Category Archives: Blog

Scenes From A Marriage, in Triplicate

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In 1974, Roger Ebert called  Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from A Marriage  “one of the truest, most luminous love stories ever made.” It makes us re-examine the nomenclature of love. “His married couple are Swedish upper-middle-class. He is a professor, she is a lawyer specializing in family problems (for which, read divorce). They have two daughters, who remain off screen. They are intelligent, independent. She truly believes their marriage is a happy one (although she doesn’t much enjoy sex). One evening, he comes to their summer cottage and confesses that he has gone and fallen in love with someone else. There is … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: Food Before Thought on The Lowa East Side

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  A pre-theater dinner on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, not far where I grew up and where I went to High School. This is where poor immigrants once lived and climbed five flights of stairs. The Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Germans, Italians. Now the cool and trendy are live where the poor once lived,  at magnificent, unaffordable rents. The old store fronts now house trendy restaurants, shops and theaters. The old Yiddish theaters have long-been taken over by the present. This area has joined the other gentrified, high-rent Manhattan neighborhoods. Dinner at Ballaro 77 2nd Avenue between 4th and … Continue reading →

Blogging for Breast Cancer: Index to Series

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On October 1, 2004 I had a right mastectomy. This is my story. I am a survivor. The series was originally posted in 2007, and has been expanded, since. I run it annually. Please invite all your friends to read my story. Awareness is very important. If I can help one person I will be very happy.     Part 1. Spinning at 45 rpm’s: Wake Up Little Susie My journey starts here, as a child, visiting Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY Part 2. Spinning at 45 rpm’s: Bye, Bye Love The summer of 1959, the ride is beginning. Part 3. … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: Part 2: Hot Shoes

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    Peppers were not the only things that were hot; meanwhile, next door at The Brooklyn Museum it’s time for the most incredible shoe exhibit ever. Last year I reported on the Gaultier exhibit. Now for shoes: the history of high heels. Not only did they elevate the rich and aristocracy, they were a necessity to keep their shoes and feet clean and dry. Initially they worn by male royals, then the ladies adopted them from Europe to Asia. The exhibit covered the most incredible specimens: if you ever dreamed of a pair of Manolo Blahniks or Christian Laboutins … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: Part 1: Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot!

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      Everything about yesterday was hot: the weather was redolent of August, the one that never really came, the fiery chile peppers, the music, the tasting. The annual Chile Pepper festival is a fun event. There was a massive crowd this year, forming lines, tasting the wares and hanging out on the lawns. First some local color:     Brooklyn, New York, one of the five boroughs of New York City has evidenced that more and more people want organic, healthy food; rooftop city farms are sprouting all over. I believe this is the wave of the future. … Continue reading →

Part 78. Hiding My Other Face

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    It has been a while since I have written about my mother. I recently mentioned a fund-raiser for her building that I attended, I likely mentioned that we have changed aides; I’ve been relatively quiet on the parent front. I’ll say a few words. It is just over a year that my mother was moved back to New York City from Florida. I had seen her during the summer before the beginning of a decline. She had begun to fall and was likely having panic attacks which drove up her blood pressure in the evenings. She kept a packed … Continue reading →

Fascinating: Links to Articles

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  It’s time for some interesting articles and videos I’ve come across in my daily travels.     Art:   Exhibit I would like to see: French photographer, JR, brings back ghosts to Ellis island. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/arts/design/jr-brings-ellis-islands-abandoned-hospital-to-life.html?ref=todayspaper  http://www.saveellisisland.org/artist-jrs-ellis-island-southside-project/     Cute:   Adorable video.  Never knew wombats were so darn cute!       Food:         I could go for this right about now: The Gefilte Fish Line: A Sweet And Salty History Of Jewish Identity http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/09/24/351185646/the-gefilte-fish-line-a-sweet-and-salty-history-of-jewish-identity?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140924     Security:     What Happens to Your Stolen Credit Card Data? A Glimpse into Underground Markets http://www.hotforsecurity.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-stolen-credit-card-data-a-glimpse-into-underground-markets-10205.html?utm_source=SMGlobal&utm_medium=SMGlobal&utm_campaign=H4S   Health: … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: From 1887 to Modern Times

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Saturday, September 20, 2014   but …   eventually I was at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, for a luncheon, a celebration of alumni and tours of buildings. There had been a terrible fire in a building and the subsequent reconstruction of it was wonderful. A few photos. The fun and interesting thing about this well-renown institution of art and architecture that was founded in 1887, is that a myriad of stray cats live in the boiler room. The cats are cared for, fed, taken to the vet, and adored by students and faculty members, alike. They roam the … Continue reading →

NYC History: Avery Corman: “My Old Neighborhood”

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Author, Avery Corman’s video is a touching look at growing up in the Bronx. Although I grew up in Lower Manhattan, I did live in the Bronx for about seven years. The denizens of each borough have borough-specific memories, yet somehow, the memories are the same. The food, the smells, the buildings, the sounds all echo from place to place. They will forever be different and forever the same. I am drawn to this video even though is is “before my time” and slightly out of phase with my life, but I know the Bronx. I remember the grand movie … Continue reading →

The Country House in Manhattan

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To Manhattan to the theater … to see “The Country House” by Donald Margulies.   First, the journey across the 59th Street Bridge, aka, the Queensborough Bridge, aka, The Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge. This will give you folks who are not familiar with New York City a feel for the expanse. Going into Manhattan, the center of the Universe. Can you find the tram?  

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NYC Photo Journal: Up On The Roof

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  Last night I attended a fundraiser-dinner-concert on the magnificent roof of my mother’s building for the elderly which is owned and run by a ministry: the idea is that when the old folks run out of money, they will not be evicted; fundraisers like this will keep them in their homes. In my continuing tale about my mother, the terror of running out of money and subsequent eviction was always the lingering fear. I was more than happy to be there as part of this worthy cause. Three jazz groups played as the sun went down. And, as the sky darkened the planes … Continue reading →

Fresh Heir

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  Vivian Dorothea Maier b. February 1, 1926, New York City d. April 21, 2009 (aged 83), Chicago More and more people have stumbled upon the story of the New York City born photographer who worked as a nanny in Chicago, and, who, in her “spare time” took more than 150,000 photographs. The photographs were taken mainly in Chicago, but also in New York City and during worldy travels; street photographs that document the quotidian nanoseconds of the lives of people of all ages; laughing, crying, looking at the lens or moving past, clueless. She favored a Rolleiflex; black and white … Continue reading →

A Visit to the Vet

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A visit to the vet where two of my cats were treated last Winter. (“Play” died last May) My son and I like to visit “Moo.” She has been in a cage for several years but no one wants to adopt her. My son and I are the only ones who can pet her. We are tempted to take her but she has never been indoors. While my son was petting and brushing Moo, I visited with the kittens. It is likely that the orange ones are FIV+. They are difficult to find homes for as they can’t be with … Continue reading →

New York City Photo Journal: The New York Botanical Garden: The Bronx, New York

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    The soon-to-end cool, Summer of color. A walk through the New York Botanic Garden. Current featured exhibit: Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them. (Exhibit ends September 7th). Featured are the women who designed famous gardens and who photographed them.   All we know comes from nature …   Shape, color, size, texture …                 All we love surrounds us …       In water …   On land …   In the desert …     From the sky …   From seeds to color… Our Summer … Continue reading →

Tripping 2014: Travel Journal: 8. Rail Trail, Toys and Ice Cream

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    A walk on the rail trail over the Connecticut River. What I saw along the way.     The A to Z Science and Toy Store in Northampton. The way every toy store should be.     Dinner in Northampton at Viva Fresh Pasta.  A candy shop in Thorne’s Marketplace; a mall with great stores in an old building, a walk along the main street, ice cream at Herrell’s, the super moon.         .

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Tripping 2014: Photo Journal: 7. Friends and Writers

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  One of my friends from high school lives in the Northampton, MA area and I try to see her when possible. She has the most beautiful little garden on a stone porch outside her kitchen. I didn’t want to leave. She cut me a pristine gardenia and it lasted a week. I guarded it with my life!   On to a visit to Emily Dickinson’s House         Emily was considered an odd ball, and her work was not published until after her death when her sister, Lavinia, promoted it to publishers. She dressed strangely for her … Continue reading →

Tripping 2014: Photo Journal 6: Yiddish, Burgers, Toilets and Art

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  The annual visit to the Yiddish Book Center was brief this year due to time constraints, but it was a gorgeous day and perfect for a picnic.   Later, the best burgers evah, at The High Horse Brewery in Amherst was found recommended in a magazine. The staff was wonderful and knowledgable, the brews were excellent and the burgers with bottomless hand cut fries were super. The only problem was that there can be a long wait because the place is packed and it is extremely noisy. Our waitress was a teacher. What does that tell you about teachers’ … Continue reading →

Tripping 2014: Photo Journal 5: Child Labor In The Mills to Williams College Art, Dinner Of Course

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    An exhibit in the town of Adams, Massachusetts, of child mill workers was moving; I have been to several mills that now have exhibits. I have seen photos of the children, babies, who toiled from dawn to night, feeding thread to machines, handling cotton and slipping on oil in their bare fee even in the freezing Winter. They were used because their hands were small and dexterous. Many lost digits and limbs to machines. Finally the child labor laws came into effect. Lewis Hine’s photographic documentation of child labor–child slavery are a testament to our country’s history. Here are photographs of … Continue reading →