Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

• Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
• Why the early bird gets the worm;
• Life isn't always fair;
• and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. He declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer corporal punishment, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

The eyes have it

Most of you don't know it, but I have a really weird body in terms of how things go wrong and what is wrong.

I consider these "challenges" to be God's way of making me stronger though sometimes they are tough to take.

For example I have the triumvirate. Asthma ( though its only congestive now, the viral is gone), allergies and eczema. All are related and each one compromises the immune system as a whole. That does not mean you are Immuno-suppressed. That is different and I want to point that out right away. What it means is that you have an immune system that is not behaving normally. It might be quicker to heal in some areas and slower in others. It also means that you will be more susceptible to illness.

My immune system is compromised. That was a tough nut to swallow. Ironically it was my Opthamologist that pointed it out and explained it to me.

You see people with a compromised immune system caused by the things that I have, can sometimes ( more frequently than not though you may not know it) have what is called a reactive cornea.

This is an interesting development. As you may remember, After the wedding, I tore my cornea. I was on the phone with Jax when it happened. I was using a head set and I was sitting calmly on the couch. I did not touch my face and there was nothing to indicate how this happened. It just did. It wasn't immediately painful.

This is not the first time either. Two years ago this happened right before the Diva's wedding. Horrific pain then.... not so much now. The tear was in a different place than the first time.

The treatment this time didn't move as quickly as the last time either. That scared the hell out of me to be honest. I see this doctor every single day. twice in fact, per day. And even though its only a co-pay - its starting to mount up. Though that's the least of my problems.

The treatment is first two days hourly drops of an antibiotic called Zymar. Most people don't have problems with that. My eye considers this a hostile environment. That's the reactive cornea at work. So on the third day, my doctor is hemming and hawing and finally stands up and says he wants a second opinion. He leaves the room and comes back with another doctor from the practice. He looks at my eye and says "Jon - this is a classic case". And he recommends treatment, they confer a minute or two longer and he leaves.

My doctor chooses to gloss over these events like they didn't happen. Meanwhile my eye still looks like I've been in a bar fight. So I ask him what a reactive cornea means to me. His answer in a nutshell is that when ANYTHING enters my eye, my cornea becomes an overly hostile environment. The drops are working fine on the tear but they are causing major swelling of the eye and the vessels are all swollen up which is actually slowing down the healing process. So what's the answer? Cortisone drops. Twice a day in addition to the antibiotic 4 times a day.

I'm not caring a whole lot that I have steroid drops to be honest. I just need my vision back and the eye to look normal again.

The reactive cornea is very common in people with compromised immune systems, so you know that means right?

The plan just changed.

I am no longer JUST losing weight. I am losing weight, exercising and doing it in a way that will help me boost my immune system. I am now researching this and reading up on it. There has to be SOMETHING I can do to help prevent this from happening again. The pain alone is worth doing the work here. Its indescribable. If you will, imagine the pain of a migraine. Now multiply it by 100. put it in one eye area. And no drugs to stop it. Waves of pain over longer periods of time and light sensitivity that is unbearable. So you see my incentive.

I was depressed after the wedding as I am not happy with the pictures and I feel really really really fat. It was discouraging in so many ways. But this gave me the motivation that I really needed to get moving.

And after one day with the new drops - I look normal again! Yippee - looking in a mirror no longer scares me.

Lets have a show of hands for who thinks this is a great twist to a good plan?

And the "eyes" have it!

Death of a salesman

As I am busy recovering my vision in my eye with a strict regimen of drops and ointment, I receive an email from a former customer and continued friend. Her email is very cut and dried and forward from the consultant to the customer who I have worked with in the past.

Dennis, the former IT director, has passed away in a tragic accident.

I am stunned and saddened. This big man, large as life, dedicated to his family and his job, who believed that the people who worked for him had amazing potential and worked with them to realize it, died in a tragic car accident.

The accident was so bad that the consultant, a long time friend of Dennis', had to bring dental records to identify him.

He was young too, in his 50's.

He had grown children, a wife, and grandchildren who meant the world to him.

Something is wrong. It shouldn't have been his time.

It doesn't matter that he no longer worked for the same customer (neither do I), or that I left before he did ( Which I did). What matters is that while we were on the same assignment he was a generous, intelligent and patient man to work with. I enjoyed those meetings with him tremendously and while there are some decisions that he made that I do not agree with, and I am sure the same thing applied to me, there was mutual respect.

I am truly saddened to hear this news and I spent a lot of time with my friend on the phone letting her talk it out and vent. She can't travel to the funeral ( which is today in Georgia) as the company is sending a delegation from NY.

He wasn't a salesman - he was a brilliant communications guy. Either way, his death is a tragedy that truly hit me when I least expected it.

Dennis - my prayers are with you. I hope that you went quickly and without pain. I know that you love your family without question.

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

The 23rd Psalm of David~

Rest In Peace Dennis Southern.

The wedding

Well its over.


The day started out literally pouring buckets. My date Eeman, calls me the night before to advise me that he has to take care of his brother and will be 30 minutes late. That's OK because we shouldn't need that extra 30 minutes.

He pulls up, opens the door for me and we're off. I have the directions and things are going well, we stop for gas before leaving town. Once we are on the parkway, I am trying to relax. I am really tense. I don't mean to be, but this is my family and the last thing I want to hear 6 months from now is "Typical Contessa - always late" from anyone.

So we are literally flying along the parkway and oh NO!!!!! A funeral procession. On the West bound side. This not only freaks me out, but it annoys the hell out of me because we are heading east bound. Rubber neckers drive me banana's! We are finally moving and we merge on to the south bound parkway and Eeman asks me what time we need to be there. I had to say 5 minutes ago. Its 11:20 and I'm starting the internal panic. He picks up his speed and I say - "wait! Can't you feel that??? We are being pulled in by the tractor beam!" That broke the tension a bit so he changes the subject and asks if my older sibling will be there and I respond with I don't smell any sulfur so probably not. Nor do I see any flying monkeys....

We pull in at 11:24. I run in and they are not ready - thank goodness. My family looks fantastic. I introduce my siblings to my date and we take our seats.

So they wedding goes well - inside - because its still pouring buckets. The wedding ends and Eeman steers me towards the bar and gets me a drink. Of course now everyone is in and the food starts being passed around and the pictures are being taken.

We are having fun now. Seeing people I haven't seen in years. Drinking, dancing, eating. Eeman has to leave to go to a gig. So he says goodbye to my family who he has charmed the hell out of all afternoon ( literally all of them LOVE him!)

I get on the party bus with everyone else and we head to The Nautical mile - the long way. On the local roads - at this rate we will get there in two days. We get the driver to change his route and this guy needs to seriously evaluate his career choice! Every time he made a turn - I was on the other side of the bus. The poor MOH was green from motion sickness.

The night ended at EB's where we all talked and drank and hung out. I walked down to ott's to catch Eeman's last set and then took a cab home. I found that somehow my new sister-in--law's garter ended up on my leg - not sure when or how!

The next morning I got myself dressed andn out the door for teh brunch my mom was holding. That was on the water, outside, gorgeous day. We had a lot of good food and fun, the kids were invited so there lots of little ones running around.

Mar emailed the pictures today which came out wonderfully!

I have to say that though it was a nice weekend, I am a little bit sad. My good friends, Jax and Jen were really superb in talking me through it. Jax commented that Eeman was the ideal date to deflect and get me through this and she would know. Jen completely understood the sadness as her sister-in-law went through that too - and she was actually in the wedding party ( Snaps to my buddy - she always does the right thing! ). I spent yesterday with her and the twins ( 3 yrs). We had such a good time.

I rounded my weekend out with a tear in my cornea - AGAIN. Its God's way of telling me to stop going to weddings in the fall. Two years ago almost to the day, I attended the Diva's wedding and got a tear in my cornea. So here I am with another one. It's not nearly as painful as the first one and it is healing.

So all is said and done.

And the rockets red glare

I hate to jump on the Star Spangled Banner boat but I feel I have something to add. Bernie's World really stated the situation in this country perfectly, however my addition is in a positive light.

I have a student who has huge promise musically. She has already decided that this is her dream and she has the drive and the talent to do so. She is a stunning young lady and incredibly personable. My hour with her is one of the privileges of my life. She makes me work harder as a teacher than I have ever had to and as a professional she makes me work as hard as I make her.

Tonight we had a lesson. I should tell you that going to her house is always an experience. I don't know the town that well though its directly north of me I never have cause to go there.
She lives in a lovely neighborhood and has a large house. Her mom, breeds small white fluffy dogs not sure if they lassa's or bijon's but they are small and white and loud and yipey.

Each time I go there, a pack of 6-10 of them come rounding the corner and if you could please picture the bumpus hounds from "A Christmas story" only miniature you would be able to appreciate the musical soundtrack behind it. then they descend on you. One of the pack is an ankle nibbler I refuse to call him a biter since I could fling him across the yard with a well placed flick of my foot. They are all sweet dogs ( and this is a HUGE step for me since I hate little dogs as a rule), but they are all jealous of one another.

Once I make it past the cavalry, she and I settle into our lesson. We talk about school and apparently this week, her English teacher decided to do a few lessons on the Star Spangled Banner, its history and the text and what it means. This same teacher also proceeded to play different versions of it for the class. My student was able to name the artists singing and tell what was wrong AND right with the performances.

I can't tell you how important it is to me that our schools are doing this. I am frankly surprised that the English teacher is doing it, but I don't care if the SHOP teachers do it, as long as it gets done. lets face it, we are a country that doesn't have any experts on the national anthem, since we barely know it as a country.

I am performing it in two weeks at the Kiwanis installation where I am receiving my award. Its the first performance in my season of singing this tune.

If you haven't read it, please read it on Bernie's world. IT IS a crisis. We as educators, parents, and citizens need to help correct it.

This has been a public service announcement. :-)

And the academy award goes to....

Well, not QUITE an acadamy award.

Actually, its called the Brittany and is a new award for the Kiwanis Club. Only 8 in existence.

I am the ninth.

I was awarded this last night, by the president of our own Kiwanis club. To say the least, I was stunned. The award was described and puts a 500 dollar donation to the Pediatric Lyme Disease Fondation in my name and I get a plaque and a medal I think.

I won this for the work I did for my friend with ALS and his family. That Fundraiser that made me so nuts back in July, but was immensely successful. I determined the success rate by how happy the family is and how much we were able to give them that day.

I can't even begin to describe how surprised and happy I am. I will be presented with the goods at our Installation of the board of directors on October 12 - another black tie event with pictures to come!

I am the ninth winner of this award, and that to me is truly amazing. The gentleman who created the award has a special place in my heart so this is doubly meaningful to me.

"I want to the thank the [academy] for this honor. I want to thank my friends & family, the cath family, and all my fellow Kiwanian's who came out to this event to support Al! This award belongs to ALL OF US"

Not bad for an ad hoc speech!

Changing it up

So you guys have been so patient with my weight loss.

I finally really think that I've got "it".

You know what "it" is. "It" is that intangible thing that we get when we are really in the groove and things are starting to work.

well. I have "it". First you should know, that I made my changes through my mindset. I have now changed my beliefs to reflect the kind of messages I tell myself. I have also given myself permission to reflect on negative things, however I have given myself a time limit on it. I now have the first hour after the offending issue takes place ( in the case of an audition its pretty immediate, but in the case of the ball I had to wait till the pics came back). After that hour I mentally place it on a shelf to be reviewed at some pre-determined date. I usually pick 2 days but it will depend on how serious it is and how badly I felt about it.

The point of this exercise is to be able to reflect on it more reasonably and accurately and be able to effect changes in my life responsibly. Its working well. This BLOG helps tremendously because I write about it either immediately when I am feeling badly OR when I have reflected on it realistically and have made my plans for change.

Change is the big thing really. I personally hate it. I admit it, I hate change. But I recognize its intrinsic value and also that most people cannot handle change in large doses. If you plan it subtly over time, people change and adjust to change and they don't even realize it happened. Being a project manager, my job is to plan out the change to make maximum results with a minimum of stress.

So with that, I thought that I looked lovely for the ball. I also think that the weight was emphasized with a particular position that I picked to stand in for the pictures. So the two things I took away from that are:

1. Change my position for the pictures for the immediate future.
2. Continue losing weight and exercising for the long term.

If I keep finding solutions to the little things that get me down in my journey with a short term change and a long term change I think I can be more successful than I already am.

With that in mind, I acknowledged and accepted the fact that my internal body workings needs some help. Being a smart "Cookie", I opted to do some additional research.

1. First, I pulled out my quick cleanse and re-read the directions as if it were new and started again. Already on Day 3 my allergies are better, my skin is clearer and I feel better overall. I will finish on the day of the wedding and I will be doing these quarterly moving forward.

2. Second I decided to research foods that will help keep my body clean internally between cleanses. The bottom line is I have to eat more vegetables. So I am going to try to find a way to eat more of it. That's a mini plan that I haven't quite sorted out. But it definitely revolves around eating a salad with Lunch and Dinner and more chicken.

3. I had stopped exercising but that HAS to come back. So I took a good look at my calendar and scheduled to exercise sessions per day. I may not be able to do both but I intend to do at least one. One will be 45 minutes of walking at 8AM and the other will be cardio and weights. If I can do these things 5-7 days I will be in great shape.

Its the same plan, only now I'm tweaking it suit my life.

I think Mr. T said it best. " I love it when a plan comes together"

Formal events

I attended a formal dress ball last night. It was an event to honor the director of the Library here in town and to benefit the First Presbyterian Church here in town.

Now I don't attend the Church. I go to my own Episcopal church in Wantagh but if I had to pick another church that might be a safe home for me till I missed my own flavor of faith. All my friends attend it, the minister himself is wonderful and I am pleased to call his wife a friend as well. Eddie actually attended my father's funeral for me. He had never met my dad, but both her and Pam came. Pam sang in the choir. It touched me greatly.

So when I was offered the opportunity to go I decided to re-arrange my life and do it. What a wonderful time. My girlfriends were all there. And Chris.

Everyone danced a lot and we had good food and good entertainment. I joined the choir in singing.

It was the first ever ball and I know I for one have every intention of being at all the future events.

CLIA

Has anyone else seen the latest advertising campaign for government work? Specifically, the commercials on NBC for the CIA.

That's right the Central Intelligence Agency WANTS YOU.

Now, I am not one to bash our government or any of its parts. I may not agree with them, but I don't subscribe to name calling or bashing, I simply state my opinion. I use my words. And I try to get involved to effect change at the level that I am at.

However this is the most absurd thing I have ever seen. This commercial is begging the public to join the "secret and Clandestine" forces of the CIA.

Now I ask you - Just exactly how secret and clandestine is it, if they have a 2 minute spot advertising that they are down in numbers and please join them on National Television?

Think about it. Recall the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the respective Reserves commercials looking for recruits? Uncle Sam Wants You, Go to College on the GI bill and then imagine what an illegal terrorist in our country could be surmising from these National commercials? I can say that as an American when I see those commercials I get a few thoughts in my head. One is that they are trying to keep a positive message out there to young people to keep this option open. The other is that our troops are low or not on the home front these days? It does beg a question in my mind.

Clearly they must advertise like everyone else. Colleges Advertise, Churches advertise. If you don't get your establishment publicized in some form or fashion how will people know about it? I just wonder who their in house publicity team is and how wise it is to advertise in this fashion. I'm assuming our tax dollars are hard at work paying the best of the best in advertising so of course I am confused by the language chosen.

Come on now. It really LACKS intelligence to tell the free world that our Centralized Intelligence Agency is down for the count and we are looking for recruits on National TV. If they had stuck to that specific language it probably wouldn't be so bad. But they added the words "secret and Clandestine". That just made me think that these people are just not that bright. I mean. If it is "secret" why broadcast. Have they even looked up the definition of the word Clandestine?

The fact is we all know what the CIA is, more or less. Does the public know the details? Not as much as you would think. The CIA has gotten a good deal of bad press in the past few years. However they are a necessary part of our government and they are tasked with the difficult job of providing the information needed to keep this Country safe. Then they go and put up this commercial. I really question their good judgement. Or hell, their judgement, good or otherwise.

Perhaps Dustin Hoffman was right - maybe it is the "Central Lack of Intelligence Agency" after all.

A Poodle is a Gal's best hag...uh...friend...uh hag....

I have a poodle.

I referred to him in an earlier post. But I don't think that I took the time to accurately describe the poodle.

Some important information you need to know.


1. I have known my poodle for 8 years.

2. We met at work, in fact we started at the same time.

3. We have been kicked out of training classes for misbehaving.

4. We have gotten certain public features in training software permanently removed for "accidental" misuse.

5. we each gotten hideously drunk in front of the other one.

6. During one of those instances, one person got outted. But not who you think.

7. During one of those instances, one person fell down stairs at Grand Central Station in NYC.

8. I have a bad habit of playing practical jokes on him.

9. In all these years, he's only gotten me once.


So the last two are going to be the topic of this post.


You see, I am his Hag. Oh he has his girls that sit near him and they are all really tight, but I am THE hag and I take my job VERY seriously.


My Poodle picks all my formal wear out for me or at the very least approves it. See below for the outfit I am wearing to my brother's wedding:
















So, you get the idea.

There was a day LAST YEAR that Poodle was downtown with two other mutual friends, G and Dim. Poodle was on vacation and I was sitting at his desk for lack of another spot in that office that day. Poodle, Dim and G are having lunch since 11 and it is now 2. We are all supposed to meet up later since we had guests from out of town and the whole team was going to Annie Moore's for drinks.



Poodle calls his phone and asks to speak to one of his Angels ( the girls that sit by him are referred to as Charlies' Angels - guess who he is???? NOT Tom Bosley I can assure you!). She is on the phone, but I have to wonder why he calls his own phone. He isn't even clear on who answered it. So I decide to have some fun with him.



He Finally figures out that its me. We talk, or he talks and I put him on speaker for the entire row's entertainment. And then I take his overly large post it note pad, a blue highlighter and proceed to write I Love Poodle.


However, He's familiar with my work.



He continued to find these for weeks.



A few months later, he went on vacation again. Being tied up with my own work, I was unable to work out of the NYC office that week so I couldn't write more post-its, So I enlisted the help of a "friend" in the office. I had him willing to do this. He wrote out stickies saying I Heart my poodle
That one had him mystified. He still swears to this day that I did it. But, I promised not to reveal
my source and I have not. NEVER - I promised.



I did go into 200 Park a month ago for a team lunch. Similar to last year. This year I sat next to him as he was in the office. I silently contacted my "friend" and when Poodle and I left for the day - together - my "friend" went to work with the post its. Poor Poodle. this one killed him. He saw me get on the subway. He actually convinced himself that I doubled back and did it after he got on the Metro North. This one is the most fun of all three. Of course it doesn't beat the crank call as Becky but that's for another time.



Even as recently as today, He still believes I doubled back and put them all over. He's going to read this - mark my words. The first mystery will be revealed, but that just opens the door for the second mystery. who is my accomplice?????? hmmmm.



Poodle is one of my favorite people. He's the one person I can be truly silly with and I know I don't laugh nearly as much as I do with him. till my sides hurt and my face aches.

Barclays Barking Robots - a new job for the millenium?

At 200 Park in NYC, the metlife Building, or you old timers the Pan Am building, Barclays Bank has several floors beneath us.

Each Floor has Glass entry ways and a Robot at each door. Technically these robots are human security force members, grey suit, ear piece and all. Sans weapons, though - that would be dangerous.

You have to wonder what these people seriously do all day. Whats being said into these earpieces. What about the watch microphones? I seriously hope, for the safety of Barclays that their ipods are not attached to the cool squigly earpieces.

Our cub reporter, poodle, was on the scene today. ( he was actually getting lunch - hey a poodle's gotta eat!). He happened along the new Barclays Lobby in our building opposite our office. He noticed a robot there, through the glass. The robot was not behaving very robot-ish.

He was barking like a dog at someone in the lobby through their glass doors.


I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that that behaviour is not in the robot handbook.

Now, up to this point, I had thought that would be a cool job to have. Stand around all day, Poodle on one floor, cookie on the other. Can't you just hear the conversation:

"Poodle, I'm on four, going to check on 6. out"
"Cookie, I'm headed to the lobby for coffee. out"
"Poodle, I want a large Vanilla Latte. Out"
"Cookie, you want milk and sugar"
"Poodle, you forgot to say out. out"
"Sorry Cookie, out. Out"
"No Problem, Poodle. Out"
"OK, Cookie, Coming back up to 4. Out"
"OK Poodle I'm out, out."

Come on people we can have a lot of fun with this.

What I find most entertaining here, is A. Cookie was in Long Island that day and B:

Poodle is the one that saw the dogs barking. How ironic.

Who let the dogs "out"???

Out.

A new look for The Contessa

Well folks - its done - for now....

I have made Blogger my new home. Myspace just wasn't cutting it. For one thing it was more difficult to manipulate beyond basic text and for another, well, it just didn't have the cool bells and whistles that Blogger does.

I had original blogger up for a couple of days but beta blogger is sooo cool, I migrated the site immediately. Makes my life so much easier. I hate HTML seriously. I used to write code for a living and I hate it. So anything to NOT write code is a blessing for me.

I migrated my Former blog into Blogger by date, so its all here. My first actual post on Blogger was yesterday. So much better and I love to be able to write and save drafts. Then I don't forget my topics and Ideas. Which I do. As I have said in previous posts, I am so busy and I do so much that an idea will come to me and I will make a mental note to Blog on it, and then its gone. Can't use Sticky notes like Sierra does, that throws a challenge down to the cats. Those are fluorescent pink toys to them.

I really like my new look now too. I will play with it and tweak it as I find out more about the new bells and whistles in beta blogger.

So Let me know what you think!

The Contessa

All the leaves are brown...

You know the old Mamas and the papas tune....

all the leaves are brown ( all the leaves are brown)
And the sky is grey....

Thats what it feels like here in NY and the summer isn't even over yet. To tell the truth I'm offended.

I mean, I bought a wrap to use at my brothers wedding but really didn't think I would need it. It's looking good that I will use it, sad to say.

I have stopped wearing shorts, I'm in capri's exclusively now and starting to wear long sleeves again. Frankly its annoying. The summer is gone...

But I have to say, this is the time of year that I love. Fall is still my favorite of all seasons. Seriously, I love the colors, I love the smells in the air, I love the foods we start eating and I love the fall clothes. I have pumpkin scented candles I took out and a fireplace scented one. I love these things.

I am also really nostalgic at this time of year. I cry more easily at emotional things on TV or movies. For awhile I thought that I seriously missed being in school. But I don't. I don't want the stress of classes or the pressure of practicing for a grade, or more to do than I already have ( not that I think thats actually possible. ). What I miss most is the fun I had in school. I am in regular contact with my closest buds, Bernie, Maplemama, and Jax and that has been one of my greatest joys. But its not just them, its all the nutty stuff we used to do.

These people are responsible for some of my greatest moments. An example is the time that My Christmas tree for our room arrived before the decorations did. Bernie and Maple thought it would be a great idea to decorate it with office and desk supplies. There were paperclip garlands, post it notes, scotch tape ornaments. Somewhere I have pictures that need to be scanned.

Another classic story would be moving Maplemama out of the loser dorm into our room. Now the trick here is to remember we already had 4 people living in a 4 man dorm. MAple made 5. We made our lounge area into a bedroom. It was very funny. It rained. I drove my Hyundai into the quad and loaded all of her belongings and her into it and drove into our own quad and unloaded her.

I still can't believe we lived that way for a year and no one noticed. Seriously.

We had a lot of good times in school and sometimes I miss the fact that the only responsibiliy I had was to me. To get good grades and do well. Now I have tons more responsibility. I love my life, but sometimes I miss the one I had backk then.

There's no going back. The four of us have "grown up" together. Our lives have taken somewhat different paths, but we all managed to keep our friendship alive and fresh.

Now if only they would invent euchre for the computer that can have four different players in different places...... that would be a hoot, but I doubt it let me stack the kitty with 9,10 and queens.......

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Finally - its here!!!!!! Current mood: nostalgic Category: Music

The thrill of a lifetime. Drumroll please.....

My name in lights!!!!!!!! Well, flyers and a program anyway.

Seriously folks, My Vocal Recital has been scheduled. I actually think that I am at a point with my singing that it will be really good. I am constantly reminded at how much I have accomplished and yet how far I still have to go.

I am always surprised when I hear myself sing. There are times when that surprise leads straight to horror - those aren't my best days but we all have them, and then my favorites are the times when I am expecting the horror because my allergies are bad or whatever and I get the happy surprises of sounding great. I am working really hard to make the great times the rule rather than the exception and it seem to be working.

Today I woke up feeling honest to god crappy. My allergies ( along with everyone elses, including those who don't suffer!) were peaking. I had the watery eyes, the headache, the stuffy nose, sinus issues - you name it. I took my drugs, had some juice - two large coffees and 16 oz of water and went on my way to my lesson. I warmed up in the car and arrived there promptly at 10:32. We talk about my Audition on tuesday, I tell it for what it actually was and he warms me up again. I can't believe it - I sound good.

We work on the La Boheme Aria that will likely be on the program and its starting to really sound like something. The Italian is actually coming easier now - the Opera is not so bad. I still like German better, but I have some new appreciation for the Italian opera. We work on the Menotti Aria ( in english which ironically can be harder! ) I don't think this one lies as well for my voice and I would like to cut it from the program but I need more rep first. I can't eliminate with nothing to replace it with.

He starts me on a new song, I love it - its the Je Veux Vivre by Gounod's Romeo and Juliette. Its beautiful. Its a little bit tough in spots. I also pulled out Poor Wand'ring One from Pirates of Penzance. Also not easy but its kind of fun and lies beautifully for my voice.
I had to abondon Queen of the night for awhile. The top fifth of voice is gone on vacation to the tropics till the pollen count regulates. Seriously After E6 I'm shot to hell. Its passable in a warmup but there is no way I can perform it. Yeesh! I really want to master this one as a personal goal and perform it, but it may not be at this recital. I am planning on mastering the new Gounod for the Recital in March as well. Trust me, you've all heard it.

I'm really excited about this recital. In college I used to get physically ill and bitchy as all get out before solo performances ( remember Maple and Jax?) and for that I truly apologize to my poor unsuspecting roomies and Friends ( Bernie). I never used to get nervous when I was singing alto or mezzo. Seriously it was no big deal and I didn't experience the scared witless feelings that I go through now singing in my new range. I think thats largely due to it being so new to me.

This also put me on more equal footing with some "others" in the performing groups that I belong to. It means that they have to worry now about how solo auditions go. And I do too. Added stress if you want the solo's. And Now I do want them and work my butt off to be worthy of them.

So If you want to see some seriously hard work, blood, sweat and many tears, you should really come out to Abiding presence Lutheran Church in Fort Salonga, NY on February 11, 2007. Its going to be a dynamite show. I can't wait to do it....

My dad would be so proud!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

When is the Laughing song not so funny..... Current mood: stressed Category: Jobs, Work, Careers
As it turns out music is not my main career, but it is my main passion. I am as passionate about now as I was when I packed my bags to go to the Crane School of Music - maybe more so.
Yesterday I had my re-audition to continue to sing with Long Island Masterworks. I hadn't ever sung for the director in my true range and she hasn't heard me since I started studying. I was excited to sing this audition.
I had decided to pull out Adele's Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus by Strauss. Its showy enough and isn't too hard. I re-worked it with some updates and changes from my performance of it in March. I sang it earlier that afternoon and again in the car and I was confident that I was ready.
I had to teach a lesson before I went. It was in Massapequa which is on the way to Commack from my house. Traffic being what it is here, I really expected to need 30 minutes to make the drive but gave myself 45 minutes. Good plan - I needed 43. It was pouring rain, the traffic was horrible, then a car flipped right in front of me and skidded off the road on its roof right before I got off at my exit. I was a little bit rattled but refused to let it interfere with the performance I needed to do.
I get there, fill out my paperwork, and wait my turn. It was nice, I passed the time with some friends I hadn't seen all summer and some for the spring prior as well as last year I was unable to sing with the LI Philharmonic due to a conflict on performance dates.
Oh lord, its my turn....... I grab my things and walk down the hall to where she's waiting. She's a phenomenal accompianist so I'm actually looking forward to this. That was where I went wrong.
I open my mouth and start to sing the second verse which we agreed to be our start place. We are doing fine with the out of tune piano, diction is good, intonation is overall ok, in my opinion. We get to the cadenza and she slows it down to a crawl. She is testing me to see how long I can hold the High C before I crack. That I managed to pull off, but overall this was not my best performance. I felt unraveled around the edges, she didn't appear impressed at all.
She told me that I was definately singing in first soprano-land and where was I seated last year? I told her I was sitting on the line of first and second. She said I could be a first but she may have to move me if she isn't hearing what she needs to. She commented that my diction was good, but my intonation needed work. OK That may be true as I was singing with a piano that was scarily out of tune.
As I said, I was rattled now, good and proper. I handled it better than the year before though and for that I was thankful. She had me do some sight reading which was perfect and she told me I did a great job. Then some scales. She stretched me good up high but I hit them all and in tune. She tested my perfect pitch. That was the first time ever, that I couldn't rise to the occasion. I froze.
I have always had perfect pitch. Its not something I questioned a lot, I have been tested up the ying yang ( and where is the ying yang you ask? another post perhaps) all with positive results. Yes ma'am. Your daughter has perfect pitch. OK so I tell her that I am not sure anymore if its true because seriouly I am starting to wonder.
So she says OK sing an E. I look at her and sing an E. She said thats an E. She says, sing a B flat, I sing a b flat. She tells me that sometimes perfect pitch can waver when you are studying hard and being fed notes. It sometimes happens that the gift fades temporarily and then comes back. She tells me that she trusts it but not to worry I may have really good relative pitch that I can retain for really long periods of time.
I'm not particular to be honest but the last thing I need right now is to start doubting the abilities I've built so much on. It rattled me further to be honest; I've never frozen up like that on this test.
This was an audition like none other. When it was all done, I said "I dont know what it is about you, but I only get nervous in front of you"
Her answer was "Hey kid, thats the story of my life."

Saturday, September 02, 2006

We are family.... Current mood: contemplative Category: Life
In honor of labor day.... my mom decided to have some family over. All of my siblings were invited, but only Bud and I were able to make it. Bud brought his fiancee, B and her parents H&F.
H&F are really great. In a really old post I may have casually mentioned that H is relatively close to my age. The reason for this is that B is 24. Bud is 34. Age is not an issue here as she is perfect for him.
So we are 3 weeks to the day of the wedding. Of course, that consumed a lot of the conversation which was fun. Evidently we are getting a party bus and after the wedding is over, we will be getting ON the party bus to do exactly that, party. Sounds like a plan to me.
My outfit is complete, accessories and all. My mom provided the purse and wrap on loan, the shoes I bought and the jewelery was a gift from my mom. And its some seriously beautiful stuff.
B is going to get the perm culr eyelashes that I have. She's doing it this week. she's excited for that. We discussed hair and makeup. All the girl things.
At dinner, which was not really a BBQ because Hurricane Ernesto showed up rather uninvited I might add. So we did an indoor sitdown dinner which was delicious. Everyone was well behaved overall.
In my family, we have a tendancy to do one of several things.
1. we have to know everything about everything.
2. We have to monopolize the conversation
3. We can't be wrong - see number 1.
4. We will pursue something to prove we are right to the detriment of the relationship.
So when I say everyone was well behaved - I am seriously saying that very little of the above went on. Thats a big deal.
My brother and I were raised on number 4 primarily. Anything we read or learned or saw we had to defend to our parents. That meant researching your facts. This is usually a good thing when you are searching for answers to normal situations at school etc. But its filtered into every day life. We both do it, and we both hate it. I have made a lifetime commitment to trying NOT to do anything with the information I naturally go after. I catch people in lies all the time - I don't often call them on it. It depends on the situation and if it impacts me or someone close to me. My brother tends to feel the same way - we don't like this part of us but its there. Its part of what I call boundary-less syndrome.
Imagine "meet the parents". My mom is Barbra Streisand and My step dad is Dustin Hoffman. This is very typical behaviours of my parents. I had to die laughing when I saw that movie and I purposely own it because it reminds me in very positive ways of my parents and their values.
My parents raised us with no intellectual boundaries. We had the normal physical ones, such as no running with scissors - in our house there was no running at all actually. We didn't have curfews, but the deal was my mom always had to know where we were, ,who we were with and what time were we coming home and how were we getting there If any of those things changed, we had to call.
So the lack of intellectual boundaries extended to all of us and it allowed us all to be "researchers" for lack of a better word. I myself research "people" and their motivations and behaviours. My brother does too but has recently turned his "researching" ability towards his business which is very useful for him. I have turned my researching towards my passions, music, History etc. But the old behaviours don't die so hard for any of us.
B is marrying into this family and she hasn't really had an oppurtunity to see it first hand. While this is a good thing, it can raise its ugly head at any time.
So back to our dinner - as we are eating dessert, my mother jumps the boundary nimbly and tells a story that qualifies under the TMI laws of Too Much Information. The topic is not really important for you to know just know that it was more info that any of them wanted to hear, and I myself didn't much care, but I thought it might be wise to mention to my mom that she is over that line that we had discussed and these people don't know us that well..... yet!
This generated some laughter and we were able to move on with the evening.
The point is the value-set that we were raised with was rather progressive for the time. My brother is marrying out of our generation a little bit but the value sets are so similar that it really doesn't matter. She's young, but she's a perfect fit. ( She didn't flinch at the Boundary line faux pas!) I can't wait to see their kids.............

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A Stomach ache by any other name Current mood: calm Category: Pets and Animals
It started like any normal day, got up, fed the cats and made myself coffee.

Any semblance of my normal work day disappeared after that.

Wolfi, my orange Maine Coon, started to projectile vomit.



At first I thought it was just a hairball as he has some trouble processing those through his body. It usually takes an entire day and a couple of doses of his malt medication. So I did that, but things werent working.

This cat really does have me wrapped around his paw, though. No sooner would he throw up then he would hightail it to the kitchen and sit, not in front of his food bowl or water bowl, but in front of the saucer where I fed him some baby food to see if he would eat. He did this EACH time he threw up.

Still not believing he was actually sick, I spent the day cleaning up after him and making sure he was eating and drinking. Then all of a sudden I realized he hadnt been eating or drinking enough to make it worth my while and he hadnt used the box since the morning.

And I panicked.

You see, he is two years four months and 4 days old. He is actually too young to suffer from urinary blockage but thats not a hard and fast rule. Im extremely hypersensitive to that because Wilbur, my first MC, suffered from that and I almost lost him to it. It cost roughly 5000 dollars before I was done.

So you see why I panicked. The symptoms Wolfi was exhibiting were the same ones that accompany urinary blockage. Along with the target group of large, male cats 3-7 years old. Except for the 3 year old part he had it all,

So I call the emergency hospital code for CHA CHING and the receptionist advises me that he really should be seen but it costs $115.00 just to walk in the door. I decide to wait a bit longer and see how this pans out.
Then I made a fatal mistake I looked up the symptoms of urinary blockage to double check and thats when I made the connection and completely fell apart.

I call back to the emergency room. This time one of the nurses picks up. I should have known better really. She proceeds to tell me that the cat needs to be seen immediately because its obvious he cannot pee. If I dont he will die by morning.

Can you all say Alarmist???? Now my perceived panic is out right hysteria. I drop everything, I call my two best friends and both are not home. I left messages.

As I am now getting Wolfi together, S calls me back. She calmly listens to me as she always does and proceeds to impart this logic:

If he isnt eating or drinking anything and hes throwing up stomach fluids, why on earth would he be peeing and pooping? What is there to pee or poop?

Of course, this is perfectly logical and makes perfect sense. But the snowball is rolling downhill already and I decide to follow through just to be safe.

No carrier Lord knows who borrowed it, So I bundle him in a blanket and hustle out to the car. Mr curious has never been in the car before so this is of course going to be interesting. He wasnt too inquisitive but I did drive one handed all the way to the north shore.

Once there I hold him in one arm and fill out forms with the other. We wait for 45 minutes ( for which they charged me $115.00) and then we are called in. The same nurse who advise me that he would die if I didnt bring him in, bustles in importantly, weighs him ( 14 LBS) and proceeds to tell me what his diagnosis is. I ask her if that is her opinion or fact? She looks confused. She was very abrupt when she tells me that she has been a Veterinary nurse for over 20 years and that she can diagnose by looking at the animal. Then she tells me the doctor will be in shortly and leaves.

I shake my head in wonderment, pet my cat, then it comes to me. I know her. And I know from where, and I didnt like her much then either. She was the nurse who assisted when I had to put Wilbur down. She told me that I was not allowed to be in the room when they put him down. When I asked why she told me because she would have to catheterize the cat before they do it. I hit the roof, they are putting my cat to sleep and I cant be there because it will put her out? The vet put a stop to that quickly and fast forward, Im in the same room dealing with her crap again.

The Doctor arrives, she is wonderful. I respect her very much. She checks his heart and his lungs ( both clear and healthy heart has no arrhythmia or murmer), takes his temp (102 perfectly normal), checks gums ( perfect), eyes ( perfect) and says.

Tell me whats going on. There doesnt appear to be anything wrong with this cat.

I share with her the story of the day. She offers up an x-ray but says its very pricey and she doesnt believe that its necessary. In her professional opinion, this is not a cat she is going to lose sleep over tonight. There are some, but hes not one.

So we decide against the x-ray. She tells me that she is going to give me something to settle his stomach. I told her I almost gave him some pepcid and she tells me thats exactly what shes giving him. I gasp. For 170 dollars? Are you KIDDING Me???? So she laughs and says that there are more injections than just that. He also got subcutaneous fluids, and an antibiotic just to kill off any secondary infections.

They bring him back smelling like the nurses perfume. He has been flirting with them in the back. They are all in love with him and as usual he has been charming the pants off everyone.

We settle the bill. They hand me the insurance forms pre-filled out and ready to go with all the copies necessary. We leave. The poor baby is shaking like a leaf from fear. We get in the car and head home.

We step off the elevator in our building. He immediately recognizes this place hops out of my arms and trots down the hall. He stops at the corner to meow at me to hurry up. We get into the house, he goes to sleep. We get one more bout of projectile vomiting and he is out like a light. I pick up all the food and water so no one gets anything. I go to bed.

Somewhere around 3AM, Bandit joins me on the bed. 10 seconds later he is joined by Wolfi, who proceeds to start bathing Bandit. See below:








By 5AM my life is no longer my own. I am unable to sleep because Wolfi either wants food or love or both. This continues till 8:30 when I finally get up. I feed him some baby food per the vets orders. He eats it in record time and start barking for more. Then he starts eating the regular food. He uses the box and sleeps most of the day. Hes not 100 ut hes about 85 and Ill take that.

I read the bill this afternoon. For the diagnosis of Gastritis with a treatment of Pepcid, fluids, antibiotic we paid 287.00. Code for A stomach ache.

Now thats the most expensive trip to Garden City Ive ever taken.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Feline Loev Current mood: content Category: Pets and Animals

I would classify myself as an animal person. I like dogs and cats equally but have developed an allergy to dogs in the last decade of my life. Cats however - that allergy disappeared the same time the dog one set in.

I am not picky about my cats. I always have two and they are always going to be male (neutered) in the future. One will always be a Maine Coon the other - whatever.

My very first cat was Wilbur, a stunning Black Maine coon with green eyes. He was the love of my life and died 4 years ago. I had him cremated and he sits on a shelf over my desk every day. He was quite a personality. Such a gentle boy - 18 lbs but not fat. MC's are BIG cats. He was a mouser and since we lived in the woods back then, he would catch the unlucky mice that would have the nerve to set paw into our home.

I adopted Shadow, a domestic short hair, female found on the beach as a kitten, from a childhood friend of mine. The family had passed her from house to house within the family due to allergies but she was Mallory's cat from day 1. They missed each other. Shadow never liked to share her "people" with other animals. She was a little bit of bitch too. She was vindictive with as much ferocity towards her peoples as the love she had for them. Shadow adored me. She truly loved me. I loved her too. But when she got mad at me for some slight - real or imagined - she would pee somewhere. Never hidden - right out in the open - and damaging something. My leather briefcase was the one that really irked me most.

She passed away a year an half ago at age 18 also. She had some disease that defied even my vet. She had lesions on her body that would erupt and no one could tell me what was wrong with her. I was forced to put my poor shmoofy to sleep because it was slowly killing her with extensive pain and there was nothing that could be done for her.

In between, I had adopted a 4 year old neutered male Maine coon named Toby. He was gorgeous. Traditional tortuous shell tabby cat with brilliant green eyes. He had an aneurism after 9 months with me and we lost him.

Both Shadow and Toby are buried in my parents yard.

My current loves are Wolfgang and Bandit. Wolfi is my Orange Maine Coon. Hes 16 lbs and was the runt of the litter. A roly poly baby who I got at 3 months old, he was the first kitten I ever took care of by myself. He was so beautiful and sweet, he would fall asleep while running to sit on my lap, right on the floor. Such a sweet face, this cat has the perfect 8 points for showing a Maine Coon. I wouldnt show him though hes all mine and hes neutered. He can be very loving and a big pain in the butt. He sleeps with me, eats with me and sometimes my food in addition to his own.

He has a unique habit with his litter box. When its time for him to use the Lil kitties room, he goes into the bathroom, closes the door, does his business, cleans up, opens the door and comes out. Just like his humans do.

He feels that it is his right to share a yogurt with his mom and we have finally come to an arrangement with that. When I take out the yogurt, if hes not with me and thats highly unlikely

I ask Who wants to have a yogurt with mama? He comes running if hes not with me, and we walk together, with him chirping the whole way, to the couch. I tell him to settle down which means lay down until mama finishes her yogurt. He then takes the container between his front paws and licks it. I eat activia yogurt which has a very small container and his big head doesnt really fit, but he does pretty well.

He also has an unnatural affinity for the hallway. The one OUTSIDE my house. He sits at the door and whines, or talks to me, if he hears anyone or anything in this hallway. No matter that they may not be there to visit us. We do have neighbors. He does have a girlfriend 3 doors down named Ginger. She loves him and she loves me. She sits outside my door and they sniff each other. Its so funny to watch.

These stories may illustrate Wolfi as the smart one. I assure you, he is smart, but his brother bandit is brilliant.

Bandit is not out going, he is not terribly interesting looking, he is domestic short hair black and white cat. He was also the runt of his litter. He is very sweet and very loving. He loves to do things in the house that hes not allowed to and sets up Wolfi for the fall.

I had changed the type of litter the boys were using to the crystals. They deal with smells better and last longer so I thought this was a great idea. Bandit felt differently. What he would do, was take the multicolored blue crystal covered poops and use them as toys. Wolfi being the more active player IMMEDIATELY joined in. It took me months to catch Bandit as the culprit and poor Wolfi was always getting yelled at.

Likewise with the closets. Wolfi is dumb enough to open the closet doors to root around in there, but he learned this from Bandit. Again took me months to find out.

They play together all morning long. One chases the other than they reverse. They run through the house like this. 2 or 3 times a month, there are scratches on one anothers noses, but thats part of the territory. Bandit is getting better a fighting back. Hes the lover not the fighter. They play like this at my bedtime as well. There tends to be under the bed action here, they fight, hiss, and talk freshly to one another, until I turn the spray gun on them. If this continues through the night, one or both get thrown out of the room.

Bandit is a love bug more so than Wolfi. Wolfi is loving and affectionate but Bandit can go 20-30 minutes of petting and purring where Wolfi only has about 5 -7 minutes in him. Bandit is very responsive to being called the love bug, He is very sweet and very cuddly, and He is NOT the dominant one.

Wolfi is.

And you know how I found out? Wolfi mounted Bandit when they were 6 months old. Not really clear on what either was supposed to do, Bandit rolled over on his back and the two of them looked at me and had the most perplexed look on their face. And me without my camera! Like I said there is a supreme lack of intelligence here.
Bandit only sleeps on the bed in the winter Wolfi is on the bed all year round and under the covers during the colder months.

They both worship me, or at least, I like to think so.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

When Life gives you berries make jam Current mood: creative Category: Food and Restaurants
At 7:30 my phone rings but I am asleep in an air conditioned room and do not hear it. That is a good thing actually, though since my father died, I am unually paranoid about missing "The call".
This one was not as life threatening, it was my vocal coach canceling due to a medical situation that needed immediate, but not life threatening, attention.
If I had gotten the call at 7:30 I would have just not woken up at all till I absolutely had to. But I awoke at 8:45, had my juice and saw the machine blinking.... upon recieving the message, I did what any other self respecting confirmed "sleeper" would do..... I took my cats and went back to bed.
That lasted for 30 minutes, the boys wouldn't let me sleep as that was their love and cuddle time. When they were done they left and I was wide awake. So much for going back to sleep! I was lying there contemplating what to do with the the 2 1/2 hours left before Weight Watchers. I had a long list, but I decided to get up and make French Instant Gratfification Jam.
One important note - the name is of the recipe is Instant Gratficiation Jam... I don't know about you but that title must be on comparison to something else because my idea of instant gratfication is not 2 hours.
It wasn't hard or complicated in any way you basically take one cup of sugar for each pint of fruit, toss it in a bowl to fruit is covered, put in a pot cover fruit/sugar mixture completely with water, bring to a boil then simmer to fruit reduces down.
Seriously, that is the entire recipe and the house smells delicious. But two hours? yikes. On top of which near the end, you really have to pay attention because one second too long and you have burned jam and a burned pot.
Mine wasn't scorched or anything and it tastes pretty good - I only used on pint of strawberries and it doesn't reduce down to much - maybe 4 servings. But it is delicious.
I don't know WHAT possessed me to do this today. Its not my way at all to make things I can buy LOL. Come on - you all must know that by now.
I proceeded to bring it up at Weight Watchers and they all stared at me. For that very reason - this is a group of people I have been with for 3-5 years. They all know....
My next plan is to see if I can do this with a mixture of sugar and splenda. then eventually I will cut over to splenda altogether. this could be a great idea for christmas gifts.
Unless you jar your jam in glass and seal it with wax for airtightness, this stuff lasts in the fridge 3-5 days. This is not preserves, its just jam.
Make it while the good fruits are in season - cut larger berries down to small pieces so that it reduces faster ( ANYTHING TO CUT DOWN THAT 2 HOUR cook time).
I think cherries next - that seems like a unique one.....

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Pet Peeves Current mood: exhausted
What IS the deal with magazine cards?
whoever thought of this as a means of expanding readership should be shot along with the creator of the underwire bra and telemarketing.
There is nothing I hate more than sitting at the hairstylist or colorist, doctors office or any office and picking up one of the many OLD magazines that are usually sitting there. You start to flip through, maybe you find an article that seems interesting circa 1987 and you recall some fond memories while reading, you flip the page and BAM! three cards flutter silently down to the floor.
What do you do with them? Pick them up is the obvious answer but after that? Do you return them to magazine? Put them on the table, assuming there is one? throw them away, again assuming there is a trash recepticle handy?
Imagine you are a commuter on the train. You sit in your seat and someone sits next to you, starts reading their magazine and next thing you know the cards are in YOUR lap. I do commute occasionally but I take all the cards out and throw them away before the train ride. Its common courtesy along with MINIMAL CELL PHONE USAGE PLEASE.
This is the whole point. Their purpose is to be filled out and returned for a subscription. Does anyone ever do this? I can safely tell you that I subscribe to 4 different magazines and NOT ONCE did I fill a card out.
Seriously I would even prefer it if the proverbial "they" would send me something in the mail rather than these stupid cards. And they can't put 1 or 2 cards in... its more like 7.
So I will be putting a once a month story up on my pet peeves. I can't wait to decide what septembers will be!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

100 Things Current mood: crappy Category: Quiz/Survey
Sierra started my thinking - Thanks Sierra I don't do NEARLY enough of that!
1. I have 2 cats
2. They are 2 years old
3. I have had 3 other cats that were just mine and not my Families.
4. I have always had cats AND dogs in our family.
5. I am allergic to most dogs so I tend to avoid owning them
6. I have severe allergies to anything airborn
7. I have more shoes than any one person should be allowed to have
8. Ditto on Clothes
9. I hate housekeeping.
10. If I have to clean my house, I prefer to vacuum.
11. I have someone who cleans my house.
12. I am over furnished in my home.
13. I have a scale in my bedroom
14. I have four parents.
15. Only three are living.
16, My dad passed away 8 days before my 34th birthday
17. I was living in my stepmother's home when the big blakcout occured.
18. I was standing in the middle of the fifth avenue in NY by the Library when the second plane hit the tower - and I saw it happen.
19. I lost someone in that tragedy and only found out when I saw his picture on the memorial in Grand Central Station.
20. My office is right above Grand Central
21. We are the number 5 terrorist target in Manhattan,
22. My home office is now on Long Island ( see a connection?)
23. The office is 11 minutes from my house
24. I still work more often out of my house
25. I collect red wine
26. I love food!
27. I am a weight watcher
28. I have a dear friend of mine that I work with who can make me laugh so hard that I can't breathe, eyes tear and I sound like Mutley.
29. I am a classically trained musician.
30. I sing with 3 Choirs and my church choir
31. I take Voice Lessons
32. I teach voice lessons, piano lessons and flute lessons
33. I thought I was an alto but it turns out I am a coloratura!
34. I hate humidity
35. I have eczema
36. My skin LOVES the humidty
37. I hate exchange mail. I prefer pop mail.
38. I love Dark Chocolate or white NEVER milk
39. I love Dark beer or Light beer - and only imported.
40. I love anything French
41. I hate Cheesecake
42. I still love Kraft Mac and Cheese wtih the powdered cheese.
43. I read everything
44. I research the things that interest me.
45. I have new interests all the time.
46. I am a ceritified teacher
47. I take 3 prescription pills each day and one spray
48. I have an obscene collection of exercize videos.
49. I do not own an ipod
50. I do have a new cordless phone that announces the callers name.
51. After September I will be the only sibling in my family to not be married
52. I don't much care
53, I have 5 nieces and nephews that I see rarely.
54. I have 3 brothers and one sister.
55. All but one live in NYS
56. All but one live within 90 minutes of my parents house. ( not the same answer as 55!)
57. None of my best friends live close to me.
58. I do have a "posse" of close girl friends locally
59. I just turned and I am starting to feel older
60. I am not the mother type
61. I am the Fun Aunt type
62. I am a bit on the techie side
63. I have a lot of antiques.
64. I am practicing my french in the car while I am driving from student to student.
65. I love to talk on the phone
66. I love my bubble baths
67. I LOVE movies
68. I love red wine but I can't drink as much as I used to
69. I can't drink as much as I used to period.
70. I enjoy Karoake.
71. I am a Kiwanian
72. I am on the board of directors of my local Kiwanis club,
73. I love Thunder and Lightening storms.
74. Anything that interfere's with my schedule unless its my choosing makes me unsettled and uncomfortable.
75. My company has only sent me two places for business travel, both times in August - Tampa and Topeka.
76. I use a neti pot.
77. I LOVE ebay.
78. I really hate vegetables. almost all of them.
79. I am lazy chef. Love to cook - hate to clean up
80. I have a ridiculous action packed schedule
81. I love my quiet days off when I can have my coffee and watch Ellen uninterrupted.
82. I do not understand the concept of TiVo
83. I love the Food Network's Barefoot Contessa but nothing else.
84. I'm not handy but I can function mostly.
85. Marriage would be nice but not required.
86. I love my chosen career and customer
87. I never really watched TV until I graduated college.
88. I do like Martini's
89. I have an astigmatism in one eye, have glasses, but RARELY wear them....
90. I love art.
91. My hair color is unique and get it twice a year
92. I spend a lot of money on my hair and nails - but I'm worth it.
93. I have an addiction to personal products.
94. I own two pairs of marabou satin slipper - pink and white
95. I still have a grandparent living.
96. I started growing plants in my house.
97. I have my groceries delivered and I order them online.
98. I hate Malls.
99. I love MapleMama's, Bernie's World and Sierra Sedan's Blogs
100. My friends and family mean the world to me

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Day 45 Current mood: hungry Category: Food and Restaurants

I have been reading a wonderful book called Joie de Vivre. I have read it once before. It is about a french chef who has transplanted from France to america. It is non fiction and very interesting about how to bring French habits regarding food and the home from France to America and make them work.

He owns several restaurants but his first was a cafe in Soho that you could get a cup of coffee and a roll or croissant and sit outside with your paper or book or friends.
That sounded heavenly to be honest. I now eat my breakfast at the dining room table wth the window open and sunlight streaming in. I don't eat the french breakfast in its entirety as my mind can't get round that as a habit. Perhaps on a weekend or something once in a while....

He talks about growing his vegetables in his own potager (garden). I don't have any options for that, but I think next year I am going to start growinig herbs to use while cooking.
The most important part for me is this wondereful man included some great recipes and none are complicated and all are translated to foods we can find here in America.
The one I am going to try first is the Roast Chicken. It looks amazing, and I can fit it into my new lifestyle with no problem.

The Roast Chicken is ridiculously simple. Its not trussed ( a good thing as I"ve never done that lol ), there is no basting. YOu just dress the chicken and throw it in the oven. But it uses garlic, olive oil, carrots, plum tomatoes. I can't tell you how wonderful it sounds!!!! YUM
I will probably have some folks over to help enjoy it. That with a little wine, a little cheese, some cafe and patisserie and it will be a wonderful meal!
Bon Soir!

Friday, August 04, 2006

Day 38 Current mood: contemplative Category: Religion and Philosophy

I was recently asked why I go to church.

I was ready with an answer but before I tell you what it is, I want to tell you WHY I have a ready answer.

I grew up in two very different households as far as religious views go. My mother and stepfather were raised Evagelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic respectively. My mom grew up very actve in the lutheran church. My stepfather was Irish Roman Catholic. They married in a non denominational service in our living room when I was 12. Organized Religion was not something that was important to them. I do think they believed in God, but not in the organized fashion that they were each raised with.

Personally, I always thought this was a cop out for people who like to sleep late. Being one of them - there are weeks when I can tell you that I just can't make myself get up!
My Dad and My stepmom married the same year as my Mom and Step dad. My stepmom was formerly R.C. ( just like my step dad ironcally) and my dad was Methodist. My step mom had converted to episcopal ( some of you will know it as Church of England, Henry the eighth wanting a divorce and all that.) some years before and my father had converted to "nothing". They married in the episcopal church and my father ultimately converted. My brother and I were required to attend church on the weekends that we were with them and we had to make our confirmation in some church.

While they were still married, my Mom and my Dad had attended the Methodist church with my brother and I when we were little. I continued to attend with or without my family and made my confirmation there. My brother made his confirmation at the episcopal church as it was easier.

Now I don't think I mentioned that I have step siblings. All raised R.C. I have an older brother and sister-in-law that live upstate ( yes REALLY upstate! ) with their 5 children. They are not just R.C. but belong to a sect that refutes Vatican II. Depending on who you ask, they are either ex-commnicated or they are the true Catholics. They say mass in Latin, the women wear chapel veils. The proper time for mass is 9AM. My brother teaches sunday school - something I never thought I would see happen but more power to him! My sister-in-law tends to mix politics and religion frequently but after 18 years I have learned not to bite when baited.

This is the reason that I have a ready answer!

My Sister and youngest brother both married R.C's but they are the normal flavor.
To give you my ready answer: Today, I attend the epsicopal church that I grew up in. I attended Sunday School there albeit every other week, I sang in the choir, I was a member of the vestry. Over the years I have made some wonderful friends including our current priest. My reasons for staying there are that I have found that worshipping in place that was filled with strife ( as it was for a period of time) did bring peace to my soul.

It sounds kind of corny but if you can worship in a place that is not the most ideal scenario and still walk away with your soul soothed or your mind at peace, then maybe you are in the right place after all? My church has run the gammot and at the end of the service on Sunday I drive away feeling that the world is a better place, I can love my friends and family regardless of what craziness is happening and the message I walk away with is alwasy positive and gently makes me reflect on what changes can I make to improve myself, my life and the world around me. Most importantly it feels like home when I walk in the door - and not just in my own church - but any episcopal church.

So thats my answer. What's yours?

Monday, July 17, 2006

Barely Day 21 - so this is a freebie Current mood: jubilant Category: Friends

Remember earlier when I mentioned that I have a friend of many years who did a podcast on Friends good enough to drink? I was planning to rename it "Friends good enough to drink with"? Well the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things..... ( Go ahead tell me what THAT quote is! )

I happen to be the owner of a bottle of wine that is ridiculously expensive, and yes it is french, it is imported, and its really tough to find. However, it holds family distinction with us because it is the first red wine I have ever had that I actually liked ( at age 23). I tasted it for the first time at a dinner with my parents, and my Godfather and his wife ( why do I feel like I am in a bad mafia film? Yes the GERMAN / FRENCH Mafia - we are rude and disgustsed by our own behaviour) at a restaurant called La Grenouille. You Frenchies will translate that accurately and no, I did not have any. Don't eat that kind of thing.

What I did have was so memorable that 14 years later I can still tell you about it. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay ( my last incidentally) and my entree was a fully shelled lobster in a butter sauce that was amazing. Dessert I do not remember but they dusted off two bottles of this Chateau Montrachet ( at 150 a pop) and that was the end of white wine for me.

So fast forward to today. I possess a bottle of this from the late 80's I believe. I have not had an occasion with which I deem important enough to drink it. Now I have one.

My best friend is planning to come down here sometime soon. Its the perfect opportunity.
My roomie - this one's for you! Loev !