songbird's crazy world

 And it’s a “free choice” week. And I’m in a musical slump … I think I’ve exhausted my musical favorites… so I’m taking inspiration from another blog hop … A recent Saturday 9 asked us to name the best concert we’d ever seen. Let me take you back to the early days of this blog, to  July 2009 The previous year I’d suffered enormous disappointment when I was unable to obtain tickets to see Billy Joel’s “Last Play at Shea”, the concert he performed to honor Shea Stadium closing.  So when Sir Paul McCartney announced he would do a concert at the newly-opened Citi Field, I was determined to be there.   He sang for 2 1/2 hours.  It was amazing.  So here are a few selections from “Good Evening NYC”, the album that memorialized an incredible concert.                  🎵 🎶 🎶 🎵 

 Yesterday I baked a batch of gluten-free corn muffins.  I left 12 perfect muffins cooling on the kitchen counter.  Came back to 11 perfect muffins and one … who would have guessed Shadow likes corn muffins? But then again, this is the cat who put an avocado in my bed.  Remember ?  Though she has calmed down a bit since then … …but both cats are into “chase me, chase me” mode.  I can’t believe that was Duchess  running down the stairs!  Jen is coming over today to do laundry.  We’ll have lunch and watch the Jets game.  Neither Drew nor I really like football, but Jen was a cheerleader in high school, had a lot of friends on the football team … Football memory … February 2008.  Jen was a senior in high school and was in the middle of her college search.  One of the schools she was considering was in Hartford, Connecticut. The school had a program for prospective students … 9:00 Monday morning.  The day after the Super Bowl....

  Cool Night 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: Cool Night (1981) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Paul Davis invites his old girlfriend to "come on over tonight." Have you more recently extended or received an invitation? Extended  an  invitation.  Rosh Hashanah will be celebrated on Wednesday night and Thursday night.  I will be hosting dinner both nights: my family on Wednesday and a group of our friends Thursday.  My sisters will be doing most of the cooking Wednesday night — they have successfully...

 Bird on the patio Who disturbed my nap? Balance restored

That orange cat seems to think my front yard belongs to him.  I saw him on the Ring again, strutting across my lawn and driveway.  He lives across the street, but clearly he likes to wander. Drew finally saw the cat yesterday.  He was hiding under Drew’s car …popped out and startled him. Drew joked “I wasn’t sure whether I was seeing a big cat or a small puma.” The tuxedo cat that lives next door to the orange cat tends to stay on his own front lawn.  I haven’t seen any other cats strolling through the neighborhood. But the Ring shows me everyone who walks a dog past my house.  There are a lot of dogs in this neighborhood.  I love dogs. A small dog would be nice, but I don’t think the cats would appreciate…and I’m not in the mood to walk a dog in bad weather  I’ve mentioned that we are apparently under a flight path, I can hear planes overhead.  Well, we are also under a different sort of flight path … a skein of Canada geese flew overhead yesterd...

  No wonder the kitchen window is Shadow’s favorite perch.

 Spotted in the neighborhood 

 And the theme? National Calendar Day themed songs – Gorgeous Grandma Day or Vanilla Ice Cream Day – your choice! I’m not a grandma, there are no grandmas in my immediate family, so I think I’ll stick with ice cream … Yeah, ice cream …   Never mind the commercial, let’s get to real songs, Starting with something from Broadway…    And let’s hear from Weird Al…   Want some pie a la mode?    Or maybe a banana split? Let’s end with Van Halen   

 Today is the first day of autumn.  And I’m ready for the change. But last weekend we enjoyed one last taste of summer. Saturday night.  The last weekend of the Atlantic League’s regular season. The Long Island Ducks played North Carolina’s High Point Rockers.  Both teams had been eliminated from playoff contention, so the game had no meaning beyond the moment.  But the evening was sponsored by the PBA, one of our local congressman (Long Island has four congressional districts);threw out the first pitch, and it was fireworks night — attracting the largest crowd of the season, Unfortunately the Ducks lost. That was the end of baseball. Or was it?  Drew said ‘they’ve got a BOGO on tickets for tomorrow’s game.” So we spent Sunday afternoon at the ballpark. It was  Islip Goes Purple  Day. Islip Goes Purple is a month-long initiative designed to unite The Town of Islip in raising awareness of mental health, substance use disorder and celebrating those ...

 He thinks he owns the place …

  Drive to You 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: Drive to You (2006) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Jewel sings that she can't sleep and is staring at the ceiling. Did you fall asleep easily last night? Yes.  My problem isn’t falling asleep, it’s staying asleep.  If I get up in the middle of the night, I never turn on the lights but rely on low level night lights.  Otherwise I find it impossible to go back to sleep. 2) She concludes that the only thing to do is drive to her lover's side. Last time you...

  He lives across the street but thinks my yard is his …

I saw the partial lunar eclipse Tuesday night, but couldn’t get a decent photo, so no Skywatch post today. But I always have cat pics.  Until it’s “chase me” time 

As I mentioned earlier, the fall foliage usually peaks at the end of October.  Fall doesn’t officially arrive until Sunday.   But a few trees in my neighborhood … A few of my neighbors have decorated for fall and/or Halloween.  And some of my neighbors have adorned their homes with something even scarier— political signs and flags. More proof we’re under a flight path. When you walk through the neighborhood you see all the different ways that Levitt houses have been altered, but occasionally you’ll also see one or two that are close to their original appearance. And a few McMansions which have replaced the original Levitt houses. And depending on where you are, you’ll find  houses that were built before the suburban boom, and houses that were built after Levitt led the way.  I’ve lived in four different Levitt houses, and each neighborhood was unique — not bad for houses that were built on an assembly line. My apartment in Wantagh was in the  top floor of a...

 

Recently I’ve been doing most of my walking in my own neighborhood.  I live in Levittown, the quintessential suburb, the prototype for suburban development in postwar America.   When Bill Levitt designed and built these house in 1947 and 1948, there were two models.    The 750 sq. ft. cape featured a kitchen at the front of the house, two bedrooms and a bathroom at the back of the house, and the living room off to the side, with a loft above for expansion.  Slab foundation, so no basement, and no garage.   At 800 sq, ft., the ranch was slightly larger, with the living room at the back of the house and two bedrooms on the side. Later models sometimes included a carport or garage. The houses in my current neighborhood, built in 1950, included garages. Over the years people built out or up, or out and up.  Some people added garages, others converted existing garages to additional living space.  People expanded driveways and added fences and porches a...

The Nassau Coliseum is about 4 miles from my house, about 2 miles from my office. And a place to avoid tomorrow unless you’re a MAGA fan of the orange one …

 You know my undergraduate degree in in History … It was 1972, I was in 7th grade, my first year of junior high. There were three teachers who taught 7th grade Social Studies (American History).    Mr. M was an older man, probably in his late 30’s or early 40’s, slightly balding,  Mr. K was in his 20’s, with longish hair and a mustache (my guess is that he went into teaching to avoid being drafted — we were very much involved in the Vietnam War). And then there was Mr. H, the teacher none of us wanted.  In his 30’s, tall and lanky, with a crew cut and horn rimmed glasses, he was intimidating.  Rumor had it he had a glass eye.  He was strict, sarcastic …not warm and fuzzy like Mr. M or young and cool like Mr. K.  I was happy that I landed in Mr. K’s class. But then .,, Mr. K told us that the teachers were going to try an experiment.  Mr. K was going to teach Mr. M’s classes for two weeks and then he’d teach Mr. H’s classes for two weeks. ...

 Another “your choice” week. How about songs about … September?               

 Alas, poor flip flop … Several years ago I discovered Crocs flip flops.  Unlike most flip flops they actually support your feet. Bought them in every color imaginable. With the demise of the pink ones I’m left with two pair, blue and olive green. Good thing summer is over.   

 I don’t usually participate, but we were at the ballpark, waiting for the gates to open …

  Minute by Minute 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: Minute by Minute (1979) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) It's easier to keep track of the minutes if your timepiece has a second hand. A s you answer these questions, a re you wearing a watch or can you see a clock that has a second hand?  Analogue?  Really?  I live in a digital world, clocks do not have hands … 2) In this song, Michael McDonald admits he knows his girl has lied to him. Do you suspect any one of your friends/family has fibbed to you recently? I have my...