I'm back. Oneidine 7 - 11, 28.

DIARY

- LAST WEEKEND - I was coming down from Spring Break, which had been sufficiently productive, though only barely. On Friday, I went out exploring and visited the Middle Eastern enclave on Atlantic Avenue. I poked around Cobble Hill for awhile, and wandered south into Brooklyn Heights. When I got home, I read a little of Northanger Abbey, but fell asleep with my face on the book. Jess woke me up when she came in. We had a london broil for dinner.
On Saturday we got the news about my grandma. I didn't tell Jess right away because she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. I didn't have a lot of energy for the rest of the weekend, which means that I didn't finish my written critiques for workshop, nor did I finish Hopskotch. I can finish Hopskotch this summer, but I have to get on the critiques right away because I'm slipping further behind. I only have to stay afloat for one more month; then the semester and the year will be over.
On Sunday, Jess and I went to church at Sacred Heart in the East Village, but I got the time wrong, so we arrived a half-hour early. Afterwards, we walked down to Odessa and got dinner. I wasn't permitted to sit at Sympathy for the Kettle before the reading, so instead I rode the subway back to Brooklyn with Jess, then turned right around and rode it back to Manhattan. At 2773, I read Mr. Mouser and the Land of Dusk, a short piece I'd composed while thinking about my grandma, and it was very rough hewn, but I was pleased overall. It was an eventful night. Melissa read from her memoir, and Daniel rapped.

- MONDAY - On Monday I went to work as usual, except with all of Jess' and my luggage, and I got permission to take Tuesday and Wednesday off. I left work early, at about four and walked down to 24th Street, and picked up my rent-a-car from Enterprise. It ended up coming to about $230 (not including gas), but I'm paranoid and always go in for the insurance packages... so not a bad deal, overall, for three days. I left right away, heading out to Orangeburg to pick up Jess, but I got caught in traffic on the Westside Highway, and didn't make it to NKI until after six. We stopped at the bathroom, and continued out toward Rochester, where we were pick up my brother. By having to pick up Jess, however, I discovered (almost accidentally) a wonderful and scenic shortcut across the state. Instead of navigating the mazes of New Jersery tollways intersected with inlets, and that bizarre Pennsylvanian policy of ignoring cities outside of their own state, we went as follows:
- THE TRIP - North on Palisades Parkway to highway 6 west. Five miles later, 6 encounters a strange circle intersection in a field surrounded by trees, and becomes limited access 7. #7 actually continues for 130 miles of beautiful countryside all the way to the Catskills, and since it isn't an interstate, and its final destination is the thriving metropolis of Binghamton, there wasn't a lot of traffic. We made a stop at Taco Bell, and continued on. At Binghamton we switched to I-81, and at Syracuse, the I-90 tollway. We pulled into Rochester at 11:45, and I manage to navigate my way to Cody's dormitory by memory from a visit I'd paid four years ago (the ultimate of macho direction-finding pride). We picked up Cody, and continued onto Niagara Falls. After crossing into Canada, Cody took over, and Jess and I slept most of the way through Canada. After the crossing at Sarnia (I said to a sleepy Jess - "Hey, we're at the Bluewater Bridge," Jess - "I love you too,") Cody and I switched again, and I drove the last hour through Michigan into Flint, taking 475 to Clio road and finally, home. We were asleep fifteen minutes after our arrival.

- TUESDAY - My grandmother's funeral took place at the Brown Funeral Home on the Eastside, which shows the loyalty people have to funeral homes, since I think my grandma liked Flint about as much as my mother does. Still, the viewing arrangement was very nice. My Grandma Coyne and Aunt Georgia arrived, and we all visited together. My mother and sister had made a memory board with some wonderful photographs, going back as early as the 1920s.
- MY GRANDMOTHER - My grandmother had lived a very active and imaginative life. She'd only barely finished high school, and late, but later inspected electrical systems for the Mercury space program. She divorced her first husband in the 1950s, got a mortgage and purchased her own home. Later, she became a successful realtor in the Flint area and was also a certified pilot. My brother and sister and my cousins and me are featured in the later photos. The earliest photo is my grandma with a toothy grin standing next to her frustrated older brother, my Uncle Willy. In between, images of her with my parents and my Aunt Bonney and her first husband.
- MORE TUESDAY - After the viewing we went to Bob Evans on Center road. I had the whitefish sandwich. We had to do shopping for the next day, so my mother offered that we could miss the second part of the viewing and go shopping. As it turns out, my cousins arrived along with Aunt Bonney and her husband Tim, as well as some of my mom's coworkers. Caitlin and Cody and I drove out to Genesee Valley.
- FLINT - Here's something genuintely startling to me. Ever since I was a teenager I've been aware of Flint having a negative reputation, and I've also been aware with it's deprewssed appearance... the litter, abandoned buildings, the broken infrastructure, and all that. But I was genuinely startled and saddened by how rapidly the Eastside has declined over the last several. I wasn't a nice neighborhood when my friend Paul lived there as a child, and was even less so when I lived there myself in 1999 and 2003. But I never expected to see such a magnitude of abandoned houses, vacant lots, and burned out wrecks. Several businesses I've frequented have vanished, and roads I walked down just two years ago were almost unrecognizeable.
That said, Genessee Valley has gone in an equally bizarre, upscale direction. New soft incandescent lights with cylindrical brassy shields have replaced the earlier fluorescents, and the halls have been covered in carpet, a muted brown with bright flecks. I wonder where this leaves Courtland?
- LYN AND JOHN - Initially Jess and I were looking for Caitlin and Cody. We found them outside Payless where I was to buy my shoes, and just as I was about to say something, another voice said: "Connor Coyne!" I saw Lyn, one of my oldest and best friends walking toward me. At first I thought, "doesn't she live in Tennessee?" but then she was probably thinking "doesn't he live in New York?" and "Why is he always wearing a suit?" The last time I saw her was at my wedding. Lyn explained that she had moved back with her parents who lived just outside of Flint. She introduced me to her friend, John. We talked for a few minutes, and moved along, since I had to buy shoes and Caitlin her dress. But I realized at once that it would only take me a few minutes to get shoes, while the dress could take quite awhile. Ten minutes later, Cody and I walked out of Payless with a pair of dress shoes and tracked down Lyn and John. We moved to the Food Court where we talked, progressively, about cities and progeny and friends and jobs and art and politics and Japanese culture. Then Caitlin and Jess arrived, and we headed out for good.
- THAT NIGHT - Back home we stayed up and watched Pride and Prejudice - the new version. It was a good night.

- WEDNESDAY - The morning was spent getting ready for the post-service brunch, though I did have enough time for a bagel with cream cheese. Mr. Buck, a Methodist minister, presided for the service, and did a marvellous job. I read from a collection of memories that my mother had put together, and my Aunt Bonney and Caitlin and Cody each played a piece of music. The closing piece was Silent Night, my grandma's favorite song. We paid our final respects. After the service, I spent several minutes talking with my cousins and aunt, whom I have not seen in about ten years, and Uncle Tim, whom I'd never met. We drove back to Flushing, and I indulged in the local roads, avoiding the expressway. We drove down Kearsley street past the Cultural Center and past my own house, then we took Court to Beecher to River, drove through downtown Flushing. Gymboree was holding a closing sale... their "eqipment" was an sale as advertised on the front door. For the brunch, fifteen of us gathered at my parents: my Grandma Coyne, Aunt Georgia, Aunt Bonney and Uncle Tim, my cousins, Andy, Ben, and Nathan, and Andy's girlfriend, Dara, our family friend Peg, my parents, Caitlin, Cody, Jess, and I. I don't remember the last time there were fifteen people at my house... possibly my brother's graduation open house, which would have been four years ago. The brunch was wonderful, with my grandmother's Swedish Meatballs the most spectacular moment. Ben showed a video he had made of his snowboarding in Colorado, and we showed everyone some of our wedding pictures. After my cousins left, Jess and I took a short nap, and we visited for awhile after getting up. We finally headed out around six. These visits are always far too short.
- THE TRIP BACK - I talked Cody and Jess into stopping at Atlas for coffee and coneys to go, and then I stopped at an ATM to get cash for the tolls on the ride back. As before, Cody drove through Canada, and I tried to get some sleep in the back seat. Jess had to work the following day, so we did not ask her to drive. We dropped Cody off at Rochester at about midnight, and continued on. I got very tired on the drive back to New York, and actually stopped in a parking lot to close my eyes for a few minutes around 4. I made a wrong turn and missed the #7 becoming the #6, which led to a detour that cost us more time. Traffic wasn't bad until we hit the George Washington bridge and rush hour was just picking up. I'd also planned to save time by cutting through the Bronx to the Triburough bridge to the BQE. I didn't count on the traffic and lane closures in Brooklyn. We didn't make it home until 8 AM. At a little after nine, Jess left for work. I slept until noon.

- YESTERDAY - When I got up, I worked on my pieces for the Fiction Flask reading. I went downstairs and found we'd gotten a parking ticket. I also found that I had left on the headlights and killed the battery. After getting a jump, I gassed up the car, drove into Manhattan, and dropped the vehicle off. I walked to New School, finished my writing, printed out, and started down to Junno's. I stopped at the NYU library to renew my library book, but they told me they could not do so without my bringing in the books (which means I'm currently running up a hefty fine). Finally, I ran into Mac who was on the way to my reading. We walked together. The reading went well and felt cathartic in a way. I read a short sample of Urbantasm and a revised version of Mr. Mouser and the Land of Dusk. Afterwards, Marko and Reinhardt, Christine and Rosemary showed up and we visited for the rest of the night. Josephine, Sara, and Dani also read and each did a fine job. After the reading, I visited for awhile and walked to the subway. When I got home, I had some leftover meatballs for a late meal and went to bed.

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- WEATHER - Today New York is supposed to get up to 72, while fierce winds are spiralling aross the upper midwest. Also, a storm is moving east across the country, having drenched Chicago yesterday, currently over Michigan and Ohio and sinking onto the East Coast for tomrrow before rolling out to sea. This is the way April is supposed to begin.

- WEDNESDAY - Was the day of the Eclipse.
- TODAY - Is Cèsar Chávez day.
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Monday: Edward Gibbon, Mary Wallstonecraft Shelley, Ulysses S. Grant, Casey Kasem, and Ausust Wilson. Tuesday: Jan Oort, Jay Leno, Jessica Alba. Thursday: Francisco Goya, Paul Verlaine, and Sonny Boy Williamson I. Today: Rene Descartes, Liz Claiborne. Tomorrow: Lon Chaney, Sr and COLIN! Sunday: Giacomo Casanova. Also, SKYLAR in there somewhere...

NEWS OF THE WEEK
The New York Times: In Dazzling Eclipse, Bashful Sun Allows Glimpse of Its Wild Side.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow."
- Charlotte Bronte

PICTURE OF THE WEEK
NASA: The eclipse from space.

LINK OF THE WEEK
NASA: Eclipse in a different light.

NATION OF THE WEEK
Vietnam.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Where would you like to be in five years?

END OF POST.