songbird's crazy world

Went out to dinner recently at a local restaurant on the South Shore. It's right on the canal, just a short distance from the Bay. It was a warm spring afternoon, fairly late in the day. The seagulls were circling the area. At first I thought they were majestic birds....you know, like Jonathan Livingston Seagull . Then I remembered my summer job at the beach....and what I REALLY think of seagulls. Rats with wings.

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So when Jen was home for spring break, she heard me say I was headed out to the dry cleaners, so she handed me a camisole -- a pretty thing with spaghetti straps and sequins, that she wears to parties and clubbing and such. It positively reeked of beer. When she broke up with her boyfriend, B. several months ago, all she told me was that "He wasn't treating me the way I want to be treated."  That's basically her stock answer, the "I'm not ready to tell you the whole story" response. But now...she tells me the whole story: Seems she broke up with B because B cheated on her with his ex girlfriend.  Now B and his ex are back together.  All three of them were planning to be at a party, and Jen was prepared to be mature about it....but apparently B was not.  He spilled a beer on her. My first thought was "good riddance!" But I hurt for my baby.  She's going to have her heart broken by losers like that....

Exodus 15:20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. In honor of Passover, a song by Debbie Friedman:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,– One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his fri...

Another fun day in NYC! Took the LIRR in to Penn. Took the subway to Times Square 'cause it was raining, then walked to the Discovery Center on 44th. This was the exhibit hall where we saw the King Tut artifacts. Well, now they have two smaller exhibits - a display of artifacts from Pompeii (the one we came to see) and a display of props and costumes from the Harry Potter movies (which we will see another time). For obvious reasons Pompeii was a lot less crowded. The Pompeii exhibit is amazing. Obviously it's only a small portion of what was found at the site, but ... Well, so many aspects of everyday life in the first century were preserved - the gods and goddesses, the furniture, the art work...the grafitti on the walls, the dice and loaded dice, the ads for the local tavern and fast food joints, even the erotica in the bordello. It made Roman life come alive. There was also a display of the body casts. When the ash from Vesuvius fell it buried the victims. When the bod...

Some of the most important lessons you learn in college aren't things that take place in the classroom.  Professors teach academics, but college teaches a whole range of life skills. The dorms at Becca's college are set up as apartments -- 2-3 bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, bathroom(s).  Becca was assigned to a three bedroom apartment, which she was expected to share with 7 other girls.One of the girls moved out just a few days into the school year. Initially everyone got along, but eventually there were disagreements.  Seven girls in a small space like that, and no one used to living on her own with roommates instead of family, and there are bound to be conflicts.   Little stuff, like who needs to buy paper towels and who forgot to do the dishes.  Bigger stuff, like who's having overnight guests and what level of noise is acceptable when others are trying to study.    the usual freshman stuff.  By Christmas it was...

Saw this show on a junior high field trip. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

I majored in history when I was in college. So of course it cannot escape my notice that the Civil War began 150 years ago today. I've always found that era to be fascinating. I'm loving the attention it's getting in the media right now. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

home sick today, so I managed to do my tax returns today...a few days early for once. "If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see how bad it is with representation." -- Farmer's Almanac

Managed to make it through the whole winter ... unscathed by cold and flu season ... But caught a cold on a warm spring day ... Not fair! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One of my favorite Theater District restaurants is John's, located on 44th Street at 8th Avenue. Located in what was once a church, the place is famed for its brick oven pizza and its slogan "No Slices" (you can only buy a whole pie). It's loud, it's noisy, it's always crowded. and it's one of the best places for a quick Italina meal in the theater District. Drew and I met for diner last night.  He had the linguini with white clam sauce, I had chicken parmigiana with penne in marinara sauce, and we indulged in garlic bread topped with melted mozzarella.  The it was off to the Al Hirschfeld theater, 45th and 8th, for How To Succeed In Business wWthout Really Trying. (I remember when the Al Hirschfeld was still the Martin Beck.  I saw Phylicia Rashad in Into the Woods , and there was a huge fairytale boot on the marquis of the theater. ) (And, of course, who could forget all those great drawings in the New York Times , Arts & Leisure section, al...

Not to mention, Italy. A ten-day trip to the Mediterranean to study Greek and Roman mythology.  Not to mention, good food, good wine and great beaches. Wish I were going, but alas. ..it's Jen's summer vacation study program. Really, she gets 6 credits towards her degree.  (Not just for the trip, for the two weeks of online classes and the research paper/project due after the trip.) Well, she is an English major, after all, she NEEDS a working knowledge of classical mythology. And why not go right to the source? I have to admit I'm a bit envious.  And very very nervous.  Jen has never travelled on her own, has never gone so far away from home. Sigh.

Canterbury Tales - The Prologue - Modern English Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.