songbird's crazy world

On vacation.

A propos of what I've been discussing all week... I had a follow up visit with my doctor yesterday.  He is pleased with me, with my weight loss, with my blood work. He wants me to stop taking my blood pressure medication.  He wants me to come back next month, so he can see what effect, if any, that has on me. I am so happy right now.

I think one of the reasons my friend's medical situation has me so rattled is purely a selfish one. Of course I am worried for her, I see her suffering, I heard the despair and despondency in her voice.  And I'm trying so hard to be supportive and upbeat and positive.  But there's something else. She's 10 years older than I am, morbidly obese, diabetic, and dealing with the results of ignoring her weight and her disease. Looking at her, I see my future.  A future I do not want. And then I remind myself about the changes I've made.  How I'm eating healthier. How I have discovered a love of physical fitness.  That I have lost almost  70 pounds. I still have another 60-65 pounds to go until my goal weight. But I feel strong and healthy. I like this feeling. 

So last night I visited my friend, the one who has been in and out of the hospital for months.  When we planned our evening, it was supposed to be take out at her house.  Instead, I had a burger from the hospital coffee shop. My friend is not doing well.  she has been dealing with the health issues for seven months now, and the planned treatment will take many more weeks.   She is lonely, despondent, fearful insecure, needy.  She's not sleeping well, and that's affecting her ability to concentrate and to think clearly. Last night I helped her move from one part of the hospital to another, so that she can begin the next phase of her treatment.  the move set off a panic attack, the likes of which I have never seen.  She told me she is convinced she will die in the hospital, that she'll bleed to death during surgery, and that she is resigned to dying, she's ready for it. I stayed until another friend came to hold her hand. I am so worried f...

“Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.”  ―  Ptolemy Sunday morning, I needed to be at the breast cancer walk by 6:30 AM, long before the sunrise.  As I left Drew's house, this is what I aw: Yes, the full moon...the Hunter Moon. And then last night... I've always wanted to see a rocket launch, but I've never been in Florida when NASA had one planned. But last night NASA launched a rocket, unmanned and loaded with supplies for the International Space Station, from Virginia.  And it was visible from Long Island.  I watched it rise in the south and head east. The photos don't do it justice. I'd love to see another launch, closer to the launch site.  But this will do for now.

We had tickets to a production at the John W. Engeman Theater, and wanted to have dinner before the show. So we found ourselves  at the Ritz Cafe . Small, cozy restaurant, maybe 10 tables total, the space is dominated by the bar.  We opted for a special prix fixe menu   -   appetizer, salad, entree. Our meal began with crusty bread, served with  flavored olive oil, butter, and roasted garlic. Eggplant rollatini was a casserole consisting of thin slices of eggplant, layered over ricotta and topped with melted mozzarella.  Baked clams was also served as a casserole, whole clams topped with seasoned bread crumbs. Caesar salad (romaine, croutons, cheese and dressing) and house salad (mixed greens, cgrape tomatoes, cucumber, vinaigrette on the side) were fresh and flavorful. We both ordered pasta.  His was scallops over angel hair pasta, mine was rigatoni bolognese.  Both were excellent, portions were large enough to be shared. Service w...

 Back in March, Drew and I saw a productions of    1776  at City Center.  It was one of their Encore productions, done in modern dress with a minimalist stage, and the actors often carried their scripts. We loved it, of course. So when we heard that a local theater was planning a full production, we had to get tickets. The John W. Engeman Theater is in Northport, a quaint village on the north shore of Long Island.  The village features a lovely harbor, an eclectic mix of restaurants, interesting art galleries and other small businesses.  The theater was built in 1932 as a movie theater, but began producing live, Broadway-style theatrical productions in 2006. Our first stop was the Ritz Cafe , a small but interesting restaurant near the harbor (review to follow).  Then we took a walk along the harbor. On our walk to the theater, we found something interesting: That's a 1965 police cruiser. The sign in the window says look but don't...

They say if you make it past 5 years, you'll be OK.  But that's not really true.  the scars may heal, the emotional baggage may be boxed up and packed away in the far recesses of your mind, but you're never going to be OK again.  Your body betrayed you...will it betray you again? It will be 12 years in January, 12 years since the phone call that changed my life.  My doctor's voice was shaking when she told me...pathology report...biopsy...cancer...oncologist.  A year of hell...surgery...radiation...chemotherapy. That's why Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is so important to me. I didn't have breast cancer, mine was elsewhere, but I got amazing support from the American Cancer Society throughout my ordeal. I'd originally planned to walk this year, but about a week ago I was asked to be a volunteer at the registration tent.    So there I was, at 6:30 this morning, shivering under a tent in the Jones beach parking lot.  Most of the registr...

Food court sushi? Yes, food court sushi! We were at the Broadway Mall, we'd just seen a movie, and figured we'd grab a quick bite in the food court.  And there, as a welcome alternative to the various sandwich shops that now dominate the food court, was a full-service sushi/Japanese restaurant:  Sushi.com You wouldn't expect a broad menu at a counter-service restaurant in a food court, but...surprise!  The menu features numerous entrees, including various udon, teriyaki and katsu dishes.  Appetizers and sides  include shumai, edamame, tempura, miso soup and seaweed salad.  You can even get ice cream for dessert. But the star of the menu is the sushi.  Regular rolls, hand rolls, special roils, sushi nigiri ...prepared to order by a sushi chef while you wait.  I was a bit nervous about the quality of the food -- it is, after all, a food court -- so I chose something relatively safe; I need not have worried, the food was excellent. ...

Yet another movie based on real events. Full disclosure time.  I spent 12 years in the environmental claims department of a major insurance company, I had a lot of oil industry claims venued in Louisiana and Texas, and yes, my office did have a role in the clean up after the Deepwater Horizon incident.  So I do have a real-life link, albeit tenuous, to the Deepwater Horizon event. So the movie puts the blame on the BP executives who were annoyed that the project was behind schedule and therefore cut corners.  I know that there were a lot of subcontractors on the site who share in the blame.  But that's not the heart of the story. Instead the story focuses on a handful of workers who are assigned to to the rig and their activities the day of the blowout.  We watch as they leave their families and travel to the oil rig, and we see the steps they take to ensure that the well and drilling equipment are functioning safely. And all the while we wait as the ten...

In 1915, D. W. Griffith produced a groundbreaking motion picture, a movie that would set the tone for Hollywood for decades to come. It was also one of the most racist movies ever produced.  It portrays black men as sexually aggressive and people to be feared.  It glorifies the Ku Klux Klan. And in 2016, Nate Parker appropriated the title to make a startling movie about a slave, Nat turner and the uprising he led in the 1830's. Of course we saw The Birth of a Nation. Although not nearly as graphic as Twelve Years a Slave , it nevertheless addresses the real horrors of slavery.   Interesting movie, it shows Turner's evolution from a relatively happy and comfortable slave into the leader of a doomed rebellion.  As a young boy he is taught to read the Bible, and then to preach.  Later, his preaching skills are used to quell rebellious feelings among the slave population. Not the best movie, but certainly worth seeing.

That's where I thought I was when watching the latest election news.  Bragging about sexually assaulting women?  Threatening to jail your political opponent?  A candidate for President of the United States?

My community is a busy suburb pretending to be a sleepy farm hamlet.  It really was a sleepy farm hamlet until the housing boom of the mid 1960's.  My parents bought their house in 1968, and we watched the house being built in what had once been woods.  My father actually took us hiking in the woods once, so that we would appreciate  the beautiful surroundings of our new home. You can still see remnants of the sleepy farm hamlet throughout the area.  Most of the farms are gone, of course, but there are a few famstands/"agritainment" businesses around. For example, immediately behind my house there's an 18-acre plot of undeveloped woodlands. When my neighbors sold their house, they advertised that their backyard bordered on an "18 acre nature preserve". It's a long, thin strip of land that separates one housing development from another.  Originally it was supposed to be part of a road that was planned in the late 1960's but ...

Dress, ballet flats, sweater.  Necessities in the red tote bag.  The morning air is cool.  The leaves have begun to turn, early this year because of the drought.   Leaves crunch beneath my feet as I walk.  Is it really October?   So soon?  Where did the summer go? The path to the synagogue is oh so familiar.  Half a mile, up and down two hills.   I don't walk out of religious conviction per se , but rather, because parking is impossible and I'd feel guilty taking up a space that someone else might need.  I walk alone:  my mother and sisters have never been interested in synagogue services, my daughters stopped attending by the time they reached college age.  My father...my father loved to go to shul on the High Holy Days.  He used to walk with me.  An exchange of greetings... L'Shanah Tovah , have a happy new year. I claim a prayer book, find my seat, don my tallit . Immerse my self in the a...

Well, the Mets still have playoff hopes. But the Ducks?  Sadly, their season is over. Last night, Drew and I and 3300 other crazy lunatics  loyal fans braved the cold, wet weather to see game three of the championship series against the Skeeters.  The Ducks lost the first two games in Texas, so last night was a "must win".  And while they played well, and kept it exciting all he way to the bottom of the 9th, in the end they just couldn't pull off another upset. Congrats to the Skeeters, the 2016 league champs. Well, now I have three 2016 rally towels.  Drew has the foul ball he caught last week ( a boyhood dream fulfilled).  And Drew won the 50-50 raffle last night, $151 that he is going to enjoy spending.