songbird's crazy world

For reasons I don’t need to go into, Drew had to cancel this year’s Memorial Day weekend barbecue.  Turns out it was all for the best.  When we woke up Sunday morning, it was raining.  No, not raining, pouring.  As in, monsoon season,   Cold, wet, icky day. So a group of us piled into Drew’s minivan and headed to our favorite sushi restaurant.  Excellent meal, we stuffed ourselves on gyoza, tempura, chicken teriyaki and a variety of sushi rolls (ever try mango avocado?  Peanut avocado?  Soft shell crab roll?) And on the way home, I pulled out my iPad to look something up...and saw the sad news on Facebook. Lily passed away Saturday. You may recall the posts I made about my friend L.  Lily had a rough time of things over the past few years.  First it was complications from diabetes, followed by a cancer diagnosis.  She almost died last January, her daughter was contemplating sending Lily to hospice care, but then she rebounded. A few...

Of course you knew we would see it. If you liked the first Deadpool you’ll like this one as well.  Very funny movie, full of pop culture references, inside jokes, celebrity cameos...the language can be crude at times, but the violence tends to be comic book.  Our “hero” frequently breaks down the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. A superhero mivie that makes fun of superhero movies. And, as always, don’t leave until the house lights come up.

Don’t you just love interesting neighbors? House A belongs to a professional landscaper.  Absolutely gorgeous landscaping.  He did so much with his 6,000 square feet.  He’s even got a huge above-ground pool in the back yard. A beautiful stockade fence separates House A from House B.  The fence was erected by the owner of House A. Apparently the fence was erected for the sole benefit of the occupants of House A, to keep the neighbors out.  Apparently the residents of House B do not deserve the same consideration. For example, when that lovely pool was installed, the workmen were encouraged to find the outdoor water faucet at a House B and attach hoses, so that the pool would fill twice as fast. Some very ugly black piping — probably from the pool filter or heater — was laid on the ground, on House B’s side of the fence. And more recently, the landscaper has ventured in to House B’s yard to prune and cut trees and shrubs whose leaves were falling into ...

So I’m a Jimmy Buffet fan.    Back in 2009 I won tickets to his concert at Madison Square Garden, and had so much fun ... We saw him at Jones Beach the following summer, and the summer after that, and the one after that ... We stopped going to the Jones Beach concerts, though, because ...well, the first time we went to Jones Beach, the tailgating was amusing.  But as the number of tailgaters increased, parking for the concert became an incredibly frustrating experience. Well, Jimmy decided he wanted to expand his sphere of influence, and decided he wanted to try writing a musical for the Broadway stage.  Jukebox musicals are very popular right now. We saw Escape to Margaritaville  last night.  It was an enjoyable evening. The show is playing at the Marquis Theater, the only Broadway theater that is actually inside a hotel (the Marriot Marquis). You enter the theater from the hotel’s second floor lobby.  The area in front of the theater entrance was dec...

So it rained Friday, and the monsoon hit Saturday.  Not a great start to a weekend. I’ve been meaning to go to Verizon, the Bluetooth in my cell phone is all wonky, but I never made it there this weekend. And did I mention I cracked the screen on the iPad? My Firestick went all weird on me.  Then it dawned on me that a Firestick is just a small computer.  Cleared the cache, and now I’m ok. But the remote for the TV is wonky now, and probably needs to be replaced. Here in New York we have a bottle deposit law.  When you buy soda or other similar beverages, you must leave a five cent deposit for each bottle or can, e.g. a six pack would require a 30 cent deposit.  Most supermarkets have an area set aside for recycling machines; you place the bottles or cans into the machine, and the machine prints a voucher which can be used towards your purchases in the store.  On Saturday I returned about $4 in bottles and cans, but when I ran into the store to buy a few th...

NYC skyline at dusk, as seen from the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. And my favorite bridge.

The weekly questions from  Joyce. 1. What would you say is your biggest day to day challenge?   Keeping all the plates spinning.    Keeping all the balls in the air.  Trying not to drop the ball. 2. May 16th is National Biographers Day. What's a biography you really enjoyed reading? Is this a genre you read regularly? Not a biography per se, but I read Anne Frank's diary when I was a teen.  Her optimism and belief in the goodness of man ... in the face of unspeakable horror ...it had a profound effect on me. 3. How important is keeping a clean house? Do you need to de-clutter your life? My house, and my life, are extremely cluttered and in need of some serious attention. 4. You're the 8th dwarf. What's your name? Just call me Stressed Out. 5. What's surprised you the most about your life or life in general? If you'd asked me when  I was 25 what my life would be like in my 50's, the answer you would have gotten hardly resembles my ...

Had a great time at a local Mexican place for Cinco de Mayo. Meet my new friend. Here we are together. There was a mariachi band, too.

So last week I went to the ballet.  It was a salute to Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, who both had long careers with the NYC Ballet before and after their fame on Broadway. There were three dances.  The first was "Fancy Free".  It's 1944 and three sailors are on shore leave in NYC.  If that sounds familiar...well, you've seen their musical, On the Town . The third dance was actually a suite of dances from one of my favorite musicals,  West Side Story.   Of course I enjoyed the performance.  The dancing was amazing. The second dance was unlike the first or the third. " The Dybukk ", based on a Yiddish play, is about a dybukk, an evil spirit, who possesses a bride to be.  It is full of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalistic imagery, including two singers who perform Hebrew prayers. The symbol chosen to represent the entire performance, pictured below, is a representation of a magical, mystic incantation invoking one of the Kabbalist names...

My first Sunken Meadow sunset of the season. #skywatchfriday

So I’ve started walking at the beach again.  I’m upset with myself, I gained weight and cannot wear any of my clothes from last summer.  I’m slowly getting my head back into the game. Keeping the Fitbit happy is a good start.  The knees and the back are cooperating.  My physical therapist tells me she can see how much stronger I’ve become. Work is busy as always.  We met with a potential new client this week, and I suspect he bought our pitch.  I’m just nervous that some of the new work will get dumped on me.  Job security, I guess.  But I could use a break. Maybe Florida?  A friend is in the process of buying a townhouse outside Orlando.  He will use it for snowbirding, but it’s also registered with Air BNB, so he plans to rent it out.  Friends and family will get a majorly discounted rate.  So eventually we may be among his clientele. Eventually.   Should be fun. But today I am sad. They say a mot...

Today's questions from  Joyce. 1. What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday? An afternoon at the pool, and then maybe a picnic at the beach in the evening, followed by  walk on the boardwalk. 2. What skill do you wish more people took the time to learn? Logic.  The chaotic thinking I see sometimes... 3. What's something you ate as a child you can't stand now as an adult? My tastes got broader as I matured. I can't think of anything I used to like that I dislike now.   4. Something parenting has taught you? If you're not a parent tell us one important lesson you learned from your own parents. Patience and letting go.  I have two adult daughters, I have to let them do their own thing. 5. Share a favorite quote or saying about mothers or motherhood. Children are a great comfort in your old age – and they help you reach it faster, too      Lionel 6. Insert your own random thought here Loved Avengers...

As always, Joyce poses interesting questions. 1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Is there a flower you associate with a particular memory? Explain. My father loved having a yard full of flowers and flowering shrubs.  He was a city kid, without a knack for gardening, but the azaleas and rhododendrons that decorate our front yard were his doing.  2. Last time you helped someone? Tell us how. Coworkers always come to me with questions.   Most recently I answered a question that saved a coworker an hour or two of unnecessary work.  3. It's National Salsa Month (the food, not the dance) so tell us, do you like salsa? Hot, medium, or mild? Homemade, store bought, or from your favorite restaurant only? I like salsa, mild to medium.  I've never made salsa.  I buy it in the supermarket and enjoy it at restaurants .  4. When I was twelve years old... I wanted to be an actress or a singer or a writer, someone famo...

Our azaleas bloom in mid May. Except for one.  It blooms in late April or early May.