Milady Rogers, 1998 – 2010

икониспалняMilady

I haven’t had to deal with a pet’s death in a very long time. Unfortunately, tonight I was reminded of what it’s like to lose a pet that has been a part of your everyday life for over a decade.

Technically she was my step cat as M already had her when we got married, but I loved her as if she were my own little Yoda-faced cat. Milady was very sweet. She had a very high tolerance for inconvenience. Exhibit A:

Milady Ho Ho Ho

She purred until she was at death’s door and then I held M’s hand as Milady gasped her last.

One wonders in the immediate emotion aftermath if having pets is worth the pain of the inevitable, but once the tears are wiped away there are too many cherished memories and laughs remembered to avoid a natural part of life that we must all face.

Milady

RIP Milady. We’ll miss you.

I’m surprised I remembered the password to this site

So it’s now 2010 or twenty ten as they say. I’ve been in NYC for almost 15 months. As you can see in the copious posts below this one, I’ve painstakingly documented my transition and adjustment to life in the big city.

That’s the thing. All this transitioning and adjusting takes energy. I’m old now; I don’t have energy left over for writing. Plus, I’m lazy and this takes effort and stuff.

So I’m sitting here in my new apartment (we just moved to a new apartment). I hear the R train below 4th avenue and I’m TRYING. Trying for you, trying for me. Mostly for me.

I’m not going to whine and pine for the things that I wish I had written in the last year, nor will I make some empty pledge to write more. I’m writing because the mood struck and I hate admitting that the weekend is over by going to bed on a Sunday night.

I will hit some 2009 highlights that I can think of. Ahem.

btw, I can hear someone throwing up outside

  • I received a promotion at work. So that’s nice. Riverbed is a good place to work. I can’t believe how much I lucked out with this job. I owe kkjordan more than just a vodka/redbull or two.
  • I finished 3 of 4 levels (currently taking 401) of the core improv curriculum at Upright Citizens Brigade theater. A group of people that were in my 101 have now become my friends and we’ve taken all our classes together and are in an improv group together. Besides moving and settling in the new place, this is pretty much my only extra curricular activity. Well, that and paying outrageous prices for food and entertainment
  • I lost 35lbs. I’m not where I want to be yet, but for once I didn’t get all gung-ho and burn out after a few weeks. I did it by making small adjustments over a period of time.
  • I played fantasy football in the office pool and cared about the NFL for the first time ever. I still came in last.
  • I love love Indian food.
  • I repaired the dryer, a major household appliance.
  • M and I went upstate to a bed and breakfast in Cold Springs, NY for Christmas. It was nice but also weird to not be either at a parent’s house or my own for Christmas.
  • M lost her dad and I lost a friend and former boss. 2009 was a crazy year for deaths, y’all.
  • I still haven’t been mugged.
  • I am continually amazed at the stunningly beautiful and unspeakably ugly people I see on the subway.
  • I’m pretty much just making stuff up now.

I’m certain there are other stand out things that happened in my 2009 and I might think of them later.

Dear Future Kary,

Try to remain humble. Really. Look, I know you’re arguably the best improviser in the northeast corridor but, right NOW?, not so much. Yes, your name is spoken in the same sentence as all the improv greats like Robin Williams and Seth Rogen, but right now you’re just a 201 student that can’t get out of his head.

So, please, when you’re making perfect moves by pretending a pair of hula hoops are prostitute earrings, remember that you were once a know-nothing, beginning long form student.

Michael Jackson

It’s always sad when a celebrity you like dies, but it never has really affected me much. I don’t know exactly why, but the death of Michael Jackson at the age 50 has seriously bummed me out.

Maybe it’s because listening to Thriller is one of my earliest memories of really digging music. Singing along and doing my best MJ dancing impression was something me and my friends would do while the Thriller vinyl was spinning on my Holly Hobbie record player. I have no idea why my record player was a Holly Hobbie record player but it was. From Sears.

I mean, what kid in the 80s didn’t love Michael Jackson? I stared longingly at the red zippered jacket at the mall. I wanted the sparkly glove. I wanted to go to Neverland Ranch…before we knew about all that other business.

Maybe it’s because his death marks the first death of a childhood icon thus reminding me of my own mortality and the end of an era. Death comes for everyone, even the highly talented yet royally screwed up ones. Michael had his problems, but his impact on our culture is huge.

I bet Weird Al is grateful for Beat It.

I’m standing in a sea of people

Waiting for Tim and Eric Awesome Tour ’09 live show to start. I’m about 3 feet from the stage and have been on my feet for about 3 hours waiting in various locales. I don’t know a soul here but it’s good to know I’m around people that appreciate the same kind of humor that I do. I find that Tim and Eric are very polarizing among people.

The show should start in about 15 minutes. I’m bored standing here so I thought I’d use the wordpress app on my phone that I’ve only used once before.

Salame!

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I’m so excited and I can’t hide it

Back in August, when I was still in good ol’ Missip, I emailed in for the Saturday Night Live ticket lottery. My understanding is that there is a date window in which you can request tickets for the show and then they draw the tickets lottery style.

Well, I had completely forgotten about it until last week when I received an email from NBC.com. Glancing at it, I thought it might be for Conan tickets since I had emailed for those recently. But no, it was for SNL! I’ll be going to the Feb 7th dress rehearsal. I’m sooooo excited^

A few days later, I received an email that I had tickets for a Feb 17th taping of Conan too. He’s wrapping up his New York show and moving to LA to take over the Tonight Show, so I’ll get to see one of the last shows. I can’t hide it!

Why I Moved to New York

Yes, it’s true that I moved from Mississippi to New York City. It’s true that I started a great new job in Manhattan and that I live in a cool neighborhood in Brooklyn. And it’s true that I now live in a part of the country that utilizes all four seasons and not just summer.

But.

That’s not the entire truth. I haven’t told you why I moved. Or rather, why I had to move.

See, Mississippi has the honor of being the fattest state in the nation and is currently trying to improve its image. To that end it is trying a two-pronged approach. One: there is a expansive movement to educate and motivate people to eat right and exercise. An example of this is the Let’s Go Walkin’ Mississippi campaign. If you live in Mississippi, you can’t help but be inundated with TV and radio ads touting the benefits of walking. But, there is a lesser-known, second approach to improving Mississippi’s standing in the health statistics.

If you’re over a certain BMI, your name goes into a lottery drawing. Once a month they draw a certain number of names and these names have 6 months to move to a state with a lower obesity rate. The thought behind this is that Mississippi’s numbers are instantly improved and the other state’s numbers are worsened in one fell swoop.

Pretty shrewd, ain’t it?

Well, my name came up so I’m doing my part to make Mississippi healthier and pull New York down. Now you know. Which is totally half the battle.

2008 in Review

Pretty much everyone is doing their 2008 recap. What happened? What did you do? What goals and milestones did you reach? You know, that kind of stuff.

I think you already know most of mine but without further ado, we here at IMKH will hit the highlights of ’08.

January: I think I got a new pair of shoes.
February: I..uh…I’ll come back to this one.
March: If I remember it right, I had heard gas was three cents cheaper across town so I headed over there only to find out it was the same price as my side of town. Oh man!
June: High dive. Dong exposure. Small children crying. That’s all I’m saying.
September: Uh…pass.
Octo…

Forget it. Nothing really happened in ’08 with our country or for me personally worth mentioning. Here’s hoping 2009 takes an upswing. Maybe I’ll finally get that navy blue blazer I’ve been wanting.