Author Archives: Sans Souci

5. Poetry: Birthing at Bocuse

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My panic attack in a 5-star restaurant in Lyons.original post 4/13/07 ART&Poetry by author Before our son was born, and because we were teachers and had the time, my husband and I traveled extensively through Europe. Nine summers. I could say, “filler-up” in French,Portuguese, Italian, German, Spanish; but don’t ask me to now. That part of my brain has become a gray viscous puddle.As much as I enjoyed my travels through France, I was always under stress. I studied French for eight years, read the classics, blah, blah, or as Seinfeld would say, “yadda, yadda, yadda,” I would drag old … Continue reading →

3. When You Lose Someone You Can’t Replace

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Some things in life cannot be explained. Or understood.  There are no words. Suzanne on a class trip 1977, photograph by the author original blog 4/2/07  This morning I uploaded this portrait of  my dear friend, Suzanne, to my album.  I took it  while studying black and white photography at The New School, in New York City. We were teachers at J.H.S. 47, the largest public (then oral) School For The Deaf in the country. We were part of a pioneer team that created a standardized form of Signed English for the school. We used American Sign Language as well, … Continue reading →

2. Poetry: Dim Sum Paradise: Soul Food

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In Flushing, Queens, where reality transcends  time and place.  It is Asia. Easily. How could I ever leave New York? art and poetry©by the author, all rights reserved original entry: 3/28/07 Walk into the Kam-Sen Supermarket and you are in China.  People even use Chinese currency. There is a sea of scaly glistening fresh fish, hot sizzling delicacies, lacquered ducks hang in the window.  Every Asian sauce imaginable is in one of the maybe 10 aisles, every tea, soup, bags of little dried silver fish and shrimp, dessicated chestnuts, frozen confections with ridiculous translated names.  Happy Mouth. You Taste.  Rice … Continue reading →

143 b. Addendum to Harlem on My Mind: decoding poetry, by the author

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I have decided that an author should speak: A reader is never really cognizant of what is going on in the writer’s mind when a poem is written. I think it would be interesting for us writers to give some extra meaning to our work; the poem then expands and the insight becomes a lesson. If you are an author, please think about augmenting your work with a little background for Poetry Wednesdays. Here’s mine. I wrote this series about a time when I was barely out of my teens, just out of High School, and attending the City University … Continue reading →

146 b. How and why: The story behind the vintage ice cream wagon charm: Why I write in silver

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Memories translate to words and charms.           And here is why. See the little ice cream cart? I’ll take you on a journey to 1959.   8 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded reply aladybug wrote on Jan 27, ’08, edited on Jan 27, ’08 I don’t see the ice cream cart… I see pans, one open, one closed, then something else I can’t identify, then a woman in an exercise machine (perhaps just my perception?), then a round object, a hot dog, and then… something else I can’t identify either… Am I crazy? reply aladybug wrote on Jan … Continue reading →

254. Poetry: Series: Couples: 4. Maureen and Don (read first)

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Maureen and Don, Manhattan Theatre Club, Sunday, September 24, 2006 seats C102 and 104 Labrador Retriever Though we had never met before, we were comfortable with theatre talk; playwrights, directors, actors, subscriptions. They were a handsome couple in their 50’s? 60’s? Unselfconscious about their appearances yet well put together, even-tempered, humorous, endearing.   They sat to my left: The first thing I noticed about Maureen was her lilting voice and red hair.  She said she did commercials and some acting. Don jiggled his legs as he spoke; he too, articulate, with a good, strong, voice We sat in the dark … Continue reading →

Poetry: Couples 5: The Hangman and the Empress

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5. The Hangman and the Empress His father told him, “Christ, remember your faith.” But he doesn’t remember what faith is, so he turns inward, like clockwork, again and again his mind a captive of his fears, trying to figure it out. He looks up, he knows what he has to do, he’s done it many times before and the clock has brought him to that place again;   He artfully climbs the cross, it’s easy! and suspends himself upside down and anchors one foot with rope. Don’t ask how.  He knows. He needs to think, this is his way, … Continue reading →

260. Poetry: Series: Couples 6. Ötzi, the Iceman and Erika Simon

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6. Ötzi, the Iceman and Erika Simon, the German hiker, at their reunion in the Otzal Alps, September 19, 1991     Ötzi made the news when he was found buried in ice; it was thought he was a modern day hiker who had been buried under an avalanche. He was actually an ancient traveler. ***** ©10/13/06 all rights reserved She was the one who found me, not her husband, Helmut. They were hiking on my mountain; I had been lying face-down in a ravine for 3,000 years under glacier and when I heard her voice my heart, a block … Continue reading →

263. Poetry: Series: Couples: 7. Veils

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This poem was written after the wedding I attended on 6/29/08 Veils 7/1/08 first draft His wife died in March; by July he was dating. Marion gave birth to two girls, now women, who, with Richard, watched her disappear, fade, then leave in three years time. When they got the diagnosis, they had the “weekend of tears,” endless crying. The mourning began before she left. She had Multiple Sclerosis then cancer, then cancer again. She bravely made solo pilgrimages in search of a cure. He took her to Europe to the places she always wanted to see. He called her, … Continue reading →

63: Series: Part 1. Spinning At 45 rpm’s: Wake Up Little Susie

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Brighton Beach Baths, Brooklyn, N.Y. the poor man’s riviera; where I spent many summer days   New York City is surrounded by water; many people know it but few think about it. A friend who lives in the Midwest put it together one day and said, “Did you ever go to the beach?” Did I ever go to the beach? Now that’s a loaded question. The beach. In New York the beach was the poor man’s Riviera. Coney Island. Brighton Beach. Manhattan Beach. Riis Park. Jones Beach. Far Rockaway. Fire Island. The Hamptons. Montauk. We are all beach. I didn’t … Continue reading →

64. Series: Part 2: Spinning at 45 rpm’s: Bye, Bye Love

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….. family photos by the late Jack Margulies This is a series, please read in sequence. My father would go his way, we girls would go ours. Into the locker rooms where we kept our stash of beach chairs, suntan lotion, towels. The locker room was a dark maze lit by occasional bare light bulbs; there were rows and rows of wooden lockers secured by locks—with keys or combinations—row upon row, line after line, enough for a little kid to get lost in forever. They were painted with that same old pink or green paint that broke and peeled and … Continue reading →

65. Series: Part 3: Spinning at 45 rpm’s: Beyond The Sea

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Then the change in light, brightness to dim, our eyes readjusted and we’d pass the snack bar where the teens were pushing and singing.  We’d walk up the concrete hill and face the two doors, one for men one for women.  My mother, sister and I would plod through the locker room in our rubber sandals, our feet wet and sandy, sometimes making a “squeak-squish” sound as we walked.  Piled high with damp, sandy towels, pails, aluminum chairs, the cooler bag, and whatever else we managed to drag along with us, we arrived at the locker where we would park … Continue reading →

66. Series: Part 4: Say It Isn’t So

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“I was going to lose my right breast. I had cancer. This is my story.”   It starts with changes. 2004 I was completing my 33rd year with the New York City education system.  I was stressed; my position was effectively eliminated, and I didn’t not know what I was coming back to.  I had been out of the classroom for 16 years evaluating and placing students into special education.  I was going to be sent back to the classroom to do remedial work with students. By January I had made peace with the few months that had passed and … Continue reading →

Poem/Prayer and Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei for Yom Kippur

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I took this beautiful prayer/poem from my sister, Laurita’s page; she lovingly posted it, in dedication to me. It is in the Hebrew prayer book for Yom Kippur services. The holiest day of the year for Jewish people is this day, The Day of Atonement, which began Friday evening at sundown and ended this evening at sundown. Birth is a beginning, And death a destination. And life is a journey, From childhood to maturity, And youth to age. From innocence to awareness, And ignorance to knowing, From foolishness to descretion, And then, perhaps, to wisdom, From weakness to strength, Or … Continue reading →

Recipes: Weight Watchers Pumpkin Pie

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Description: From Weight Watchers Magazine, 1982: I enjoyed this recipe years ago and just discovered it in an envelope. Guilt free. Ingredients: 4 1/2 ounces uncooked quick-cooking rolled oats 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided 1/4 cup reduced calorie margarine 1/3 cup frozen concentrated apple juice, no sugar added, divided 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin 3/4 cup buttermilk 12 pitted prunes 3 eggs sweetener to equal 9 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 cup prepared frozen whipped topping, thawed Directions: Preheat oven to 400° F. Combine oats and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. … Continue reading →

Theater: Other Desert Cities: Jon Robin Baitz

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 Other Desert Cities “The Best New Play on Broadway!” Brantley, The New York Times <— autographed by Rachel Griffiths   a play by Jon Robert Baitz directed by Joe Mantello with… Stockard Channing Rachel Griffiths Stacy Keach   Judith LightJustin Kirk Signing autographs: photos, Sans Souci Rachel Griffiths Justin Kirk Link to the New York Times> Review Other Desert Cities is a drama currently playing on Broadway with a highly noted cast. Each member slips into his or her role and owns it; the acting was flawless. If you don’t know the cast members by sight you have certainly seen them … Continue reading →

Poetry: A Poem For My Sister

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Sans Souci and little sister, Laurita about a year or two before our evening winter journey on East 14th Street. (left) Sans Souci pointing to toys in the window of Murray’s. That’s the name that popped into my head. It was on 1st Avenue and about 16th Street in Manhattan in the development called Stuyvesant Town where Laurita and I grew up. (Right) A Sunday walk from Stuyvesant Town to the United Nations, over 2 miles. Mom, as usual, was in her heels. I was about 12 and Laurita, 6. Early 60’s.~The Sans Souci archives. Photos by dad, Jack Margulies … Continue reading →

67. Series: Part 5: And It Stoned Me

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The cookie I received in my goodie bag, months alter, at the Cancer Survivor’s Day Celebration: keynote speaker: Fran Drescher My husband and I went to meet with Dr. Chen to explore options.  She pulled out charts, my husband made notes.  She asked me if I was ok.  I saw her eyes tear up.  My gynecologist came in from down the hall, she teared up.  All I can say was, “don’t worry, everything is going to be ok.” I was consoling my doctors. I’d have to be marked with the needles again, she would do another lumpectomy to get a … Continue reading →

Tuesday Tech Tips 101: Ding Dong Dell, I’m hanging…

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Thank you for following my story and for your comments. Can you believe that my situation is still not resolved at the time of writing this blog, and, as Alice said, it gets “curiouser and curiouser?” At this point is is almost expected for any Dell computer not to work though I have to say that my desktop computer which is five years old is still chugging along, my husband’s desktop is working after two years, and thankfully, my son’s laptop is a winner. It is said that the universe will give you the challenges that it thinks you can … Continue reading →