Playing Catch Up

Well, getting back on the blogwagon proved to be a bit more of a challenge than originally thought. I’ll need to hammer out some details to get you caught up. Details like the Coopers’ visit to the Gottwalds, our trip to Munich, Germany, my literary love affair with Paul Auster, a clan of Gottwalds visiting Coors Field in Denver for Game 4 of the World Series, my recent dance performance in Brooklyn, and my newly found gluten-free lifestyle.

Where does one start with such a plethora of subjects?

COOPERS IN NH
Malcolm and Robin came to visit Fred and Priscilla in Laconia in August. My liberal grandmother and Chris’s conservative father cozied up to each other on the pontoon boat and as we floated atop the waves on Winnepesaukee, they provoked one another with political jargon. Tommy spent the first few hours on Sunday desperately trying to expedite a hangover, finally pulling the trigger while laying on his stomach with his head two feet from the lake’s surface. The whole family (plus the Coopers) was privy to the experience.

MUNICH

Chris and I went to Munich for a week in August. The lightweight men’s eight from Riverside Boat Club represented the USA at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Germany. The week-long trip was split between attending crew races and riding our bicycles around Munich. Our first bicycle trip was a research trip; we wanted to see how long it would take us to bike to the race course which was on the outskirts of the city, about 15 miles from our hotel. Due to inadequate maps, vegetation pastures, overgrown bike paths, dense wooded areas, hidden parking lots with prostitutes who stepped out of their brightly colored umbrella-laden vehicles, and mazes through Florida-like retirement communities we had a rather difficult time finding our way. In hindsight, we estimate that we biked about 50 miles over the course of about seven hours. Somehow we ended up going in circles (we think). At 3:30 we saw a sign that told us that we were 2.5 km away. At 4:30, we passed a sign saying that we were 7.5 km away. The rural setting spooked me, as we were about two miles away from the Dachau Concentration Camp site and occasionally our bike ride took us over some old railroad tracks. There were patches of what seemed like forest, so thick that my heart-raced, thinking that ghosts from the past (whether Nazi or Holocaust survivors) were going to lurch out and grab me from my bike. I’ve never rode a bike so fast through pebbles, grass, and puddles. Finally, we could hear the fans cheering for the crews but couldn’t find the body of water (a man-made, spring-fed, perfectly rectangular, perfectly German piece of architecture). Once we saw the massive stands in the distance with people waving an array of international flags, we couldn’t figure out how to get to the entrance. The entire thing turned into a treasure hunt and became comical, especially when we arrived and the final race of the day had “just” finished. At least we figured out that we should take the train for the following race days when the Riverside (now the USA!) boat was racing. But at 5:30pm, we had only begun to think about the bike trip back to the hotel. Again, we got lost. This time in Munich: in the neighborhoods, in the parks, near the Mercedes headquarters. We finally made it home that evening just before dark, my speed had picked up as we rode through the English Garden (I knew we were close to our hotel). I was sunburned and exhausted and the next day my sit bones felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to them.

I mention sunburned in the previous sentence because I did not bring moisturizer with me. Luckily, the Holiday Inn had “Skin Moisturizer” in the shower. And luckily, I used it for the next four days. I was so lucky that by the fourth day, my skin was flaking off, my cheeks were irritated and red, my legs were itchy and my back had dandruff. Chris happened to ask me what moisturizer I had been using and I told him that I was using the moisturizer that the hotel provided. Upon my answer, he gave me the look. The Look is his way of not overtly condescending yet simultaneously seriously doubting my course of action. I get The Look rather often and to my chagrin it is usually apt. It turns out that “Moisturizer” in German means “soap”. I made Chris swear that he would not tall everyone about my stupid mistake so here I am, unveiling my idiocy to the world at large. We made a trip the pharmacy and purchased some Aloe Vera Moisturizer (not soap) and my body drank it in like it was the fountain of youth. Nevermind that 6 ounces cost $17.

PAUL AUSTER

This summer I started reading his books. First I read The Book of Illusions and then Oracle Night. Then I decided to read his Collected Prose. Now I am reading The New York Trilogy. Several of his stories take place in my neighborhood (where he also resides) so they have piqued my interest. His grandmother murdered his grandfather at his father’s boyhood home and Paul did not discover any of this until immediately following his father’s death. He has a fascinating family history. And his fiction is unsettling: peculiar plots, depressed characters, and bizarre adventures. I watched him interviewed on The Charlie Rose Show and decided that Paul Auster is my New Favorite Person Who I Don’t Really Know. Charlie Rose kept trying to get Auster to say who was the best artist of the century…and the best writer…and the best…and Auster looked at him like he had asked him who had the bigger shoe size, Picasso or Hemingway. Auster did not really answer the question but instead just said that “there is no best.” I suggest you get to know him.

GOTTWALDs AT COORS FIELD

Kirsten, Danny, Tommy, Nicole, Kerri, and Alison (Gretchen’s roommate) flew to Denver for the Red Sox World Series SWEEP. I don't think there was much drinking going on (see photo below):

To make a long story short, they ended up atop the Red Sox dugout for the post-win celebration on the evening of October 28. Here are a couple photos with my brothers (from boston.com) so you can play the Gottwald version of Where’s Waldo?.

DANCE

I performed with Digby Dance while the Red Sox were demoralizing the Rockies. The cast was chock full of Red Sox fans, so as soon as the house lights went up we all were aware of the score (thanks to text messages from fellow fans and siblings in Denver). The show was a collaboration with Urban Juke Joint, a group of poets. It was totally mesmerizing to see how another performance art form rehearses. As dancers we are so used to rehearsing and by the time tech week is upon us, we know all our cues (for the most part) and general outline for the performance evening. The poets were much more improvised and we didn’t really get a clear sense of what they would be performing until the actual showtime. It added some nervous performance energy for me, which I realized I had missed a little bit.

GLUTEN-FREE

Without going into lurid detail about my gastro-intestinal issues, I have been having issues for quite some time. I finally had my first visit with my Primary Care Physician and he asked me a series of questions about my symptoms. I did not know that he was giving me a gluten allergy screening test. Anyhow, he suggested I try going gluten-free for two weeks and see how my system would react. Chris thought I had found a ‘touch-feely’ doctor but nevertheless agreed that I should try it out. So, I did. And I cannot express to you how much better I feel. It blows my mind. If you want more details, I can give them to you upon request. I will leave it there for now.