Mom died earlier this morning.
Another reason I love living here . . .
Greg from Something's Brewing just called to arrange a date between my wife and I. How often does that happen in Metropolis?
Yesterday, while cooking dinner for Danny, I was wandering around the kitchen, talking on the phone with a neighbor when I spotted a check beneath a magnet on the fridge. One of my clients must have stopped by and left it.
Life in a small town is filled with such unexpected moments . . .
I drove down to NYC last week for some gallery hopping.
First up was the "New York Street Photography" exhibit at the New York Public Library. This show featured work from the Library's collection, including Joel Meyerowitz (early b&w prints), Garry Winogrand and William Gedney. The highlight of the show for me however, were 16 photographs by Diane Arbus, taken at Coney Island between 1956 and 1962. These were all taken with 35 mm camera. Having started at the end point of this particular row of images, I had no clue that they were by her until I was finished looking at them.
If you have the time and opportunity for a visit, seeing only one of these, "Couple Arguing" will be well worth the trip. Taken with a telephoto lens, a middle aged couple are walking towards the camera. He's looking away from the women, one hand holding a cigarette and the other clenching into a fist. His facial expression is a blend between haggardness and hostility. She is striding beside him, looking up into his face, her open mouth screaming at him.
The show closes on June 24, so hurry if you can.
From there I walked over to ICP for the Weegee exhibit, which was even better than the recent review in the Times. What was most unexpected were the physical prints themselves. These aren't beautiful prints made specific for the exhibition; rather they're the raw prints that Weegee delivered to the papers' cameramen for halftone conversion. Many have hand-written captions on the bottom and include crop marks and sizing information. You can almost smell the fixer.
I then made the trudge down to Aperture for the "reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow Exhibition". As is typical of Aperture, every thing was cold and very impersonal. While there were some striking portraits, even they portrayed their subjects in a way that left me not wanting to know them.
By the time I left there it was 5:00 pm, not leaving enough time to see the David Brickman show. Hopefully next time . . .
In between everything, I found some time to use my own camera: http://www.mohilldesign.com/NYC-06-14-06/
Copy of message sent to http://www.democracyrising.us/:
Has Ralph Nader considered running for the US Senate seat now held by Joe Lieberman?
His entry in the race would be a national story, giving Nader a national spotlight that now only finds him every four years. He would still be to tour nationally. But in addition to helping build an anti-war, anti-corporate movement, he could also speak to the need for alternative candidates / parties to take on the corporate structure.
The story in today's Hartford Courant only confirms what I suspect will happen if Lieberman wins re-election; he'll swich parties. The "cross-endorsing" is more than likely the beginnings of an effort to convince him to switch. Should the Republicans lose seats, they may be counting on Lieberman to pull a Jim Jeffords and either switch or declare himself an independent.
Why give him a free ride? Connecticut is Nader's home. This race seems like such a perfect fit I can't understand why he hasn't already announced.
david
Monday's Post Star front page was dominated by coverage of President Bush's speech Sunday evening lauding the recent elections in Iraq.
Found on page three was a small article noting the recent success of Hamas in local elections in the occupied West Bank. The article mentioned that the European Union is considering blocking financial aid to the Palestian Authority should Hamas continue it's electoral success and form a government.
Let me see if I can get this straight. Elections are good in a country that was recently invaded and is still under occupation; but elections are not good when held in an land that was invaded a generation ago and is still under occupation.
We in the West are all for elections and popular democracy so long as the results are favorable to maintaining our comfortable, middle-class life style.
Timing truly is everything. Sunday evening I finished reading Chapter Fourteen in Robert Fisk's 'The Great War For Civilisation' which details the brutal civil war which followed the cancellation of election results in Algeria in 1994.
Now playing on Iranian Radio via iTunes is a disco version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" by Leila. Whoda thunk?
Let the record show that the first snow plow of the season just rumbled past the house.
My life is now complete; my name has been sold to the mailing list for the Communist Party, USA.
Interesting past few days.
Friday evening found da wife and i having drinks in a Boston Hotel, sharing space at the bar with 2 quite inebriated couples. The bar had a faux french motive, which prompted one of the patrons to start making derogatory comments about France. da wife, for some unknown reason, decided to challenge him. i just sat there and shook my head. Never start an argument about politics with someone whose speech is slurred.
Then on Monday we awoke to hear that Sam Alito has been nominated to the Supreme Court. He graduated from High School with my sister-in-law and used to visit the house all the time. Kinda wierd to think that he used to hang out in the same room I proposed to my wife.
Woke up this morning to falling snow. So another winter starts before the leaves are off the trees.
The anti-war march held in Washington on September 24th was a microcosm of Main Street America. The faces of the people we saw and met were no different than those to be seen at the food store, church or neighborhood coffee shop. While there were a number of so-called radical groups, this was very much a middle-class event.
We arrived at the Mall two hours before the march was due to start. Rather than sit and listen to the speakers at the various rallies, we wandered on and off the Mall, going from rally to rally, photographing the signs and faces of the crowd. Two in particular stood out. One was a man of my own age, holding a sign that read "Former Air Force Transport Pilot - Will reenlist to fly the troops home Now!". The second was of a black woman holding a sign that read "No Iraqis Left Me On A Roof To Die".
When the March started off, it moved at a snail's pace. It took us about two hours to march from the Washington Monument to the front of the White House. The marchers filled not only the street, but spilled over onto both sidewalks. We were so tightly packed together, at no point was it possible to fully extend my arms in any direction without touching someone.
For whatever reason the march did not move at the same pace across the width of the street. We were in the center and at times the left side moved faster, at times the right side did so. I mention this only to reinforce the fact that we did not march with the same group of people the entire time. As the faces and signs changed, the mood, which was for the most part, somber and serious, did not. There was no leadership that we saw. Someone would start a chant and those around would (or would not) continue the refrain for a few moments, until silence gave way once again to another chant. The crowd favorite was "this is what democracy looks like".
For those who attended this march and had the opportunity to watch the local and Cable news coverage that evening and compared what they experienced to what was reported, there could be little doubt that there is no such thing as the "Liberal Media". The televised media gave equal coverage to the anti-war march and to the pro-war bystanders. Equal time for a march that drew between 100,000 to 300,000 people, compared to a pro-war contingent of 200 (their numbers looked closer to 50 to this observer). Yes, both sides must be heard, but imagine how silly ESPN would look if they decided to devote equal amounts of air time to the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals in an effort to be fair and balanced.
I would be remiss without tipping my hat to the DC police whose presence at the march was almost non-existant. Whoever made the decision to let the day proceed "as is", could not have shown better judgement in his fellow citizens. The one "confrontation" I saw (an attempt by 4 police cars to force their way through a crowd of several hundred that occured prior to the march itself), ended when the police decided the best course of action was to pull back. As this 10 minute confrontation ended, I was photographing a man who was sitting on the bumper of the lead police car and I through my camera saw an officer walking towards me. As I lowered the camera and stepped aside, we made eye contact and he said "Thank You". To which I responded "You're Welcome". September 24th was a day of peaceful protest for all concerned.
A gallery of photographs taken at the march can be found here.
From: korea@korea-dpr.com
Subject: Re: Question
Date: September 15, 2005 5:06:30 AM EDT
To: dadoonan@mohilldesign.com
Dear Sir,
Souh Korea already entered into deep reunification discussions with the
DPRK since year 2000. We have meetings every month and exchanges of
hundreds of delegates North-South. Both Koreas want the reunification, and
the USA is the only one creating the obstacles.
Yes, if USA withdraws all its troops and dismantle its bases, plus
offering a written guarantee that they will not attack the country, we
don't need the nuclear deterrence.
Best,
Alejandro Cao de Benos
Special Delegate
Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries
DPRK Government
-----------------------------
Would the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea be willing to abandon
it's nuclear arms program if:
The United States withdrew all of it's armed forces and dismantled
it's military bases in South Korea;
and
if South Korea announced it's willingness to enter into reunification
discussions with your country?
-------------------
David Doonan
161 Main Street
Greenwich, NY 12834
518.692.7215 { phone }
www.mohilldesign.com
Greenwich, New York . . .
. . . the best small town in the world
Two weeks ago Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast. We will never know how many lives were lost during the storm or afterwards, during the flooding. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are now, and perhaps for years to come, without permanent homes and jobs; their lives physically and emotionally devastated.
Thousands of businesses are destroyed and may never appear again along with the jobs they once supported. Tens of thousands of homes and apartments will have to be rebuilt. Tens of thousands of homes and apartments will need furniture and appliances, electricity and plumbing. Tens of thousands of cars and trucks are now worthless. Streets, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, sporting facilities, bridges, highways, jails, churches. The list of what needs to be re-built is beyond our imagination.
Where is the money going to come from to rebuild our country? Where is the money going to come from to pay for disposing of the wreckage? Where do we put those uncounted tons of waste?
Hurricane Katrina created a national catastrophe. Yet, in Washington this week, it's politics as usual. Are they concerned about Katrina's aftermath? Sure, so long as they can point fingers.
As far as I am concerned, politics must come to a complete stop until our nation as a whole comes to terms with what we as a nation must do for those who lost everything. Just because the Superdome and Astrodome are emptying does not mean the crisis is over. This crisis ain't going away time soon.
I simply can't believe that official Washington is more concerned with Supreme Court nominations than it is with hundreds of thousands of homeless Americans. Let me repeat, hundreds of thousands of homeless Americans.
Will someone please tell Sandra Day O'Connor to resign from the Court NOW! Doing so will leave seven Supreme Court justices, and hence no chance for a "hung jury". There is no compelling need for our political leaders to worry about who sits on the Supreme Court while hundreds of thousands of Americans have seen their homes and jobs destroyed.
If our political leaders continue with politics as usual, this once proud country of ours will fester until explodes. God help us all then
I can't believe that our President is on TV at this minute talking about supreme court replacements while hundreds of thousands of people down south have no homes and no jobs. Dealing with that should be the only priority of our nation's leaders, from the President on down, regardless of what party they're in. If Sandra Day O'Conner steps down now, then the Supreme Court will have 7 justices and there will be no danger of a tie verdict. There is no pressing need to focus on the court other than politics. Let's take care of our fellow citizens who need our help now and will continue to need our help for the foreseeable future.
How can FEMA and Homeland Security and our President claim that they never planned for a levee break because they never thought it would happen? I've been reading about just such a nightmare scenario for years (in such obscure journals as the New York Times, Atlantic Magazine and the Weather Channel). When will someone in office be held responsible for errors of judgement or worse.
Bush goes fund raising, Cheney's on vacation and Condi goes shoe shopping while the south drowns, staves and dies. The American Dream is turning into the American Nightmare.
Andy and I had dinner the other evening in an Indian restuarant on Rt 9 in Latham. At first we were the only dinners. During our dinner two familes, both with young children, had also arrived for dinner. Just as we were getting ready to leave, one of the newly arrived children shouted "I WANT PIZZA".
I wish Louie was still alive.
This evening my son Andy played bass on three numbers at a Musical Revue in Cambridge. In the audience was Duane Michaels. Lou, more than anyone, would have appreciated that.
I fear that the Downing Street Memo is just the tip of the iceberg. Congress must fully and on a true non-partisian basis, investigate exactly how and why the decision to invade Iraq was arrived at.
I've just finished reading David Fromkin's "Europe's Last Summer", an account of how WWI started and why. His detailed description of how Germany and Austria-Hungary maneuvered behind the scenes to wage war and not look for peaceful solutions to the issues of the day, looks way too familiar to the events of the past few years.
Out of town . . .
Jude's out of town once again. She claims for the last time . . .
Ha!
Quote of the Day:
"Disrespect for the Holy Koran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States"
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State
Humm? Why does this sound familiar? Perhaps because it reminds me of a familiar refrain from the 1950's,
"I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Communist"
Before my wife and I relocated from New Jersey 14 years ago, we looked into moving to Madison, Indiana. Madison is a gem of a small town. Sitting along the banks of the Ohio, it's filled with blocks of historic homes and store fronts, all at very affordable prices.
There were two factors that forced us to look elsewhere. One was the distance from family. The second were the barge stations, nuclear power station and the industrial smokestacks that stretched along the Ohio between Cincinnati and Louisville.
After reading Helen Caldicott's "The New Nuclear Danger" we are totally convinced that we made the correct decision not moving to southern Indiana. Just to the north of Madison is a military testing range. Depleted Uranium weapons were tested there, leaving the range contaminated for God only knows how many generations.
Thought for today:
What the world needs is a William Shatner Tribute Album. Imagine if you will, Barry Manilow speaking "Cocacabana", Dylan speaking "Like A Rolling Stone", Peter Noone speaking "Mrs Brown You Have A Lovely Daughter" and Lee Greenwood speaking his hit "I'm Proud To Be An American" all done alá Shatner.
This has been a red letter for family insults.
First my wife called me a demented penguin. Later my youngest son accused me of being a secret communist cell.
Jeez.
Last night I dreamt I was a lawyer.
Jim C. was feeling overwhelmed with pending litigation at his law firm and he and his partners decided they needed help. They chose me. The first day on the job I didn't apply for, Jim decided to take me along to court as he argued a case. On the way he told me "Dave there's no better way to learn the law then just jumping right in and putting your feet to the fire. You're the lead attorney on this case."
Jim couldn't be persuaded no how much I argued. When I started to ask him for details about the case, he just ignored me and prattled on about I don't know what. Next thing I know we sitting at the defense table in court, next to his nameless client. As the DA was making his opening argument, I sat there sweating and shaking, scared out of my wits. When the DA finished, the Judge turned me to and said "Mr. Doonan, your turn."
I stood up and turned catatonic. When the Judge lost his patience and asked me when I was going to start, I did the only decent thing possible. I clutched my chest, fell on the floor and pretended to have a heart attack. The Rescue Squad guy knew after a cursory examination that nothing was wrong, so I whispered in his ear "Nothing's wrong with me other than being here. I ain't no lawyer, I'm just faking a heart attack 'cause I don't know what else to do. Throw me on that gurney and get me the hell out of here." Which they did.
If I had realized that the outside temperature was minus 20 something this morning, I wouldn't have walked down the street to buy todays' newspaper. It was the coldest I have ever been. Felt like my legs were going to freeze solid.
While walking down to Stewart's this morning to pick up the paper, I had a chance encounter with a stranger. She was ahead of me, having just left the Doctors office with her young children. As she turned towards her car, she stopped to help one of her children, then glanced towards me. At the same moment I turned to look at her. We looked directly into each others eyes and then looked away. The moment was over.
What caused us to look at each other? Did one of us move our head first by a split second and the other sense it and respond? Was it just curiosity that made us look, and a coincidence that our eyes met? Or do we, all humans that is, not just this particular stranger and I, have telepathic powers that we aren't aware of?
Commercialism has completely run rampent. Not only are we assaulted by canned music while pumping gas, but a new low has been reached by the New York State Thruway.
Thanksgiving weekend I made a visit to the men's room at the New Baltimore rest stop. The sinks were wrapped with cardboard posters for Charmin Toilet Paper while ads for it were blaring through the airwaves. When turning to leave, I saw that the sound wasn't coming from the speakers in the ceiling, but from a TV that was showing a Charmin promotional film. Turned the damn thing off and walked out.
random thoughts on Iraq . . .
Where will Bush get the troops to fight his wars? We're running out of volunteers, but a draft is probably not a viable option. There are so many women serving in the armed forces today, that any attempt to institute a traditional, male only draft, will be found unconstitutional. I cannot imagine Congress and the Senate voting to institute a draft that will send America's daughters into harm's way.
We haven't been able to convince other countries to send troops to Iraq in any significant numbers. The Iraqi Army that we've been training is as liable to not show up or refuse to fight as it is to fight. At some point, there will be only two options for finding fresh bodies left. Declare victory and pull out; or create Iraqi divisions within the US Army, much as the British relied on colonial troops to fight it's wars.
Friday evening pit stop at a Thruway men's room. Found myself serenaded by Joni Mitchell singing "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" from Big Yellow Taxi.
Four years ago I voted for Ralph Nader for President. This year, with great reluctance, I'm voting for John Kerry.
While on many issues Kerry is light years better than our current President, the Democratic Party itself is just as corrupt as the Republican Party. Their "public" face every four years may say the right words, their actions in office speak differently.
I'm not going to waste your time listing every issue on which I disagree with Kerry or the Democrats, but for those who believe that a President Kerry will extract us rapidly from the disaster in Iraq, let me tell you about a foreign policy decision by a former Democratic President.
In the immediate aftermath of September 11, most reporters and talking heads agreed that Al-Qaeda could be viewed as blowback from our efforts to arm and train the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan in the 1980's. It was not a Republican president however, who first made the decision to supply arms to the Mujahadeen. That honor goes to a Democrat, Jimmy Carter. On July 3, 1979 President Carter signed a Presidential Order authorizing the CIA to fund and support the Mujahadeen, who were then fighting the Soviet-supported Afghani government. This order was signed 6 months before the Soviets invaded. The same day that President Carter signed this order, his National Security advisior, Zbigniew Brzezinski sent a note to the President reminding him that the order would cause a Soviet Invasion.
I am not suggesting that President Carter is directly responsible for the creation of Al-Qaeda. Rather I am offering this as one example of how both parties will not hesitate to use violence to advance an American agenda / hegemony throughout the world.
On Tuesday, despite my deep misgivings, I will be voting for John Kerry. I ask you to join me in not voting a straight party line, but rather to vote for David McReynolds, the Green Party candidate for US Senate from New York. More than ever, our country needs a viable option to the two party system. The Green Party may not be the answer, but we need to start somewhere. Think of a vote for McReynolds as your "vote of conscience" this year. For those living outside New York, vote Green where possible.
As to Ralph Nader, I believe that this year he is running for the wrong office. He could have better served our country by moving to Texas and running for Congress against Tom DeLay.
David
p.s. The information regarding President Carter's decision on Afghanistan was taken from chapter 17 of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms" by Tariq Ali. Ali quotes from an interview that Mr. Brzezinski gave to Le Nouvel Observateur in January 1998.
People that stop using an email address without notifying EVERYONE should be stood up in front of a wall and shot. No wait. I'm a Trotskyist, not a Maoist. How could I write such thing. I should be sent away for re-education. No wait. I'm a Trotskyist, not a Maoist. Fuck it, I'm Irish. Somebody give me a drink.
Overheard yesterday at the Warrensburg Garage Sale while passing a booth in front of a church:
"The Russians have a secret missile base just across the border in Canada."
Sitting in the lobby bar of the Hyatt Regency in Montreal, having a drink with da wife. This is one fantastic city. Hopefully I'll wake early in the am and hit the streets with my camera.
On Thursday I met the first friend I ever had, Greer. She and her family still tell tales about her and little Davy Doonan.
Have an Airport Express up and running. However, my PC is more compatible with it than my T-book. Both are able to print to it wirelessly, but only the PC allows iTunes to play through the stereo without the signal dropping out every 5 seconds.
Hope Bill Gates doesn't read this.
Glad I didn't have to share the bed with my wife last evening.
I was lying in bed reading a book when I heard what I though was a fly buzzing around the lamp. Glanced over and spotted a yellow jacket. Being too darn tired to get up and deal with it, I rolled over and continued to read. However, once again, Trouble (one of our cats) lived up to her name. She decided that the bee was fair game and went after it, almost tearing down a window curtain. When last seen, the bee had just flown through a cobweb on the ceiling, dragging it through the air.
Turned off the light and went to sleep.
Louie died on Tuesday.
He emailed just a few weeks ago, letting me know that he had recently put himself on a waiting list for a liver transplant. He must have been sicker than even he realized.
There are so many memories. Worshiping a plastic jesus . . . sitting in his Simca, pulling the seat closer to the heater until it came off the track . . . asking a very pregnant friend what was wrong with her stomach . . . stopping beside the road & blowing his car horn in an attempt to scare animals away from the hunters spotted crossing a corn field . . . grooving to Zappa & Beefheart & Youlden . . . countless photo excursions in Trenton and Englishtown . . . visting him in Denver . . .
Louie DiMattia will be missed by many. A portrait of him can be found here.
Brian and I drove out to Cooperstown yesterday to see Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. The Hot Club of Cowtown opened the show. I think they were good, but the sound system was so low it was hard to tell.
Willie Nelson sucked. The more he sang, the flatter his voice became. His band was even worse. At one point I turned to Bri and said "These guys are supposed to be professionals." "Maybe it's his family up there" Bri answered. He was right. Willie's sister, two of his sons and his guitarist's son were in the band. Month's of rehearsals would not have helped. It was embarassing. No one, and I mean no one, made any attempt at calling for an encore
At least we had the crowd to watch during Willie, though Bri had the added pleasure of watching my face wince as each new song began.
Dylan however was in top-notch form. High energy; new arrangements for all the songs ( including a steel guitar during "Like A Rolling Stone"); a really tight band. I recognized each song, but it took a while to place them. He closed with a rousing version of "All Along The Watchtower." That alone was worth the price of admission.
This week my son's band, Boxes of Squares was named Best Prog Rockers of the Future by Metroland.
Here's how Metroland described them:
This Greenwich-based quartet (with a drummer hailing from Saratoga Springs) are high schoolers with one foot in Starless and Bible Black-era King Crimson. Its hard to tell whether theyre aware of that reference point, but it matters not. They could use more focus on their songs beginnings and endings, but in between they sure do get some ferociously hypnotic cerebral grooves going. There are vocals (and some angst-heavy titles like A Brief Study of Existentialism and Fireworks Make Me Feel Lonely), but its the instrumental onslaught that mesmerizes and impresses.
Way to go guys!
Spotted at Stewart's down the street.
An old, beat up panel truck, with a peeling bumper sticker somehow still attached to the driver's sun visor. The bumper sticker said "Nixon/Agnew."
Last evening, during the annual village festival, I ran into my doctor. Her year old son, sitting in his dad's back pack, reached out to offer me a Cherrio. I lifted my head up (his dad is quite tall), opened my mouth and her son gently placed it inside.
At what age do we lose this innate ability to trust and share with others? What will become of our children, who, because of fears of abduction and molestation, are trained at a very young age to beware of strangers?
I really have to keep this journal up to date. The last entry is from August where I'm complaining about the heat coming on. It's now January and brutally cold. For the third day in row, the temperature has actually gone down after the sun rose. Minus 13 as I write . . .
Spent yesterday hanging a show at Hubbard Hall in Cambridge. It will interesting to see how friends respond. Most have no idea of my photographic background. Been in artistic semi-hibernation since moving here.
Woke up this morning to find the heat on! And it's still August, the races are still on in Saratoga. Yikes!
I hate bats.
Just spent half an hour chasing the world's stupidist bat out of my house. It was flying around in circles, finding every nook and cranny in the living room. His rader seemed to turn itself off everytime he approached the open door to the porch. Finally had to resort to picking up a broom and swatting him out of the air and through the doorway onto the porch.
I hate bats.
Polly took us to the desert yesterday. 110 degrees. Rocks even hotter. Not sure if the breeze helped or not.
For those who live here, the drive out to Anza-Borrego is most likely no big deal. But to someone like myself, who has spent his whole life in the Northeast and Midwest, the geography was spectacular. The barren, rock strewn mountains that spill onto the dessert floor made me feel like I had been transported to Afghanistan. It's one thing to see photos or film of mountains such as these, but to see them in all their splendor has made this vacation.
Maybe there is life beyond the snow belt after all.
Danny & I are visting my sister in San Diego. Yesterday she took us to Tijuana. It's too bad that our first, and perhaps only, visit to Mexico, like many other Americans, is to such a seedy part of town. Being there in the daytime, I'm sure, isn't as bad as visting at night when the bars and strip clubs are open. What we saw was reminiscent of the New Egypt flea market.
In one shopping arcade Danny found a place selling sunglasses. The owner immediately came up to Dan with an open bottle of Tequila and asked if he wanted any. When Dan said no, the shop keeper insisted that he at least smell the open bottle.
Danny is 12. His life will never be the same.
I love living on Main Street.
Sunday afternoon, looking out the window at bicyclists, Americade riders and farm tractors going down the street.
Earlier in the week, a convoy of cars and buses passed by, blowing their horns in celebration of the girls softball team advancing in the State Tournament.
Trained down to the City on Saturday. Met Judy at the Javits and went out to dinner at il vagabondo with Ellen, Martin and others from The Nelson Line.
As the alcohoic content of the eight of us rose, so did our volume and crudity levels. For one brief moment our dinner was interrupted. An elderly man sitting behind began to bang his spoon on his plate, then shouted "Everyone, SHUT UP."
So we did.
For a moment.
We never did find out if he was yelling at us, his wife or his own personal demons.
Ed Levin broke in the other night.
I had just said goodbye to Andy as he left for the movies. I was on my way upstairs when the backdoor opened. A set of bells hangs off the top of the door, so there is no mistaking when it moves. I heard what I assumed was Andy coming back in for something. But he was saying "I'm breaking into the house . . . I'm breaking into the house . . ."
Came downstairs to find Ed standing in the middle of the kitchen. He'd just arrived from wintering in Florida. Typically, something was wrong. Verizon was giving him grief about turning his phone back on. No one wants to provide service these days, especially to the elderly.
I hope Ed takes time to write his autobiography. I've heard snippets from his journey through life, and what a great journey he's had. The other night we spoke about his living in Argentina when Juan Peron came to power, and of his recent trip to Cuba.
We brought home a new cat yesterday.
I found her ten days ago, sitting in the middle of a road outside Saratoga. She was hunched over, and didn't budge as my car swerved around her. Her eyes were closed and her face covered with bloody mucus. I gently carried her on to the side of the road, asked at the house beside the road if they knew who she belonged to, then drove her to the vets.
She wasn't hit by a car as I had feared. She had a severe upper respiratory infection, and, much to the vets surprise, pregnant. One kitten was still-born in the birth canal. Two others were alive, but failed to live more than a day or two.
After ten days of nursing, she was finally strong enough to come home. Still trying to name her. In honor of her arrival yesterday, the birthday of James Brown, we're looking for something funky. Perhaps Gloria, after the great Van Morrison / Patti Smith song and Gloria Gaynor of "I Will Survive" fame.
Drove down to the Apple Store in Albany to watch Steve Job's keynote address from MacWorld. I'm probably the only person in the world who watched the keynote and then went out and bought a PC. It's not that I've decided to become an anti-switcher, just needed a new machine for the web/database work I'm doing.
Brought it home, hooked it up and everything was fine. Rendezvous displayed it instantly. All seemed cool, until I went to turn on the web server. Ha! Win XP Home doesn't come with a web server. Just about ready to give up trying to figure out how to install a different operating system, no one I know is able to help. Guess I have to go out and spend more money to upgrade the operating system for something that has come pre-installed on every Mac since 1997.
Let's hear it for Bill Gates.
Last winter was a real bust. Only one snowfall to speak of. I had been so looking forward to sitting in the front parlor, drinking coffee and watching the snow fall. Never happened.
Well, my wish has finally come true, just a year late. Christmas Day brought a blizzard that left 18 inches. Another major storm is moving through now. Upwards of two feet on the way. I'm looking out the window, trying to warm up after doing the first round of shovelling. The snow bank is above the porch level and rising. I'm reminded of a magical winter in Buffalo in the early 1960's when it snowed every day for months. That spring, a friend and I were playing in the backyard and ended up in the alleyway behind our garage. There was still a small snowbank left. It was pretty cool, being 10 years old and having a snowball fight in June.
Andrew turns 16 in a few weeks. Not looking forward to teaching him how to drive in this weather.
As soon as I warm up, I'll trudge down the street and take a photograph of the Prime's two Christmas trees. They have one on each floor, in matching bay windows, creating the illusion that there is one tree, two stores high.
Back in February after my dad died, I needed an escape. So I wandered into a Borders near his house in New Jersey, picked out a couple of books and went to the cash register. The clerk that evening was rather chatty. He looked at the Thomas Hardy book (Jude The Obscure) and commented how he was one of his favorite authors. I wasn't in the mood for conversation, so I just responded "Yeah, I need something to cheer me up."
After reading Jude, Tess Of The D'Urbervilles & The Mayor of Casterbridge I finally understand why the clerk roared with laughter. Hardy didn't exactly look at the bright side of life.
Am sitting her in Grandma Tedder's living room. Gobble, Gobble, it's Thanksgiving day. Will football be allowed on the only TV here? Humm . . .