Three Months Later

Grandpa and Gigi
Originally uploaded by tjdee

My grandfather often tried to discuss heavy topics with me because he thought I was a smarty. I don't know if his persistence is a testament to his disinterest in reality or my acting abilities, but he kept trying to engage me in conversations about, oh, the latest HIGHLARIOUS happenings on Hardball. He also saved newspaper clippings for me related to my work that I would inevitably receive weeks after they were cut out and, usually, after I had read them online.

My favorite grandpa moment was also the most baffling. While living in the Waldwick house, he pulled me aside and told me he had a plan to restructure the U.S. government. He pulled out a chart to illustrate his grand redesign. This quickly became my go-to anecdote when discussing my grandfather.

I will always remember his unique handwriting, his penchant for hard pretzels dipped in margarine and, somewhat surprisingly, his acceptance of me.

When I left for California (the first time), he cornered me outside, where we had a pretty awkward but thankfully brief conversation. Here I was, leaving college a year early and moving 3,000 miles away to be closer to my boyfriend. And all my 70-something grandfather wanted me to say was: good for me for doing what I thought I needed to do.

Sure, he was difficult, especially when it came to his relationships with his five children. But he was, at the end of the day, a good man. And that's just about the best a man can hope to be.

Frida's House!

Frida's House!
Originally uploaded by tjdee

Kathleen, Jésus and I are back from Mexico City. We went in large part to see the special exhibitions honoring the 100th anniversary of Frida Kahlo's birth. This is her family home and official museum in Coyoacan, part of the Distrito Federal, but there also were items on display at Palacio de las Bellas Artes in the city center.

Frida's house featured a crazy long line and an unexpected run-in with someone from K's past. ¡Muy extraño!

More photos/vignettes/videos to come.

Some scenes from Pink Saturday:

Guns! Bullets!

Guns! Bullets!
Originally uploaded by tjdee

I opted to shoot the hostage, of course.

This was scary but fun. Our teacher told us every one of his students hit the bull's eye on their first or second practice shot and, true to form, we all did.

The craziest thing: The way the gun recoils always had me freaking out about not shooting straight and missing the target (you can only miss the sheet once - twice and you're asked to leave) but I never missed. Weird.

Confabs Corto y Bilingue:

Yikes

Yikes
Originally uploaded by tjdee

KC's tour drama makes me CRAZY.