songbird's crazy world

Welcome to my Halloween party. It can be a bit Spooky. Let's do the Time Warp again... I love this one: The holiday calls for a  little bit of Wonder.... And let's close it out with a classic: If you want to revisit last year's party, you can find it here.

I promise that tomorrow I will move on to other, lighter topics... But today I make one last post about Pittsburgh. Last night I attended a vigil/rally sponsored by 16 synagogues and various other Jewish organizations.  There were about 2,000 of us packed into the synagogue sanctuary, mostly Jews, but members of other faiths as well.   Many local politicians were there, but this was not an evening about politics.  We sang, we prayed, we memorialized the victims.  We called upon our leaders to take action, to do something about the senseless violence that resulted in this tragedy, and so many other, similar tragedies. And one of the most moving, and inspiring speeches of the evening... Linda Beigel Schulman.  She spoke about her son, Scott Beigel. If that name doesn't ring a bell, let me refresh your memory. Scott Beigel taught geography at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  He was a hero who died saving the lives ...

And now the stories come out.  The names of the victims and who they were. The 97 year old woman who never missed a service.  The mentally challenged brothers who acted as greeters, handing out prayerbooks.  The doctor who was killed because he ran to help the wounded. Two men in the kitchen, preparing the breakfast they would serve their fellow congregants after the services. And then the other stories.  The Holocaust survivor who was four minutes late to services, and thus was not insde the building when the shooting happened. The Rabbi who wrote, just a few months ago, that he worried about his wife and daughter (both teachers) because of all the school shootings.   The same Rabbi who was rescuing congregants by shoving them into a dark closet to hide them from the shooter.  The same Rabbi who went on national TV and expressed regret that he could no save everyone. A sanctuary built in 1952, that must now be gutted and redone because of a...

“Shabbat Shalom” we greet each other, “A peaceful Sabbath”. Throughout the service, we pray for peace.  “May the One who makes peace to the high places bring peace to all of us and to all of Israel...” And today ... “All Jews must die,” he screamed, as he entered the Tree of Life synagogue.   “All Jews must die,” he screamed, disrupting the Shabbat services.   “All Jews must die,” he screamed, shooting and killing worshipers in the sanctuary. Three congregations — two Conservative and one Reconstructionist — share the building.  All three were having Sabbath services, one was hosting a bris.  The building was packed with worshippers, observing  Sabbath rituals, celebrating a life cycle event. And now, at least 8 are dead. If not for the quick actions of the first responders, it might have been even worse. I am in tears.

So the other day I tried a new food truck, Absolute Greek .  They come to the Financial District every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Overall it was a positive experience, but.... My gyro was a decent sandwich, a nice portion of meat garnished with lettuce, tomato and red onion.  I wish there would have been more tzatziki on the sandwich, the salad was a bit dry.  The spinach pie, though... Looks good, doesn't it?   Looks can be deceiving.  The spinach filling (what there was of it) was tasty.  But the dough-to-filling ratio was way off.  I like phyllo dough, of course, but if you're going to call something "spinach pie" there should be more spinach than crust... It wasn't terrible, but I'm not likely to order it again. This truck is a good choice for the price, but it's not on my list of favorites. 

And his van is covered in pro-Trump stickers, he's gone to Trump rallies, his social media is full of pro-Trump and anti-Democrat rantings...no surprise there. Add Cory Booker, James Clapper  and Kamala Harris to the list of recipients.  There may be more... The FBI says the devices were not a hoax, they jusy havn't figured out why none of them detonated. So far he's facing 5 federal charges.  Who knows if there will be more? And he's going to be tried here in NYC, in the Southern District of New York.

Art Deco at its finest: #skywatchfriday

If what happened yesterday isn't considered "an act of terrorism" we need to drastically change the definition of terrorism ."   -- Dan Rather My list yesterday was slightly off, the suspicious package sent to Andrew Cuomo wasn't part of this nightmare.  But the list just keeps on growing.  So far, the FBI has confirmed: one package to George Soros in Katonah, NY; one package to Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, NY; one package to John Brennan, sent to CNN headquarters in NYC; two to Joe Biden in Delaware; one to  Barack Obama in Washington, DC; one to Robert De Niro in NYC; one to Eric Holder in Florida; one to Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida; and two to Maxine Waters, one in Washington, DC and the other in Los Angeles. The CNN situation yesterday resulted in the evacuation of the Time Warner Building, a major office building/shopping mall on Columbus Circle.  That's just south of Lincoln Center and the Manhattan campus of Fordham University.  I'...

George Soros.  Bill and Hillary Clinton. John Brennan and CNN headquarters in NYC.  Eric Holder.  Maxine Waters.  Andrew Cuomo.  Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  Joe Biden. I guess In Trumpland it is acceptable to bomb the hell out of your political enemies.

Live theater...the usher shows you to your seat, asks you to turn off your cell phone and hands you a Playbill...you read about the cast in order of appearance, then the musical numbers, and Who's Who in the cast, their backgrounds, other roles ... And there's no mention of Laura Benanti, not in the Playbill, not on any of the slips of paper tucked into the Playbill with updates and substitutions...."At this performance the role of Lord Boxington will be played by Tony Roach..." And then the director,  Bartlett Sher walks out onto the stage and introduces himself to the audience.  He tells us that it feels just like opening night, because this is the first performance  with Laura Benanti as Eliza Doolittle.  He tells us Laura has been rehearsing the part for the last 5-6 weeks.   And then he tells us that our leading man, Harry Hadden-Paton, has been away from the production for the past 5 weeks, he was off filming some movie called Downto...

Before you scream that the pizza guy should be deported because of an alleged act of domestic violence, remember your own history, how you sat in my living room and confessed that you had once "pushed" your ex wife, and how you tore the screen door off its hinges at her parents' house when they wouldn't let you in to "talk" to her.

Jen is gearing up for her birthday next month.  She and her boyfriend are headed ot St. Lucia for a couple of days.  She won a free stay at a resort, she only had to pay airfare.  She's never been to the Caribbean before, and she's so excited. Becca came home unexpectedly over the weekend.  She's going through a really rough time right now. We took the train together this morning, and she made me walk through three cars so that we could find two seats together because she didn't want to deal with strangers...mom as a human shield of sorts. Sigh.  They say a mother is only as happy as her least happy child.  We had a relatively quiet weekend, dinner with friends Saturday night at Sushi Palace and then on Sunday I took Drew to brunch at Thomas's Ham 'n' Eggery.   I am really liking Thomas's, it's one of the best breakfasts on Long Island.  The owner was behind the counter, and you could see the look of pride on his face... We're g...

New York City is very bicycle-friendly.  Cycling is much more than a recreational activity in this city, it's also a way for commuters to get to work, and for businesses to deliver goods to their customers. There are greenways throughtout the city's parks, designeated for bicycle uses.  There are also bike lanes on many streets, and the city is committed to adding more each year.  The city sponsors weekend events where streets are shut down to vehicular traffic so that they can be used for cycling. The  city is creating significant outdoor bicylce parking, and there is a "bikes in buildings" program that encourages commercial  landlords to find a place for tenants in office buildings to park their bikes indoors. And, of course, there's the bike-sharing program.  You can easily rent a bike from CitiBike.   I think there may be a few available bikes near my office:

Yet another view of the Empire State Building #skywatchfriday

My hair has been very dry lately, so i bought some Moroccan argan oil. And as I was working the oil through my hair, I couldn't help but wonder what my 14-year-old self would think about  me putting oil in my hair ...

 I started this blog ten years ago today.

I am a suburban mom of adult daughters.   I will be the first to tell you I'm not "cutting edge".  Not even close. So when my daughter-who-lives-in-Manhattan told me she likes poké, my first thought was this: Then she explained what it really was  -- diced raw fish served as either an appetizer or as a main course, one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine -- and I was intrigued. So I had lunch at Poké Green. It's a counter service restaurant.  No seating, but there is counterspace where you may stand while eating if you choose.  The menu offers two options -- house poké (pre-selected combinations), or "build your own" from an array of interesting ingredients. Not being familiar with many of the ingredients, I chose one of the house dishes:  poké special.   The dish included seared albacore, cucumber, sweet onion, hijiki seaweed, avocado, Hawaiian shoyu (a sweet soy sauce), and roasted sesame oi...

When I was a kid, Halloween decorations were very low key.  We’d paint faces on a few pumpkins, tape some cardboard cut out of witches and black cats to te front door, and consider it “done”. Things are just a bit more elaborate these days. There’s a family not too far from here that takes Halloween decorating very seriously. Here are photos I took of their display last year.  Or maybe the year before that. Impressive, isn’t it? I drove past the house the other day, and the display is still impressive.

Back in the early days of my law career, I was employed by a firm that specialized in Fidelity and Surety Insurance.  Many of the cases I handled involved employee dishonesty, where workers stole from their employers or the business' customers.  Most of the time, the employee stupidly or arrogantly believed that he or she would never get caught. I think someone working for a courier service  got "caught" this week. Last Sunday I ordered some merchandise from Amazon.  After I placed my order, I realized I wanted some additional merchandise, so I placed a second order.  Both shipments were scheduled to be delivered Tuesday. Well, the first package arrived as promised.  But the second...I got a notification from Amazon that the package was delayed, and would be delivered on Wednesday or Thursday. While I was at work Wednesday afternoon, I received  a notification that the package had been delivered. But when I got home, I couldn't fine a pa...

One night last month, I stopped at a convenience store near the railroad, and happened to catch this beautiful sight:  And when I faced the other direction ... a rainbow. It's very faint, but yes, it was actually a double rainbow. #skywatchfriday

So I am a not-so-happy commuter.  I'm watching the sunrise each morning as I wait for the 7:11 train, and it's dark when I get back to my station around 7 PM.  Not fun. And I do not like being squashed.  The seats in a Long Island Railroad car are not particularly generous.  I am a large woman, and the woman who sat next to   me squeezed her huge butt into the seat next to mine was even larger.  She must have outweighed me by at least 50 pounds.  I’m sorry, but when I’m already up against the wall, no amount of wiggling and pushing on her part is going to result in more room for her to sit . I would not be at all surprised to hear that there's been a pedestrian accident at my station one of these days. Seriously.   The parking lot is on the north side of the station, and all of the eastbound trains platofrm on the south side of the station.  People who get off the evening rush hour trains have to cross the tracks ot reach their ca...

In a word: yum. Counter service restaurant (no seating) offering Greek rotisserie and traditional Greek fare. Loved my chicken souvlaki sandwich -- marinated chunks of chicken, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki wrapped in a warm pita.  The chicken was tender, the tztziki flavorful but not overpowering. Next time I'll try the spanikopita.  Or maybe the fig and goat cheese salad.  Though the zucchini feta fritters sound intriguing...

Reality being so dark these days, we decided that Saturday night called for escapist fun.  So we headed over to our local movie theater for Venom.   Venom is yet another superhero from the Marvel universe, another of Stan Lee’s creations, but totally disconnected from The Avengers ’  storyline.  (Unlike The Avengers , this is not a Disney production.) Our hero is Eddie Brock, a down-on-his-luck investigative reporter, who symbiotically merges with an alien life form that calls itself Venom.  Eddie/Venom must take down the villain and prevent  an alien invasion and the destruction of humanity. There are the usual action sequences — chase scenes, fight scenes, explosions, etc.  There’s some Deadpool-like humor, though not as crass.  And Stan Lee’s cameo is very, very obvious. Though I enjoyed the movie — it’s good, escapist fun — it’s not on par with the movies coming out of the Marvel/Disney partnership.    But if you like th...

This is a dark time for our country ...

Wednesday's lunch was Korean BBQ from a food truck.  I wasn't actually planning on Korean food that day.  I was looking for the Thai food truck when I spotted the Korilla truck, a distinctive orange with tiger stripes, and decided I wanted to check out the menu.   The menu was enticing, and the long line of customers indicated the food was probably going to be good. Here's what I got: That is a rice bowl with sticky rice, bulgogi (steak marinated in a sweet fruit and savory soy blend), sweet black beans with a sesame oil drizzle, baby bok choy, and yuzu pickled sweet pepper, all topped with a mild and smokey sauce.  I was tempted to order the cucumber kimchi, but I was afraid it would be too spicy.  Good decision -- everything in this bowl is considered "mild", and yet the dish had plenty of kick to it.  The truck travels to various locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  The schedule is posted on Twitter.  I'll be su...

RXR Plaza as seen from the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.  I just loved the clouds ... #skywatchfriday

So I mentioned last week that I had re-joined Planet Fitness.  I did my first workout Tuesday night, my first real workout in months, and oh how I felt it Wednesday morning. I'm going back for more torture tonight. I shouldn't call it torture.  Overall I feel better when I'm exercising and eating right, and once I get back into my routine I will enjoy visiting the gym.  I'm annoyed with myself because I gained back a significant amount of weight.  I'd like to blame it on the surgery I had in July, but the truth is, I was slipping back into bad habits even before my surgery. Sigh.  Lifelong habits are hard to break, aren't they? But I persevere.

Long Island is blessed with a plethora of good diners.  Count this place among them. Let's start with the decor.  It's ...different. Kitschy.  A throwback.  And utterly delightful. There's a waterfall at the diner's entrance. Glass light fixtures and digital fish tanks add to the mood. Look up at the ceiling.  That's a fish. And the dividers between booths, they're waves. But you didn't come here for the decorations.  You came for the food. There's a very extensive menu: breakfast items, sandwiches, burgers, dinners.  Reasonably priced, huge portions of food. My veal parm dinner -- tender slices of veal over linquini with plenty of mozzarella -- was enough to feed two people, and came with a cup of beef barley soup (so thick with barley it was almost like eating a porridge) and a huge salad that included red onion, red cabbage and tomatoes.  Cheesecake was creamy but not heavy and tasty but not overly sweet....

In the Financiual District and looking for a quick, inexpensive lunch?  Try Chen's Buffet Bar. You can order from the regular menu, but most people choose the buffet -- get on line, fill up your tray, and pay for your meal by weight. There's a nice selection on the buffet -- fried rice, chow fun, sweet and sour chicken, boneless spare ribs, dumplings, some seafood and vegetarian entrees.  The food is mass produced, but it's well prepared and tasty.  The vegetables seem very fresh.  It's primarily a take out restaurant, but there are a handful of tables if you want to eat on site.  Overall, not a bad place for lunch.

So I was feeling pretty good for a Monday morning.   I didn't hit any traffic on the drive from my house to the station, made the train without any problems.  Found a seat, and and pulled out my iPad to catch up on emails and news.  Not too bad.  I got off the train at Penn Station and walked to the subway, where I was met with trains so crowded that I couldn't get on.  And that was the end of my pleasant mood. Our weekend was devoted to baseball.  Our Long Island Ducks hosted Games 4 and 5 of the five-game league championship series.  Game 4 was very exciting, and the Ducks won 6-3.  But then came Game 5, and bitter disappointment as the Sugar Land Skeeters won the league championship. We were also following the news from CitiField, as the Mets gave David Wright an appropriate send-off to his retirement.  He spent two years trying to overcome injuries and return to the team, and I guess he reaized it just wasn't going to h...