Just had a wonderful week, full of sun and beach and friends and family. Really, who could ask for more.
And tonight, for new years, we are going to go dancing on Bondi Beach. A few years ago I went dancing on Bondi when Fatboy Slim dj'd and it was one of the best dance nights of my life. So the bar is high... but my mood is good. I'm looking forward to it.
Before we bow out this year, I went to Gertrude and Alice, the perfect store - used books and great coffee - with my sister and at the till, waiting for me, was a book of Rumi's poetry. I love his stuff. And here is one I've chosen to enter the new year with:
Show Me Your Face
I crave
flowers and gardens
open your lips
i crave
the taste of honey
come out from
behind the clouds
i desire a sunny face
your voice echoed
saying "leave me alone"
i wish to hear your voice
again saying "leave me alone"
I swear this city without you
is a prison
I am dying to get out
to roam in deserts and mountains
i am tired of
flimsy friends and
submissive companions
i die to walk with the brave
i am blue hearing
nagging voices and meek cries
i desire loud music
drunken parties and
wild dances
one hand holding
a cup of wine
one hand caressing your hair
then dancing in orbital circle
that is what i yearn for
i can sing better than any nightingale
but because of
this city's freaks
i seal my lips
while my heart weeps
yesterday the wisest man
holding a lit lantern
in daylight
was searching around town saying
i am tired of
all these beasts and brutes
i seek
a true human
we have all looked
for one but
no one could be found
they said
yes he replied
but my search is
for the one
who cannot be found.
So for this new year - have loud music and drunken parties and wild dances, and I wish for us all be to be the true humans that others search for, and that our search for true humans is met - and much love and laughter ensues...
Happy New Year
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
30 days till he's gone...
Presidential quote of the week:
“Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.”
Why was that man ever voted in? Can't we get rid of him sooner?
It's not even funny. He's so stupid it offends me. And even if he isn't stupid, even if it is some 'everyman' act, as certain people have assured me, well that offends me too. I want my president to be smarter than me, to speak about difficult things intelligently, to explain complex issues so that we can get to know and understand them. I never wanted the 'guy you can have a beer with' and I don't want this buffoon!
“Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.”
Why was that man ever voted in? Can't we get rid of him sooner?
It's not even funny. He's so stupid it offends me. And even if he isn't stupid, even if it is some 'everyman' act, as certain people have assured me, well that offends me too. I want my president to be smarter than me, to speak about difficult things intelligently, to explain complex issues so that we can get to know and understand them. I never wanted the 'guy you can have a beer with' and I don't want this buffoon!
Piven bows out
Just as I was saying that tv stars don't have the stamina for Broadway, Jeremy Piven has bowed out of Speed the Plow due to health reasons. He looked tired on the night we saw him, and frankly, both William Macy and Norbert Butz are bigger Broadway names, I would be interested to see how either one does it.
But it speaks to my argument, that Broadway acting is an entirely different animal from tv acting (which may be a different animal again from film acting, that I don't feel qualified to speculate upon) But I can see, because I've seen enough of them, that marquee movie names don't necessarily make good stage actors at all. They can be, of course, but it isn't mandatory.
And now Jeremy Piven agrees with me too. :)
But it speaks to my argument, that Broadway acting is an entirely different animal from tv acting (which may be a different animal again from film acting, that I don't feel qualified to speculate upon) But I can see, because I've seen enough of them, that marquee movie names don't necessarily make good stage actors at all. They can be, of course, but it isn't mandatory.
And now Jeremy Piven agrees with me too. :)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Play Reviews
I've seen 3 plays recently and discussed none of them - so here they are (what can I say, it's December, somehow we always go out far more in December...)
Speed the Plow
Written by Mamet twenty or so years ago, the text stands up reasonably well, being the standard art vs commerce in Hollywood with sub themes of eco disaster and economic/emotional bankruptcy. My problem with it is that the life changing book that is described, just sounds like gibberish. There are life changing books out there, but the one about radioactivity and decay read out loud in the play is not one of them!
One of my main observations about it, is actually about Broadway in general - there is this trend in Broadway to get famous names to sell tix. Many of those famous names don't come from Broadway, but from film and tv. The problem for is that theatrical acting and film/tv acting are actually very different skill sets. I see it time and again, the film/tv star just doesn't have the stamina for the 8 shows a week. There's no cut, let's take a break, no saving it from the close up, and also, you've done it once, perfectly, great. Now do it again, 8 times this week, and next, and for the next 6 months.
Speed the Plow is a 3 hander. Two actors were from tv - Jeremy Piven, who we love in Entourage, and Elizabeth Moss from Madmen. I know Mamet is like watching the Olympics, first you think, they have to remember all those words? in the right order? and cut across and interrupt each other with timing and act as well? But Elizabeth Moss definitely struggled with it. She was the weakest of the three. The one who walked in and chewed up all the scenery, was the one with the most Broadway experience - Raul Espraza. He made that show work, he was just amazing in his rage and greed and lust and his just wanting, wanting, wanting it. Not art, fuck art, wanting success and money and power. He was dazzling in his venality.
And Mamet would have been please with us, because afterwards we talked about life changing books and how art mattered in our lives...
2. Shrek
Well, this is a different world from Speed the Plow. No cynicism here! this is a lush children's musical, full of optimism and embracing our inner freak and how being beautiful doesn't necessarily mean being pretty. The songs are serviceable, the script had a few lovely call outs to previous Broadway shows (a hint of chorus line here, of Gypsy there) which I really appreciate and could have done with more of.
My problem is that like the Disney productions, somehow the cartoon versions are more sly and sophisticated. The musicals are much simpler, though there is no real reason for that to happen, the stories loose some of their complexity. Shrek is less imposing here (he's life size) the donkey is less scintillating. Lord Farquar, played by Christopher Seiber, steals every scene he's in, and gives it all he's got. He's a great villain! the stage lights up when he's on. But Shrek isn't menacing enough, he's softness is all there to see, and he's not physically imposing enough and so he doesn't quite work. The love scene/fart song where he and Fiona fall in love actually works very well. The kids laugh and laugh when the characters fart and burp, but you can see how the connection is formed. I actually believed the love story. But I went out humming Gypsy and talking about the costumes (amazing!) rather than the story. A good one for the kids, but that's about it...
3. And finally, we went and saw Black Watch, which is an off Broadway show, playing in St Anne's warehouse theatre in Brooklyn. I'll review that later, but it's very adult, and absolutely fantastic. All you could want from art and theatre. We go with a few soldiers from the Scottish Black Watch brigade to Iraq and see what happens... But more of that later.
Speed the Plow
Written by Mamet twenty or so years ago, the text stands up reasonably well, being the standard art vs commerce in Hollywood with sub themes of eco disaster and economic/emotional bankruptcy. My problem with it is that the life changing book that is described, just sounds like gibberish. There are life changing books out there, but the one about radioactivity and decay read out loud in the play is not one of them!
One of my main observations about it, is actually about Broadway in general - there is this trend in Broadway to get famous names to sell tix. Many of those famous names don't come from Broadway, but from film and tv. The problem for is that theatrical acting and film/tv acting are actually very different skill sets. I see it time and again, the film/tv star just doesn't have the stamina for the 8 shows a week. There's no cut, let's take a break, no saving it from the close up, and also, you've done it once, perfectly, great. Now do it again, 8 times this week, and next, and for the next 6 months.
Speed the Plow is a 3 hander. Two actors were from tv - Jeremy Piven, who we love in Entourage, and Elizabeth Moss from Madmen. I know Mamet is like watching the Olympics, first you think, they have to remember all those words? in the right order? and cut across and interrupt each other with timing and act as well? But Elizabeth Moss definitely struggled with it. She was the weakest of the three. The one who walked in and chewed up all the scenery, was the one with the most Broadway experience - Raul Espraza. He made that show work, he was just amazing in his rage and greed and lust and his just wanting, wanting, wanting it. Not art, fuck art, wanting success and money and power. He was dazzling in his venality.
And Mamet would have been please with us, because afterwards we talked about life changing books and how art mattered in our lives...
2. Shrek
Well, this is a different world from Speed the Plow. No cynicism here! this is a lush children's musical, full of optimism and embracing our inner freak and how being beautiful doesn't necessarily mean being pretty. The songs are serviceable, the script had a few lovely call outs to previous Broadway shows (a hint of chorus line here, of Gypsy there) which I really appreciate and could have done with more of.
My problem is that like the Disney productions, somehow the cartoon versions are more sly and sophisticated. The musicals are much simpler, though there is no real reason for that to happen, the stories loose some of their complexity. Shrek is less imposing here (he's life size) the donkey is less scintillating. Lord Farquar, played by Christopher Seiber, steals every scene he's in, and gives it all he's got. He's a great villain! the stage lights up when he's on. But Shrek isn't menacing enough, he's softness is all there to see, and he's not physically imposing enough and so he doesn't quite work. The love scene/fart song where he and Fiona fall in love actually works very well. The kids laugh and laugh when the characters fart and burp, but you can see how the connection is formed. I actually believed the love story. But I went out humming Gypsy and talking about the costumes (amazing!) rather than the story. A good one for the kids, but that's about it...
3. And finally, we went and saw Black Watch, which is an off Broadway show, playing in St Anne's warehouse theatre in Brooklyn. I'll review that later, but it's very adult, and absolutely fantastic. All you could want from art and theatre. We go with a few soldiers from the Scottish Black Watch brigade to Iraq and see what happens... But more of that later.
fuck you cute animals
100 things to do, and even more to write up here, but this is what I find myself doing - going to this site and laughing at the text and cute animal photos.
Back soon with the real stuff...
Back soon with the real stuff...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Speed of Life
We went and saw Speed the Plow last night, and a review of it will follow but for this moment I want to focus on the conversation we had afterwards - which is, have any of us read anything that changed our lives.
I said change your life is a big statement. I've certainly read things that affected me, but changed me, changed my thinking, made me look at the world differently from when before I read it. (we extended the discussion to any art form - film, tv, art etc... Was there anything we saw or witnessed that was not part of 'real' life, that changed our lives.)
I've been thinking about it ever since. My immediate answer, last night, of something that I had read which changed my perspective, was the writing of Donald Winnocott. Perhaps it's because I didn't know very much about therapy when I read his thoughts, but his work on the 'good enough mother' and the idea that boredom is the sea from which creativity is borne are things I think about often and in depth.
And then 3 (out of 4 of us!) agreed that Ayn Rand had had a huge impact with her books. So a secret cult of Randists were dining together! I left Ayn Rand, needing something with more compassion, but when I was 17, I really loved her ideas.
And now I'm trying to think about it some more.. what have I read or seen, or observed that changed my perspective... Of course so many things have a drip, drip, drip affect. Which is why certain tv shows are not permitted in the house or why we don't let our 11 yo play certain computer games - things that have a negative effect are easy to find.
I really loved the works of Rumi, a Sufi poet. For a while, when reading him, I could enter his world of overwhelming love. I like poetry in general. There was a time where every so often I would email everyone a poem that had really spoken to me. And anyone who reads this blog will find songs that I remember and lyrics that I keep whispering in my mind. And I often read books who have a phrase, an image, an incident, which lingers and returns to me.
We all agreed that we had found these life changing texts when in college, where thinking about life and philosophy and who and what we are was the accepted thing to do.
And then I bumped into a friend in the school yard this morning and we discussed Jewish education and I said that I hoped/planned that our son would continue with his after his 13th birthday, that some of the best and most memorable school lessons I ever had were in my Jewish studies classes in years 9 - 12.
It's amazing that that jolt of cocaine that is Speed the Plow can give rise to such contemplation. Mamet would be pleased...
I said change your life is a big statement. I've certainly read things that affected me, but changed me, changed my thinking, made me look at the world differently from when before I read it. (we extended the discussion to any art form - film, tv, art etc... Was there anything we saw or witnessed that was not part of 'real' life, that changed our lives.)
I've been thinking about it ever since. My immediate answer, last night, of something that I had read which changed my perspective, was the writing of Donald Winnocott. Perhaps it's because I didn't know very much about therapy when I read his thoughts, but his work on the 'good enough mother' and the idea that boredom is the sea from which creativity is borne are things I think about often and in depth.
And then 3 (out of 4 of us!) agreed that Ayn Rand had had a huge impact with her books. So a secret cult of Randists were dining together! I left Ayn Rand, needing something with more compassion, but when I was 17, I really loved her ideas.
And now I'm trying to think about it some more.. what have I read or seen, or observed that changed my perspective... Of course so many things have a drip, drip, drip affect. Which is why certain tv shows are not permitted in the house or why we don't let our 11 yo play certain computer games - things that have a negative effect are easy to find.
I really loved the works of Rumi, a Sufi poet. For a while, when reading him, I could enter his world of overwhelming love. I like poetry in general. There was a time where every so often I would email everyone a poem that had really spoken to me. And anyone who reads this blog will find songs that I remember and lyrics that I keep whispering in my mind. And I often read books who have a phrase, an image, an incident, which lingers and returns to me.
We all agreed that we had found these life changing texts when in college, where thinking about life and philosophy and who and what we are was the accepted thing to do.
And then I bumped into a friend in the school yard this morning and we discussed Jewish education and I said that I hoped/planned that our son would continue with his after his 13th birthday, that some of the best and most memorable school lessons I ever had were in my Jewish studies classes in years 9 - 12.
It's amazing that that jolt of cocaine that is Speed the Plow can give rise to such contemplation. Mamet would be pleased...
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Liza from the past...
this is such a sweet song, and she sells it so well... Ring 'em bells indeed..
It starts like this: about a year ago - I heard this truly terrific, absolutely true story
And it just so happens that I told a couple of friends of mine this truly terrific, absolutely true story
And it just so happens that these friends of mine are song writers
And guess what happened, right, truly terrific, absolutely true song...
It starts like this: about a year ago - I heard this truly terrific, absolutely true story
And it just so happens that I told a couple of friends of mine this truly terrific, absolutely true story
And it just so happens that these friends of mine are song writers
And guess what happened, right, truly terrific, absolutely true song...
Maybe this time...
We saw a living legend the other night.
You know how there are just some people that you love, irrationally. You hear the gossip and get a whiff of the tabloid rumors and you just don't care. That's how I feel about Liza Minnelli. It doesn't matter what goes on in her private life, what show is a shambles, next time she's out, I'll be there again, with hope in my heart and love in my eyes. I just love her. And when it works, I remember why...
We went and saw the final dress rehearsal for her new show at the Palace theatre last week. And in the beginning, she was so nervous and oddly breathless, that I was worried. My friend, sitting next to me, snarkily said, 'you know she's only 62, she moves like an 80 year old.' And I said, '62 in Liza years, is more than 82 of anyone else's years!' - she's put her body through a lot of punishment, she's had 2 hip replacements and several knee operations and frankly, she moves like it. She moves hesitantly and painfully.
I've never seen such a warm and idiosyncratic audience. There were women with their faces stretched into kabuki masks of youth, and gay men in their 60's squealing like teenage girls. The audience was more than warm, it was a bunch of theatre moms in the room, all wishing their little egg on. They wanted her to succeed so much, they clapped every time she opened her mouth and gave a standing ovation at the end of the each song.
About the 3rd song in, she sang Charles Aznavour's What makes a man a man... and I thought, so many drag queens dress up and sing as Liza, and here's Liza, pretending to get up and be one of them, a lovely note of solidarity.
After that she got more comfortable, her panting reduced, and her voice opened. Her hand motions are so familiar, those 'jazz hands' that only she could pull them off. And yet she does, because they don't feel 'actory' they feel natural and innate. This is how she moves when she sings. She did tease us about her movements, acknowledging that she is older now 'you know how I used to sit in the second act, well now I sit in the first' as she pulls out a tall directors chair. But sit is scarcely the word as she writhes and moves, creating one perfect visual moment after another. I actually liked her better on the stool, she seemed more comfortable.
And when she sang 'maybe this time' (which was not in the original production but rather had been on her album first, I didn't' know that) I got goose bumps. She just sells it. She believes it and so do you, maybe this time she'll be lucky, as if she's had no luck in her life yet.
And that is Liza's astonishing gift, that she goes on stage is totally vulnerable, all raw nerves and that astonishing voice. So much talent, so little confidence, so much experience and yet no bedrock of knowledge, just that painful, wistful optimism, that maybe this time... for the first time...
Oh, it was a magic night.
I loved the second half less - it was all about Kay Thompson, her godmother and songs that she sang in the 40's which are not known now, and when you hear them, you know why... I kind of lost it for about 20 mins, getting restless but happy people watching (it's that kind of audience, they're part of the show). But when she sang New York, New York, the chills came back. To hear that iconic song, by that living legend, in New York. It doesn't get better than that. (ps it's not me shouting in the clip, (I was a good girl and didn't film anything) but it could have been!)
By the end of the show her hair was matted, she was sweating and panting again, and you were swept up in the moment. Liza gives and gives and gives (even in a dress rehearsal!) and you just have to love her for it.
I'm so happy this show is a success - for the audience and their enjoyment, but also for Liza, who I just love...
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Most primitive sense
They say scent is one of the most primitive senses, liked straight back to the lizard part of your brain. And it's evocative, smell your grandmother's cake, and there you are, transported back in time.
For many years I wore Ma Griffe, and then, all of a sudden it disappeared from the shelves. In the age of the internet, I suddenly thought, I wonder if they make it still? And here I found it, at this wonderful site (great prices!) and I've ordered myself a new bottle, so the scent of my 20's can return...
Happy find!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Nice care...
I was reading an article in the nyt about the 6 habits of hightly respectful physicians and came across this posting in the comments afterwards (I love the comments, they are often more interesting than the articles, one of the benefits of the internet, that the article becomes the starting point and a conversation grows...)
During my residency we had a speaker from our professional society discuss some current state of the field topic. Somewhere in his talk he said something that has stuck with me. Nearly all patients don't know the difference between good care and not good care. What they do know, however, is the difference between "nice care" and "not nice care."
While being nice may not actually improve overall health outcomes it does improve the patient's experience and subsequently their view of our profession. There is zero downside to taking the time to introduce yourself, shake hands, and make them feel that their needs are going to be addressed.
And I thought, that’s so true of so many things. We often don't know the expertise required or the effort expended behind so many things, but we know when we are treated nicely or respectfully or not.
We are having a problem with one of our teachers at school, and the issue was that we didn’t know if she was teaching the curriculum correctly or not, but we did know that she wasn’t explaining herself clearly to the parents and this was giving her a host of problems that had nothing to do with her expertise.
And that’s where American customer service can excel or fail – if someone reads a screed from a computer screen with no feeling or humanity, the care might be ‘good’ but it’s definitely not ‘nice’ and you don’t feel looked after. It’s only when the other person makes a connection with you that you remember the service as good, even if they couldn’t do what you asked (at least they could explain – ‘the computer says no…’ to quote Little Britain…)
And that’s what I’ve been thinking about today…
More on Liza tomorrow (she was wonderful!)
During my residency we had a speaker from our professional society discuss some current state of the field topic. Somewhere in his talk he said something that has stuck with me. Nearly all patients don't know the difference between good care and not good care. What they do know, however, is the difference between "nice care" and "not nice care."
While being nice may not actually improve overall health outcomes it does improve the patient's experience and subsequently their view of our profession. There is zero downside to taking the time to introduce yourself, shake hands, and make them feel that their needs are going to be addressed.
And I thought, that’s so true of so many things. We often don't know the expertise required or the effort expended behind so many things, but we know when we are treated nicely or respectfully or not.
We are having a problem with one of our teachers at school, and the issue was that we didn’t know if she was teaching the curriculum correctly or not, but we did know that she wasn’t explaining herself clearly to the parents and this was giving her a host of problems that had nothing to do with her expertise.
And that’s where American customer service can excel or fail – if someone reads a screed from a computer screen with no feeling or humanity, the care might be ‘good’ but it’s definitely not ‘nice’ and you don’t feel looked after. It’s only when the other person makes a connection with you that you remember the service as good, even if they couldn’t do what you asked (at least they could explain – ‘the computer says no…’ to quote Little Britain…)
And that’s what I’ve been thinking about today…
More on Liza tomorrow (she was wonderful!)
Monday, December 1, 2008
more about coupons
see I was just ahead of the curve - check out this nyt article, basically I could have written it :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
cawing about the seagull
We went and saw Chekhov's the Seagull on Broadway the other night. I have this thing with Chekhov - somehow I only see productions of his plays with people with British accents. If I had known this was an English cast, I may have said no.
We studied The Cherry Orchard in high school (bc - before computers!) and I saw a teleplay with these upper class British accents and we all read it like it was set during an afternoon tea. And then our teacher cleverly showed us a Russian version, where we didn't understand the language, but the passion, and the energy - nothing like the stifled upper classes! I really want to see a Chekhov play done by Russian actors, I keep thinking we get the flavor wrong.
In this play Kristen Scott Thomas was just wonderful, horrible, awful and real - a really good performance (not a great performance, not like Patti LuPone in Gypsy, but a really good one) Zoe Kazan, who plays Masha, was equally good, a stand out performance. But all the rest were - to use a new word in the dictionary - meh. They were okay but I didn't believe them, a bit too declaratory and upper class British for me. I didn't like Mackenzie Crooke as Kosta in the first half at all, and while Art Malik as the doctor was good I didn't believe Peter Sarsgaard as the lover playwright Trigorin. So the men let it down for me. But I've been thinking about it, the themes and the stories Chekhov was trying to tell...
We studied The Cherry Orchard in high school (bc - before computers!) and I saw a teleplay with these upper class British accents and we all read it like it was set during an afternoon tea. And then our teacher cleverly showed us a Russian version, where we didn't understand the language, but the passion, and the energy - nothing like the stifled upper classes! I really want to see a Chekhov play done by Russian actors, I keep thinking we get the flavor wrong.
In this play Kristen Scott Thomas was just wonderful, horrible, awful and real - a really good performance (not a great performance, not like Patti LuPone in Gypsy, but a really good one) Zoe Kazan, who plays Masha, was equally good, a stand out performance. But all the rest were - to use a new word in the dictionary - meh. They were okay but I didn't believe them, a bit too declaratory and upper class British for me. I didn't like Mackenzie Crooke as Kosta in the first half at all, and while Art Malik as the doctor was good I didn't believe Peter Sarsgaard as the lover playwright Trigorin. So the men let it down for me. But I've been thinking about it, the themes and the stories Chekhov was trying to tell...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Coupons
It's the simple things in life that give me the most pleasure. I've been receiving a blizzard of emails (thank goodness no trees were killed!) giving me discounts to all sorts of things I don't want. In the meantime, I have a cart at travelsmith, judiciously filled with things I do want. But do you think I get a squeak from them? Nothing.
I continued to be strong, but they have the prettiest camel duster that I really do want, and I have nothing like it (once I went shopping with my son, who refused to allow me to buy a black skirt on the grounds that I already had one. And what could I say, he was absolutely right... so I didn't get it.) But I don't have anything like this!)
And then I had an idea - just because I haven't received a coupon doesn't mean that they don't exist. So I simply googled 'travelsmith coupons' and up came a list of hundreds of sites. The first one, retail me not, had a 15% off plus free shipping coupon and my significantly cheaper duster is now on it's way here...
See, small, simple savings = a happier me. And I'm turning so suburban I can't believe it, but at least I'm getting what I want...
I continued to be strong, but they have the prettiest camel duster that I really do want, and I have nothing like it (once I went shopping with my son, who refused to allow me to buy a black skirt on the grounds that I already had one. And what could I say, he was absolutely right... so I didn't get it.) But I don't have anything like this!)
And then I had an idea - just because I haven't received a coupon doesn't mean that they don't exist. So I simply googled 'travelsmith coupons' and up came a list of hundreds of sites. The first one, retail me not, had a 15% off plus free shipping coupon and my significantly cheaper duster is now on it's way here...
See, small, simple savings = a happier me. And I'm turning so suburban I can't believe it, but at least I'm getting what I want...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
new stories!
I have all these little anecdotes in my life and I've not been putting them anywhere, so I'm back... A few friends told me they missed me and hopefully some strangers did as well...
I've been on facebook a bit - I like it, those one liners which tell the world where you're at. I have friends all over the world and time differences often make it difficult to communicate, but with one sentence and a few photos I can see what's going on in their lives, they can see what's going on in mine, and a sense of connectivity continues.
We've been doing the middle school thing. Someone introduced me to the marvellous phrase 'option anxiety' and that is where we are at. In Manhattan (and indeed in every borough) you don't have a designated middle school that you just go to, like it or lump it. You have a choice. And in Manhattan, you have to fill out a form with 5 choices and you are guaranteed one of them. We have about 18 middle schools we could apply to. Some are easy to cut out - too far, too crowded, not good enough academically. But that leaves you with about 8 or so to visit, and to select. You are not guaranteed your first choice, but weight is definitely given to the top two. So what do you select and why...
And then all the parents and some of the kids go crazy. How can you make such an important decision (next 3 years of your child's education, the path to Harvard or drug addiction (not that they are mutually exclusive, but that's how it someone appears in parents minds - Ivy League or Destitution) the future and all it holds, balanced on that one choice!)with the little information given? You go on tours of the various schools, spouse and child in tow, with 100 other families (or so it feels) and lumber through the hallways, crowding them unimaginably, and try to see it without the hordes of adults, and would your small egg be happy, healthy and learn something here.
Luckily we are spoilt for riches - every school we've been to would work on some level, everything has pluses and minuses. Schools surprise you - one which described as dreadful, better to send your child to the wilderness than go there, turns out to be an ordered, structured environment, none of them look terrible, though often they are really hard to get to - and how does that work, in a city that runs on public transport, to have schools that are close to none?!?
In a fit of bravado I said to DH - let's chose the perfect school and we can always move, we've moved once every 3 times since we arrived in any case. Which is true, we have moved but always with in the same small area. We've lived in Tribeca the entire time we've been here. And on the way home, as I walked down from Soho, I bumped into 3 people I knew, giving me that small village feel, and I knew we would not be moving in any time soon. I really love Tribeca, for all it's changes - it's becoming so upmarket and UES to me (upper east side) and the artistic hobo feeling is definitely going away. Anything slightly old or shonky is quickly being bought out and replaced with something new and glistening. But I miss the $1 shops, and the sense that real people could live down here. Now only the rich can buy in, and it changes the feel of the place.
But I digress... I'm still in middle school search mode, and watching myself and other parents try to decode what would work best is a comedy in itself. I told one parent that I'm going to the PTA meeting of a school I'm interested in and she was both astonished (really you can do that?) and envious (oh, you have time) Well, yes, it's in the evening and I'm making time to go. I'm talking to lots of parents, for the good and the bad stuff, and trying to make as educated a choice as possible, and still it's a crap shoot - you can get into a great school and get the one dreadful teacher there. You can get into a bad school and find an inspirational teacher. So we're doing what we can with the tools we have - as is all parenting...
I've been on facebook a bit - I like it, those one liners which tell the world where you're at. I have friends all over the world and time differences often make it difficult to communicate, but with one sentence and a few photos I can see what's going on in their lives, they can see what's going on in mine, and a sense of connectivity continues.
We've been doing the middle school thing. Someone introduced me to the marvellous phrase 'option anxiety' and that is where we are at. In Manhattan (and indeed in every borough) you don't have a designated middle school that you just go to, like it or lump it. You have a choice. And in Manhattan, you have to fill out a form with 5 choices and you are guaranteed one of them. We have about 18 middle schools we could apply to. Some are easy to cut out - too far, too crowded, not good enough academically. But that leaves you with about 8 or so to visit, and to select. You are not guaranteed your first choice, but weight is definitely given to the top two. So what do you select and why...
And then all the parents and some of the kids go crazy. How can you make such an important decision (next 3 years of your child's education, the path to Harvard or drug addiction (not that they are mutually exclusive, but that's how it someone appears in parents minds - Ivy League or Destitution) the future and all it holds, balanced on that one choice!)with the little information given? You go on tours of the various schools, spouse and child in tow, with 100 other families (or so it feels) and lumber through the hallways, crowding them unimaginably, and try to see it without the hordes of adults, and would your small egg be happy, healthy and learn something here.
Luckily we are spoilt for riches - every school we've been to would work on some level, everything has pluses and minuses. Schools surprise you - one which described as dreadful, better to send your child to the wilderness than go there, turns out to be an ordered, structured environment, none of them look terrible, though often they are really hard to get to - and how does that work, in a city that runs on public transport, to have schools that are close to none?!?
In a fit of bravado I said to DH - let's chose the perfect school and we can always move, we've moved once every 3 times since we arrived in any case. Which is true, we have moved but always with in the same small area. We've lived in Tribeca the entire time we've been here. And on the way home, as I walked down from Soho, I bumped into 3 people I knew, giving me that small village feel, and I knew we would not be moving in any time soon. I really love Tribeca, for all it's changes - it's becoming so upmarket and UES to me (upper east side) and the artistic hobo feeling is definitely going away. Anything slightly old or shonky is quickly being bought out and replaced with something new and glistening. But I miss the $1 shops, and the sense that real people could live down here. Now only the rich can buy in, and it changes the feel of the place.
But I digress... I'm still in middle school search mode, and watching myself and other parents try to decode what would work best is a comedy in itself. I told one parent that I'm going to the PTA meeting of a school I'm interested in and she was both astonished (really you can do that?) and envious (oh, you have time) Well, yes, it's in the evening and I'm making time to go. I'm talking to lots of parents, for the good and the bad stuff, and trying to make as educated a choice as possible, and still it's a crap shoot - you can get into a great school and get the one dreadful teacher there. You can get into a bad school and find an inspirational teacher. So we're doing what we can with the tools we have - as is all parenting...
Monday, September 15, 2008
If a tree falls in the woods...
and is heard, but the woodsman doesn't know it, does it matter? Which is a convoluted way of saying that ever since I changed the format, I lost the capacity to see how many people read this blog, and then I lost motivation to write. Which is interesting in itself, because I had all these little stories in my head and I didn't put them down here and I missed that. And it wasn't like I was getting thousands of hits (or even hundreds!) It was about 20 or so per day, which seemed a nice comfortable sort of amount. And why couldn't I rely on the 20 returning (or a new 20 or so coming in) without google analytics telling me so, and what difference does it all make.
Well, today I've decided it makes no difference. I'm just going to write anyway, and the numbers can take care of themselves (or not)
In my absence I found facebook, which is fun, but this is fun too and I want both :) So I'm keeping both - I shall write this and return and write more too.
Well, today I've decided it makes no difference. I'm just going to write anyway, and the numbers can take care of themselves (or not)
In my absence I found facebook, which is fun, but this is fun too and I want both :) So I'm keeping both - I shall write this and return and write more too.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
What would people not know about you...
I went to a party the other night and the hostess asked us to write on a card something about yourself that others may not know, and then you had to walk around asking people if they were the person described on the card. It was a fun icebreaker. I never did find the person who wrote "I was married at 18" but it made for a good pick up line. Nor did we find the person who wrote "I had sex against the local school fence while it was being built" (presumably at midnight, because it far too busy a street to do it in daylight!) So lots of mysteries were willingly revealed.
I wrote that I had read tarot cards professionally, which one man agreed did not seem unlikely.
Well today I could write that I had testified at a senate committee hearing. I just think that sounds so grown up, and so uniquely American. Though my friends and I agreed that we could not be senators, because while most speakers were cogent and interesting, others were not, and everyone had to be listened to with equal attention, whereas we in the audience could whisper and slip each other notes when we got bored.
Gypsy
We saw Gypsy a few nights ago (a week ago?) We had seen the concert version but it's transferred to the Broadway and we had guests from London and so we went to see it again. I'm so glad we did!
Gypsy, the story of Gypsy Rose Lee and more, the story of her mother, is a classic American musical. And like all true art, it seems to change with the times, reflecting what is most important in our culture at the moment, leaving you breathless and changed.
First things first, Patti LuPone is a genius - no quibbles, she just is. So you are seeing a woman at the height of her powers in one of the last great roles for a woman of her age. And she brings every ounce of experience and knowledge she has and gives shades and nuances to a difficult, exhilarating role.
But what struck me this time, is the not the line that so resonated last time - Roses cri du coeur: I was born too early and started too late. That line was almost thrown away this time. What struck me in Rose's huge song towards the end was her hunger. Patti LuPone wore these awful barrel shaped dresses through out the show, making Rose vaguely sexless or certainly having no sensuality. But during the song Rose takes off her grey paint splotched coat and for the first time wears a form fitting dress. Now no disrespect to Ms LuPone, but she isn't one of those freakish celebrities who looks perfect, with legs to here and augmented breasts. Her body is that of a woman in her 50's, with thicker hips and thighs. But when she starts to mimic Gypsy's walk, all of a sudden this coarse, powerful sexuality comes out and grips you by the throat (or lower!) and takes over the stage. It was an amazing metamorphosis, Rose in all her frightening power. At the end of the song, Patti got a standing ovation (not at the end of the show, in the middle of the show, that's how good it was!) It was a master class in acting. You just saw Rose.
And one thing I suddenly realized about Rose (not about Patti, whose talent is overwhelming) was that she was not only a woman who was born too early and started too late. She was a woman whose desire was far greater than her talent. The theme of talent runs through the show, and one of the highlights is when the strippers assure Louise that she is perfect in having 'no talent', no talent is essential but not sufficient in being a stripper - you need no talent but you also need a gimmick, and a great, very funny song follows.
But Rose, and in a sense Gypsy Rose Lee too, with their desires without talent, are an eerie foreshadowing of reality TV today. All those people, whose desire for fame and attention far outweigh any talent they may have, all with some gimmick (the bitch, the geek, the romantic, etc, character definitions rather than skills) they are all Rose in her narcissistic glory, selling bits of their souls, or their children's sexuality, to get their moment in the sunlight, and growing weedy and scary (not coming up roses, but more like a choking vine)
And it made me think of the genius of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, the writers of Gypsy and how Art speaks to you, illuminating timeless matters. It really is one of the best things on Broadway right now.
So having seen most of the shows (or at least all of the musicals) on Broadway playing right now, my recommendations - go see Gypsy and if you have another night free, go see South Pacific (it's polar opposite in theme, but so romantic and beautiful.)
Monday, August 4, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Doing what it takes to get by...
A dear friend wanted to go to the movies with me, but she, being an adult in her 40's wanted to see some sensitive French film, and me, with the taste of 17 year old boy, only wanted to see either Dark Knight or Wanted. So we compromised and went to the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side (97 Orchard St, to be precise.) There are a variety of tour options, and we chose the 'Getting By' tour, essentially exploring how families in the 1860's and the 1930's got by with the vicissitudes of life.
It was a wonderful tour! They have restored a tenement building in Orchard St, coincidentally the oldest building the block, and done a huge amount of research about the people who lived in it, and then took us into the building and told us two family stories based on the facts they had uncovered.
Just standing in the apartment, seeing how dark it would be without electricity, feeling how hot it would be, even with an electric fan and imagining standing there in long skirts and petticoats, I swear I would faint! And they were so tiny, ( 320 sq foot each) and held families of 2 adults and however many kids there were - often 3 or 4. And with no running water, and steep dark stairs, it just illuminated, beautifully, what the real conditions were for the workers of those times.
I really enjoyed it and will definitely take any tourists who come my way to it. Quite often in England there were beautifully restored regency houses (or even Elizabethan ones) to explore, and I loved going to them; but they were the homes of the very rich. Here we saw how the rest, how more likely we ourselves would have lived, and that was a valuable perspective.
It's so obvious how much harder lives were in those days (of course we know that, but seeing that corridor without electricity, just made you want to run away.
Definitely 2 hours well spent.
It was a wonderful tour! They have restored a tenement building in Orchard St, coincidentally the oldest building the block, and done a huge amount of research about the people who lived in it, and then took us into the building and told us two family stories based on the facts they had uncovered.
Just standing in the apartment, seeing how dark it would be without electricity, feeling how hot it would be, even with an electric fan and imagining standing there in long skirts and petticoats, I swear I would faint! And they were so tiny, ( 320 sq foot each) and held families of 2 adults and however many kids there were - often 3 or 4. And with no running water, and steep dark stairs, it just illuminated, beautifully, what the real conditions were for the workers of those times.
I really enjoyed it and will definitely take any tourists who come my way to it. Quite often in England there were beautifully restored regency houses (or even Elizabethan ones) to explore, and I loved going to them; but they were the homes of the very rich. Here we saw how the rest, how more likely we ourselves would have lived, and that was a valuable perspective.
It's so obvious how much harder lives were in those days (of course we know that, but seeing that corridor without electricity, just made you want to run away.
Definitely 2 hours well spent.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Testing
Since I changed the template things have gone awry backstage... here's my attempt to fix them. This is a test...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
An Evening with George Michael
So we went and saw George Michael at Madison Square Garden last night. MSG is huge, holds about 35,000 people. At $250 a pop (maybe the gods were cheaper) but still, that's quite a haul.
We were so excited and the audience even more so. It was such a warm happy audience, cheering, knowing the songs, just happy to be there.
But it didn't go well....
Firstly, the ticket warned us that there was no warm up band, the show starts promptly at 8. Prompt was their word. And this being an audience of responsible adults (looking around I didn't see anyone under 30) the vast majority of us were there at 8, or at least by 10 past. But GM himself didn't show till 8.40. So what was that about? I mean I know that Kanye West showed up 2 hours late (4am rather than 2am?) at Bonnaroo, and his fans booed him, but we weren't the same crowd at all. If you're going to start late, have someone start the show for you and open at 9 promptly, like Annie Lennox did.
Anyways, this amazing screen backdrop - some new concoction of LCD television, that was maybe 60 feet high and 25 feet wide. Maybe more, but huge in any case. This backscreen lights up and music starts to play. Then a sliding door opens in the screen and GM walks out, great visual moment and the crowd goes crazy, I mean really ear ringing crazy. The first number is great.
But the screen is so huge, that it totally dominates the tiny man standing before it. And the screen doesn't show images of him, but rather abstract fractal art. So pretty quickly you lose him, somehow, in the shadows. Because the other problem was that the lighting was appalling. I'm quick to confess that I'm not lighting expert (though DH is) but George Michael's face was in shadow half the time and if he left the front of the stage and walked into the T shaped cat walk, there was no light on him at all.
And then, he would sing a hit, and everyone would be up and dancing, and he wouldn't build on it. He kept going for the slower numbers. And he got a stool and sat through every slower number! Frankly he started looking like he was too out of shape to stand for 2 hours. It was acutally odd. I've never seen a performer of his fame just keep stopping the show to sit down and catch his breath.
The other problem was that the sound was really muddy. I could hear the people singing around me more clearly than I could hear George Michael at times.
DH was so disappointed he suggested leaving at intermission. And why did we have an intermission? I've never been to a rock concert with one before. It just reinforced the idea that GM needed a break, he couldn't do it for 2 hours straight.
But we didn't leave and the second set was better - they found the spot light for the T catwalk and the fractals calmed down, but George himself never really filled the stage. Somehow he jsut appeared to get smaller and smaller...
It was a really disappointing show and frankly, if he puts out a new CD, I'm not sure I would rush to buy it :(
We were so excited and the audience even more so. It was such a warm happy audience, cheering, knowing the songs, just happy to be there.
But it didn't go well....
Firstly, the ticket warned us that there was no warm up band, the show starts promptly at 8. Prompt was their word. And this being an audience of responsible adults (looking around I didn't see anyone under 30) the vast majority of us were there at 8, or at least by 10 past. But GM himself didn't show till 8.40. So what was that about? I mean I know that Kanye West showed up 2 hours late (4am rather than 2am?) at Bonnaroo, and his fans booed him, but we weren't the same crowd at all. If you're going to start late, have someone start the show for you and open at 9 promptly, like Annie Lennox did.
Anyways, this amazing screen backdrop - some new concoction of LCD television, that was maybe 60 feet high and 25 feet wide. Maybe more, but huge in any case. This backscreen lights up and music starts to play. Then a sliding door opens in the screen and GM walks out, great visual moment and the crowd goes crazy, I mean really ear ringing crazy. The first number is great.
But the screen is so huge, that it totally dominates the tiny man standing before it. And the screen doesn't show images of him, but rather abstract fractal art. So pretty quickly you lose him, somehow, in the shadows. Because the other problem was that the lighting was appalling. I'm quick to confess that I'm not lighting expert (though DH is) but George Michael's face was in shadow half the time and if he left the front of the stage and walked into the T shaped cat walk, there was no light on him at all.
And then, he would sing a hit, and everyone would be up and dancing, and he wouldn't build on it. He kept going for the slower numbers. And he got a stool and sat through every slower number! Frankly he started looking like he was too out of shape to stand for 2 hours. It was acutally odd. I've never seen a performer of his fame just keep stopping the show to sit down and catch his breath.
The other problem was that the sound was really muddy. I could hear the people singing around me more clearly than I could hear George Michael at times.
DH was so disappointed he suggested leaving at intermission. And why did we have an intermission? I've never been to a rock concert with one before. It just reinforced the idea that GM needed a break, he couldn't do it for 2 hours straight.
But we didn't leave and the second set was better - they found the spot light for the T catwalk and the fractals calmed down, but George himself never really filled the stage. Somehow he jsut appeared to get smaller and smaller...
It was a really disappointing show and frankly, if he puts out a new CD, I'm not sure I would rush to buy it :(
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I'm going to change your life...
I'm going to tell you about Pandora. com - a site that designs a radio station to your music likes and dislikes (the more you play with it, the better it gets)
Think about 5 or so musicians who you love. I started with George Michael because we're going to see him tonight (very excited about that too!) and added Madonna and Justin Timberlake and now this amazing music is playing out of my computer. Have no idea how it works or why it's free (they explain both, for those who need to know those things.) I just know that there is going to be a lot more music in my life, which makes me very happy!
I'm looking forward to making a latin station and letting DS create a station for himself. This is magic! Share, enjoy, tell people about it :)
Updated to add 2 new facts - DH, just loves it, and says that it has changed his life (see, I knew I could do it!) and, sadly, it only works in the US. Several of my Australian friends tried it, but due to licensing restrictions (and DH still can't figure out how they pay for it!) Pandora can't work overseas, despite being a site on the world wide web. Still, if you are in the US, give it a go, it's amazing.
Think about 5 or so musicians who you love. I started with George Michael because we're going to see him tonight (very excited about that too!) and added Madonna and Justin Timberlake and now this amazing music is playing out of my computer. Have no idea how it works or why it's free (they explain both, for those who need to know those things.) I just know that there is going to be a lot more music in my life, which makes me very happy!
I'm looking forward to making a latin station and letting DS create a station for himself. This is magic! Share, enjoy, tell people about it :)
Updated to add 2 new facts - DH, just loves it, and says that it has changed his life (see, I knew I could do it!) and, sadly, it only works in the US. Several of my Australian friends tried it, but due to licensing restrictions (and DH still can't figure out how they pay for it!) Pandora can't work overseas, despite being a site on the world wide web. Still, if you are in the US, give it a go, it's amazing.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The girl who stopped swimming
I'm 3 for 3, which is rare for me. I don't even know where I got this book from. I think EW recommended it. (they actually have excellent film and book reviews. I trust their reviewers) But I just finished the girl who stopped swimming by Joshilyn Jackson, and really enjoyed it.
Laurel has this perfect life, sort of, with a husband who works computer code in the basement and a daughter she loves too much turning 12. And then her daughter's best friend Molly drowns one night in her pool and Molly's ghost comes to wake up Laurel and nothing is the same.
I liked the relationship between the sisters - Thalia and Laurel. I liked the depictions of Laurel and the life she was trying to build for herself. Her quilt art and her sister's fond contempt for her life. I liked David (sometimes known as Dave) and the marriage he and Laurel had made. I liked the ending, it felt believable. (within the realms of the story) I liked it all. I'd rate it an A, and a keeper.
Laurel has this perfect life, sort of, with a husband who works computer code in the basement and a daughter she loves too much turning 12. And then her daughter's best friend Molly drowns one night in her pool and Molly's ghost comes to wake up Laurel and nothing is the same.
I liked the relationship between the sisters - Thalia and Laurel. I liked the depictions of Laurel and the life she was trying to build for herself. Her quilt art and her sister's fond contempt for her life. I liked David (sometimes known as Dave) and the marriage he and Laurel had made. I liked the ending, it felt believable. (within the realms of the story) I liked it all. I'd rate it an A, and a keeper.
Bel Canto
I've had luck with books this week. First finding The Finder and now reading Bel Canto by Anne Patchett.
A friend recommended it which always makes me a bit nervous. I read so much but have such specific tastes that I invariably do not like books that others rave about. So I refused to buy it on her say so, but diplomatically (I hope!) said I would order it from the library. The library emailed me that very day to say it was ready for me! So I picked it up and ignored it for a week and today started reading it. I finished it in one day. So that says something.
It's a lyrical book about relationships and power and language and opera. Set in an unknown South American country, a Japanese industrialist is there to celebrate his birthday, lured but the chance to hear a world renown opera singer sing just for his gathering. When the terrorists come to kidnap the President, and learn that the President did not come, the story commences. It's not strong on plot, but it does have beautiful descriptions and it was a lovely world to spend time in. I particularly liked the priest and his insights, and also how the various leaders were stymied by not having a common language, which made the one translator Gen, a man who would not otherwise put himself forward, a central character. My only quibble is that the ending, after such meandering, is too abrupt. I would have liked a different epilogue - either one with more detail or with a different resolution, but I did like the book very much and have labeled it a keeper at library thing.
Which reminds me, from time to time I write about library thing which is where I write reviews of every book I read. And so do many other readers. I like it so much I paid all of $25 to become a life member. I don't use all the chat facilities, but if you like books and like to browse, it has wonderful ways to link to other libraries that share common books with yours and a chance to see their selections. So it broadens your reading base and can introduce you to like minded readers to write and rant about books that you love. I just love seeing all the covers of the books I've read neatly laid out, and as I review most of them, I can remember what I thought about them and keep up with authors that I like. It made returning my library books much easier, as I can access this virtual library and then reorder them from the real library when ever I feel the need, so my house is much less cluttered!
A friend recommended it which always makes me a bit nervous. I read so much but have such specific tastes that I invariably do not like books that others rave about. So I refused to buy it on her say so, but diplomatically (I hope!) said I would order it from the library. The library emailed me that very day to say it was ready for me! So I picked it up and ignored it for a week and today started reading it. I finished it in one day. So that says something.
It's a lyrical book about relationships and power and language and opera. Set in an unknown South American country, a Japanese industrialist is there to celebrate his birthday, lured but the chance to hear a world renown opera singer sing just for his gathering. When the terrorists come to kidnap the President, and learn that the President did not come, the story commences. It's not strong on plot, but it does have beautiful descriptions and it was a lovely world to spend time in. I particularly liked the priest and his insights, and also how the various leaders were stymied by not having a common language, which made the one translator Gen, a man who would not otherwise put himself forward, a central character. My only quibble is that the ending, after such meandering, is too abrupt. I would have liked a different epilogue - either one with more detail or with a different resolution, but I did like the book very much and have labeled it a keeper at library thing.
Which reminds me, from time to time I write about library thing which is where I write reviews of every book I read. And so do many other readers. I like it so much I paid all of $25 to become a life member. I don't use all the chat facilities, but if you like books and like to browse, it has wonderful ways to link to other libraries that share common books with yours and a chance to see their selections. So it broadens your reading base and can introduce you to like minded readers to write and rant about books that you love. I just love seeing all the covers of the books I've read neatly laid out, and as I review most of them, I can remember what I thought about them and keep up with authors that I like. It made returning my library books much easier, as I can access this virtual library and then reorder them from the real library when ever I feel the need, so my house is much less cluttered!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The noir poet of New York crime fiction
isn't that a great description? That's how publisher's weekly described Colin Harrison. I'm reading The Finder, his most recent book and the first book of his that I've come across. I will look for more, because it's excellent. The start was so hard hitting, and even the smallest interlude is given such detail and veracity, everything works here. I'm half way through and very satisfied.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Diamonds and Rust
One very good thing about New York Public Library is that it has an extensive music section (it took me years to find it, I don't know why, I just never thought of borrowing music from the library, until one day I saw someone taking out all these CD's and found myself thinking - I could do that... )
Anyways, I've been revisiting music from my childhood, and this morning caught myself humming and then realized I was humming Diamonds and Rust. I just played it again, goodness it's a sad album! All about the breakdown of relationships and loneliness and a sort of adult, profound sadness of failed relationships and ideas and feeling that the future no longer reflects you as the past did. Diamonds and Rust was said to be written about Bob Dylan. Hauntingly beautiful album.
Anyways, I've been revisiting music from my childhood, and this morning caught myself humming and then realized I was humming Diamonds and Rust. I just played it again, goodness it's a sad album! All about the breakdown of relationships and loneliness and a sort of adult, profound sadness of failed relationships and ideas and feeling that the future no longer reflects you as the past did. Diamonds and Rust was said to be written about Bob Dylan. Hauntingly beautiful album.
DIAMONDS AND RUST
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)
Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall
As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Well you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed
Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid
Monday, July 14, 2008
Template Change
Yes, the blog looks completely different.
For some reason the background had gone black (?!) and I couldn't get rid of it. I could change the text to white, but the black background was too much for me.
So I changed the template and this is a cleaner, crisper look.
We'll get used to it, no doubt.
Hope it doesn't go black too!
Okay, fiddling about, I figured out how to change the background color, but they're color options are really limited! I want a creamy white, not this arctic white, but they don't do paint samples here, it's either white or quite strong pale yellow/blue/pink/green and that's it. I would have thought they could do more colors, clearly I'm from the 144 color pencil range (in fact, I could do with 32 different shades of white, you should have seen us pick paint for the walls!)
I like this lay out though, I like how the headings are clearer and more defined. We'll see how it goes.. maybe I'll start changing the template more often! (will say that it was ridiculously easy, so big point to blogger for that!)
For some reason the background had gone black (?!) and I couldn't get rid of it. I could change the text to white, but the black background was too much for me.
So I changed the template and this is a cleaner, crisper look.
We'll get used to it, no doubt.
Hope it doesn't go black too!
Okay, fiddling about, I figured out how to change the background color, but they're color options are really limited! I want a creamy white, not this arctic white, but they don't do paint samples here, it's either white or quite strong pale yellow/blue/pink/green and that's it. I would have thought they could do more colors, clearly I'm from the 144 color pencil range (in fact, I could do with 32 different shades of white, you should have seen us pick paint for the walls!)
I like this lay out though, I like how the headings are clearer and more defined. We'll see how it goes.. maybe I'll start changing the template more often! (will say that it was ridiculously easy, so big point to blogger for that!)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Charlie Wilson's War
We just saw Charlie Wilson's War (downloaded from Amazon, amazingly high tech, of course I couldn't do it at all, DH is the king of all things technical in our household.)
I remember when it came out and there was something about the trailers that just didn't appeal to me, so we didn't go. But I was wrong, it's actually an excellent film.
Both Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are not always my favorites actors. I mean I loved Pretty Woman (well, I was younger then) but I don't often like her and if she doesn't smile, it doesn't work for me. And Tom Hanks isn't my favorite either. But here, under the direction of Mike Nicols, they both give really strong, unactory performances. Julia doesn't smile much, but is entirely believable, and Hanks affable charm breezes along nicely. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as always, is superb. I don't think I've ever seen a film where he wasn't excellent.
It's funny, talky, got great witty lines, pretty texan gals, absurdity and gallows humour - because we know what happens after the movie ends. It ends with the Russians fleeing, and then chariasmatic Charlie no longer being able to get his funds, and thus no schools or infrastructure being built, and the seeds of the Taliban and Osama are sown. The movie ends with the quote, apparently by the real Charlie Wilson: "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... And then we fucked up the endgame" Good review of the film here.
So it goes to show, that we sow the seeds of our own demise with our lack of follow through.
It was a nice glimpse into life in the '80's which feels far less politcally correct than life today. I also looked up Charlie Wilson and he pretty much appears to have been correctly portrayed in the film. A fine drinking man, who managed to get things started...
I remember when it came out and there was something about the trailers that just didn't appeal to me, so we didn't go. But I was wrong, it's actually an excellent film.
Both Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are not always my favorites actors. I mean I loved Pretty Woman (well, I was younger then) but I don't often like her and if she doesn't smile, it doesn't work for me. And Tom Hanks isn't my favorite either. But here, under the direction of Mike Nicols, they both give really strong, unactory performances. Julia doesn't smile much, but is entirely believable, and Hanks affable charm breezes along nicely. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as always, is superb. I don't think I've ever seen a film where he wasn't excellent.
It's funny, talky, got great witty lines, pretty texan gals, absurdity and gallows humour - because we know what happens after the movie ends. It ends with the Russians fleeing, and then chariasmatic Charlie no longer being able to get his funds, and thus no schools or infrastructure being built, and the seeds of the Taliban and Osama are sown. The movie ends with the quote, apparently by the real Charlie Wilson: "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... And then we fucked up the endgame" Good review of the film here.
So it goes to show, that we sow the seeds of our own demise with our lack of follow through.
It was a nice glimpse into life in the '80's which feels far less politcally correct than life today. I also looked up Charlie Wilson and he pretty much appears to have been correctly portrayed in the film. A fine drinking man, who managed to get things started...
Friday, July 11, 2008
Explicit Vows
A man I know a little, from our children's school, is performing his one man show at a tiny theater in Tribeca - Explicit Vows at the Flea Theater. So we went to see it.
The theater seats about 50, and we bumped into 2 other couples we knew, so the room felt friendly. But the play, about a man's struggle with commitment in the hour before his wedding, and his backtracking over his relationship history, didn't work for me.
It's just I never found players, as I think of them, that attractive actually. Even as a teen, if I saw a guy who was longing to play the field, he just didn't do it for me. I don't want unavailable commitment phobic people in my life, and when they bump into me, there are no hooks, as we just slide against each other, and they go away. So this journey he was outlining, while familiar and it felt real (it made me sorry for his wife, who I know and is a really decent, admirable woman) just didn't connect with me.
I could see his pain but I didn't empathize (the horror of never being able to 'unwrap' another woman again.) He portrayed himself as overly romantic, committed to Noel Coward and his view of life, and finding every real life relationship less than the glories he saw in 1940's movies, and therefore not as good.
And the ending made me slightly queasy. He turns to look at a pretty young flower girl, implying that children, the daughter he would have with this woman, was what made the sacrafice of commitment worth it. What made marriage acceptable was not the love of a good person, but the child/ren they have together. And that pressed some of my buttons - what if they couldn't have children? What about the relationship between the spouses? What about growth and friendship and sex and companionship and comfort and laughter, developing a shared history, being part of someone's life? It just felt all that was minimized.
So the play just felt like it was all too much - too autobiographical, too long, too self referential
(though I did laugh occassionally, and the audience laughed more often than me.) I will say that other people seemed to enjoy it far more, and some of the reviews were much kinder than me. But it left me feeling that sometimes people don't know how much they are revealing when they write... (which of course made me wonder about here, and what do I reveal that others see too clearly...)
The theater seats about 50, and we bumped into 2 other couples we knew, so the room felt friendly. But the play, about a man's struggle with commitment in the hour before his wedding, and his backtracking over his relationship history, didn't work for me.
It's just I never found players, as I think of them, that attractive actually. Even as a teen, if I saw a guy who was longing to play the field, he just didn't do it for me. I don't want unavailable commitment phobic people in my life, and when they bump into me, there are no hooks, as we just slide against each other, and they go away. So this journey he was outlining, while familiar and it felt real (it made me sorry for his wife, who I know and is a really decent, admirable woman) just didn't connect with me.
I could see his pain but I didn't empathize (the horror of never being able to 'unwrap' another woman again.) He portrayed himself as overly romantic, committed to Noel Coward and his view of life, and finding every real life relationship less than the glories he saw in 1940's movies, and therefore not as good.
And the ending made me slightly queasy. He turns to look at a pretty young flower girl, implying that children, the daughter he would have with this woman, was what made the sacrafice of commitment worth it. What made marriage acceptable was not the love of a good person, but the child/ren they have together. And that pressed some of my buttons - what if they couldn't have children? What about the relationship between the spouses? What about growth and friendship and sex and companionship and comfort and laughter, developing a shared history, being part of someone's life? It just felt all that was minimized.
So the play just felt like it was all too much - too autobiographical, too long, too self referential
(though I did laugh occassionally, and the audience laughed more often than me.) I will say that other people seemed to enjoy it far more, and some of the reviews were much kinder than me. But it left me feeling that sometimes people don't know how much they are revealing when they write... (which of course made me wonder about here, and what do I reveal that others see too clearly...)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Picnics and summer rains
My idea of a perfect summer night is sitting with adults I like, drinking and eating in a relaxed way, while our kids run around, active, bright, happy. This rarely happens, except, at picnics. Picnics in the park are perfect environments for everyone - the adults get to sit under trees and rest for a minute from the relentless urban environment that is Manhattan and the kids aren't told to be quiet, but allowed to run around like the puppies they are, and if water guns are added into the mix, well then they are in their own personal nirvana.
Last night we went to our local park, sat at the tables under the trees. Everyone brought some food, (okay, everyone brought too much food) so there was a banquet laid out before us. We ate, drank the wine we sneaked in, actually chatted to each other while our children had the best time.
When the park closed, far too early at 8pm, we were dawdling, reluctant to leave, and the clouded skies came to a decision and a summer deluge burst forth.
The kids were all thoroughly drenched in any case, after an evening of water warfare, and once you relax into it, walking in a torrential downpour can add to the summer fun. I love it actually, walking in the rain. By the time I got home I could not have been wetter if I had been in a shower, but for me, it was the perfect end to a really lovely evening. Picnics, warm rains, water, laughter, it's all part of summer for me...
Last night we went to our local park, sat at the tables under the trees. Everyone brought some food, (okay, everyone brought too much food) so there was a banquet laid out before us. We ate, drank the wine we sneaked in, actually chatted to each other while our children had the best time.
When the park closed, far too early at 8pm, we were dawdling, reluctant to leave, and the clouded skies came to a decision and a summer deluge burst forth.
The kids were all thoroughly drenched in any case, after an evening of water warfare, and once you relax into it, walking in a torrential downpour can add to the summer fun. I love it actually, walking in the rain. By the time I got home I could not have been wetter if I had been in a shower, but for me, it was the perfect end to a really lovely evening. Picnics, warm rains, water, laughter, it's all part of summer for me...
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Stay up and Read all Night
This is an arbitrary collection of authors who I love. I read a lot, mostly sci-fi/fantasy, mystery and romance. Here are some books/authors who have kept me up, late into the night...
1. George RR Martin – my only complaint about his Fire and Ice Series is that it makes it hard to pick up another book after being in his dense and remarkable world. Don’t read it when you’re busy, because you won’t want to stop. It starts with A Game of Thrones and you have to read in order, but we are up to Book 4 Now – A Feast of Crows and the feast is certainly continuing. The characters will live in your head for a long time afterwards.
2. John Sandford – The Prey series. This series starts with Rules of Prey and is uniformly excellent. I think he’s up to 16 now. I’ve reread them many times, which is harder to do once you know the mystery, but these books are so well written, the characters and dialogue so true, that rereading them is a pleasure!
3. Laurell K Hamilton - I'm not going to list all of her books, but will say that unlike many of her fans, I prefer her later books, when Anita drops her prissiness and enters into this fantasy world where 5 gorgeous guys can lust after you and you can satisfy them all and keep them more or less faithful. I don't understand who could object to that! ;)
4. The Liaden World series. I hadn’t known the term ‘Space Opera’ until I came across Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I think it’s too slight a term for the action and adventure and sheer fun I have with their books. The books are delightful, with a touch of romance, a new world order and a war to win. It was written out of chronological order, but the series starts with Local Custom.
5. Jennifer Crusie – She makes me laugh out loud, puts me in a guaranteed good mood, I just love her romances. She’s smart and funny and writes like your best friend talks. I’ve enjoyed all her books but Welcome to Temptation is a particular favorite to reread. If you haven’t read her, you’ve missed a treat.
7. Frank Herbert - I can remember the impact Dune first had on me, I could no longer bear to see hoses trickling water onto the sidewalk, because I was in the desert universe. If you think it’s dated, think again; it’s a timeless work of genius. I have to confess that I lost interest in the series after a while, but the first book… please read the first book!
8. Julian May – the Pliocene Era Series. Please ignore the terrible art work on the
I’ve loved creating this list, it’s been like sharing a basket of particularly fine goodies. I hope you enjoy them too…
Boeing, Boeing
I love a good farce, it's something you have to see live, films just don't do it. Live farce is like watching trapeze artists without a net. One missed connection, one door banging a second too late, and it all falls flat. IMHO, the British do farce the best, at least of the ones I've seen.
Boeing Boeing is a farce currently playing at the Long Acre on Broadway. I walked in incredibly hot and cranky (it's so humid out, that you literally melt as you walk down the street) And I winced at the opening scene - set in the 60's, a too old American man (Bradley Whitford) tells his friend of his ideal life - with 3 fiances and no intention of getting married. I thought, he's in his 50's this role should go to a man in his mid 30's. And how mean of him, who wants to see this, him exploiting the hearts of these 3 air line hostesses... and while I heard laughs, I didn't really join in.
But as the ridiculousness grew and the marvelous Mark Rylance (who was in the original London cast, and won a Tony for this role on Broadway) and Mary McCormack got more time, I started to smile. By the second act, I could no longer resist and was laughing out loud with the rest of the audience. It was so silly, so light, so perfect - like a souffle, airy and delicious and delicate. And just plain silly and funny. Physical comedy, word play, crazy over acting (Mary McCormack was just perfect as the hysterical German air hostess, obsessively in love) and beautiful underacting (Mark Rylance makes the word Wisconsin funny, all by itself... though come to think of it, Wisconsin is a pretty funny word.) Gina Gershon was very sexy and Kathryn Hahn was frankly frightening as the voracious american hostess. The cast was rounded off by Christine Baranski playing the overworked, existential French maid, with a dreadful accent but great attitidue!
So for a very funny, very silly night out, go see Boeing Boeing (click for a good you tube clip) and have yourself a giggle.
Boeing Boeing is a farce currently playing at the Long Acre on Broadway. I walked in incredibly hot and cranky (it's so humid out, that you literally melt as you walk down the street) And I winced at the opening scene - set in the 60's, a too old American man (Bradley Whitford) tells his friend of his ideal life - with 3 fiances and no intention of getting married. I thought, he's in his 50's this role should go to a man in his mid 30's. And how mean of him, who wants to see this, him exploiting the hearts of these 3 air line hostesses... and while I heard laughs, I didn't really join in.
But as the ridiculousness grew and the marvelous Mark Rylance (who was in the original London cast, and won a Tony for this role on Broadway) and Mary McCormack got more time, I started to smile. By the second act, I could no longer resist and was laughing out loud with the rest of the audience. It was so silly, so light, so perfect - like a souffle, airy and delicious and delicate. And just plain silly and funny. Physical comedy, word play, crazy over acting (Mary McCormack was just perfect as the hysterical German air hostess, obsessively in love) and beautiful underacting (Mark Rylance makes the word Wisconsin funny, all by itself... though come to think of it, Wisconsin is a pretty funny word.) Gina Gershon was very sexy and Kathryn Hahn was frankly frightening as the voracious american hostess. The cast was rounded off by Christine Baranski playing the overworked, existential French maid, with a dreadful accent but great attitidue!
So for a very funny, very silly night out, go see Boeing Boeing (click for a good you tube clip) and have yourself a giggle.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
one step forward...
I'm walking better, and today my foot actually felt less numb, so I got ambitious. I tried on a one inch heel pair of sandals, that were always really comfortable and easy to wear. I took one step and promptly fell over. So it's back to the incredibly sensible sandals that I bought off footsmart.
Well, at least the numbness is going down. Let's give it another week and then see...
Well, at least the numbness is going down. Let's give it another week and then see...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
It's the simple things in life that make you happy...
... Whole foods is opening practically next door to us (okay, one block down and one across) but very close - and they are finally opening, next week! After months of teasing us, July 9th has been announced as the day they open, and every Tribeca resident I know is overjoyed. As Racked so aptly put it, 'tremble before them, Food Emporium.'
Other food joys - Le Pain Quotidien, aka daily bread, has opened up, also one block down and one across - and I see from their website they have 2 in Sydney - so you can check it out there too! Anyways, delicious salads and brunchy things, we definitely needed one in the neighborhood.
So good food tidings in Tribeca.
Though still sad that our local, much cheaper patisserie, Ceci-Cela closed, due to rent. Tribeca is becoming way too expensive for any normal shop, only mega glossly expensive stores can afford it here now, or chains :(
Other food joys - Le Pain Quotidien, aka daily bread, has opened up, also one block down and one across - and I see from their website they have 2 in Sydney - so you can check it out there too! Anyways, delicious salads and brunchy things, we definitely needed one in the neighborhood.
So good food tidings in Tribeca.
Though still sad that our local, much cheaper patisserie, Ceci-Cela closed, due to rent. Tribeca is becoming way too expensive for any normal shop, only mega glossly expensive stores can afford it here now, or chains :(
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
yeast rising...
So I'm not a bad cook, and I can follow a recipe but there are things I've never done.
One of them is make bread. I don't know why. I was afraid of yeast. It sounds so mysterious and it needs so much skill.
My 10yo, who never reads anything voluntarily, except for cook books, wants to be able to cook, unsupervised. My compromise is that he can make dinner once a week, but I have to be in the kitchen, even if all I am doing is reading a (non-cook) book.
What does he do for his first effort? Make pizza. Which sounds like a good idea, after all he eats pizza, but all of sudden, there it is... yeast.
I've never made a yeast recipe in my life. How do I know if he is doing it wrong? How can I assist him when I haven't been on the journey myself?
What I do know about cooking, is that having the right tools help immeasurably. Our very detailed (and quite wonderful) cookbook - The New Best Recipe - recommends a baking stone. I'd never even heard of one before, and am suddenly sure that the recipe won't work without it. Thank goodness for Bed, Bath and Beyond in the next block from home, because for $14.99 I get all the pizza making equipment you could want - the stone, the rack, the pizza peel (another thing I'd never heard of - basically a large wooden spatula that eases the pizza onto the very hot stone) My son is thrilled when he comes home and sees it.
Then we squabble over the cookbook.
"Can I read it?"
"No, mummy, I'm looking at it!"
Finally, I get to read it and find out all sorts of things - it needs two hours to rise and then 30 minutes for a second rise (who knew about a second rise? Not me, that's for sure)
The first pizza is made while I'm on the phone, and of course, he forgets something - to put corn meal on the pizza peel. The pizza sticks to the peel and won't slide off into the very hot oven. I kind of scrape it off, and it rolls over, spilling half the topping. DS is distraught.
Now for the life lessons of cooking - the first one, or even the several early versions - they don't always work. You don't make an immaculate cake the very first time. These are skills that develop. He listens to me, distrustingly. It's okay to make mistakes, and learn. No one gets it right all the time. Don't give up. (You don't have to play sports to get these life lessons, the kitchen will do it just fine)
The second one, is better and the third one looks professional as it glides off the peel and into the swelteringly hot oven, and then glides back onto the spatula and onto a plate.
And you know something... following the instructions, you mix flour, water, salt and yeast and you get... pretty delicious bread! The pizzas, even the misshapen first one, taste delicious. We all eat happily.
DS is already planning his next dinner.
One of them is make bread. I don't know why. I was afraid of yeast. It sounds so mysterious and it needs so much skill.
My 10yo, who never reads anything voluntarily, except for cook books, wants to be able to cook, unsupervised. My compromise is that he can make dinner once a week, but I have to be in the kitchen, even if all I am doing is reading a (non-cook) book.
What does he do for his first effort? Make pizza. Which sounds like a good idea, after all he eats pizza, but all of sudden, there it is... yeast.
I've never made a yeast recipe in my life. How do I know if he is doing it wrong? How can I assist him when I haven't been on the journey myself?
What I do know about cooking, is that having the right tools help immeasurably. Our very detailed (and quite wonderful) cookbook - The New Best Recipe - recommends a baking stone. I'd never even heard of one before, and am suddenly sure that the recipe won't work without it. Thank goodness for Bed, Bath and Beyond in the next block from home, because for $14.99 I get all the pizza making equipment you could want - the stone, the rack, the pizza peel (another thing I'd never heard of - basically a large wooden spatula that eases the pizza onto the very hot stone) My son is thrilled when he comes home and sees it.
Then we squabble over the cookbook.
"Can I read it?"
"No, mummy, I'm looking at it!"
Finally, I get to read it and find out all sorts of things - it needs two hours to rise and then 30 minutes for a second rise (who knew about a second rise? Not me, that's for sure)
The first pizza is made while I'm on the phone, and of course, he forgets something - to put corn meal on the pizza peel. The pizza sticks to the peel and won't slide off into the very hot oven. I kind of scrape it off, and it rolls over, spilling half the topping. DS is distraught.
Now for the life lessons of cooking - the first one, or even the several early versions - they don't always work. You don't make an immaculate cake the very first time. These are skills that develop. He listens to me, distrustingly. It's okay to make mistakes, and learn. No one gets it right all the time. Don't give up. (You don't have to play sports to get these life lessons, the kitchen will do it just fine)
The second one, is better and the third one looks professional as it glides off the peel and into the swelteringly hot oven, and then glides back onto the spatula and onto a plate.
And you know something... following the instructions, you mix flour, water, salt and yeast and you get... pretty delicious bread! The pizzas, even the misshapen first one, taste delicious. We all eat happily.
DS is already planning his next dinner.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wanting...
We wanted to go and see the film Wanted this weekend - but not enough to actually leave the house at 9.30pm and get to the cinema.
My 10 yo son really wanted to go and see Wall-E this w/e and booked tix on Fandango even before I woke up (7am, mummy, I found a session at 1.40, let's go...)
I actually loved Wall-E. I thought it was beautiful, and sad. The depiction of Earth and the future of the humans, who become these gormless baby like things, was horrible to me. I so don't want that future! But the romance, especially the two so human machines (more human than the humans by that stage) floating/dancing in space was just beautiful. They did something exceptional there.
In the end, instead of going to Wanted, I played around on the internet and found a few more friends for my facebook page - though I have real issues with the word 'friend'. Some of these friends are acquaintances, and I don't get it when people I don't know at all keep inviting me to be their 'friend'. I don't want friends I don't know. Friends to me implies a level of intimacy, that I do want and respect, and won't throw away this precious word on people I've meet once at a conference, or people I don't know at all. And yet, when I see that people have 121 'friends' and I have barely 40, I feel less popular, in that teenage angst way. I tease my sister that she has 'false friends' because she's up to 167 or thereabouts. And yet, most days when I walk down the street I know faces to say hello to, and that anchors me in this place/street like nothing else. DH laughs that walking with me is like walking down Sesame St, where I keep seeing people I know. That's what volunteering at a local school does for you, it satisfies the want/need to be recognized, to be known.
My 10 yo son really wanted to go and see Wall-E this w/e and booked tix on Fandango even before I woke up (7am, mummy, I found a session at 1.40, let's go...)
I actually loved Wall-E. I thought it was beautiful, and sad. The depiction of Earth and the future of the humans, who become these gormless baby like things, was horrible to me. I so don't want that future! But the romance, especially the two so human machines (more human than the humans by that stage) floating/dancing in space was just beautiful. They did something exceptional there.
In the end, instead of going to Wanted, I played around on the internet and found a few more friends for my facebook page - though I have real issues with the word 'friend'. Some of these friends are acquaintances, and I don't get it when people I don't know at all keep inviting me to be their 'friend'. I don't want friends I don't know. Friends to me implies a level of intimacy, that I do want and respect, and won't throw away this precious word on people I've meet once at a conference, or people I don't know at all. And yet, when I see that people have 121 'friends' and I have barely 40, I feel less popular, in that teenage angst way. I tease my sister that she has 'false friends' because she's up to 167 or thereabouts. And yet, most days when I walk down the street I know faces to say hello to, and that anchors me in this place/street like nothing else. DH laughs that walking with me is like walking down Sesame St, where I keep seeing people I know. That's what volunteering at a local school does for you, it satisfies the want/need to be recognized, to be known.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
An Enchanted Evening
We go to the theater quite a bit, but sometimes, sometimes it's just magic.
We went and saw the current production of South Pacific at the Lincoln Center this week.
Oh my...
It's so lushly tropical and beautifully romantic and just a perfect night at the theater. All three of us cried at the end, including DH.
I mean, who doesn't want a man to sing to you - Some Enchanted Evening. It's such a romantic concept. There isn't a dud song in the entire score. Every time a new song starts you think to yourself, I know that song! and they are funny, witty, clever, beautiful songs, with the most amazing score. The music is so lush, and carries the story so beautifully.
We just had one of those magic nights, where everything is perfect (even the lighting was amazing, the sky - it looked like a real tropical sky. They managed to convey the sense of size and grandeur in a tropical night, with paint and light...)
Kelli O'Hara was just luminous as the sweet girl from Little Rock who has to grow up in more ways than she expected. Paulo Szot was the 44 year old plantation owner who falls in love with her. His voice was like chocolate. Really, so seductive and beautiful. The Lincoln Center has a really good site, with sound recordings, so you can have a listen to some of the magic. It won 7 Tonys and I would have given it more.
Fight to get a ticket, it's definitely worth it!
We went and saw the current production of South Pacific at the Lincoln Center this week.
Oh my...
It's so lushly tropical and beautifully romantic and just a perfect night at the theater. All three of us cried at the end, including DH.
I mean, who doesn't want a man to sing to you - Some Enchanted Evening. It's such a romantic concept. There isn't a dud song in the entire score. Every time a new song starts you think to yourself, I know that song! and they are funny, witty, clever, beautiful songs, with the most amazing score. The music is so lush, and carries the story so beautifully.
We just had one of those magic nights, where everything is perfect (even the lighting was amazing, the sky - it looked like a real tropical sky. They managed to convey the sense of size and grandeur in a tropical night, with paint and light...)
Kelli O'Hara was just luminous as the sweet girl from Little Rock who has to grow up in more ways than she expected. Paulo Szot was the 44 year old plantation owner who falls in love with her. His voice was like chocolate. Really, so seductive and beautiful. The Lincoln Center has a really good site, with sound recordings, so you can have a listen to some of the magic. It won 7 Tonys and I would have given it more.
Fight to get a ticket, it's definitely worth it!
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Journey is the Destination
Oh what a week!
So I had to ask myself all sorts of questions this week, ones I didn't know the answers to -
I lost the election by one vote. But actually, it was a tie (168 votes and a perfect tie, how is that even possible?!) and then, one vote was discounted, correctly, and so technically I then lost. But the vote counters then worried that other votes may have also been filled out incorrectly, and discovered that due process had not been carried out.
And the question arose - was it a valid election. And I suppose the clear answer was - no, it was not. But my question was, did it matter? I lost by a vote, should I/could I be gracious and just bow out? I said to myself, yes, of course I should, I lost.
But lots of parents, especially those who are lawyers, were really upset. The process matters. There was talk about Florida and Bush and Gore (and I kept saying, guys, it's just the PTA!) but then I began to think, the journey is the destination, and what is the journey here. If I removed myself from the picture, if this was another school I was reading about, what would I think? I so didn't want to be the crazy PTA lady who doesn't win and then demands a new vote. I mean, who would want to be her?!
But on the other hand, if we get to a good end by bad means, does that matter? and I thought to myself, yes, actually, it does matter. The destination is not all, how we get to it makes a difference. And people were genuinely upset that the process had not been done correctly.
Democracy is precious, people are dying in Iraq over that. And votes are precious things, if they are not counted or filled correctly, then doubt sets in. Look at what Mugabe is doing, such a corruption, it hurts to hear about it. And I guess all the well educated and well informed parents were reacting against all this news, and were saying 'not on my watch' - where they can control events, then elections will be carried out clearly and cleanly, with due process, and as transparently as possible.
In the end, it all comes down to the benefit and education of the children, which is what our PTA mission is - and what does it teach the children if we allow fudged elections to go through? So I sighed and bit a very large bullet, and had more meetings than I can count, and finally, we declared the election void. A new one will take place in September.
The only way I could square it was if I removed myself from the process. I thought, if I don't run in the next election, what would I want to happen, and then I thought what are we teaching the kids. This is the most basic of civics lessons, but it's also the most basic lesson all all - humans make errors, now what do you do? Real, adult grown ups acknowledge the error, apologize, and then make it right. And that's a very good lesson for the kids to learn...
So I had to ask myself all sorts of questions this week, ones I didn't know the answers to -
I lost the election by one vote. But actually, it was a tie (168 votes and a perfect tie, how is that even possible?!) and then, one vote was discounted, correctly, and so technically I then lost. But the vote counters then worried that other votes may have also been filled out incorrectly, and discovered that due process had not been carried out.
And the question arose - was it a valid election. And I suppose the clear answer was - no, it was not. But my question was, did it matter? I lost by a vote, should I/could I be gracious and just bow out? I said to myself, yes, of course I should, I lost.
But lots of parents, especially those who are lawyers, were really upset. The process matters. There was talk about Florida and Bush and Gore (and I kept saying, guys, it's just the PTA!) but then I began to think, the journey is the destination, and what is the journey here. If I removed myself from the picture, if this was another school I was reading about, what would I think? I so didn't want to be the crazy PTA lady who doesn't win and then demands a new vote. I mean, who would want to be her?!
But on the other hand, if we get to a good end by bad means, does that matter? and I thought to myself, yes, actually, it does matter. The destination is not all, how we get to it makes a difference. And people were genuinely upset that the process had not been done correctly.
Democracy is precious, people are dying in Iraq over that. And votes are precious things, if they are not counted or filled correctly, then doubt sets in. Look at what Mugabe is doing, such a corruption, it hurts to hear about it. And I guess all the well educated and well informed parents were reacting against all this news, and were saying 'not on my watch' - where they can control events, then elections will be carried out clearly and cleanly, with due process, and as transparently as possible.
In the end, it all comes down to the benefit and education of the children, which is what our PTA mission is - and what does it teach the children if we allow fudged elections to go through? So I sighed and bit a very large bullet, and had more meetings than I can count, and finally, we declared the election void. A new one will take place in September.
The only way I could square it was if I removed myself from the process. I thought, if I don't run in the next election, what would I want to happen, and then I thought what are we teaching the kids. This is the most basic of civics lessons, but it's also the most basic lesson all all - humans make errors, now what do you do? Real, adult grown ups acknowledge the error, apologize, and then make it right. And that's a very good lesson for the kids to learn...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Choice is Good
I was the president of our public school PTA this year, and did a pretty good job, if I say so myself. Now we have the elections, and I can run again and am then termed out. So I put my name down and all is well, and then 2 days before the election another parent, who had been president previously, comes and tells me he is going to run against me.
And I have to confess my first reaction was 'against me? poor me!' and I blanched. But as I got used to the idea, I thought, you know something, choice is good. It is, frankly, a hell of a lot of work, if I don't get chosen, I don't have to do the work. But if I do get chosen, well then I do the work, which I enjoy, and both parties (me and the parent body) feel that a choice was made. So either way I win.
There was a part of me that instinctively felt I should back down - oh, if you really want it, please go ahead... - and that's why I liked Hillary Clinton. She didn't back down. She fought relentlessly. And even if I didn't like the way she fought, I really admired the fact that she didn't shy away and go all coy and female, but fought on till there was nothing left to fight for.
I would have voted for her, and I would vote for her again, should she chose to run in the future. I just really liked the role model of just getting up there and doing it, no matter what. I could not have done that myself, and liked to see a woman show us how to do it, even if it makes us cringe a bit, but that wanting and fighting for something so openly and in the face of quite a bit of humiliation - that just made her very human to me.
And I have to confess my first reaction was 'against me? poor me!' and I blanched. But as I got used to the idea, I thought, you know something, choice is good. It is, frankly, a hell of a lot of work, if I don't get chosen, I don't have to do the work. But if I do get chosen, well then I do the work, which I enjoy, and both parties (me and the parent body) feel that a choice was made. So either way I win.
There was a part of me that instinctively felt I should back down - oh, if you really want it, please go ahead... - and that's why I liked Hillary Clinton. She didn't back down. She fought relentlessly. And even if I didn't like the way she fought, I really admired the fact that she didn't shy away and go all coy and female, but fought on till there was nothing left to fight for.
I would have voted for her, and I would vote for her again, should she chose to run in the future. I just really liked the role model of just getting up there and doing it, no matter what. I could not have done that myself, and liked to see a woman show us how to do it, even if it makes us cringe a bit, but that wanting and fighting for something so openly and in the face of quite a bit of humiliation - that just made her very human to me.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Perking up with Percocet
So, the pain is still here. Isn't that unbelievable? It's been months, literally.
But finally I can think again. They gave me oxycotin and all it did was make me floaty, but the pain still dominated and I still couldn't move. So I didn't take it. Finally I went to the doctor and said, is there another class of painkillers to give me and they gave me percocet. DH's new joke - I'm perking up on Percocet. Actually, it's all about pain management, what can they give you to make you get through the day like a semi-normal human being.
So now, I can sit (for short periods) walk (for short periods) and think (okay, you know the drill...) but it feels like a liberation after the months of literally stumbling through the days in a pain filled haze.
On to other matters... one thing about pain is that it makes you boring (or at least it made me boring) I couldn't focus on anything else. I couldn't even read. I could barely lie and listen to music. I couldn't surf the net, I could barely hold a conversation. So I'm glad to start interacting with the world again, because rattling around in my own foggy head was not fun.
My current obsession? Battlestar Galactica, of course. How I've loved that show. I was so out of it, I couldn't watch it and just let the episodes pile up in TIVO. And then, last weekend, I watched all 9 of them at once, leaving me open for the cliffhanger this w/e. Perfect timing.
This series was uneven, there were episodes that frankly felt like filler, where not enough was happening. But the ending, for this ending I'll forgive them anything...
They just push the envelope again and again, showing us our humanity, and the glories and dangers of it. I'm just so grateful to have such excellent and provocative (in the best sense of the word) television. It makes me want all TV to be that good!
But finally I can think again. They gave me oxycotin and all it did was make me floaty, but the pain still dominated and I still couldn't move. So I didn't take it. Finally I went to the doctor and said, is there another class of painkillers to give me and they gave me percocet. DH's new joke - I'm perking up on Percocet. Actually, it's all about pain management, what can they give you to make you get through the day like a semi-normal human being.
So now, I can sit (for short periods) walk (for short periods) and think (okay, you know the drill...) but it feels like a liberation after the months of literally stumbling through the days in a pain filled haze.
On to other matters... one thing about pain is that it makes you boring (or at least it made me boring) I couldn't focus on anything else. I couldn't even read. I could barely lie and listen to music. I couldn't surf the net, I could barely hold a conversation. So I'm glad to start interacting with the world again, because rattling around in my own foggy head was not fun.
My current obsession? Battlestar Galactica, of course. How I've loved that show. I was so out of it, I couldn't watch it and just let the episodes pile up in TIVO. And then, last weekend, I watched all 9 of them at once, leaving me open for the cliffhanger this w/e. Perfect timing.
This series was uneven, there were episodes that frankly felt like filler, where not enough was happening. But the ending, for this ending I'll forgive them anything...
They just push the envelope again and again, showing us our humanity, and the glories and dangers of it. I'm just so grateful to have such excellent and provocative (in the best sense of the word) television. It makes me want all TV to be that good!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Pain dulls the quirky edge
I realize I haven't written for over month. Have I been gallivanting in Europe, having an affair or won the lottery? Or have I had any quirky edge dulled by pain and done very little. Sadly, it's the latter.
I saw that I wrote on April 6th that I had back trouble so that makes it more than 6 weeks now, that I've had pain daily. You know what I don't like about pain - not that it's painful, which is a given, but that it impact on me is to turn me into someone I don't like. I'm snappy, with low patience, low interest, not moving much physically or spiritually.
So for the first few weeks I thought it would pass, and for the next few weeks I thought this will never pass this is my life from now on, and in the past week or so I've become much more proactive - I changed meds, went to a physical therapist, and then went to a chiropractor that my friend recommended.
The meds are definitely essential, and the physical therapist was okay but no real difference. After one session with the chiropractor I feel hopeful that this is not going to be the rest of my life... I'm having another session tomrrow and hopefully more interesting blogs (and a quirkier life!) will follow....
(I did find meditation helpful, and in my proactive phase have started listening to Joan Borysenko regularly again. She's really very good.)
I saw that I wrote on April 6th that I had back trouble so that makes it more than 6 weeks now, that I've had pain daily. You know what I don't like about pain - not that it's painful, which is a given, but that it impact on me is to turn me into someone I don't like. I'm snappy, with low patience, low interest, not moving much physically or spiritually.
So for the first few weeks I thought it would pass, and for the next few weeks I thought this will never pass this is my life from now on, and in the past week or so I've become much more proactive - I changed meds, went to a physical therapist, and then went to a chiropractor that my friend recommended.
The meds are definitely essential, and the physical therapist was okay but no real difference. After one session with the chiropractor I feel hopeful that this is not going to be the rest of my life... I'm having another session tomrrow and hopefully more interesting blogs (and a quirkier life!) will follow....
(I did find meditation helpful, and in my proactive phase have started listening to Joan Borysenko regularly again. She's really very good.)
Friday, April 11, 2008
Clever words, all in a row...
This is such a clever writing, I'm keeping it here for perpetuity.
Americans forget their sins. Russians forget their weaknesses. The French forget that they’ve forgotten God. And, in the Middle East, they forget everything but their resentments.
From the New York Times, by David Brooks.
Americans forget their sins. Russians forget their weaknesses. The French forget that they’ve forgotten God. And, in the Middle East, they forget everything but their resentments.
From the New York Times, by David Brooks.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Spamalot
I get a lot of emails from people I don't know, so I have to check my spam folder regularly, and one out of every 100 spams is actually a real email.
But it means I read through the headings of all that spam, and it got me thinking. I so don't care about penis size, but all that hysterical blathering (it's too small, too thin, increase your manhood, come 10 times in one day - and frankly, who wants that! - and my favorite - you have to thicken your love root.) makes me wonder who does, and are there things I care about, only because society is blathering at me so strongly, that it's hard to shut out the message.
I don't care about penis circumference, but I do care about weight, and every so often the weight ones will grab my eye, and then I have to forcibly look away. If anyone was at all vulnerable to any of these spam issues, I can see how this constant hysterical repetition could wear them down. It so clear to me that it's rubbish, because it's talking about something I don't care about. But if I did care... it's easy to see how you could be sucked in.
I do wish there was something we could do to lessen it, it just seems like a negative energy that we let loose in the world.
But it means I read through the headings of all that spam, and it got me thinking. I so don't care about penis size, but all that hysterical blathering (it's too small, too thin, increase your manhood, come 10 times in one day - and frankly, who wants that! - and my favorite - you have to thicken your love root.) makes me wonder who does, and are there things I care about, only because society is blathering at me so strongly, that it's hard to shut out the message.
I don't care about penis circumference, but I do care about weight, and every so often the weight ones will grab my eye, and then I have to forcibly look away. If anyone was at all vulnerable to any of these spam issues, I can see how this constant hysterical repetition could wear them down. It so clear to me that it's rubbish, because it's talking about something I don't care about. But if I did care... it's easy to see how you could be sucked in.
I do wish there was something we could do to lessen it, it just seems like a negative energy that we let loose in the world.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Happiness is...
a newly painted bathroom (the paint was peeling and chipping because I love long hot showers)
and a clean hampster suite (those 4 babies made it stink!)
But now all is clean and ordered and I'm happy again. (though the back still aches... but that too shall pass)
and a clean hampster suite (those 4 babies made it stink!)
But now all is clean and ordered and I'm happy again. (though the back still aches... but that too shall pass)
This one made me laugh...
After being married for 40 years, a man took a careful look at his wife one day and said:
‘ Honey, 40 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10 inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 22 year old gal. Now I have a $500,000.00 home, a $45,000.00 car, nice big bed and a plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 62-year old woman – it seems to me that you’re not holding up your side of things.'
Now the wife was a very reasonable woman, so she told her husband to go out and find a hot 22 year old gal, and she would make sure that he would once again be living in a cheap apartment , driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10 inch b/w TV..
Aren’t older women great? They really know how to solve your midlife crises.
‘ Honey, 40 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10 inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 22 year old gal. Now I have a $500,000.00 home, a $45,000.00 car, nice big bed and a plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 62-year old woman – it seems to me that you’re not holding up your side of things.'
Now the wife was a very reasonable woman, so she told her husband to go out and find a hot 22 year old gal, and she would make sure that he would once again be living in a cheap apartment , driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10 inch b/w TV..
Aren’t older women great? They really know how to solve your midlife crises.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Nothing Sexy about it...
This past week has not been a good one :(
I've had a terrible back ache with shooting pains down one leg, so bad that every time I move at night, I wake myself up. A friend diagnosed sciatica - even the word is ugly! - and I googled it and she's right. I've been to the doctor and got some pills but it's still not sunshiny in my world right now. More like limping and wincing along
I've had a terrible back ache with shooting pains down one leg, so bad that every time I move at night, I wake myself up. A friend diagnosed sciatica - even the word is ugly! - and I googled it and she's right. I've been to the doctor and got some pills but it's still not sunshiny in my world right now. More like limping and wincing along
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Interesting article in the Atlantic Magazine about marriage and settling, from a woman who had chosen to have a child alone. I laughed and winced... This was a line I liked -
Marriage isn’t a passion-fest; it’s more like a partnership formed to run a very small, mundane, and often boring nonprofit business. And I mean this in a good way...
Hamster Love
You know if someone would have offered me a pregnant hamster I would have absolutely refused to take her and given you a 'what, are you crazy?!' look. But having been given one, seeing Amelia and her babies is just a pure delight.
The babies are huge now, no longer the tiny pink worms, barely bigger than the tip of my finger. They are now furry and scampering and lots of fun. Occasionally Amelia climbs to the top of the habitat, where they can't reach yet, and hides from them. (reminding me of the mothers who hide in the bathroom, where the toddlers can't get to them.) But they still sleep all on top of each other, cozy. We've named 2 of them, Hazelnut because s/he is all one colour and Ruby, because s/he has red eyes, but the other 2 stripy ones are harder to tell apart. We don't know what sex they are yet, but we have stroked them, and they are so very very soft, it's amazing.
I'm such a herd animal, that the thought that they grow up to separate and live in their own burrows, only connecting with other hamsters for sex, saddens me. They seem so content now. But even at this tender age (they are about 2 1/2 weeks now) the babies are starting to roll over, snarling at each other, and as they grow older, the fighting will get worse. Hamsters are apparently solitary and territorial.
But now, seeing them clasp the celery stalks in their tiny hands and nibble on it, seeing them try to climb the vertical tunnels that Amelia scampers up, and falling down, seeing them grow, it's just all good. At night, at about 11pm, it's party time in the Hamster suite and three babies at once get into the wheel and run together! And sometimes Amelia gets in and makes it go so fast that they just fly out. (there's lots of soft bedding, no one gets hurt)
We'll miss them when they go (we already spoke to the pet shop, and when they are weaned - between 3-4 weeks - we will return them.)
The babies are huge now, no longer the tiny pink worms, barely bigger than the tip of my finger. They are now furry and scampering and lots of fun. Occasionally Amelia climbs to the top of the habitat, where they can't reach yet, and hides from them. (reminding me of the mothers who hide in the bathroom, where the toddlers can't get to them.) But they still sleep all on top of each other, cozy. We've named 2 of them, Hazelnut because s/he is all one colour and Ruby, because s/he has red eyes, but the other 2 stripy ones are harder to tell apart. We don't know what sex they are yet, but we have stroked them, and they are so very very soft, it's amazing.
I'm such a herd animal, that the thought that they grow up to separate and live in their own burrows, only connecting with other hamsters for sex, saddens me. They seem so content now. But even at this tender age (they are about 2 1/2 weeks now) the babies are starting to roll over, snarling at each other, and as they grow older, the fighting will get worse. Hamsters are apparently solitary and territorial.
But now, seeing them clasp the celery stalks in their tiny hands and nibble on it, seeing them try to climb the vertical tunnels that Amelia scampers up, and falling down, seeing them grow, it's just all good. At night, at about 11pm, it's party time in the Hamster suite and three babies at once get into the wheel and run together! And sometimes Amelia gets in and makes it go so fast that they just fly out. (there's lots of soft bedding, no one gets hurt)
We'll miss them when they go (we already spoke to the pet shop, and when they are weaned - between 3-4 weeks - we will return them.)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Ode to Joy
It's a lazy Saturday afternoon, we've been swimming (at least the 10 yo has) and have put off painting the bathroom for yet another weekend (next weekend doesn't work either... oh well) And now my son and husband are playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy together, DH on the piano, son on the violin. It's the first piece of violin he's ever played, so it's of a quality only a mother could love, but love it I do. It's so nice to hear them playing together. DS got his musical talent from his father, and it's lovely to hear them share.
Monday, March 17, 2008
7 Deadly Sins
There was an article in Time Magazine about the Catholic Church's new sin list, and it made me want to revisit the originals - so here they are, courtesy of deadlysins.com - and why someone wanted to make a list of sins and what their religious political beliefs are, I cannot say, but their list is very well laid out:
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
Off the top of my head, I never get all 7, but I always forget different ones.
And then, in our 21st century post ironic way, I don't think of all of them as sins. Well, some of them are unpleasant, but envy can motivate us, anger can protect us, a good dose of lust can go a long way, and everyone needs some pride (not an overweening amount, but a little definitely helps.)
And then, in the article, there was the version that Mahatma Gandhi made:-
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice
And what an excellent list it is. I read them and know them to be unequivocally true. A much better list to memorize.
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
Off the top of my head, I never get all 7, but I always forget different ones.
And then, in our 21st century post ironic way, I don't think of all of them as sins. Well, some of them are unpleasant, but envy can motivate us, anger can protect us, a good dose of lust can go a long way, and everyone needs some pride (not an overweening amount, but a little definitely helps.)
And then, in the article, there was the version that Mahatma Gandhi made:-
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice
And what an excellent list it is. I read them and know them to be unequivocally true. A much better list to memorize.
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