songbird's crazy world

ok, I confess my ignorance, I am not on facebook. my 16 year old is hysterically crying right now. she got a text message from a friend..."what happened to your facebook? I click on your name and nothing happens." I assume the hyperlink is broken. and she can't log in to her account. right now she's wailing "\acebook is my life" and "it took me 2 years to get my facebook the way I want it." back when she used MySpace her page was hacked, the administrators were not helpful and she had to recreate her whole page. is there any hope for her facebook page, or is she starting all over?

The Rules:1. Link to the person who tagged you Suzanne 2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading). 3. List 6 random things about yourself. 4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post. 5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. Six random things about me: 1. I secretly fantasize about being on Jeopardy!. Honestly, I don't think I'd be a great player, I do like trivia but I'm not very quick on the buzzer. But it's nice to dream. 2. For many years I was a Trekkie, knew all sorts of obscure details about the show, read every cheap Star Trek novel, even went to conventions and bought all sorts of junk. Stood outside, in the cold, for hours waiting to get into the movies to see the first Star Trek movie on opening night. 3. Peter Gallagher once touched my knee. There's a long story behind that remark, but I'm not about to share it - today. 4. I am such a kid when I get to amusement parks I love the rides (well...

Becca is now the proud owner of an official NYS learner's permit. her birthday was back in July,but this was the first opportunity we had to go to the DMV. it was almost a disaster. we got to the DMV this morning and Becca presented her birth certificate and passport. but she didn't have her social security card...somehow I misplaced her card (and my own). they wouldn't let her apply for the permit without the card. you cannot imagine the tears. so we drove over to social security and filled out the paperwork for replacement cards. we should get the new cards in about a week. but wedid get a print out saying that Becca's number is (her number) and that she applied for a new card. back at the DMV they were glad to accept the letter in lieu of the card. so she took the written test and the vision test, and had her photo taken. and I paid a fee. she got her temporary permit and should have the picture one in about a week.

this morning I saw...rats. this afternoon I saw...beauty. The Garden of Circus Delights/Eric Fischl lovely mosaic under the city streets. Here are a few photos. you can find the whole album here click on the photos to enlarge

In my 18 years of motherhood I have performed many job functions: cook, housekeeper, chauffeur, tutor, entertainment committee, social secretary, ATM... but yesterday I added a new one to the list: GPS device. yesterday jen and a friend drove home (to Long Island) from their college in Rhode Island. so around 3:30 she sends me a text: "when we get off the Throgs Neck Bridge, we take the Cross Island south, right?" when i confrimed that, she sent a follow up text: "so how do we get to to the Throgs Neck?" a little cart-before-the-horse, don't you think? well, anyhow, she arrived home safe and sound.

At least two of them, possibly more. Memo to the NYCTA : you need better pest control at the 34 th Street Subway Station. Seriously. the 34 th Street Station has two tracks headed uptown and two headed downtown, separated by a platform for A train riders. E train riders have platforms on either side of the station. so when you're waiting for the E train, you look across the tracks to passengers waiting for the A train looking back at you. I was standing on the platform waiting for the E train this morning, when what should I happen to spot crawling around on the tracks but....a baby rat. It was it was slender and lithe and almost...cute. It scurried about for a few minutes, then headed uptown. a few minutes later I spotted its older brother. Not so cute.It, too, scurried about the tracks for a few minutes, then headed downtown. then the A train pulled in on the opposite track, and I lost sight of older brother....and saw him again (or possibly a third member of the family) a f...

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I am a member of the Board of Trustees of my synagogue. We're the governing body of the synagogue. At our synagogue, when a child celebrates his/her bar/bat mitzvah, a member of the board of Trustees will present that child with a gift from the Board. The designated trustee makes a short speech about the chuld (based on information supplied by the parents). I've only been on the board since March, I've never done a bar/bat mitzvah presentaiton. There are two boys celebrating their b'nai mitzvah on Saturday, and I am the trustee who will make the presentation. I am soooo nervous. I'm an attorney, I've had courtroom experience, I've addressed judges and adversaries in front of a room full of poeple. but this is different. these aren't total strangers I'll be talking to, it's members of the congregation. and the funny thing is, I"m not obsessing over what to say. I wrote out a little speech ...

saw a very...interesting...foreign film last night. in Hebrew with English subtitles. Beaufort was a Crusader fotress built on a mountain in Lebanon. in 1982 the Israeli forces in Lebanon set up an outpost at the fortress. the Israelis withdrew from Lebanon 18 years later. the film is set in the last few days before the troops were evacuated. it's a powerful statement about the futility of war.

this mother-daughter stuff is hard! you'd think after 18 years I'd get the hang of it. you'd be wrong. had a knock-down drag-out with Becca this weekend. no need to go into the details, all you need to know is that she's 16, i.e., she's supposed to fight with her mother. well, the fight was over Saturday. sunday morning she went out to breakfast with the boyfriend. I picked her up at his house afterwards and drove her to her best friend's house so that the two girls could work on their English project. but before we went to the girl's house, she said we had to go to Starbucks for some peppermint hot chocolate. she and I are the only two people in our house who like peppermint hot chocolate. I guess that was her way of reaffirming her bond with me. FYI I love the comic strip Zits . they really have teenagers pegged. (if you can't see the whole strip, click on it to enlarge)

these are mine: I just love these earrings. they're long and dangling and they even touch my shoulders when I wear them. I wear a lot of black, so these earrings go with many of my outfits. but more important is that these earrings bring back a pleasant memory. I bought them in "Morocco", or rather, the Morocco pavillion at EPCOT. ( Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express, Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express,They're taking me to Marrakesh, All aboard the train, all aboard the train ) we'd stopped at the Tangierine Cafe for schwarma and other Middle Eastern delights. not that I need to go to Disneyworld for good hummus, I get plenty of that right here in NYC,but the food at Tangierine was top notch. and the whole atmosphere of "Morocco" was wonderful - evocative of the Tales of Arabian Nights (Arabian nights, Like Arabian days, More often than not Are hotter than hot, In a lot of good ways) -- in fact, I...

How You Live: one word. Meme via Amy 1. What wakes you: alarm clock 2. Your initial look in the mirror reveals: bleary-eyed 3. You usually first put on: make-up 4. Your closet: stuffed 5. Your mood before 11am: hectic 6. The first thing you look at online after email: blog 7. Something you tend to snack on: anything 8. What you see out your front door: trees 9. Your takeout menus: scattered 10. Number of boxes of tissue out in your home right now: two 11. The way you sneeze would read: 'choo 12. Number of times a day you probably brush your hair: 4 13. The most predominant thing in your pantry: pasta 14. A smell commonly coming from your kitchen: garlic 15. How you sort your books: random 16. The way you keep your place in a book: dog-ear 17. Something you hide when people come over: clutter 18. Number of people normally at your table during dinner: three 19. Something you put on your nightstand before bed: water 20. How high you pull the covers when you go to sleep: neck

for some reason I can't seem to get that tune out of my head today. don't know why.

I got it from Suzanne, who got it from Amy. The genderanalyzer , that is. it said: We think http://songbirdscrazyworld.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (61%). too funny!

that something you thought was absolutely horrible when it happened turns out to be for the best? Jen spent four fabulous years on the high school cheer team. she wasn't always happy -- she didn't move up from JV to varisty as quickly as she would have liked, she didn't get a spot on the competition team until her junior year, and she was not named captain even though she felt she'd be a good leader for the team. but overall, cheer was a positive experience for her, she learned to work hard to move up, and the coaches encouraged sportsmanship, teamwork and a positive outlook -- and would not put up with drama queens. Becca, on the other hand, thought the dance team was where she wanted to be. dance team is one small squad, not divided into JV or varsity. very different atmosphere, the coach is all about "winning". I couldn't believe some of the sentiments I heard come out of my own child's mouth --- 2nd place was considered "losing". g...

Can't wait for the turkey, the gravy, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce....but especially the stuffing. There never seems to be a lot of stuffing left over, and that's what I truly want the most of....

Long Island's own Push Play will be riding the Hess float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Now, why is songbird, 48 year old full-time attorney and part-time blogger, interested in a band that can only be described as "teen wonders"? because not only is songbird the mother of two darling teenage daughters , songbird has actually met the young man who is the lead singer of this band. CJ went to day camp with my older daughter Jen, back when they were in 4th or 5th grade, and the two became friends. they are still friends today, at the ripe old age of 18, though not as close as they were when they were kids. When Jen takes her girlfriends to a Push Play show, she's a bit of a celebrity herself because she knows CJ. that young man's career is about to take off, and Jen will be able to say "she knew him when..."

Pizza for Lunch!

that slice of pizza...that's my lunch walking away.... here's a guy playing harmoinica in Penn Station -- the call him "sleepy Lester"

one word answers only: Where is your cell phone? pocketbook Where is your significant other? MIA Your hair color? blonde Your mother? expressway Your father? expressway Your favorite thing? music Your dream last night? None Your dream/goal? Health The room you’re in? office Your hobby? reading Your fear? multiple Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive Where were you last night? home What you’re not? cool One of your wish-list items? car Where you grew up? here The last thing you did? commuted What are you wearing? red Your TV? home Your pet? felines Your computer? Lifeline Your mood? Tired Missing someone? Always Your car? ancient Something you’re not wearing? ring Favorite store? Book Your summer? work Love someone? always Your favorite color? Purple When is the last time you laughed? Today Last time you cried? yesterday

it's his latest book, a sequel to "The Gold Coast". I've read every novel he's written under his real name (he wrote a few under a pen name but they're out of print). My favorites are the stories set in NYC and Long island, with sarcastic leading men and lots of local color. for some reason those stories ring true for me.

There he is, in all his glory, parading around Times Square. In all the years I've lived/worked/played in NYC, I've never seen him. A group of my friends ran into him once, I was supposed to be with them but had to cancel out. So I've never seen him. I've seen lots of "living statues", you know, people dressed like the Statue of Liberty -- or something similar -- who perform on the street. One time I ran into "Spongebob Squarepants" outside the Toys R Us on 44th Street. And several years ago I saw a group of roller skaters dressed up as butterflies to promots MSN, But the Naked Cowboy...never.

My office is on the 20th floor of a 40-story building. there was an "incident" on the 33rd floor about 20 minutes ago. the fire alarm went off, and the building fire warden told everyone on 32, 33 and 34 to evacuate their floors and walk down to the lobby. the rest of us were directed to stay where we are. it's a little scary hearing the alarms over your head, and the entire local fire department driving up to your building. got the all clear about 10 minutes after the first alarm went off. but people do take these things quite seriously these days. after all, we're in jersey city. all we have to do is look out our window at the Manhattan skyline to realize why we need to take the alarm seriously.

So today I got to suit up at head over to corporate headquarters for an all-day training class in negotiation skills and techniques. You'd think, after 20+years in this business, i may have already developed a few negotiation techniques...but whatever, I don't mind spending a day in the Wall Street office. And if you want to give me CE credit for my various and sundry adjusters' licenses, that's fine with me -- extra fine if you also include some CLE for my law license. so we did a little role playing in order to perfect our techniques and I was cast in the role of irate claimant with a twisted ankle who desperately wants a monetary settlement with the insurance company. and afterwards, the guy who played the insurance adjuster told me I was terrific in the part of the claimant. and I explained: method acting. back in 1995, I was on a business trip to Philly, I was there to attend mediation sessions and to settle cases I was working on. Since I would be there for severa...

I think I am single-handedly keeping the chapstick company in business today....I have so much chapstick on it's a wonder my lips don't slide right off my face...but even with a ton of petrolatum on my lips they still feel rough and flaky...my winter misery is just beginning. how many days until spring?

grandy had once again tagged everyone. this time we must all tell 7 things about ourselves in high school. so here goes: 1. When you say "high school" I say "which one?" because our district had two high schools, and I attended both. In those days, high school was grades 10-12 (9th graders were in junior high). In all the years I'd lived in our town, the school district had only one high school, and when you said "the high school" everyone knew what you meant. but when I was in 9th grade, the district built a second building, about a mile away from the high school, and told us that "the high school" would now be called "High School east" and the new building would be called "High School West." 1oth graders would attend West and upperclassmen would attend East. Wehn I started at West, we were stumbling over construction crews on our way to class. (I still live in the same town, and now both high schools are full, 4...

and the breaking glass shattered the silence. so began our synagogue's commemoration of Kristallnacht. 70 years ago ont his night, the Nazis turned from discrimination to violence. synagogues burned, Jewish businesses were destroyed, Jewish citizens were assaulted and arrested and deported to camps. We stood at sunset, with Yartzeit lamps flickering in the wind. we read recollections of that horrible night. we heard from a survivor. we sang sonds of peace and hope. we heard from our invited guest, a minister from a neighboring church we talked abou the signs of hatred and bigorty still exitant in our community. the grafitti on the walls of our synagogue. on the walls of a church, on the walls of a school. the cross burned on a lawn in New Jersey. and we vowed: Never again.

won't go into details, but may I just bang my head against the wall for a few minutes? there, i feel a bit better. now, if my blood pressure would only drop a few points....

and I wish I could say I was happy about it. but she's coming home because tomorrow night she has to go to a wake, her good friend's mother died last thursday. still, my baby will be home tonorrow, on her birthday. her 18th birthday. can you believe she's actually going to be 18? where has the time gone? she was born on a Wednesday, the day after Election Day. my due date was 11/8, and my last day of work had been on Friday the 3rd. I thought "first babies are always late" and that I'd ahve a few days home alone to get ready for this incredible new role in my life. famous last words. tuesday night, I made a steak dinner, and Drew and I settled onto the couch to watch a Madonna concert on HBO. at first I was not sure I was feeling real labor pains, but eventually the truth dawned on me. we dropped off the keys at my Aunt eileen's (she lived 4 blocks from us, and we wanted her to take care of the cat and dog), and we headed for the hospital. I had a...

this is the button I have: this is the one I wish I'd gotten: tomorrow night I will watch the returns.....it should be an interesting night!!!

So it was Parents’ Weekend at URI….Lord knows why they chose to have parents’ weekend on Halloween , but who am I do question why? So the kidlet says she’s “going to a Halloween party Friday night, came you please come up Saturday morning?” So the ex shows up at 7 AM Saturday. Drew and I have a pretty good relationship these days…we’re remembering what we liked each other before we hated each other – after 14 years of battling it out, the war is finally over. It’s just the two of us, Becca has opted to stay home. We load up with van with such staples as Arizona iced tea and Orville Reddenbacher, as well as Jen’s winter coat and a few things she left home the last time she was here. Drew was all set to just hop onto the expressway after that, but I can’t function without my carbs and caffeine, so we made a brief stop at the local bagel place. Got up to Kingston around 10:30-ish, and on the drive from I-95 to the school we saw lots of farm country – including real live cows and sheep! Go...