Another Mama-blog-a-rama

Welcome to the bloggy version "Have You Seen the Dog Lately?", my old pop culture, lowbrow zine. A lot has changed since those heady zine days--I lost my sister and co-editor, Jenny Makofsky on February 17, 2004.

And now there is a new Jenny in my life. My daughter, Genevieve "Jenny" Rosa Lafler, was born September 1st. She has my sister's crooked smile and sunshiney aspect.

I'm hoping that she'll bring Jenny back to me in surprising ways, surfacing some old memories. I already like the excuse of saying Jenny's name again, several times a day, the way I used to, and having it hold echoes of the past as well as possibilities of the future. I whisper secrets to my baby about people and places, and show her the moon and stars because my sister loved gossip and a nocturnal existence. She always said she got a burst of energy at around 10 or 11 at night. Funnily enough (and sadly, sadly enough), baby Genevieve also gets a burst of energy at around this time, just as my husband Steve and I surrender our books and try to turn out the lights. Let's just hope that tonight will be different, that Genevieve won't wake up 7 times to nurse and then retire to her crib for a bout of furious throat clearing, gasping, farting and clicking.

Now that I've introduced everyone else, I'll tell you about me: I'm Serena Makofsky. I live in Portland, Oregon, in what some people (maybe mostly realtors?) are calling the Alberta Arts District. I moved here 5 months ago, a California cliche, migrating from my beloved home in Oakland, California. I have a son, Max, who is four, and a baby girl, Genevieve, who is 2 1/2 months old. My husband Steve is a cartoonist ("Dog Boy" and "BugHouse") with a blog of his own called Self Employment for Bohemians. See it at http://www.bohoworker.blogspot.com .

I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

xoxoxo
Serena