songbird's crazy world

one thing Becca needs to work on .... like many teens...is time management. I've catered to the last-minute emergencies, real and imagined, for far too long. tonight's argument? I got home from work at 6:30. she waved at me but kept chatting with her friends on the phone and on line. at 8:00, now that I'm settled in to watch Biggrdt Loser, she came into the living room and said "Will you go out and buy me lunch for tomorrow?" and when I said "no", she told me I was selfish and uncaring. "Well, why didn't you ask me earlier? I would have stopped on my way home or something. she didn't have an answer to that. so she stormed out of the room.

Let's talk about movies and movie theaters. I recently upgraded to Verizon Fios, with about a gazillion movie channels, and as I was cruising through the channels and the dozens of movies being offered...including many from the 1970's...I thought about a time before cable television, when you had to actually go to the movies if you wanted to see a movie. we're spoiled now, with our stadium seating and buying tickets on line before we go, but back in the 70's the idea of a "multiplex" was something new and exciting.My boyfriend and I would hang out at the Sunrise Multiplex, in the Sunrise Mall. We must have seen Star Wars at least a dozen times -- only paid for it the first time, snuck in many additional times after seeing another movie. It was much easier then. With the advent of the multiplex, neighborhood movie theaters had the change their approach or close their doors. In 1976 the Farmingdale Theater became known as "the 76 cent theater" bec

so, I was in Penn Station, walking on the concourse that connects teh Long Island Rail road to the 8th avenue subway, when I happened to look down towards my feet. don't know why, but I am so glad I did. I came thisclose to stepping on a dead mouse. yes, it was real -- I know what a deceased rodent looks like up close and personal. I live in the woods, after all, and cohabit with two feline family members. memo to the MTA: the rat poison is working, now please clean up the bodies.

if you have ppor balance and need to hold onto a pole when the train is in motion, it's not a good idea wo try to juggle a book and a huge briefcase. I am still nursing the scratches on my wrist, that you gave me at 34th street when you grabbed the pole to keep from falling. five minutes later, I felt so sorry for the girl who broke your fall at 14th street. watching you fly through the air when the train started to move ...well, I didn't know whetehr to be scared that you'd hurt yourself or roll my eyes at your stupidity.

Like mother, like daughter. becca will be inducted into her school's Honor Society next month.

A revival of West side Story has arrived on Broadway. I love this musical. A timeless, tragic love story, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Sondheim, Jerome Robbins choreography...I memorized the original cast album, played it so often that I wore out the vinyl. I can give you a point by point description of what they changed for the moive (saw the movie on TV last week, it still makes me cry). I was in the chorus of a (very bad) high school production of the show (our Maria had dark hair but was very pale, our Tony looked more Puerto Rican than Chino or Bernardo). And I saw a revivial of the show on Broadway in the 80's. what intrigues me about Laurent's current production ---some of the scenes and some of the songs are done entirely in Spanish. more authentic that way, he says. I took Spanish all through junior high and high school, even took a few classes in college. I was very fluent back in the day, but I've forgotten most of it. still, I know the show well

can you believe I have nothing to say? me, of all people? I hit the "new post" button, and I have been staring at this white expanse, but ...nothing. I want to write something clever or funny or serious and moving, perhaps something that shows off my Engligh-major vocabulary of SAT words. but I can't think of anything funny enough, or clever enough, to warrant the time it takes to write it...or read it. so I sit her contemplating the whiteness ...I mean, what's with me? I always have something to say, even if it's an inane comment about the news or the weather or whatever...how could this be happening to me? the whiteness of the cyber page stares back at me, but the thoughts don't come. I can't think of a witicism to share, a news story that earned my anger, a story that moved me to tears. I am as blank as the page before me.

came out of my office today (our building is right on the Hudson) and it was soooo windy...I was looking for Mary Poppins or Sister Bertrille to fly by.

the comings and goings of two teenage girls! Jen went back to school today. she drove back with her friend Mike. they left here around 5:00. Becca came home from DC this afternoon, she got back to the house around 6:00, after "the best week of my life!" now I am counting the days until Passover, when Jen will come home, and I'll have both girls under one roof again.

thanks to suzanne , I decided to join the party. I got into blogging last year because of Suzanne. I've known her on message boards for awhile, but I've gotten to know her much better since entering the blogosphere. I've also met several others whose blogs I am starting to love, and look forward to meeting even more bloggers now that I've joined the party. So I guess that means I have to introduce myself. I am a single mom from Long Island. My older daughter, Jen, is a college freshman, going to school in New England. Younger daughter, Becca, is a high school junior. I am also an attorney with an insurance company, with offices in Jersey City, NJ, a really "wonderful" commute. I sit on the board of trustees at my synagogue (which means I do a lot of volunteer work there!), and I am active in various fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, currently planning for this year's Relay for Life. I like ot take photos, so you'll see many of them in

please visit my page

in honor of the first day of spring...bought myself some flowers

My recent trip to Washington brought back memories of the summer of 1974. and so I've decided to do an occasional feature about the 1970's -- my memories, pop culture, whatever happens to catch my fancy. Anyhow, I was 14 years old in 1974, and my parents decided to take us on vacation. Vacations were kind of rare for our family. so a road trip to Williamsburg, VA was a big deal to us. The trip almost didn't happen. we had a flat tire on the Jersey Turnpike and spent hours in Cherry Hill replacing it. In Maryland I learned a lesson in race relations. There was a rest stop on I-95 that was designed to look like a southern plantation, and even in post-Civil Rights era Maryland, de facto segregation still existed. upstairs, near the restaurant, the ladies room was clean and well-stocked -- and all the parrons were white. downstairs, near the building entrance, the ladies room was a shambles -- and all the patrons were African-American. pretty shocking for a girl from Lon

Jen's in florida on spring break and Becca is in DC for the leadership conference. it's waaay too quiet around here.

Here's my photobucket album , with all the photos I took on my whirlwind trip to our nation's capital. The purpose of my trip was to bring Becca to Washington for her NYLC conference. Here's Becca preparing for the conference (click on the photos to enlarge): and mugging for the camera on the plane: and her ultimate destination: Becca met up with the program cooridinator in National Airport (I refuse to call it "Reagan"), and I was free to explore DC for an entire afternoon. I've been to the District several times, and I knew exactly what I wanted to see. I majored in History in college, and I have always had an interest in viewing the monuments and memorials to our Presidents and war heroes. My touring plan was very ambitious, do-able only because I was alone and motivated, I think. I took the Metro (I am always amazed at how clean, quiet and efficient the trains are) to Smithsonian Station, then walked towards the Washington Monument. Didn't go into t

I'm back from Washington. Had a very full day, photos will be uploaded tonight. Becca met up with the NYLC people at the airport. Becca is somewhat of a fashionista (I know that comes as a surprise ....not), and when I looked at her, in the airport, with her pink suitcase and turquiose Juicy tote, I couldn't help but think of Reese Witherspoon in the "Legally Blonde" movies...

When you read this post, Becca and I will be on a plane headed to the District of Columbia. Becca will be spending the next 6 days at a National Young Leaders Conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leaders Council . I am flying to Washington with her (she was nervous about flying alone and having to find the program advisers in the airport), but she'll fly home alone -- I'm coming back to NYC later this evening. The Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC) offers educational leadership conferences for an elite group of outstanding young people from across the country and around the world, whose nomination provides them with unmatched enrichment opportunities in a distinguished academic environment. She's really looking forward to the program. She's going participate in political discussion and simulations of the political process, and she's going to take tours of a few of the sites of our nation's capital. Maybe she'll even get a chance to mee

no, not me... Jen and Amanda and Stephanie, two of her friends from school, are headed to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow, for five days of sun and fun. they're staying with Amanda's grandmother, so they're not truly "on their own" and I don't think their trip will be too crazy. but my baby is growing up!

the words "exit only" are in plain English, aren't they? so why are they uniformly IGNORED?

mapquest and your GPS are only as good as the information they're programmed with. Becca is taking the SAT tomorrow. by the time she enrolled for the test, she was closed out of the test center in or school district. the closest test center that still had seats available was in Lake Ronkonkoma, which is about a 25 minute drive from here. Neither of us had ever been to Lake Ronkonkoma, and we had no idea where the school was. so, at the suggestion of her SAT tutor, Becca and I decided to do a practice drive to the test site tonight. I am sooooo glad we did. seems there's a difference between "Lake Ronkonkoma" and "Ronkonkoma", the school says it's in Lake Ronkonkoma, but it's acctually in Ronkonkoma, and the directions we got from Google Maps were just plain wrong. And my GPS was no help either. we rode around Ronkonkoma/Lake Ronkonkoma for about 45 minutes (with memories of looking for our hotel in Boston coming back to us) when we quite accidentally

so this morning I had a seminar at our company's corporate headquarters on Wall Street. so instead of taking the E train to the World trade Center, for connection to the PATH and Jersey City, I took the #2 train to the Wall Street Station. for those who don'tknow, the Wall Street station is a horror show -- a very narrow central platform separates inbound trains from outbound trains, and very narrow stairways lead passengers up from this underground sardine can towards daylight. at 8:45 in the morning it can ben quite crowded and frenetic. and tempers are short around Wall Street these days. (gee, I wonder why?) when I got out of the train, I met up with two of my colleagues from work -- Alan and Mindy -- who were also headed to the seminar. so we start to walk up one of the narrow stairways....when there's a commotion at the top of the stairs. I'm not sure exactly what happened. it involved a woman who was headed up the stairs and two young men who were headed down.

this afternoon Becca sent me a text, she HAD to talk to me about one of her teachers. so we talked when I came home this evening. without going into details...she had a personality conflict with the teacher, and I agreed with her that the teacher's behavior towards her ... what should have been a private matter between Becca and the teacher became very public, the teacher said something to Becca in front of the entire class...and the teacher didn't have her facts straight... at first I was going to call the teacher myself....but for now, she wants to talk to her guidance counselor and the teacher tomorrow, take control of the issue herself. I'm proud of her for dealing with it herself, but I'm starting to feel a bit obsolete.

Stolen from tpgoddess Mine is "them from A summer Place" do I really want to mention the year?

Definition of a Jewish holiday: they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. in this case, "they" means Haman and "we" means Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordechai. Purim is a happy holiday, sort of a cross between Mardi Gras and Halloween. costumes are involved, fun activites like carnivals and shows are planned. and you get to eat Hamantaschen, triangular pastries designed to represent Haman's tricorner hat. during the reading of the Megillah, the story of Esther, you can use your noisemaker to drown out Haman's name. in synagogue! there is feasting - and drinking - involved.it is said that you're supposed to drink until you can't tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai. I just got back from synagogue...we had a lovely party tonight. come on by my house, I've got plenty of Hamantaschen and rugelach...

While cleaning out my desk last week -- we moved from the 20th floor to the 30th this week -- I found a photo that brought back a magical memory. the young lady in the photo, as you may have guessed, is my daughter Becca. the young man will be recognized by fans of American Idol. yes, that's Anthony Federov, former top ten contestant on Idol. there's a whole story that goes with the photo. Becca celebrated her 15th birthday on July 8, 2007. She had a birthday celebration before her actual birthday. I posted about it on my message board, The Nesting Ground . Here's what I wrote: so Becca decided to make her 15th birthday a "girls night out". there were 15 of us -- my two sisters and I chaperoned 12 teenage girls -- Becca, Jen, Jen's friend Crystal and 8 of Becca's closest friends. I'm sure you can read 12 different versions of this story if you read facebook or myspace, because of of the girls had a wonderful evening and couldn't wait to tell everyo

the other night I had dinner with a friend at Cheesecake Factory in The Source Mall. afterwards we wandered into Fortunoff's to check out the sales -- the store is in bankruptcy and liquidating its merchandise. that store is a landmark. back in the 80's it was my go-to storeevery time I had to buy a bridal shower gift. my ex and I did the bridal registry there. and their kitchen gadget department was the best. it's truly sad to see it go...

about a year and a half ago, my department split into two smaller departments. those of us in the new department moved to another floor in the building. about 2 months ago word came down from on high that the company was looking to consolidate space. therefore, my (new) department was going to be relocated. they moved us back to the floor which houses our former department. we moved on Monday. it's been weird reacclimating to the floor's layout, but it's been a lot of fun hanging out with old friends.

I downloaded oovoo to the laptop last night. now I will be able to videochat with Jen when she's away at school. and Becca has videochat on her laptop as well. welcome to the 21st century. my father likes to tell the story of the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. the science pavillions had fancy new gadgets that seemed to be right out of the comic books --like TV . and the 1964 Fair and telephones with video capability, something only science fiction could dream about. I am my father's daughter. the first time i bought a flip phone, I kept wanting to open it up and say "Kirk to Enterprise, beam me up, Scotty," and when I enter an address on the GPS I want to tell Sulu to enter coordinates on the navigational computer and set a course for....wherever. and come to think of it, don't our cell phones and PDA's and laptops and etc. serve some of the functions of a tricorder? Lord help us, we actually have vehicles with remote control start and sensors to tell us

oh happy day!!! the new laptop has arrived. I am overjoyed to have a laptop that weighs half of what my dinosaur weighed, with nifty new gadgets like wifi and a webcam, especially since we set up a wireless network at home when we got Fios. I have felt adrift since the dinosaur keeled over. I mean, I can connect to the net through my voyager...but as great as the phone is, its limitations are also readily apparent. life is good.