songbird's crazy world

Trying this again for January.  Wish me luck.

can you believe the photographers do senior portraits in the student's junior year? Becca sat for her portrait at the end of April.  in November she got to choose which photo from that session will appear in the yearbook. but believe it or not, we STILL haven't ordered the photos from the studio!!!

Times Square should be hopping thursday night. You know they leave the ball in place all year long now.  You can see it on top of One times Square, along with the "2009" sign.  the new numbers arrived about a week ago, they've been on display at ground level. 2010...guess that means no more of those goofy glasses everyone wore starting in 2000.... anyhow, here's the update on the ball drop: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/28/2009-12-28_times_sq_new_years_eve_to_be_greener_more_global.html The razzle-dazzle Times Square New Year's Eve celebration is going more green and global than ever. The ball got a sparkling makeover Sunday, with the addition of new Waterford crystal triangles etched with ribbons, angel wings and flames to embody this year's theme: Let there be courage. The ball's 288 crystals will be lit by 32,256 LED lights that can create a kaleidoscope of more than 16 million vivid colors. The lig...

I am the mother of two perfect teenagers. That's short and sweet. If only it were true. But that would be the makings of dull blog posts, wouldn't it? I consider myself to be a very lenient, very tolerant mother.  But my younger daughter Becca, age 17, has truly tested my patience these last few days. Every attempt at conversation is met with hostility and disrespect. Her school grades, her plans for the evening, how she's getting to school in the morning, are "none of [my] business", I am a "terrible mother" who "doesn't care about [her] at all."  And so on.  I let most of it slide.  Becca is very stressed right now. She's  taking a heavy academic program at school, she's active in extracurricular activities -- she's president of the Spanish club -- and she has a part time job. And if that wasn't enough....It's college application season.  Becca applied to one college "early decision", that's whe...

 What are some of yours? One of ours involves the 1959 epic, Ben Hur . You know the story.  It involves the life of the fictional Judah Ben Hur, a Prince of the Jews in 1st century Judea. On February 15, 1960, my father, who was then a teacher, took his students to see the movie.  My very pregnant mother accompanied him. My parents joked that the baby should be born in the theater, and if it were a boy they'd name him Ben Hur. Of course, it didn't happen.  I was born 3 days later. But the movie was magnificent, wasn't it? Here's the chariot race:

       

I showed you the Christmas windows at Macy's a few weeks ago. tonight, as I am hibernating during the first blizzard of the season, I thought I'd hsare Rockefeller Center and the windows at Saks and Lord & Taylor. After we saw Finian's Rainbow the other night, we walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree:       The tree is topped with a crystal star, and another similar star sits on the ground for people to see up close:   there are also 10 foot tall toy soldiers, and life sized angels in the plaza:     if you look at the wall of Saks 5th Avenue (the flagship store), you might get a special treat: the windows at Saks tell the story of Twinkle, a star: then we walked down 5th Avenue.  here's a shot of the Empire State building, blue and white for Chanukah: the windows at Lord & Taylor have a Victorian theme:      

Is that little brook still leaping there? As you may have guessed, we saw Finian's Rainbow on Broadway last night. Of the three shows we've seen on Broadway, this one was clearly the best.    the story, while set in the 1940's, still has relevance.  The cast was wonderful.  The songs are beautiful. The gentleman seated to our left, who overheard our intermission conversation and started to talk with us...wow, what an interesting man.  He's retired now, but spent 40 years backstage at the Metropolitan Opera working in wardrobe.  Now he indulges his passion for musical theater, has seen Rainbow 17 times since it opened. Now, the young man seated to our left...I overheard his conversation with his friend, and was rolling my eyes.  He has no real appreciation for theter, no understanding of what he sees.  Before the show, he sat there counting the number of times the word "reprise" appeared in the playbill, and made some nasty crack abo...

Wish you a very merry, cherry cherry Christmas and a holly holy holiday, too. Underneath your tree may there always be sounds of harmony, not a song sung blue. Just a very merry, cherry cherry Christmas. And if all of those who love you gather near, you'll have a very merry, cherry cherry, holly holy, rock and rolly Christmas this year. When the snow drops on the treetops it's a pretty amazing scene. Hear the choir, light the fire. Feels like pretty amazing grace if you know what I mean. Oh yeah, it's Christmas time. In a world of make-believe I'm a believer, and I believe in things not always understood, but the things you feel make believing real. That's why Christmas feels so good, so good, so good. When you imagine all the world as one great chorus, you're gonna learn that every voice has got a song. Let's raise a Christmas toast of red, red wine, we'll even sing Sweet Caroline while the whole world ...

At last, the finale. America chose Amanda over Liz.  Both looked good  though. Jillian Mae is a great name for a baby! All of the contestants look great.  the weigh-in is such an uplifting occasion, they all lost big time. Some of them don't even look like the same  people, Coach Moe is incredible. Abby looks amazing.  Her story still makes me cry.  She lost 100 pounds! Tracy looks good, but she's still a witch.  she lost 118 pounds and moves into the lead...and I hope she doesn't win! She still has a long way to go to bet to her goal weight, but she looks so much better!  Love what the doctor said to her and Daniel, Shay weighs in...she lost 172 !!!!  not enough to take the lead but still wonderful. Rebecca went blonde?  she lost 139 and takes the lead!!!! it's down to Rebecca or Liz for the at-home prize, $100,000. and the winner is...Rebecca, and then...Shay...has been invited back to next season's finale......

and with those words Becca's world comes to a grinding halt. they didn't say "no" but they didn't say "yes". she was convinced she'd be accepted.  and now she's got to rethink her plans. she wanted to stay home from school today, pull the covers over her head and wallow in self-pity.  I wouldn't let her.  In fact I am pushing her -- a bit hard, I must admit -- to apply to a number of other schools. I want her to find a good fit, a school she can get into and one that she will love. if she doesn't get her acto together she'll wind up at community college next year.  not a totally terrible thing, if she does well she can transfer out as a sophomore into a variety of really good schools.  but that's not the best plan for her. the child who was always self movtivated now needs a major push from mom to get her act togehter. I can't wait for the acceptance letters to arrive in the spring....can't wait to put down...

we  went to my cousin's bat mitzvah yesterday. it's bittersweet, we don't see most of the family except for lifecycle events.  but I'm glad we went. the service was at a small temple near my cousin's home -- very relaxed and casual, very different from my own synagogue.  the bat mitzvah girl was very emotional, cried through the whole service, had the Rabbi read her thank-you speech. the party was great.  my favorite moments include my parents slow dancing, Jen and Becca swing dancing and singing Bon Jovi at the top of their lungs, and my bumping into Becca twice while trying to remember how to do 70's line dances.  I embarassed my girls a bit by partying hard.  but later we all posed for a photo ghat I will treasure. and I had to laugh -- two young men spent the whole night staring at my girls, but didn't get up the courage to talk to them until the end of the party. can't wait for the next party...in about 2 years.

D-Day is tuesday. and it doesn't help that some of the Ivy League schools did their early decision announcements this weekend.  two of Becca's best friends have been accepted at very fine schools, and several more of her classmates have gotten good news as well,

Teh big scandal last winter at Becca's high school -- the social studies teacher who was arrested as a sex offender.  Becca never had him as a classroom teacher, but she was in Key Club and he was one of the club advisers.  the teacher is also an alum of the school, with deep roots in our community.  it disturbs me that this happened in my daughter's school and invovled a teacher my daughter knew. It involved a 15-year-old boy.  The boy met the teacher -- a single man in his 30's -- in an online chatroom, and was pursuaded to go to the teacher's apartment.  He was not a student at Becca's school. Not that it truly matters...but at least the victim isn't being subjected to further embarassment as "the guy who got [teacher] fired." the local papers had articles about the case when teacher was arrested last February, but haven't published an update since then.  However, New York courts have a website where, if you know the name of a defendant in a...

Right now Becca is in the throes of torture the college application process. I've been down this road before -- or at least a similar road-- with Jen just two years ago. Though as I think about it, I've come to realize Becca's road is very different from the one Jen travelled. I suppose each child must find his or her own road to college. Our high school is very academically oriented - 97% of the graduates go on to some sort of post secondary education, either 2-year or 4-year college programs. The guidance department is very active in assisting students in the whole process, from the moment they sit for the PSAT until the day they send in that deposit to the college or university of their choice. Still, Jen had very little interest in the process until her senior year of high school. I think by the middle of her junior year she had a firm idea of what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but no idea or interest in the four years of education she would need ...

but does anyone else here get the irony if Paul winds up being the last surviving Beatle? remember the "Paul is Dead" hoax? I remember finding out about it when I was about 10, we went to visit my parents' friends, and their son -- who was a few years older than me -- showed me a newspaper article detailing all of the "clues" that supposedly proved Paul died in 1966.  The rumor  started in 1969, some 3 years after the "death", and quickly spread.  The clues included how Paul was portrayed on the cover of the Abbey Road album, and that John allegedly said "I buried Paul" at the end of the song "Strawberry Fields" (he actually said "cranberry sauce").  there are references to an auto accident in "A Day in the Life" that supposedly describe Paul's death as well. He looked really animated for a man whose been dead  over 40 years when I saw him at Citi Field last July.

John Lennon 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980

Don't bother to ask me about Weight Watchers, we'll resume that discussion in January. Presidential address tonight messed up everyone's schedule. When Brian Williams finished talking to McCain, we switched over to The Biggest Loser....to the end of last week's episode, just as everyone was about to reveal their votes. so we got to say goodbye to Allen again. And then it was time for this week's episode, the final four. Watch the final four lose all that weight in a matter of minutes. Now they're being sent home for 60 days and then they will come back to face the scale one more time. They all get the celebrity treatment when they arrive home. We get some insight into their lives before the show, Rudy talking about his dead sister, Liz and her husband, Danny and his kids, Amanda and her parents. Encouragement from Bob and Jillian. and it's announced they will do a marathon, just like last season. the veggie chili looked yummy. Bob and...

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Saw this on Broadway last night. Not the best show I've ever seen, but truly entertaining. Also tried a new (to us) burger restaurant, HB -- they brew their own beers and their own sodas! I had a diet chocolate soda and a kobe beef burger. We would ahve walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the Tree, but it was raining...

Dr. Elmo made this in his living room in 1983. It played on MTV for 18+ years. Written by Randy Brooks and performed by Dr. Elmo.

It's the middle of the holiday season, I've given up on any pretense that I'm going to lose weight ... back on the wagon in January. Didn't watch the show tuesday night ...was at the Jimmy Buffett concert (free tix!!) . thank goodnes for the DVR.   Allen won the challenge and the prize package -- good for him. Danny's song wasn't great, but it was sweet and heartfelt. Danny and Rudy did great in the weigh-in, Danny won the prize but Rudy broke the record. Allen and Liz are below the yellow line.  Allen got sent home, and the final four are Danny, Liz, Amanda and Rudy.  I will be rooting for Amanda, she got off to a slow start but blossomed at the ranch. and then on Wednesday was the special about past contestants.... show was a bit boring, but it was great to see how many of them kept the weight off. and it was nice to see all the people who found a spouse on the show -- I am by nature a romantic. and then there's the contestant who gained ba...

they're hanging over our heads. again .

I completed NaBloMoPo.  I posted to this blog every singe day for the entire month of November. So what do I get for it? Other than the satisfaction of completing a goal I set for myself....not much. still, it was fun.

thinking about my upcoming cruise.... remember this show?

I was headed over here to post about my latest obsession, chapstick. when I realized I'd already posted about it, last year.

in the early 1970's my grandmother would fly south every winter to spend a month in the new Borscht Belt, Miami Beach.  there were a number of kosher hotels up and down Collins Avenue, catering mostly to Jewish senior citizens.  meals included, social activities, dancing lessons -- a scenario right out of Dirty Dancin' , but without Patrick Swayze. Christmas vacation, 1972.  I was 12 (almost 13) and my sister was 11.  we went to Miami with our grandma, spent two weeks on the beach,  it was the first time I was away from home on a vacation without my parents.  it was the first time I flew anywhere on an airplane -- and in those days, people feared being hijacked to Cuba, so I nervously practiced my few words of Spanish (I had been studying the language for a whopping 3 months) as we sat in the airport. grandma let us wander around on our own all day, returning to the hotel for meals and evening activities.  we spent most of our time playing on the ...

One of the joys of NYC at Christmastime.... Sailor Mickey sits on one marquis on the 34th Street side of the store )click on photos to enlarge):   on the other marquis is a huge Christmas tree: the 34th street windows always salute "Miracle on 34th Street", the original movie from the 1940's:       the Herald Square windows change every year.  This year's theme is "letters to Santa".  you can actually enter info into a computer right there on Herald Square as a "letter to santa".  for each letter  Macy's recieves they will make a donation to Make-A-Wish".          

I was never really into Jimmy Buffett's music. I mean, I liked "Margaritaville", but it never made me want to go out and buy his albums or see his concerts. Then, when Jen's cheer team competed at Universal Studios in Orlando, we had a team dinner in the Margaritaville Restaurant, and of course Jimmy's music played in the background. It was fun. But it wasn't until the following year that I started downloading Buffett into my iTunes. I have a friend, Mitch, who is a Parrothead, and I was putting a "Secret Santa" gift together for him. Since it was in my iTunes library anyhow, I started listening to the music. And I liked it. And now, with the cruise coming up, I am listening to all sorts of "tropical" stuff. So when Newsday had a contest to give away tickets to Buffett's concert at Madison Square Garden,I decided to enter. So last Friday I got an email from the newspaper, advising me that I had won two tickets to the co...

Watching it in reruns lately.  Loving William Daniels (also known as the voice of Kitt, but I loved him as John Adams in 1776 ). But look who else was a castmember on the show:  Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel, stephen Furst, David Birney, Mark Harmon, Ronnie Cox, Florence Halop, Helen Hunt, christina Pickles.... Loved that show.... but watching it now....I'm spoiled by ER, it was soooo realistic....and stuff on this show ...close ....but...

And as we approach the holiday season, my mind is NOT on weight loss.  I will be happy if I don't see a gain. but I am doing a lot of walking up stairs. even tackled the 6 flights from the tracks to the street in the Exchange Place PATH station (though that left me quite winded).   I keep thinking "Mayan pyramids" as I climb, since I will be climbing Altun Ha in February. as for the show... not a very riveting episode, I kept getting distracted by other things at home.... it starts with them finding out they're each about to give a speech to an audience.  but first, a makeover. Rebecca looks good in her little black dress. Loved Danny's blue vest.  Allen in a suit....wow! Amanda is amazing. Rudy is remarkable. and the family reactions..priceless. then back to the ranch for a challenge.they have to pull themselves from one side of the canyon to the other. the prize is a two week trip to a Biggest Loser resort in Utah. Rudy wins. workout time....

I travel the Long Island Railroad, the NYC subway system, and the PATH trains that connect NYC with New Jersey. It's truly a "delight". 1. LIRR riders are SLOBS. Ever get on a train and have to move someone else's trash in order to sit down? Ewwwwww.... 2. The rats in the NYC subway system laugh at the rat poison signs. I don't mind seeing rodents on the tracks every once in awhile, but when the crawl up onto the platform....eek! 3. People are just plain rude. They'll knock you over in order to get to an empty seat. 4. Any time there are two drops of rain, expect major delays on the railroad. 5. Don't you just love it when the conductor using the public address system sounds like an adult in a Peanuts cartoon? 6. People are just plain rude. I know you'd like to hang onto the same pole that I'm holding onto, and I know I'm "vertically challenged"....but please...my shoulder is not your personal armrest. 7. If a staircase ...

I loved the movie with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.  And live theater is my passion. so when Drew said "let's see 'White Christmas' on Broadway,"  you know I was so there. So we saw the matinee today. We took the train into the city. funny thing happened -- there were four ladies sitting on the train, just across the aisle from us, talking about going to a show. those same four ladies saw "White Christmas" -- and sat nexr to us in the theater. (as always, click to enlarge the photos)   They've kept the basic story but changed a few details, added a few songs and dropped others, but for the most part it's exactly what you'd expect. I love the Marquis Theater -- a new theather, but one that loves to salute Broadway history. After the show I made Drew crazy as I tried to capture a phot of One Times Square -- you know that the New Year's eve ball sits on top of that building 365 days a year now?  couldn't get a go...