songbird's crazy world

  I love a pun. I wanted a mug that says something in Hebrew. משהו   ( mashu ) is the Hebrew word for "something" and  בעברית  ( b'ivrit ) is Hebrew for "in Hebrew".  Mashu b'ivrit = something in Hebrew. The mug literally says "something in Hebrew". The merchandise supports Feeding America.  So  you do a mitzvah when you buy a mug or a t shirt.  Find it  here.

  1. The Hodgepodge lands on the last day of March...in ten words or lest bid the month adieu.  Farewell, March, and may your winds sweep the pandemic into oblivion. 2. March 31st is National Tater Day...your favorite way to have a potato? Given a choice would you opt for sweet, white, or red? How often are potatoes on your menu in one form or another? Ever been to Idaho? If not, is that a state you'd like to visit someday? I've never been to Idaho.  I've heard part of it can be beautiful.   I do like potatoes, and I also like sweet potatoes.  I will bake a sweet potato and top it with cinnamon sugar butter.    As for white potatoes....this week I made a potato kugel  -- that's a pudding made with grated potatoes, onions, eggs, a little oil and usually some flour, but for Passover I used matzo meal. 3. Last time someone or something 'rained on your parade'? Explain.  How about some literal rain?   We went to a communal...

 I've got a classic Mets game on TV as I wait for the season to begin... How much of this blog has been devoted the my favorite sport?   Too much... Shall we go to the ball park? Yankee Stadium, perhaps? Do you prefer  Citi Field? Or maybe we will stay local and watch a Long Island Ducks game. The game always starts with the national anthem. And then there's the 7th inning stretch Afterwards there may be fireworks. And maybe we can take a drive upstate and visit Cooperstown. Baseball season starts this week, and I am psyched.

  Today's theme:   In honor of Marie’s mama’s birthday build a playlist with her favorite artists Dean Martin, Glen Miller, & Frank Sinatra. My favorite Dean Martin song, it's played in the movie "Moonstruck". He always looks like he's having the time of his life. Glenn Miller...this is the first thing I think of when I hear that name.... and another favorite: But I saved the best for last.  Old Blue Eyes himself: Here's Frank with Dean on the Jerry Lewis telethon in 1976, singing and clowning around: And for the big finish:

    Hi! I'm your host Bev Sykes of the blog " Funny the World ". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!       From  Food Questions                       1.  How often do you make food and eat it?  I prepare food at least once a day, usually 2-3 times every day. 2.  Do you consider toasting bread, preparing instant noodles, or boiling an egg to be cooking? Why or why not? "Cooking" is defined as  the practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients. Boiling an egg or toasting a piece of bread  (barely) meets the definition of cooking. And the skills required to boil an egg are skills you also n...

 Why is this night different from all other nights? Those words come from the Haggadah, the book that is read at the Passover Seder.   Tonight is the first night of Passover.  And what a strange holiday it will be.   I made a mistake the other day, I searched this blog for the word "Passover". And there is was, the rich history of my family's Passover celebration.  Followed, in due course, by the horrors of last year.  Including my promise to my very upset daughter that all would be normal in 2021, that we'd be back together like we'd been before the pandemic.   That's not going to happen.  Some of us have been vaccinated and some of us have not, so we've decided that we should have separate celebrations again this year.     Sigh.   Though what was it I wrote last year? What could be more Jewish than celebrating the escape from an ancient plague while living through a modern plague? Next year in Jerusalem....

  Fooled by a Feeling Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Fooled by a Feeling (1979)   Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . Chosen because next week is April Fool's Day.  1) Some believe that the practice of playing tricks on one another on April 1 dates back to the 14th century because it's mentioned in Chaucer's  The Canterbury Tales . Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of England's greatest poets. From memory, quote a bit of poetry for us. (It doesn't have to be English, or great.) Whan that Aprille with his...

 I was invited to a Seder last night.  Doug Emhoff invited me to his Seder.  Really.  I was invited to the White House. Me and about 34,000 other people.   White House Seder Yes, Emhoff -- the first Second Gentleman, the first Jewish spouse in the White House, held a virtual Seder via Zoom last night.   The first Passover Seder in the White House happened during the Obama administration, and was for Jewish staffers and their guests.  Last night's event was prepared by Jewish staffers and by the Rabbi from Emhoff's synagogue, and was shared via Zoom and YouTube with a much broader audience.   The Passover story is both ancient and modern, filled with discussion of oppression, freedom,  speaking truth to power... it was interesting to see all those highly-placed White House officials reminisce about their family Seders and then talk about social justice.  The Rabbi who led the service -- she was wonderful.  An...

From my commuter days, winter sunrise at the railroad station. #skywatchfriday  

 

 How could I resist?  It has my name written all over it.

  1. "Hope springs eternal"...discuss.  It's a trite and hackneyed phrase.  But I  like it.  Because I am eternally an optimist. 2. Last time you needed to  'spring into action'  or  'spring to someone's defense' ...explain.  I "spring to someone's defense" almost every day.  It's what I do for a living as an insurance defense attorney. 3. Tulips or daffodils? baby birds or baby bunnies? The cherry tree or the dogwood tree? Jelly beans or peeps? March madness or spring training? Peas or carrots?  Hard to choose between tulips or daffodils, both are pretty. I like birds (gee, with a name like Robin, was there any question?) but honestly, bunnies are cuter.  I'd have to pick dogwoods only because there are dogwoods at my mother's house, the house I grew up in.  I do like cherry trees, though.   Jelly beans.  I like Peeps, but I love jelly beans. I'm a Mets fan, don't really follow baske...

You can hear the emotion in the voice of the Chief of Police as she briefs the press.  She lives just blocks from the shooting, so when she says "This is my community", she really means it.  She knew and liked the officer who died in the line of duty. I still have not fully processed the mass shooting in Atlanta last week, and now another... I am heartbroken.

 And it's a "your choice" week. I am a suburban girl, I live on Long Island.  But at various times I have worked in Manhattan.  And, of course, I've enjoyed much of what the city has to offer.   I changed jobs in March of 2020.  Until March 13th I worked in lower Manhattan., but now I work for a Long Island company.  I had not been back to the city since March of last year, until ... ... the only place I could get my vaccine was the Javits Center, a huge convention hall on 11th Avenue and 34th Street.   It was weird being back in the city.  The city is starting to open up again, but still... New York is a great city, one that is hurting right now.  I'm sure it will bounce back. So let's celebrate New York, New York. Back in 2014 there was a Broadway revival of On The Town , and the stars made this promotional video: Barry Manilow wrote a love letter to his home town: Manhattan Transfer was all about the Boy From New York City Are yo...

 1. An unforgettable day in my life. We all have days -- graduations, weddings, the birth of a child -- that are indelible.  And memorable sad days, like the loss of a loved one.  I'm not going to write about any of those. I used to work for a company that would close at 1 PM on Fridays.  It was a perk they gave employees one year (before I was hired)  when there was no money for raises or bonuses, and the custom had endured.   So it was March, the weather was halfway decent, and I had time on my hands... I drove down to Jones Beach and took a walk on the Boardwalk.   It felt so good to be there in the sun, when there weren't a lot of people around... The first of many off-season visits to the beach . 2. My favorite snacks Right now I am loving goat cheese mixed with dried cranberries and spread on a Ritz.  Pretzels dipped in hummus.  And anything chocolate. 3. My biggest fashion accessory Right now that would have to be a face...