Gotham Gal: First accidents

Jessica got her license yesterday. You have to be 18 in NYC to get a license to drive. Hey, its a tough town.

I made Jessica go through the driver's ed class, one on one driving etc. For one, your insurance rates go down and I believe it is best to hone your skills with someone besides your parents.

This morning, Jessica wanted to pick up her friend on her 18th bday and drive her to school. She lives on the Upper West Side and we are in the West Village. Of course we had to say yes. I remember getting my license and figuring I was an expert day one too.

This morning Fred comes upstairs and says to me, I am a little worried about Driving Miss Daisy's outing today. I was too but there is no time like the present.

Something in my gut told me that I was going to get the call this morning saying that she had an accident. I took my brother and sister out for ice cream on my first night of getting my license, in the pouring rain and took out a mailbox. My brother, I believe on this first outing, hit some snow and side swiped a car, my sister did something too. Alas, it was bound to happen.

The good news is nobody was hurt. The bad news, she did quite a nice job. Took out a headlight, smashed a bit of the hood and the side. The other car was a delivery truck and she smashed their door. This is the picture of the truck...our car looks worse. Very sweet.

She was on 20th Street on the way back down from the UWS when it happened. I didn't race out to save the day. I talked to her a few times and let her deal. The cop made her take a breathalyzer test, she had to deal with the insurance swap and phone numbers, the whole deal. It sucked and it was stressful but that's life.

She came out on the other end learning many lessons. Now she needs to get back into the saddle and I have to get the car fixed.

books of the moment

Cristina Alger: The Darlings: A Novel
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Stephen King: 11/22/63: A Novel
This is my first King book. He is an incredible story teller. Quite a book, very creative, interesting idea and story. It is so long. 850 pages. I get why he is one of the best selling authors
Whitney L. Johnson: Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream
I was so graciously asked to write a blurb for this book. It doesn't come out until May when I will write a post but for the time being you can pre-order. Here is my blurb; Every woman, regardless of age or profession, should read this book. Through stories of real women, their dreams and their struggles, Johnson's book has created an instant community. What's more, she has opened the door for women to empower themselves to dare, dream and do.
Russell Banks: Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel
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Susan Weissman: Feeding Eden: The Trials and Triumphs of a Food Allergy Family
The name of the book says it all. Every parent and every teacher should read this book.
Tom Perrotta: The Leftovers
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Alice Hoffman: The Dovekeepers: A Novel
I wanted to finish it, I really did. But half way in I moved on. Really beautiful book. A story of four women who lived on Masada who are thrown together through fate as they tend to the doves. Wonderful history and interesting paths of each character. Just super dense. I hope to return to finishing it. After all...it is on my kindle.
Deborah Copaken Kogan: Between Here and April
This book tracks a terrible tragedy of a mother who took her life and her childrens in the 70s. I was interested in it because it happened where I grew up. Unfortunately the book bounces all over the place and only focuses on the authors own issues that she believes to be connected to this but in essence it is a serious reach and rambling.
W. Bruce Cameron: A Dog's Purpose
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Kyung-Sook Shin: Please Look After Mom
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Kathleen Flinn: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks
Flinn writes about how she transformed 9 people to love cooking, understand food and what they are eating and basically changed their lives. Good book.
Julie Salamon: Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein
What a fascinating life. I actually liked the last 25% of the book the best. A woman of the generation that was told she could have it all and with all her success she still felt unaccomplished. A worthy read.
Michael Ondaatje: The Cat's Table
A beautiful memoir of Ondaatjes solo journey from Sri Lanka to London as a young boy of 11 to return to his mother who had been residing there for 3/4 years. Those 3 weeks made quite an impact on his life as he threads those stories back to his life as an adult.
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Marriage Plot: A Novel
loved this book. brilliantly written, great character development, literature references abound, questioning of religion, depression issues, post college angst. loved loved.
Julie Otsuka: The Buddha in the Attic
I read Otsuka's first book, When the Emperor Was Divine and really enjoyed it. Her writing is very distinct and her prose is written in a way that is different, imaginative and interesting. The book is a bit of an extension of the first book. The topic is on America's stained past during the war, in our own country, when we locked up all the Japanese people living here because of pure fear of nothing. Otsuka's book gives the read insight into how the Japanese lived prior to that time and really what wonderful immigrants they were and are. Opens up a chapter of American history that we should all be very disturbed by.

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First accidents

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