The Puzzler: 7/24/22: The New York Times Magazine
Evan’s latest puzzle is in The New York Times Magazine, page 48, Vowelless Crossword Link with answers Evan’s constructor notes
Continue reading →Evan’s latest puzzle is in The New York Times Magazine, page 48, Vowelless Crossword Link with answers Evan’s constructor notes
Continue reading →New York City / Philadelphia history. Recently, a documentary was made called, The Automat, which was available in several movie theaters scattered here and there as well as various organizations having private showings online which were not easy for everyone to access. You can now, whether you are an Amazon Prime member or not, access the movie and rent or buy it. It is well worth the few dollars. “A charming, fascinating look at one of the first and most unique restaurant chains in America with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Colin Powell.” Link to Amazon Prime … Continue reading →
From the “I Tried Everything ” department, my last medications for a number of years, were self-administered injections of aimovig, then Emgality with a co-pay of almost $160/month. They stopped working. The incidents of episodes was creeping back up toward chronic. It was time for a change. I had my first infusion which requires me to go every three months. When I arrived home after the first infusion, I got an ocular migraine. I told myself the medicine needed time to circulate and to give it a chance. That was last Tuesday. It is over a week later and I … Continue reading →
So my friends, it’s catch-up time. We are back to Robert and a few of his noted responses during visits. When we communicate I prompt and prompt for a response but there are times when words just come to him and I am pleasantly surprised … I haven’t taken as many notes as I would have liked during in-person and FaceTime calls, but I will say that sometimes my babbling and prompting seem to work. To wit: when I mentioned that our brother-in-law had been ill there was initially no reaction, but if I said, “what would you like to … Continue reading →
The final dozen of mock-ups follow. I have seen lines of copy that is like mine, with similar ideas, appear on the shelves years after mine were printed. There’s no way to prove I came up with the ideas first, that’s how it is with trademarks and copyrights. I’ve thought of contacting a card company or two, (at the time I vowed not to deal with Hallmark which had a monopoly in the industry) to explore the possibility of producing a card line. There are other, smaller companies that are worth supporting. I’ll see. … Continue reading →
In addition to finding the published greeting cards, I also found the things that led up to them: the stack that we chose not to print, my mock ups, the ink drawings (had to use special ink) the camera-ready acetate overlays, on and on. I remember standing in a print shop waiting for a xeroxing job. There was a girl behind the counter grinning, high, over-dramatically singing “That’s What Friends Are For.” It was 1986. There I was on the other side of the counter, thinking that I was creating a line of greeting cards. Was I nuts? … Continue reading →
The memories continue. Imagine walking into a card store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, near Lincoln Center, and seeing your cards on the racks. Flip one over and find that a sticker placed over the printed cost raised the price. I suppose that was the store’s way of making more money, but it didn’t help me any. I had a great time at the Trade Show at The Jacob Javits Center where I met the New Yorker cartoonist George Booth and got an autograph. One of my favorite cartoons. Here is the second set of twelve cards. … Continue reading →
Let’s leave the present behind and travel back to the past to 1985 and 1986 when I was on the first of two teaching sabbaticals. It was the year I studied at The School of Visual Arts, Parsons School of Design, The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I was hoping to start my own business and though the creative part was the biggest high of my life, the business part was a reality check. I studied entrepreneurship, business law, graphic design, greeting card design and wrote, designed (art, logos), copyrighted, trademarked and registered, and produced, one quarter … Continue reading →
I took this photo last year and it is part of my apple watch slideshow display: Everytime I raise my hand there is a new flower glowing in the light, changing in front of me, right on my wrist. It reminds me that the living need to be focused on, that things are happening that require attention, that life goes on. We visited Robert the other day, as Father’s Day may not be an option for a visit. Robert doesn’t mark time or the days. i suspect that “time” is one long continuum and he has forgotten when it began. … Continue reading →
Though last weekend is behind me, I am still rattled. Not so much by what happened—or didn’t—to Robert, but by what happened, by what could happen, and how things are handled. I was in my Friday night position, around 9:00 PM, situated in front of the television, watching still another streaming show, (so far over 130) when the phone rang. The caller ID was that of the nursing home and it was way too late for the Covid-robo-call-update. Deep breath. Hello. I was informed that “everything is alright,” but…however…throw in the conjunction of your choice that will make you … Continue reading →
Memorial Day May 30, 2022 It is a day of gratitude, of looking back, of memorializing. This day, forty-six years ago, Robert and I married. It was the second marriage for each of us: I was a widow, yes, at age twenty-six. He was divorced. It just happened that the Universe threw us together and there we were embarking on a new life, together. It turned out to be a life well-lived, filled with all New York City could offer. Filled with all the world could offer. Travel, exploration, good food, always good food. A great son. It went … Continue reading →
Written: Tuesday, April 26, 2022 Today is the bicentennial-birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903), who is considered the Father of Landscape Architecture. When I first heard of him, it was through Robert. Olmsted designed Central Park, Riverside Drive, Riverside Park, Ft. Tryon Park, in Manhattan, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Forest Park in Queens, Vanderbilt Mausoleum in Staten Island, Grand Army Plaza, Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, and more, all in New York City: His legacy includes parks, buildings, campuses, cemeteries, public and private works, all over the country. In today’s The New York Times … Continue reading →
Written/Sunday, April 17, 2022 Today is Passover, overlayed with Easter and the end of Ramadan. You may have had several sedars, or said, “he is risen,” or ended your fasting. We are one. It is time to read. I have a story to tell. One recent morning when I was extremely down and trying to begin another day, my friend, Barbara B., sent me a link a podcast on BBC Radio. She recently had lost her mother, who, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, was in the same nursing home as Robert, in fact, on the same floor. When … Continue reading →
March 2022 Introduction to an edited, earlier post. This is the cover to a tin of biscuits, purchased at Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Lyon, à l’Auberge du Pont de Collonges Paul Bocuse. during one of two visits made in the 1980s. In our current attempt to sort through Robert’s never ending collections stashed in the basement, I almost tossed this: I was in a passionate mood to divest, of exorcism of too many possessions, and then I thought, “wait a minute!” Everything I come across is an important, muse-like stimulation, a much needed and coveted reminder of where I have been, … Continue reading →
Robert had a file for everything: he had a massive collection of files in neat rows of many file cabinets, from the 1960s on. I was consumed with guilt when I recycled them. (Paper never gets thrown out, in our home, it gets recycled.) There were files for every place, everywhere in the world that he intended to visit. Architecture files, etymology files, theater files, movie files, exhibit files, stupidity files, on and on, and of course a file full of obituaries. But let’s not forget the food files. If Robert were home and still reading The New York Times, … Continue reading →
After about a two month hiatus, Evan and I visited Robert. The CDC rules in effect, which facilities are driven by, mandates a quick Covid test, so, for about twenty minutes, until we figured out the logistics as every test is a bit different, we stood in a drafty entryway with our tests propped up on a rolling platform, and helped a Cambodian lady nearby, follow the directions. And then, upstairs with the social worker, whom we bumped into. Now to the third floor. “Robert, Robert there are some people here to see you!” The room was on the … Continue reading →
Thinking of the Ukraine My grandma Sophie was born in the town of Kishinev, at that time, within Kiev, Russia, in 1895. In those days the borders changed every other week, so you could say she was born in Romania, the week that Kishinev was in Romania. This poem is dedicated to her. She was not educated: the Tsar forbade girls from getting an education, probably because they were indentured to sew for the royals. In later years I met someone whose grandmother also sewed for the Tsar, and it dawned on me that little girls had to work at … Continue reading →
direct link and … direct link Link to article and puzzle solution (below) is here Feb 19, 2022 Saturday, February 19, 2022, Evan Kalish Themeless Saturday by Evan Kalish I had to walk away several times to get this one to unfold corner by corner. I’ll tell you where I struggled as I go through the write-up. Here are Evan’s generous comments: When I first developed this puzzle in May 2020 I thought this grid was a great for developing interesting—and intersecting—stacks. The seed was the final across entry (clued as: [A masterpiece!]), which was a … Continue reading →
Evan is the go-to person for the history and importance of The U.S. Postal Service. He was interviewed for the CBS Mornings Show. He set up the details and orchestrated the interviews. The segment was shot while he was on the road in upstate New York. This is not the first time Evan has been interviewed and featured; he is known to the media and has been in print, online and on television to wit: The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Living New Deal, BBC America, The Colin McEnroe Show, CT Public Radio, Cheddar.com, Linn’s Stamp News, The Denver Post.com, Philadelphia … Continue reading →