Friday, September 09, 2011

Goodbye, Serena


I think I’ll miss our evening walks the most.

The time could vary -- it could be 10p, it could be midnight, or if I was watching a late-night degenerate special on ESPN, it could be much later. Serena would wait patiently until I said, “c’mon Sweet Pea, time to go walking.” Then she would scamper out from whatever spot in the bedroom she was in and head for the door.

Our younger dog, Bernice, hates the late-night walk as much as Serena looked forward to it. I’m fairly certain Bernice taught herself tremendous bladder control to avoid stepping out into the dreaded Manhattan night.

Bernice knows something’s wrong. It probably doesn’t help that I’m still crying like a fool, more than 24 hours since Serena died.


She was getting up in age, but otherwise in good decent health. Our old girl’s body simply betrayed her.

In less than two weeks, paralyzing seizures robbed Serena of most of her bodily functions. As the accidents increased, the look on her eyes would seem to be saying, ‘I’m sorry for the mess, daddy. I can’t control it.’

I knew she was in trouble when she was too weak to muster the slightest bit of excitement when I walked through the door Wednesday.

That’s one of the 84,567 reasons why dogs rule. Their purpose in life is to make your life better. They live to give you a hero’s welcome. And Serena’s Welcome Home’s were epic.

I could be gone an hour or a week, and Serena would greet me the same way: with unrestrained joy and slobber knocker kisses. Seriously, the dog’s tongue was a force of nature. It was like a red carpet.

Serena was with me through a half-dozen job changes (some less voluntary than others), and many other trying times. As well as all the great moments. It’s impossible for me to remember my life without Serena in it.

She was born two days before Cindi and I were married. We got her six weeks later, the first of many great decisions my wife has made for us the past dozen years.

She was there for so many life-changing moments; our all-in move to NYC a few weeks after 9/11; getting her a sister – Bernice, which Serena struggled to adjust to for awhile, to be honest; And the biggest moment: The birth of Baby Alexia last year.


Serena was there for all of it. She was the rock-steady backbeat in our life song.

Through all our dinners and parties, she was always there – usually at one of our friends’ feet, hoping to use that impossibly cute face to score some snacks (it usually worked).

We desperately wanted Alexia to have enough time with Serena to form memories of her. As we sat in the vet’s office, the realization that pictures would be all that Alexia would have of our beautiful little Bum…. well, it crushed me.

[Side note: Bum was one of Serena’s many nicknames, because she never met a nap she couldn’t take.]

We made the only decision left to make.

We were there with Alexia because we had to rush her to the vet, and there was no way Cindi wasn’t going to be there for Serena. She loved her as much as I did. We sat in the room with her, shared a few memories of this wonderful, quirky, cantankerous dog that brought us so much joy. But mostly we just cried.

Then something incredible happened.

Serena and Alexia haven’t had much interaction. At her age, Serena just wasn’t up for getting manhandled by an infant. But as Cindi said goodbye, Alexia reached out and put her tiny hand on Serena’s head. It was a beautiful moment, and I’m grateful that I held it together long enough to take a picture.

Then it was time.

I sat there and stared at my loyal companion. I kissed her cheek like I’d done countless times before. I did what I imagine most people do at the death beds of their loved ones; I said I was sorry, for those times I lost my temper with her, for not giving her as much attention as I could have.

Our vet, who’s cared for Serena for years, administered the injection.

I told Serena I loved her one last time. I wish I could say that she gave me a sign that those words registered, but the truth is, I saw nothing in those big, soulful eyes. The illness had taken its toll.

Then she was gone.

As I stared at her lifeless body, the tears flowed uncontrollably. I found myself hoping that somehow, my words had registered at some level.

I’m not an idiot, and I’m not insane. I know the mental capacity of dogs. I’m also not very spiritual.

But I’ll be damned if I wasn’t praying that somehow, Serena understood how much she meant to me. That she knew that she will always carry a piece of my heart, from this life, into whatever comes next.

So long, Sweet Pea.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

MAKING ROOM - updated!

The great Avila purge continues ...
er, of my excess crap... err...OK, I mean all the dvds & GNs cluttering up our apartment.

The list below is what is still available + some new additions that I dug up. Same rules apply: Max 5 items per person, first come first serve, and you probably should be local (in NYC) because I'm not dealing with the expense & hassle of shipping.

NEW ADDITIONS:

DVDS:

Rocky 2-disc collectors set
Road to perdition
Rock n Roll high school blu
Caprica premiere press kit
Parks and recreation pilot screener
Waltz with bashir
La Mission
Amazing journey: the story of The Who
Mister lonely
Alvin and the chipmunks
guy and Madeleine on a Park Bench
CSNY/Deja vu
The Dark Crystal
Symbionic Titans season premiere
Clone Wars S:3 premiere
Mafioso
Spectacular Spider-Man: attack of the lizard
Freedom writers
Spinning into butter
Downloading Nancy
Hunger
Goodbye Solo
The Final Season
Margot at the Wedding
Meatloaf: in search of paradise
Special
Provoked
Chevolution
The Nanny Express
FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer 2- discs
Flashbacks of a fool
Gotta dance
Quid pro quo
Grace is Gone
Paprika
Sharkwater
Nana
Jesus Camp
Adam resurrected
Delgo
BAtman: Gotham Knight
Table for 3
I bring what I love


GNs:
Superman on the couch book
Burnout -mind gn
Captain Freedom novel
Sentences: the Life of mr Grimm hc
Waltz with bashir Gn

Xbox 360 games:
Madden 09
Madden 10
Call of duty 2 special Ed
Scene it? Trivia game

DVDs:

Sex and the city movie
Sopranos s:1
Z rock IFC comedy series screener
My breakfast w/blassie
Jockeys (animal planet)
Lookin to Get Out
Van Wilder:freshman year
Major league
Eddie Murphy raw
Morning light doc
Dark Streets
Blade Runner 5-disc HD DVD set
Son of Kong
Mighty Joe Young
Tennessee
Henry Poole is Here
Little Red Riding Hood
Failure to launch
Bounce
Human contract
Clash of the titans
Penn and Teller BS - 6th season
Table for 3
Jo Koy don't make Jim angry
Boogie Man - lee Atwater story
Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon
SW Clone Wars - Rise of the Bounty Hunters press kit
Louis CL - Hilarious
Ghost hunters Intl press kit
Black panther cartoon series
Ghost Hunt novel
Suburbia (roger corman)
Spiderman vs Doc Ock
Spiderman - ultimate villain showdown
Gamera - the giant monster
Stella - live in Boston
The Beatles - help!
Boffo -HBO/variety doc
The Narrows
Blast!
Ping Pong playa
Five dollars a day
Bigger stronger Faster
Lions for lambs
Kobe doin work
Lymelife
Homecoming
Hounddog
Close Encounters of 3rd kind doc
Constantines sword
Fog city mavericks
Forever strong
Diminished Capacity
I Sell the Dead
The missing person
Ball Don't lie
What goes up
American swing
Playground
the Cake eaters
The garden
Stranded
Nobel son
Running the sahara
Herb and Dorothy
Reporter
The 11th hour
The wild and wonderful whites of west Virginia
Cherry blossoms
Wonder Woman animated film
Tinkerbell 2 Blu
Down to the bone
24: redemption tv movie
Black hole SYFY movie
The Escapist
Tribute to Heath ledger
St trinians
Young Indy documentaries
Bart Got a Room
Get Low
Survival of the Dead
Toe to Toe
Shutter
Valhalla Rising


GAMES:

Mortal combat vs DC uni
Madden 08 x360
Lego rock band x360
Comedy central hasselhoff roast

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Plastic Man on the lam - Kyle baker
Outsiders - looking for trouble
Catwoman - 9 lives of a feline fatale
Ultimate guide to GI Joe
Dark Entries - Ian Rankin
Ultimate Spidey vol 12
Gotham Central half a life
STAR WARS Infinities: the empire strikes back
WE3 - vertigo
Prelude to Infinite Crisis
100%

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Making Room

I have way too much crap.

Seriously. Comics & TPBs, DVDs, CDs & various other pop culturally kitschy but otherwise useless items are taking up a serious amount of square footage. We're fortunate to have some space, but with little Alexia now in the picture, the Wife's evil eye has turned towards me much too often.

So I'm having a clearance sale. Except I'm not selling any of this stuff. It's easier to offer it up for free than to eBay it and then have to deal with the hassle o mailing things to the militia members in Scratch-n-Sniff, Idaho. Most are DVDS & screeners, a few games, some GNs. So here's how this goes...


First come, first serve. See something you like? email me/twitter me/text me if you have my #. If multiple people want the same item, then whoever reached out to me first gets it. Then you can either pick it up or i'll bring it to you the next time we're going to the same screening or when we get drinks.

Max of 5 items per person...

THE LIST (keep in mind I'll be adding more items as I keep sorting stuff out):

DVDs:

Sex and the city movie
Sopranos s:1
Z rock IFC comedy series screener
Sleeping beauty
The Game
My breakfast w/blassie
Jockeys (animal planet)
Lookin to Get Out
Van Wilder:freshman year
Major league
Eddie Murphy raw
Morning light doc
Dark Streets
Blade Runner 5-disc HD DVD set
Son of Kong
Mighty Joe Young
Tennessee
Henry Poole is Here
Little Red Riding Hood
Failure to launch
Bounce
Sat nite fever 30 anniversary Ed
Human contract
Clash of the titans
Penn and Teller BS - 6th season
Table for 3
Jo Koy don't make Jim angry
Boogie Man - lee Atwater story
Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon
SW Clone Wars - Rise of the Bounty Hunters press kit
Louis CL - Hilarious
Ghost hunters Intl press kit
Black panther cartoon series
Ghost Hunt novel
Suburbia (roger corman)
Spiderman vs Doc Ock
Spiderman - ultimate villain showdown
Gamera - the giant monster
Stella - live in Boston
The Beatles - help!
Boffo -HBO/variety doc
Grace
The Narrows
Blast!
Ping Pong playa
Education of Charlie banks
Five dollars a day
Bigger stronger Faster
IronMan Blu
Lions for lambs
Kobe doin work
Lymelife
Homecoming
Hounddog
Close Encounters of 3rd kind doc
Dear Zachary
Constantines sword
Fog city mavericks
Forever strong
Diminished Capacity
I Sell the Dead
The missing person
Ball Don't lie
What goes up
American swing
Playground
the Cake eaters
The garden
Handsome harry
Diving bell and the butterfly
Stranded
Nobel son
Running the sahara
Herb and Dorothy
The kite runner
Reporter
Hunger
The 11th hour
The wild and wonderful whites of west Virginia
Cherry blossoms
Wonder Woman animated film
Sleep Dealer
Tinkerbell 2 Blu
Down to the bone
24: redemption tv movie
Black hole SYFY movie
The Escapist
Tribute to Heath ledger
St trinians
Dead snow
Young Indy documentaries
Bart Got a Room
Get Low
Survival of the Dead
Toe to Toe
Shutter
Valhalla Rising


GAMES:

Mortal combat vs DC uni
Madden 08 x360
Lego rock band x360
Comedy central hasselhoff roast

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Plastic Man on the lam - Kyle baker
Outsiders - looking for trouble
Catwoman - 9 lives of a feline fatale
Ultimate guide to GI Joe
Dark Entries - Ian Rankin
Ultimate Spidey vol 12
Gotham Central half a life
STAR WARS Infinities: the empire strikes back
WE3 - vertigo
Prelude to Infinite Crisis
100%

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

What Makes A Good Movie...To You?


I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine today after the Oscar nominations were announced. He and I share a taste for quite a few movies, not the least of which is a borderline-unhealthy obsession with Michael Mann's Heat.

However, we part ways on quite a few films. The Social Network is one such picture. Like millions of other people today, we debated the merits of today's nominees, the curious and the ridiculous oversights (How was Daft Punk not tabbed for its Tron: Legacy soundtrack?)


Anyway, my friend liked TSN, but it seems the relentless hype surrounding the film and its Oscar possibilities - which has been discussed since before it was even released - has kind of soured him on the movie. I really liked TSN too, but I don't think it's the best film of the year, either. Animal Kingdom is my choice for top film of 2010, FWIW.

As we debated the merits of David Fincher's movie, we did what we normally do and take a detour down another argumentative path. Somehow we wound up arguing over whether Jerry Maguire is overrated. My friend thinks so; he said TSN is the most overrated picture since JM, a statement I found utterly preposterous. Then he crossed the line by saying Almost Famous isn't all its cracked up to be, either.

That drove me nuts, because that happens to be one of my most prized films, an all-time Top 10 for me. I've written about my love for Almost Famous before; to these eyes, it's the best coming-of-age picture ever. William Miller is a teen avatar for every Geek out there who became immersed in their passion.

When I asked my buddy why he didn't think the movie was all that I felt it was, he said it was good, but not earth-shattering. For him, a great movie needs amazing performances, outstanding editing and/or cinematography to rise above the level of just solid entertainment. A good story isn't enough for him.

I found this an interesting answer. One, because to me, a compelling story told effectively is often enough to elevate a movie from good to great. But also because it made me wonder what specific criteria we all have for determining a 'great' film.

Is it the story?

Is it the cinematography?

Is it the acting?

Is it the ambition and scope of the picture?

Do any of the above carry more weight than another? Or is it a combination that help us make up our mind about a movie?

For me, it begins and ends with the story. If I'm not invested in the journey, then the film has failed. Then again, if I do get invested, then that means the actors have done their job too, and no doubt, the director.

How do you decide what's a great movie? I'd like to know...

BTW, I thought The Town was jobbed by the Academy out of a Best Picture slot. That will start another argument with my buddy.

Because he couldn't stand that movie.

(follow me on twitter, why don't you?)