Getting Ryd of Cyd

Hey everyone! This past weekend several friends and I gathered to bid farewell to Cyd. She's leaving us to live the life of the expat with Niels in London, so we had another go at the Get Ryd of Cyd party. Given her madcap lifestyle, this has become practically an annual event. Luckily she was able to take a couple of months off between NYC and London so we got lots of good hangout time. This included the weekend before last when she came up to Boulder. We took the "How Well Do You Know Sex and the City" quiz from the Sex and the City book she got me. Watch parties of this girliest of shows were a must for us during our single days in the city of Denver. Anyway, I consider myself quite the tv maven, but she actually beat me 25 to 22. Something tells me a prior peak at the answers is the only way this could have happened. She's across the pond by now, so I don't have to worry about her pummeling me for such slander.

After that we watched this documentary I'd read about on Page 6 that's being made into a play called Grey Gardens. It was made in the 1970s about Edith Beale and her daughter Edie. They live together in this huge mansion in the Hamptons and they're cousins of none other than Jackie O. The documentarians were originally making a film about Jackie, interviewing her family, friends and whatnot. But then they met the 2 Ediths and found their real story. Sure Jack Kennedy had Marilyn, the mob, painkillers, and all sorts of diseases in his closet, but none of that could compare to the two cousins Jackie surely thought she'd left behind. As the film progressed, we gradually realized that tho they lived in this fabulously huge house, the two were spending all their time in one yellow room....sleeping, entertaining their one stoner guest, eating, and even cooking, all the while surrounded by cats. I cannot describe how dirty the place was. Their beds were so full of junk, I don't know how they even sat on them much less slept on them. The filmmakers took some shots of the rest of the house and you could see how it was basically rotting and no joke - infested by racoons. They were attracted by the combination of wonderbread and catfood that Edie left for the cats in the attic.

Edie's wardrobe was a sight to behold. We never actually saw her scalp because it was constantly covered by a scarf or more frequently, a sweater that she tied around her head with the two sleeves knotted in the back. The other components of this outfit were typically a 50s style swimsuit (Edie herself is 56), pantyhose and white pumps. Her creativity and delusions of grandeur were astounding. We got really excited in one scene where the two got all dolled up in formalwear thinking they were actually going somewhere. That somewhere was DOWNSTAIRS. It was Edith's birthday - she turned 79 - and they had two normal-looking guests over to celebrate. This led to some drama as the kitchen chairs were so dirty the guests had to sit on newspaper. Edith was also very upset that they were toasting from paper cups rather than the gold trimmed goblets she had in mind. Throughout the film, the two spent most of the time singing, dancing, bickering and reliving the past, particularly Edie's obsession with a 32 year old man who proposed to her. Edith remains bitter to this day that Edie did not wed a Getty. Provided you have the right company, an absurdist attitude, a large quantity of alcoholic beverages, and you're a girl (Thomas left after about 20 minutes to smoke a cigar on our deck - I think the level of female insanity was a bit too much for him) Grey Gardens is not to be missed.

Grey Gardens did get us in such a good mood that the three of us spent the next several hours dancing to The Raveonettes, Johnny Cash and Cross Canadian Ragweed. I'm not sure what inspired this dance marathon, but I wouldn't have missed it. Shockingly the only resulting damages were a broken glass and several bruises. And some massive sleep deprivation the next day when I had to wake up a short 3 hours later to take Cyd to the airport at 6 a.m.

Cyd returned a few days later to have her actual going away party. In attendance were Cyd, Thomas and I, Joe, Kim, Rhonda, Joanne, Jon, Zora, and their adorable baby Addie. We met at McCormicks to take advantage of their happy hour and somehow the ten of us squeezed around a table for four. We're all smaller than we look, I guess. It was great catching up with everyone and telling embarassing stories. Unfortunately there was no voice recorder, but I did dig out my ancient polaroid and took some snapshots which I've posted on yahoo (as you'll see, the camera only really wanted to capture Joe, so that must make him the opposite of a vampire). Who needs fancy digital cameras when a clunky 10 year old polaroid takes such unconventional shots! Click this link to view.

So, bon voyage Cyd and cheers, mate. We already miss you!

-sunday

Boulder Bumpersticker of the Day (courtesy of Eddie and Larissa): Screw Tibet, Free Scotland