Skan, Motion, and Hanwi, Moon
Created from themselves the Spirit called Yum,
Or Yumeni Wi, the most beautiful of God's creations.




Sun 7/6


The 4th has come and gone, and I've stuffed my face with barbecue, steak, foil-wrapped potatoes among the coals, good crusty bread and ice cream, just the fattening stuff! A special treat on the radio, Ray Charles sings a soul-stirring "America." The idea of America to me, is its edge: illegal immigrants trying to establish a foothold, Latinos, ethnics, and those of African descent, Chinese and Middle Easterners, the hodgepodge. We, are what makes our country great, not the elite, the government, its laws, or even our constitution that increasingly can be interpreted to mean whatever is most convenient.

It's been a busy week, another shoot on the Lipstick Jungle set as a background player, a funeral scene on the Upper East Side, so everyone's in black. I comment to the man on my left, sizing up the crowd as we stand in front of the church in our dark suits and sheaths, "The middleclass!"

He's Larry Ross whom I spend the rest of the day, a very long one indeed, from 7 am to 8 pm schmoozing with, nothing romantic, just good-natured bonhomie. For whatever reason, we click. There is no subject we don't touch on. What would turn out to be a long grueling day becomes a delight. Some colleagues are not impressed with Lipstick Jungle, I can't say, I've never seen it, but if you're a fan, check for me and Larry, we are coupled throughout the shoot, he is elegant in a dark suit, has white hair and a goatee, besides the black sheath and red- blond hair pinned back, wardrobe has handed me some long black gloves to wear. Rosie Perez has a charming little scene at the church.

Had an altercation with a neighbor this week. Aside from that incident, I'm pretty lucky on my block. I know the 4 other tenants in my building, and have good rapport with them. Evan the architect, came down and introduced himself when I first moved in; I sign for his packages when's he's at work and we help each other out; there's Catherine the bicycle girl, an actress who works for a catering company part-time and is building herself up to compete in a triathlon later this summer; Molly who lives right above me works in the Dean's office at Fordham U, and then there's the Chinese girl on the top floor, who unfortunately has been discovered to be a smoker by the landlady and will be put out when her lease is up.

But the neighbor who I've had words with, lives two buildings from mine. He called and left a coarse message on my machine while I was on the Lipstick shoot, made some crack about my status. I didn't pay too much attention when I heard it because I understand that people with psychic abilities make some men uncomfortable. It seems that my cat has been getting into his yard and harassing his rabbits. I felt bad about it, apologized, and offered to be on the lookout. But it didn't end there; he threatened to kill the cat if one of his rabbits died. He went on and on, letting me know that he "owned" his building, and obviously I didn't own mine, etc., etc.

After I get off the phone, I call the ASPCA to find out what the law says about this incident. They want to shuffle me right over to 911. No one's going to be killing cats if they have their way. I skip the police, but call the neighbor back and tell him that there are laws protecting cats, and he'll be arrested if he hurts Chloe. He should make the rabbit cages stronger so she can't hurt the rabbits. The man becomes absolutely crazed and hardly makes sense, screaming at me, talking about how his "cats" aren't in cages, denies he ever said he was going to kill my cat; he's going to see his lawyer about this and I will be sued. He is beyond control and I can hardly get a word in edgewise. Finally, I have to say, "We're not able to talk, and so have nothing left to discuss." He's not about to let me have the last word. "That's right!" he says, and hangs up.

He's got rabbits running around loose in the jungle of New York City! In a way they reflect his situation, a completely vulnerable, insecure human being at the mercy of a predacious world. Have you ever been there, where you feel so insecure that you'll latch on to anything to pump yourself up and whatever little advantage you have over your fellow human beings will be used like a cudgel to hit them over the head with? I have, and so I do not harbor ill will toward my neighbor, but mess with my Chloe and he's got trouble on his hands.