Molly in NYC

Friday I interviewed/vlogged Molly Hatfield, my best friend from high school, and spent the day at her Christmas tree stand in my old neighborhood, the Upper West Side.

I went to Montessori School about 14 blocks from the very spot where Molly sells trees. When I was younger, I lived at about three different apartments up the street from her spot - oh, and I can't forget that fancy commune mom moved us all to - who knew NYC had communes?!

My favorite Chinese food restaurant, The Hunan Balcony, was the spot where I first fell in love with Beef with Broccoli and consumed many Shirley Temples while my dad got blitzed.

Tom's Restaurant was where I ate greasy meals as a teenager and also the cafe Seinfeld supposedly frequented. My dad used to eat there as a poor Columbia student. They have tasty shakes.

It feels like home to me up there.

Molly lives in Wolcott, Vermont but I never see her. So if I had to fly to New York to spend some quality time with her, it was well worth it. We recounted high school tales and it made my heart so glad when she introduced me to New Yorkers (who all LOVE her to pieces) as "my best friend from high school." Awwwww.

Remember that time she pulled that knife on me in French class and I was the one who got in trouble!? Seriously, I loved hanging out with her. I was the uptight straight A nerd and she was the wild comedian class clown.

We were an Odd Couple for sure. We spent hours drawing together and day dreaming about our futures which could not have been more different.

She is a VTer who lives in a house her fathers built (they are not a gay couple, she just happens to have two of em!), has been married for 12 years and has two kids. They raise cows, pigs and live off the grid. For 8 years they used an out house. Molly is no nonsense and is one of the funniest people I know.

Molly's dad runs a Christmas tree business with about 13 spots in NYC. She has been spending her Decembers selling trees on the same street corner for 14 years and everyone knows her. Even the Dean of Columbia University bought a tree from her!

Because Molly is so friendly and funny, people love to stop and talk to her, even if they are not buying a Christmas tree. She has become a permanent fixture of this ever-changing neighborhood that used to be my hood.

A sweet older lady promised her another batch of her annual rum balls. Her cat's name, "Ditto."

Another lady came by to say how glad it made her to see Molly there. Her sisters had died and Molly was a familiar and endearing sight even if her lonely life did not involve a tree.

Chauncy, the neighborhood GO To Guy for Junk (radios, books, jump ropes), came by every hour or so to check out the scene.

A family with 10 foot ceilings who have been buying massive trees from Molly for years made their annual family trek to pick out the biggest and the bestest tree.

Nathan DeLeon, a famous Upper West Side doorman (he won The Building Workers of the Year Award for 30 years of service) picked up a tree for the lobby.

An actor came by to do VT accents with Molly, swap stories about their kids and compare stew recipes.

Some people call her "The Tree Lady" but most call her by name. She's seen their kids grow up and this year one of her kids made the trip to Manhattan to see what mommy and daddy do every December.

It is a grueling job and Molly works all day long, every day for one month - sawing, netting, hauling, chatting and sweeping. But she can't stop because she would miss her little slice of sidewalk and all her friends whose lives she has become a part of.

If you are in New York, go visit Molly at 110th and Broadway. Even if you aren't in the market for a tree, she will share a good laugh with you, entertain you and make you feel like a million bucks. And buy her a cup of coffee or some hot tea cause it is cold out there.

I would also like to point out that Molly is NOT a shapeless sack as these photos may suggest. She is wearing layers upon layers of warm clothing which were not able to keep her dry thanks to the soaking wet trees.

It is like an endurance test. One month of heavy lifting and cold sidewalk standing. I did it for one day and felt like a tree had run me over.

I wish I coulda stayed longer. Maybe next year I will be her minion and do as the Tree Lady tells me.

Eva in NYC

Country mouse, city mouse, country mouse, city mouse!?
Well which is it Eva?!?!
Maybe I am sort of a hybrid, a city/country/Leo/neurotic mouse?

Cut off as I am, it is inevitable that I should sometimes feel like a shadow walking in a shadowy world. When this happens I ask to be taken to New York City.

Always I return home weary but I have the comforting certainty that mankind is real and I myself am not a dream.

Helen Keller

This weekend the country mouse went to the Big Apple and indulged her inner city mouse. Even better, it was sort of a business trip and a really fun assignment to boot. If you can call interviewing your best friend from high school on a New York City street corner in a neighborhood where you spent your childhood a "job."

People are so PRETTY in New York! The streets are packed full of drop dead beautiful model-type people, well-dressed and stylish. Pages of a glossy magazine brought to life and walking down the street, crammed into a subway car and jabbing you with their fancy purses.

I miss the animal buoyancy in New York,
and the animal vitality.
I do not mind that it had no meaning and no depth.
Anais Nin

My first day in town was freezing rain all day long. Joy.

But it was ok because me and Parisa got to drink in some Klimts at the Neue Gallery. I have never seen a Klimt in person so I spent much time staring at brush strokes as close as the security guards would let me. Hot cocoa and lox in wood-paneled, ancient Cafe Sabarsky was worth of every European penny.

Then two days of sunny but frigid weather and a storm to beat all storms. I had to leave early to escape the madness and that meant missing out on seeing more people, a show and a party. But I did manage to cram in a happening Friday night with Meri and some tasty Indian food and an early Saturday morning in Park Slope with Sandra and the kids.

I spent lots of my time freezing my butt off on street corners and keeping my friends company as they sold stuff. I must have crap circulation because even with furry boots, Cabot socks, and long johns I felt like frozen Popsicle sticks.

It is good to be home in my cosy house with the animals even if I almost broke my back shoveling the driveway. Lucy loves her new pink handmade sweater from the Village and Crawford wants to make out with Parisa's pillows.

I gave in and indulged my inner consumer a wee bit as well. But mostly I was buying things for other people, mostly. Of course, most of the gifts are for MOLLY of the UNDEAD (she is SO greedy!) who had a lovely hand drawn card waiting in my mailbox for me when I got home. Nothing says home like a little dose of Molly in your mailbox!

I am glad to be home but miss the hustle and bustle, sights, sounds and smells more than a little. I gotta get busy and build that portal in my basement so I can travel freely between country and city more frequently.

New York has more hermits than will be found in all the
forests, mountains and deserts of the United States.
Simeon Strunsky

The city of right angles and tough, damaged people.
Pete Hamill

Word

There were always in me, two women at least,
one woman desperate and bewildered,
who felt she was drowning and another who
would leap into a scene, as upon a stage,
conceal her true emotions because they
were weaknesses, helplessness, despair,
and present to the world only a smile,
an eagerness, curiosity, enthusiasm, interest.
- Anais Nin
Volume Two (1934-1939) The Diary of Anais Nin
(These quotes taken from Gunther Stuhlmann's preface)

The Nutcracker is Stuck in VT

The Nutcracker [57]

I never get sick of this show. I have seen it and heard it a zillion times and it only gets better. Being backstage in the middle of the Land of the Hyper Active Ballerina Sweets made me love it even more.

I want to wear a tutu and a tiara on a monthly basis. Please. Ballerinas have all the fun.

New Stucks on VCAM

Stuck in Vermont
Episodes 52-56
VCAM, Channel 15
Mondays @ 8:30pm
Tuesdays @ 9:30am

Puppets, socks, opera, Goma, the von Trapps and Jeh Kulu. What is not to like? Avoid the compression and the stuttering, watch the full res version on VCAM. November episodes of Stuck start playing tomorrow.

DBC21 on VCAM

The December 2005 episode of The Deadbeat Club will play all month on VCAM. It is one of my favorites, The California Show.

I just got back from SF and montaged up a storm with CA pics and footage. There is also some Rock Star: INXS, old celeb news/gossip and a VT VS CA smackdown. Oh boy, I wish I had me some cable.

The Deadbeat Club
VCAM, Channel 15
Fridays @ 11:30pm
Sundays @ 9:00pm

Lil Pick Me Ups

There are four messages in my voicemail that I never delete. Every month or so the robot-lady asks me if I want to keep them or chuck them and I press 9 to save 'em.

Why do I save them? Simple, they are my little pick me ups!

If I am feeling grumpy, piddly or self-disgusted, these four messages always inspire a smile and a bit of blue skies:

1. Ben Smith from YouTube calling to tell me that they wanted to feature Stuck in VT regularly and be our "partner." I got that message when I was in SF (YouTube is south of SF) and I stopped dead in my tracks. Really, I did. Just stood there thinking, "WTF?!"

2. Tom Messner from WCAX to tell me that he would reshoot his interview if I wanted (I accidentally taped over some interview footage of him and was ready to commit Hari Kari). His opener is so cheery that it always makes me smile, "HELLO!? EEEEEEEVA?!?!" That guy is as nice in person as he is on the TV.

3. Sara Cover of Urban Dance Complex in Williston - the first thing you hear is a phone picking up. I did a vlog about their production of hip hop Annie and Sara left me a message that still gives me chills. She is a very matter a fact, tough nut sort of a person so when she said the video made her cry, well, that made my day. Still does.

4. This one is my favorite and I plan to never, ever delete it, neverever. It is Jenny from Universal Music in LA. She sounds harried, busy and annoyed. She is calling to tell me that I have the rights to use a Sonic Youth song in my 5th Stuck in VT vlog.

I spent an entire day on the phone with various people in LA begging and pleading and cajoling to get this permission. Ultimately, it is thanks to Sonic Youth for green lighting it but the fact that this happened in ONE day, well, that is just about one of the best messages of my life.

If I ever feel downtrodden or mouse-like, this message reminds me of that fearless day of pushy phone calls which started with a general call to the 800 line of Universal Music and ended with music rights to a Sonic Youth song. A W E S O M E.

Hibernation and Insulation

A couple of weeks ago, Brian from VT Gas was kind enough to come and do an infrared scan of my house with a very fancy piece of equipment. He was checking my walls to see if they required more insulation.

The test works best when it was very cold outside. The day he tested my little house, it was balmy so we cranked up the heat to make it read.

The good news is that my house is well insulated. We are snug as bugs in here. Soaking up the hot water heat from my old as hell radiators.

The bad news is, I never want to leave home! With a pillow-soft cat and a cuddle-bug dog and radiators that leave you toasty, there seems no reason to ever leave the house. I have enough books to read, DVDs to watch and things to knit to keep me well occupied until spring. Perhaps bears have the right idea...?

Sound of Music is Stuck in VT

The Sound of Music [56]

After I interviewed Johannes von Trapp, people kept coming up to me and asking me in hushed tones, "Are those the von Trapps? Which ones?" They really are like royalty. People WANT to talk to, get close to a von Trapp. I cannot imagine what it would be like living your entire life like a larger than life character from a book/show/film/puppet show. Odd.
Above is Maria F von Trapp who is the daughter of the Captain's previous marriage, the woman who died and left him with a gaggle of ill-behaved kids. Louisa is based on this Maria in the film version.

Maria was a missionary and absolutely adorable to talk to. She is such a classic looking German and reminded me of my Great Aunt Tanti Rosi. We talked for a long time about how she traveled for 30 yrs with the von Trapp Family Singers but she did not want to be on camera. She said I could take notes. Phooey.
When I met Johannes von Trapp I got a little nervous. He is sorta a VT rock star. I kept telling him over and over again how my first job ever (outside of babysitting mind you) was cleaning condos at the Trapp Family Lodge for $5/hr on Saturdays.

My friend Molly Hatfield got me the gig and the worst part was cleaning the bathrooms but they never got too dirty as people only stayed for a week or so. I thought I was RICH! Johannes was nice but very austere and Austrian. I also told him that we folded down the toilet paper into little points, yep, she's crazy!

Marcel and the CBP

Marcel has had it with America and her tangle of contradictions, so he caught a ride up to the border and attempted to defect to Canada where a frog of his sensitive artistic deadbeat disposition might be better appreciated/coddled.

CBP officials were not sure what to make of this finicky French frog so they booted him back to the States, but not before Marcel could make a brief stop at Duty Free to quench his mighty thirst.

To stifle his disappointment and quiet his rumbling belly, Marcel made another stop for fresh baked apple pie - 2 for $1! Mmm...freedom tastes mighty sweet don't it frog??

In other news, Marcel is thinking of signing up for the CBP cause they are fracking AWESOME DUDE! Check this out and you will understand why!

We Love Pinky

Pinky gets all the good brain dirt.

Happy Dogs

Lucy has lots o' pals at the dog park but Mecca is one of her best mates. Mecca is a girl but she pees like a boy, she also likes to fetch balls out of trees and enjoys leading a pack.

Together they rip up the dog park and achieve cheetah-like speeds. Their curled-n-wobbly, oh so perky tails make me glad.

Soup, Snow and Stuck

I finally found the time to make my winter soup, a "recipe" based on my mom's which is basically throwing all the vegetables from the produce dept into a big pot and simmering for hours.

In this case I used: a turnip, a beet, potatoes, garlic, onions, a jalapeno pepper, carrots, swiss chard, a can of tomatoes, mushrooms and lots of water. It takes a while to chop everything up but I am lazy and leave everything in big chunks.

A glass of wine or two later and you have a tasty broth to chase the winter chills away. I enjoyed my hearty soup with some toasted olive ciabatta bread and brie. Yummmmmy.

Wednesday it snowed! Lucy and I took an early morning jaunt through the woods and it was magical. That first layer of snow sticking to trees and underbrush transforms the woods into an enchanted playground.

Lucy, a dog who has probably never encountered snow before now, was so pleased about an empty snow-covered field that she dashed around in excited loops and made me smile so much my face hurt.

Stuck in VT, the arts & culture video vlog I make for Seven Days has been doing really great recently. It won a couple of awards and I've been getting a lot of helpful feedback. The rest of the year's vlogs are already booked with some interesting stuff I am looking forward to.

And if this article is correct, my job might have some security as newspapers across the country embrace video content. Hell yeah.

And I am getting unstuck from VT for a bit! Upcoming trips to NYC and SF which will entail some work projects and some fun visiting time too. It'll be nice to get a change of perspective so I can come back to VT fresh and ready for another year of Stucks.

2008, are you really only one month away? And what does the future hold? Does Goma have anything to do with it??!

Goma is Stuck in VT

My Cat Goma [55]