I see that September 18th was the day I started the original Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. It was a Saturday. The writing was very chatty, very ‘what I did today’ at first. I didn’t know what it was going to Morph into. I see that I was already using Teen Spirit and Smartmom. Hepcat’s full name was Hepcat Daddy-O back then. I don’t know why I thought anyone would be interested in what I did on a busy Saturday. But I was finding my way. We started No Words_Daily Pix few weeks later. So September 18th is OTBKB’s official anniversary. I’ll be running these old posts leading up to the big day…

This morning, Smartmom took care of some recent "kitchen problems." The
old man who fixes stoves came by to fix the oven which hasn’t been
working in weeks. Later, the cheerful exterminator stopped by. Smartmom
told him about the wheat moth problem but he said there’s nothing he
can do about it — he specializes in roaches and mice. "You got to go
to the sauce," he said. Smartmom thought he meant that there was some
sauce that is especially delicious to wheat moths. Actually, he was
saying THE SOURCE in thick Brooklynese and pointed to a box of rice,
and other boxes of grains. "If you see nests in there, they gotta go in
the garbage," he said. Note: Smartmom had already thrown out ALL open
boxes of grain and had emptied and scrubbed the cabinet. She’s also
using Pantry Pest traps bought at the PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP.

Speaking
of unpleasant insects, a downstairs neighbor came up to say that his
son has Lice and that the 7-year-old Oh So Feisty One, may have it too
because she played with his son the other day. Oh Joy. "Have you been
physical with Zack downstairs?" Smartmom asked the Oh So Feisty One.
"Not really," she answered, "But he did put his fingers through my
hair." Yeesh. Smartmom and the Oh So Feisty One may be takin’ EASTERN
CAR SERVICE to see the go-to Orthodox Jewish lady in Boro Park with 10
children who is NYC’s de-facto lice expert—she’s even been profiled in
THE NEW YORKER. Now how’s that for credentials?

The Oh So Feisty
One and 13 year old Teen Spirit (TS), managed to get along so well
today that Teen Spirit actually invited her to join him on a trip to
7th Avenue. That meant big fun: reading Manja books at Barnes and
Noble, eating glazed donuts at the MOJO CAFE, browsing video games at
Game Stop and looking for the latest Bare Naked Ladies at SOUND TRACK
(only local stores get all caps. Not mega brands.)

Meanwhile,
Smartmom raced to get her eyes checked at VISIONS on Lincoln Place. The
optometrist thinks her middle vision is going a bit. But he’s not sure
if she needs to start wearing corrective lenses and told her to think
about it. Huh? Smartmom had a quick lunch at OSHIMA, the tasty sushi
place on 7th Avenue between Berkeley and Lincoln that used to be a Zen
Palatte type of place. The new owners are super friendly—they have an
adorable little boy who hangs out there most days when he is not at
school.

Hepcat Daddy met Smartmom at OSHIMA on his way to
VISIONS, thoughtfully schlepping out in the rain to get TS’s broken eye
glasses fixed (because Smartmom forgot to bring them and TS says he’s
blind without them.) Hepcat Daddy-o didn’t bother to tell Smartmom that
her eyes had huge brown and yellow circles around them from the eye
drops the optometrist put in there. Oh well. The nice Japanese people
didn’t say anything either. More on that later.

After VISIONS,
Smartmom and Hepcat Daddy-o stopped at the COMMUNITY BOOKSTORE which
smelled of clove incense. Hepcat Daddy-o skimmed Art Spiegelman’s new
"In the Shawdow of No Towers," and Smartmom bought a a book by poet
Louise Gluck. She stepped on the owner’s dog, who was sleeping in the
fiction aisle. Love the homey feeling in that bookstore. CYNTHIA OZICK
will be doing a reading there on October 19th.

Smartmom picked
up a bottle of Merlot at SHAWNS, the liquor store on 7th between
Garfield and Carroll. The blue haired girl who works behind the counter
wasn’t there today. Smartmom ran into a neighbor from the building next
store who said, "What did you do to your eyes?’ The neighbor looked
truly alarmed.

Smartmom explained.

The Oh So Feisty One
(OSFO) and TS were already back from their 7th Avenue sojourn when
Smartmom got him home. He: finishing the Ramen noodle soup he prepared
for himself (and spilled all over the kitchen) She: listening to a CD
of her favorite music that Teen Spirit created for her this morning.
B-52’s Rock Lobster, Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson, and the
Ramones are the high points. Dance Dance Revolution and Hilary Duff are
there too. After a bit, OSFO and TS decided to hit Seventh Avenue again
which gave Smartmom time to read her first subscription copy of THE
NATION. She also had the wherewithal to take a nap.

She ain’t Smartmom for nothing.

TS,
OSFO, and Best Buddy (TF’s best friend) are in TS’s tiny bedroom being
rambuctious. Grumpy Hepcat Daddy-o is cooking up some Italian turkey
sausage from the COOP and making a delicious spaghetti dinner (recipe
to come). Hepcat Daddy-o has never gotten used to the elevated sound
level of children. Just a minute ago, TS went out again to PARK SLOPE
BOOKS around the corner looking for a used art book with a picture of
"The Last Supper" in it—he’s reading "The Da Vinci Code." We should
have a picture of "The Last Supper" around here. Yeesh.