EWMM on This I Believe

I had the nicest coffee last week, with my cousin EWMM. She is an English teacher in our fair city. Her school has never sounded like a fair place, and the grind of it would have most teachers running for stay-at-home something or other. She had some serious sparkle, however, as she slid her notebook of student essays across the table. Beautifully bound with pride, inspired student-drawn cover artwork. Her project studied essays from “this i believe” – reading & listening to the NPR files, then writing their own.

(The following is from the website)

What is This I Believe?

This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. These short statements of belief, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here and featured on public radio in the United States and Canada. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

(Mary Chapin Carpenter, one of my faves, is the banner author of the week.)

She wrote one herself, “Drive Therapy.” “A good long aimless drive can cure a lot of ails.” (Go to Rusharaound link for a hilarious story of a good long aimless drive. R, hope it cured a lot of ails.)

This is great teaching, and I am filled with admiration.

I will use the links on these home pages – see the left column – “For Educators.” Thank you EWMM for the inspiration and a great read.

St. Maarten Bound

This is our honeymoon destination. A huge thank you and acknowledgment to our honeymoon benefactors, S & J. You are so wonderful! And we are so excited!!!

So, a few questions, since my usual obsessive travel guide reading has given way to wedding planning. If you have been there, what were some favorite beaches, restaurants, things to do? A&F, no more procrastinating – you are the experts.

Also, island travelers, do you have favorite vacation rituals? For example, A&F have a glass of champagne after the beach – so refreshing! Coffee or a morning run? What works for you? The reason I ask is that DK & I want to enjoy every moment, but will probably not come to our post-wedding senses until it’s time to come home! And, we will never get enough of our friends and family the weekend of August 3rd, but with your great advice, we can take you with us.

Help!

Even Speedier Gazpacho

Mom asked for this recipe today. Sean might like to have it too. It’s from B.A 2005, but totally corrupted. Even speedier, even tastier. For those who like a chunkier version.

Click here for original version – Speedy Gazpacho.

1 of those big long “seedless” cukes – peel & dice
Most of a tub of that refrigerated salsa – I like the vidalia onion one
1/2 an orange pepper, 1/2 a yellow pepper ( color!) – dice
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes – use juice too
1/2 – 1 C. Chopped Cilantro

2 C. Tomato Juice. (Sometimes I add more, and some ice cubes or water since I like it watery)
1 C. diced roasted red pepper

2+ T. red wine vinegar (I used white rice vinegar)
S&P
Put a little avocado on top too!

You’re supposed to blend all this with stale bread, but I don’t. I just dunk the bread. MMMM!

Water, Call, Mall, Fall, Buttafuoco

So I have been wanting to talk about talking.  And my apparent need to fit in.  The other day, I said “gimme a cawl.”  Really, am I a parrot?  Is the next step an affair with a married auto mechanic?  Newsday had a great article (they have those!) on the roots of the LI accent.  Knowing it has European origins HELPS, right?

R, another downstate Rochester exile, and pregnant, is terrified of how this baby will eventually tawlk.  Agreed.

Urinetown on the Road

I amazingly made it through this whole production at Geva without standing in the ubiquitous ladies restroom line once! Must have been the salty pre-show greek salad. Sorry, potty-talk is completely unavoidable.

A little late on this musical – but I’m downstate bound. In the meantime, we get our theater 6 years after it booms in NY. This was worth waiting for. This show has so much going for it, even the local-theater glitchies were not so important. So much to think about. Read 2001 NYT review here. The final cry of “Hail Malthus“set the show into a whole different relief for me. I had been thinking about the health care system and Michael Moore’s new movie Sicko. As I said, a lot going for it. And very, very clever.

As Little Sally says, “I don’t think too many people are going to come and see this musical.” I felt the same until last night. There’s a reason it made it on tour.

Plus, I got to spend time with my 3 Geva Divas.  Dinner alfresco, a glass (2?!) of wine, and the usual lots and lots of laughs.  Downstate has up-to-date theater, but it cannot hold a candle to these friendships.

Blessings

Listened on the way home from LI to Anna Quindlen’s Blessings. Slow, predictable, and lovely. Resonates of “Empire Falls” without shock, awe, or out-of-the-blue tragedy. Just sad, sweet, and entirely hopeful. NYT review here. I like it when they say, ” . . . happiness is often recognized belatedly.”

Got me thinking about that title, Blessings. MINOR job setback had me screaming on Friday morning, repenting by afternoon (after some good paternal listening). As my friend E’s co-worker says “we are not holding AIDS babies here.” Then I might really have something to scream injustice about. Until then, I will count my BLESSINGS.

Flipped the Bird

Yup, just over the Throg’s Neck. Welcome to LI. Now, I know I was weary, only semi-signaled, and didn’t really know if I was in the right lane, but come on buddy! Gimme a break!

So my new blog idea is this: Road Rage Recovery. People can go on and atone for their sins. I would have apologized if I had his cell number, or one of those police megaphones on my car. Instead, my half-wave was probably interpreted as my own obscenity (he WAS passing me at high speed on the right – a hanging offense upstate).

So here goes, man in white shirt, with little silver car, who I cut off on the Throg’s Neck bridge, I’m sorry, Man.

Rockville Centre Condo for Sale

Welcome to all my new readers, esp. the brave ones who even dared to comment – Amy! Mom! Bravo! And Annelise & Anna, reconnected after all these years over Pepto. I feel quite accomplished!

Still home with pink eye, see previous picture, but imagine transferred to the other eye.

Here is DK’s condo website – our future home (can also go through 409 Merrick Road blogroll link). He has been tirelessly at work “flipping” it and getting it ready for the market. Looks great, right? We’ll be here in the short term, and it’s great for now, but looking for a nice place for visitors to stay, beach, and eat with us. Know anyone looking for a 1bdrm with an easy commute to Manhattan?

Kudos to Dan for catching blogging wave. He has another about his basketball team, the Oceanside Sailors.

THIS is the face of Pink Eye

So, this is pink eye. I kind of wonder how I got this far without ever experiencing it before. Lovely. Unfortunately, after a misdiagnosis of allergies, since my eyes have both swelled shut, it has gone untreated for three days and I have brought pink eye to the masses. Or at least 15 first graders and my entire family. The horror, the horror.

At least it is not August 3.

The bright side: Some people cheer me up by saying I look like Audrey Hepburn in my big shades. Keep it coming, folks. No chance this diseased ego will get too big for britches.

Another bright side: I can do the backlogged work I have been struggling to get to. Or blog.

Reading? I’m not reading, sillies, did you hear my eye is swelled shut? BUT, any addict finds a way. I’m listening to a pulpy crime/thriller called “Dirty Blonde” by Lisa Scottoline. It has been a godsend. It would move along any car-ride.

Breaking News! Blog Doubles Readers!!

Invited 3 new readers today, bringing grand total to 6. Very slowly creeping out of my blogging cave.

More experienced bloggers, why doesn’t my tagline show? It allows me to type one in, but doesn’t publish it. Under LI Bound it should say “Notes From Both Sides of the Planet New York.” Is it because of the presentation I have chosen? I like the colors and hesitate to change it.