Berkeley. Obtained Level 2 Reiki attunement.
Later June-early July 2001: France. Lolled around and gained weight; saw all of Pierre's wondrous relatives one last time. Gave Herve a massive dose of Reiki in Paris.
Late June 2001: NYC. Rained a whole lot. Marisa wonderful hostess.
May-June 2001: San Francisco (housesitting for Pierre). Sold house. Packed and shipped personal possessions to Fort Worth. Started writing new book, tentatively entitled "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Nuisance." Marketed art and writing (results inconclusive). Obtained Level 1 Reiki attunement. Took yoga classes on labyrinth at Grace Cathedral. Compulsively shopped for secondhand clothing and books.
Late April 2001: Austin, Texas (Becky and Leif's house) and Fort Worth, Texas (Mom and Dad's house). Lost Barney temporarily in Austin after both of us suffered through 26-hour bus ride. Designed and crocheted sweater. Schmoozed galleries and visited museums. Compulsively re-read Harry Potter books.
Late March-early April 2001: Guanajuato (Nancy's house). Photographed paintings of scorpions and exotic birds, held séance to figure out what the hell the ghost wanted by following me around like that, swapped healings with neurotic homeopath who told me I was medieval courtesan tortured by Spanish inquisition in past life. Maybe.
Early March 2001: San Francisco (Pierre's house). Deposited Mooshi. Lay on couch, healed plantar fasciitis, rewrote résumé, designed own letterhead.
February 2001: Guanajuato (Denise's house). Made pen, ink and watercolor drawings, started rewriting book into more-cohesive vignettes. Tutored Jayla (Canadian history, vocabulary, math, life wisdom). Fretted about future and the problems of nomadic lifestyle including two cats.
Late January 2001: Guanajuato (Nancy's house). Cleaned house in preparation for Nancy's return, moved to Denise's house.
Late December 2000-early January 2001: France. Ate fabulous meals in St. Jean du Gard, skipped joyfully through streets of Montpellier shouting "Bonne Anneé!"
Mid-December 2000: Guanajuato (Nancy's house). Hung paintings of scorpions and exotic birds for Elaine's going-away party, celebrated 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death.
Late November-early December 2000: Fort Worth, Texas. Hung show and opened exhibition at Alpine Art Gallery (thank you, Scott).
October-November 2000: Guanajuato (Nancy's house). Painted (pictures of enormous scorpions and exotic birds).
July-September 2000: Oakland and/or San Francisco, at Pierre's and/or Bob and Venee's, depending upon circumstances. Marketed art (successfully) and literature (less successfully), attended Burning Man (mostly successfully).
Photo by Pierre Saslawsky