THE YEAR I RAN AWAY FROM HOME; AN ADVENTURE (also see ineedamom.com)

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

GRANDMA'S HOME!

part 232

That's what my darling Orion said to his mommy when I arrived last Wednesday. Is that precious, or what? I think he thinks I live at the airport, fly around and then "come home" to his house. You see why I can't resist this little family. Little Atticus is TALKING! He has very clear words and phrases, and then babbles in between. These two are going to be such a team in the coming months. Just can't wait to hear the discussions they have as they play together!

I feel truly home now - today I look out at about a foot of snow, that fell relentlessly during the night. Snow drifts on my window panes, like images from sappy Christmas cards - Snow on the spot of Roosevelt Island that I can see, across the East River, from my window, making it look like a Currier and Ives etching - Snow plows kept trundling through the night - some taxis braved the snow covered streets - and this morning, the sound of shovels being hefted by the poor doormen and supers up and down the street fills the otherwise silent, grey, frosty air.

So I'll clean myself up, and go find a New York Times - can't do without the Sunday Times - and clumps of snow on my shoes is still a welcome novelty.

Wish the little boys could make snowballs with me.

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

PLAY DOUGH

part 231

Watching my daughter making the BEST rolls EVER - a yeasty brioche dough, satiny and glutenous under her capable hands - and knowing my own recent pleasure of whipping up a dough for a yummy pizza - I have to wonder how many know the pleasures of making bread? It's made to seem so difficult, time-consuming - not something you just do...but few talk about how heady it is to smell the yeast "working" - how lovely it is to feel the soft elastic dough under your hands - how SENSUOUS making bread is - how EASY IT IS TO MAKE - how delicious it smells as it's baking and how magnificent it tastes when you slice it, in whatever form, warm, a few minutes out of the oven.

Just thought I should let you know....you're in for a real treat if you make a loaf of bread - or rolls - or a homemade pizza or foccacia - or breadsticks, or???????????

I'm not of the poetry slam generation...even though I've read (and written) a few poems. But on the "News Hour" on PBS, an 88 year old poet, Marie Ponsot was featured. Here's an exquitite work of hers:

This one, in its entirely, is called

"Bliss and Grief"

No one is here right now.

Marie Ponsot

It's enough to make you catch your breath.

Know I've told you how lucky I am - went to the free open rehearsal for the NY Philharmonic under the guest conductor, my fave - Esa-Pekka Solenen.

Woke up later than I should - scrambled to get to Lincoln Center in time. In a short line for a free ticket...a sweet, well-dressed woman just outside the line asks if I'm looking for a ticket for the rehearsal. Yes. I have one because my friend can't come. I'm a "Friend" of the Philharmonic and you'll be able to sit close to the stage - and get a free coffee if you like.

I like indeed. How thrilling - and perfect. Not to mention that this December 3rd day has cloudless skies and 68 degree temperatures.
I love New York.

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

THANKS

part 230

What a lovely holiday, Thanksgiving! Hug. Eat. Drink. Walk. Eat. Drink. Shop. Eat. Drink. Cook. Eat. Drink. Talk. Eat. Drink. Aaaah.

Surprisingly, my trip was jam packed and I saw only my family. Will eat soup for a couple of days to diminish the debauch.

But, oh, what fun.

New York is filled with new things to see and do - the new FIT exhibit; the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA; The Marriage of Figaro at the Met; and my new favorite, Essa Pekka Solonen conducting an open rehearsal on Thursday! Trees in the city being festooned with Christmas lights, some, at night, looking a bit like Tim Burton's creations. Wow!

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

Part 229

WHAT A GYP!

No. I don't mean the promised "brief nudity" in Janacek's "From the House of the Dead" - although, in all honesty, the ticket person was a little misleading in her admonition that "there's some brief nudity in tonight's opera"...Those pathetic, vulnerable, naked, exposed prisoners in this death camp were not the stuff of "R" ratings... poor things.

No. I'm talking about the venerable, esteemed classic movie "American In Paris". Yes it was a different time. Yes. The principals (Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly) are adorable. Yes. The prolonged dance sequence(s) are amazing for a main stream film. And yes, it is a product of the EARLY '50's - which suggests a widespread provincialism that would have to adapt to Minnelli's "art film"...

No. I'm not taking issue with the obvious. I'm taking issue with the cop-out handling of Gene Kelly's character as a fine artist...whose art seems vital to the plot - and who...in the finale, is not given his due by the "critics". Is Leslie Caron marrying a bona fide artist? Or is she marrying a poor American imitator of Utrillo? And what happens to the unfortunate benefactor, Nina Foch? This fairyland "art film" is, in my mind, what made art films so bogus. I don't give a flying fig when it was made! It panders, my friends...it panders.

Not so "From the House of the Dead". You guys know that a prison setting is anathema to me...I should have stayed away at all costs...BUT! Esa-Pekka Salonen, the conductor who made me WEEP in the final act of "Tristan und Isolde", was conducting. And Patrice Chereau, who's make quite a name for himself in Europe, was the director.

I LOVED IT. I HATED IT. The story, taken from Dostoevsky, is dismal, dark and disquieting. But THE MUSIC is truly magnificent - how much Janacek did Leonard Bernstein listen to before writing "West Side Story"?. And Salonen coaxes the most lush sound from the orchestra. And the staging and the singing....well. I was thrilled to be there. And probably won't see it again. But wow. Double wow.

So now you know.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

BRIDGES

part 227

Crossing bridges is the suspension of disbelief - that this cantilevered expanse - or this cable supported platform will indeed carry us across the abyss. And usually it does! Daily we suspend our disbelief - making and crossing the bridges of our daring lives - I can do this...it'll be okay....

When I was a middle-aged architectural student I watched this video with wide-eyed fascination and horror - the Tacoma Bridge warping and dancing in its macabre and fascinating death sway:

This is a dry, engineering, but informative, version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs

And here is more dramatic, movie-like version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

But, Susan, that was 1940, even before you were born!!! We now design with computers and sophisticated engineering techniques....to wit: the new span of the Oakland Bay Bridge.

What? Say? It cracked? A cable broke loose? It's closed for repair? How did this happen? What team of engineers thought this would be fine? Just imagining the responsibility, the shame, the finger pointing, the mounting and spiraling costs, and public and private consequences overwhelms me.

And yet, we design and build, or discard metaphorical bridges every day...or should! We suspend our disbelief and cross the open chasm of unknown consequences with hardly a blink - subliminally mindful of our rash, venturesome journey, yet bold enough, audacious enough and valiant enough to continue our marvelous expedition.

Sometimes I think people are WONDERFUL!

Then I read the headlines and think again.

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

Part 226

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

Part 225

Ancient Japan is on display at the Metropolitan Museum: "Art of the Samurai: Japanese arms and armor, 1156-1968". You know that I ADORE the Met, but this show is more than spectacular! Almost half of this very extensive exhibit displays official National Precious Treasures of ancient Japan! That they would part with them, even for just a few months, is so very generous. And to have them on view in one place, rather than in the many small museums and collections scattered throughout Japan is so special. What a chance of a lifetime!

Examining, intensely, the beautifully crafted swords from the 8th - 13th centuries...their power and delicacy - the patterning of the tempered edge...or a suit of armor, from the 13th (?) Century that is so fragile that it's allowed to be displayed only TWO WEEKS EVERY FIVE YEARS - (needless to say, it will be removed from the exhibit soon) reinforces the all encompassing view of the Shogunate era brought by this exhibit...I don't usually like weapons, no matter how beautifullly they've been made, but these are sculpture - art! Many other super-fragile rarities will be rotated to spare them from light and exposure. They're to be replaced by equally rare and wonderful treasures! in mid-exhibit. I can't wait to go back and see what I've missed. Oh, and there's a short film showing the ancient art of sword making!

I shudder to think about the logistics of packing, insuring, sending, unpacking, displaying, insuring, all these irreplaceable artifacts. Wow! Nerves of tempered steel, I guess...

The Times says, "Visit early and often". It's on until Jan. 10.

I've heard the tail-end of some strange conversations between men, passing on the street lately:

1. "...and they all end in one-night stands..."

2. "...I'm thinking about sex therapy..."

3. "...she didn't look like a guy..."

Maybe it's the phase of the moon.
I LOVE NEW YORK!

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

part 224

I've always been ambivalent about this time of year. On one hand, the briskness of the weather adds a zip to my step; the cultural scene blossoms; when I was in school, I was thrilled to begin a new year, and that delicious expectation remains alive in me today; the leaves are so mysterious in their fading, falling - quivering nervously on their weakened stems - should I stay or should I go? they seem to whisper in the breeze.

On the other hand, the reality of the new season is clear - the euphoria (see previous entry) is on the wane; the daylight so rapidly diminishing - I'm up! Where's that lazy sun?; walking home mid to late afternoon, watching the eerie fading light, knowing I'll soon be in the dark - no. no; putting more foot covering on, when my gaily painted toes still want to be wriggling and free. no. no.

So I'm trying to be grown up and come to terms with yet another Fall. A Lucifer come down from the heaven to thud and clunk in the unstable Earth's seasonable mutation.

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

part 223

Once more, the United Nations has virtually taken over the city. Midtown traffic is frozen in a chaotic rumpus of buses, trucks, taxis and unwarranted cars (what crazies are choosing to drive in Midtown this week???). This pandemonium is amplified by screaming police cars, self-important limosines, and unfortunate ambulances. Oh dear, you wouldn't want to have an emergency this week. It's all very dramatic and just a little unsettling. Not that we New Yorkers would have it any other way.

I'm walking most places...passed some darling urchins lined up, along with their teachers, outside their private school - a fire drill! How cute. Everyone was enjoying this unexpected little romp in the sunshine.

We've had a string of BEAUTIFUL late summer days - the kind of weather that makes me want to walk forever....so I have...sauntering to my two volunteer gigs this week in...Midtown...where else? Wednesday I walked through Central Park to get to the site where we were addressing and stuffing invitations to a fund raiser. I saw two tourists staring at a tree, focusing their camera intently on something high on the trunk. It was a squirrel with an acorn in its mouth, POSING very calm and motionless, while they snapped away. Even the New York squirrels are ready for their closeups.

Lots of energy and optimism in the air, the mild weather made sweeter knowing that cold cold breezes are sure to follow.

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

part 222

I don't believe I've ever seen a star born before my eyes. I don't mean astronomically - celestially - although there were elements of celestial brilliance last night.

The Met Opera has opened with a bang - Monday's "Tosca" was both praised vocally and BOO-ed for its new production. This isn't Milan's La Scala where booing is a time honored ritual and opera lover's right - this is New York, where even mediocre tenors are politely tolerated (then rudely hissed about by catty opera goers after the performance - oh, they can be a mean bunch). I wasn't there on opening night, but at dress rehearsal, I thought some of the staging questionable...and I'm not terribly critical.

Last night, I attended an old production of La Nozze de Figaro with a debut performance by Emma Bell (who's Emma Bell?) in the role of the Contessa. The Contessa is a complex character...she's mature, but young enough to be alluring to the adolescent Cherubino (played always by a young soprano who loves to swagger and clown as a young teenaged boy). She's melancholy but hasn't lost her playfulness. And she has the most touching aria in the entire opera. Quite a role for a young opera singer.

The moment the Contessa came on stage, we knew we were in for a treat. Ms. Bell is beautiful and has such a warm, sure voice. Great ovation after her first exit in Act I. But she brought the house down, and tears to our eyes in her great heartbreaking aria in Act III. Such great Bravas and cheering! It was just wonderful! The kind of performance that people will tell their children about!

I got home at one o'clock in the morning! Humming! And with the name Emma Bell solidly in my memory.

Wow~I love the Met...and New York!

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

part 221

New York is bursting with vitality and a renewed sense of confidence and optimism...really! New shows opening on Broadway-new exhibits at the museums-the first new production at the Met!

When the Met announced an open (read "free") dress rehearsal for their new production of "Tosca", it was unthinkable that I wouldn't join the other opera loving maniacs in the hot sun last Sunday to get my free ticket. After four hours, during which I made several new acquaintances including two former nursery school teachers!, we were herded into the opera house to receive our tickets (two per person). Just one, please I told the guy behind the window. He paused, went into an envelope, and handed me my ticket. Eureka! It is in the sixth row, CENTER, of the orchestra...quite a distance from my standing room spot in Family Circle, in the ozone layer. Holy Toledo! Am I lucky or what?

The day is here. My seat is right behind Maestro James Levine...he and the orchestra in casual rehearsal jeans and polo shirts. VIP's of the Met Opera scene milling around...confession: I'm not crazy about "Tosca". Oh the music is luscious and divine - but the story is so melodramatic and set in the troubled, violent Risorgimento of Italy. Tosca, at the beginning is such an insecure, jealous ninny...and gets her lover in trouble with Scarpia, the super-evil prefect of Rome. Betrayal, torture, death squads...ugh. BUT! This Tosca is Karita Matilla - she of an exquisite voice and dramatic, athletic presence. And this Scarpia is George Gagnidze, who looks and acts like a sexy James Gandolfini on a particularly villanous day, who also happens to sing magnificently, and the tenor, Marcelo Alvarez, whose arias were crystalline and breathtakingly moving. Wow!

I wasn't crazy about Tosca's red dress in Act II, or, come to think of it, the set in Act II. The dress made Matilla look chunky, which, given her sleekness, is hard to do...and the set was sparse, but not sparse enough to make that modernist statement - and the final scene, when Tosca hurls herself out of the parapet to her death (given Matilla's physical feats in "Salome", I kinda hoped she'd leap dramatically onto a hidden trampoline!)was made a little silly by thrusting a life-size doll out the opening, and letting it freeze there, in mid air as the lights fade - but I'm quibbling. A glorious glorious afternoon of opera. What a gift!

So I'm ending my boycott of Whole Foods. No one's listening. No one cares. Business as usual...special interests win. I give up. When will I ever learn?

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades

GOODBY WALTER -

Part 220

I, the entire CBS newsroom, the NBC newsroom, the ABC newsroom, NPR reporters, CNN reporters, President Clinton, PRESIDENT OBAMA and a squadron of secret service men attended a lavish memorial service for Walter Cronkite yesterday. Oh, Susan, I didn't know you knew Cronkite. Oh, I didn't. But a handful of tickets were made available to the public the day before the service at Lincoln Center. I scurried over there at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, and was 6th in line to get my ticket. Boy! Am I glad I did!

We were requested to arrive early, by 8:30 a.m. because of the extreme security measures -- even though the event wasn't scheduled to begin until 10:30. Wow. I have a great seat, on the aisle in the front row center of the third tier! I can't afford this seat when I attend the symphony! Thank you, CBS (the sponsor). We early birds are greeted by a video of Cronkite's life, as the V.I.P's meet and greet and mosey to their seats on the orchestra level. I spot Marvin Kalb, several retired reporters whose faces are familiar but whose names I 've forgotten (sorry) - Tom Brokaw chatting with the family - secret service casually going up and down the aisles, and watching from the tiers...bomb sniffing dogs wandering with their handlers, one getting a bowl of water (I guess bomb sniffing dogs get thirsty too).

At precisely 10:30, The U.S. Marine Band begins to play while a phalanx of secret service agents accompany President Clinton and President Obama to the front row, next to the family.(Clinton's only an inch taller than Obama, but so much heftier that he seems much larger). My seat mates and I didn't think they'd arrive for the whole service, but they did!

After a few opening speeches from the higher ups at CBS, President Clinton comes to the podium to tell about how Cronkite had invited the Clinton family to join him on his boat in Martha's Vineyard during the summer of the Clinton's "personal crisis". And how grateful Clinton was to have this stalwart icon reach out to him.

Jimmy Buffet said a few words about his sailing buddy and friend and played a great song with his group. Nick Clooney, a close friend of the Cronkites had some lovely remembrances as did Tom Brokaw. Geesh...how could I have forgotten to bring some tissues?

Michael Feinstein sang and played at the piano onstage, then a visibly nervous Katie Couric had some sweet words. Buzz Aldren, the Astronaut, praised Cronkite's support of the space program and Andy Rooney, who is quite frail had a video eulogy for his dear friend.

In comes Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead, with the famed Indian percussionist Zakir Hussan (I had seen him in a concert in Berkeley some time ago) and two other men, playing a wonderful percussive piece (Hart was a long time friend! of Cronkite's and Cronkite played the drums with him!

The eminent Bob Schieffer had lively stories, and then...low and behold...Winton Marsalis with a few of his band members, entered from stage right in an old fashioned, traditional New Orleans funeral march. They began in a dirge-like tempo as is customary...then they progressed from the stage into the auditorium, going down the aisle, then returning up the other aisle, crescendoing until they were in FULL SWING. It was so moving and the audience went wild! Even the Marine Band stood up and applauded! I'm getting teary just remembering this wonderful and touching scene.

Who could follow this but the President of the United States? He hadn't known Cronkite personally, but admired him and used this not only as a tribute to Cronkite, but to emphasize Cronkite's integrity and professionalism in reporting and in his use of the media. A fine speech and well received. We marveled that he'd spend so much time here, when he had his important address to Congress later in the evening.

As the President was leaving the building, the Marine Band played again (what a lush sound they make) and after two and a half hours, it was over.

Leaving the hall, I saw so many familiar faces...and as I was walking to my bus stop, Christiane Amanpour was unchaining her bicycle! to go home? back to work? I really like your work I said. She flashed a great smile and thanked me.

What a day! What a city. I LOVE NEW YORK.

More soon.
love
s

(c)susan rhoades, 2009

Part 219

THEY'RE CRAWLIN' ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Students, I mean. They've arrived in the Big City, often with anxious mom and dad in tow - some of them are shopping with new-found friends or roommates - ALL ARE SHOPPING! And yesterday, at Bed Bath & Beyond, where some marketing GENIUS sent special coupons for all incoming NYU freshman, the bedding, the bath towels and the cleaning supplies were winging out the door faster than you could say which credit card you'd be using. It was all too familiar and intense for me - I left without making a purchase...but I wouldn't have missed the circus for anything. I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been had I come to school here. Wowzers!!!

If you catch me smiling, it's because I just purchased a ticket to the US Open...for Wednesday! I'm literally counting the minutes! Gee I love the Open!

Okay. So glumness now. I'm boycotting Whole Foods. I don't WANT to boycott Whole Foods...but their president and CEO has made some very stupid, very ignorant remarks about the proposed health care plan...and this is an issue that has fired me up for many many YEARS! I'm not a marcher - especially candle-light vigils...never have been...but I MUST DO SOMETHING (other than write my congress people and citizen stuff like - that which I have). So I'm slightly bereft - partly because I don't think it'll do much good (but what other voice do I have?) and partly because their olive oil is terrific; their jumbo free-range eggs are terrific; their 360 brand spices are terrific; and their free-range chicken is terrific - and all well-priced. But sometimes an old lady has to do what an old lady has to do.

Speaking of crawlin and doin' - my next-door neighbor just moved...and when people move in Manhattan, the cockroaches get very upset (they must be very emotional). I got up in the middle of the night, last night, and there, on the floor of the bathroom, was the LARGEST cockroach I've ever seen. It no longer lives. But I could no longer sleep with pleasant dreams. I know this is temporary - they have no welcome mat here - but it's so so repellent. I've been thinking about a repellent, by the way...but I hate to use poisons...we'll see.

In the meantime, just keep thinking of me at the Open, way up in the bleachers, having a wonderful wonderful time.

more soon.
love
s

(c)susan rhoades, 2009

WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER?????????

part 218

omygod! Can it be almost Labor Day? But I haven't even - well, SHIT! I haven't even done 1/3 of the stuff I want(ed) to do this summer...It slipped away in dribbs and drabbs (sic)...and, now, here it is...the end of summer. How do I know this? Because. The City is AWASH in students storming Bed Bath & Beyond in search of their 20% discount allocated to NYU students...but it's not just NYU students! They're all over the city...VERY young people accompanied by harassed parents, prowling the streets - the stores - for cheap necessities for the first year of life (in the dorm). Oh, thank you god, that my children are all grown.

I, myself, have been in a spiff up mode...defrost the refrigerator; wash the kitchen mini-blind that has had life forms growing from its slats; paint toenails; exercise EVERY day; don't eat too much; drink too much - whoa! why am I doing this???????? To be the best I can be. haha.

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

NEW BEGINNINGS

Part 217

I renewed my lease on my apartment and I renewed my promise to myself to be the best I can be. Dramatic, huh? During the time one of my sons was unemployed, I got a little miserable (and being a very happy person, that feeling wasn't okay). That momentum was hard to overcome even after he got his dream job...I realized how easy it is to retreat into bad habits...I started acting like an invisible middle-aged woman who was only defined as a mom and grandma. While these two roles are the most rewarding I could imagine, I feel I've got a lot more to offer. While the museums, the volunteer work, the visits to my dear ones were WONDERFUL, I couldn't shake that need to shake up my life a little more.

So I decided to exercise a bit more rigorously (I walk forever but that doesn't seem to do the whole job); I realized that in this heat I've been eating erratically instead of preparing the deeply satisfying meals that nourish me in every way.

And I have been going out more...the heat be damned..falling in love with my city once again. Not that I ever stopped loving New York, but the relationship had become the casual affection that many married people experience after the honeymoon. All relationships take effort, and I had gotten a little blase. So the end of August finds me back in all my glory :-)

I've been spiffing up my apartment a little and with all this new attitude I was motivated to wash my pillows! Washing pillows by hand is like bathing a reluctant Shmoo. And without a dryer, it takes them ever so long to dry! But they'll be so fresh and clean, and I didn't have to replace them...environmentally responsible, yes? Unless they dry so lumpy I curse the day I thought this was a good idea.

We packed 172 backpacks for high school kids on Friday and 250 backpacks for elementary school children on Monday. The non-profit I volunteer for comes up with the best and most useful projects!

I have never succumbed to the allure of Vampires. It seems to be a big rage with young people these days. The idea of someone biting my neck and turning me into a zombie (albeit an immortal zombie) never struck me as erotic. However two new products celebrating this fad have come to my attention - "SunScream" which is pretty clever, especially considering how vampires detest the sun's rays and "Fang Floss". THAT'S a product I'd enjoy using with a smile for my smile.

On the subway yesterday there was a young woman with a beagle puppy who had a blanket on his back that said "Seeing Eye Dog In Training". He was trying to be so good...curling up under her seat...but he'd look around and sniff, hoping someone would throw a ball...people who do this training are SUPER SELFLESS! They get very attached to their dogs but know that when the dog is ready, he must leave and find a his working home. You dog lovers know how rough this must be.

Re: The Death of Ted Kennedy - I know he'd been very ill - I know he was a scamp in his youth - but his principled stands as a senator certainly atoned for his youth, and his efforts on health care reform will be very missed. He's been called the Lion of the Senate...I shall miss his roar.

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

STUFF ... and more STUFF

part 216

1. Have you seen "The Lady Eve" by Preston Sturges? With Barbara Stanwick and Henry Fonda it is a classic and contemporary delight.

2. Have you seen "Julie and Julia"? It's the first movie I've seen in a theater in AGES...It is sweet and charming; a Meryl Streep tour de force; and both a bio-pic and a love story...a surprising LOVE STORY! GO!

3. Summer in New York offers humidity, heat and the Hamptons. By far the best is the Hamptons. I've had my little fan churning and whirring the entire time I'm in my apartment. And everything feels sticky. Yewwwwwww.

4. Did I tell you about Kiss My Face's "Swy Flotter"? Loopy name, I know...but a wonderful NATURAL insect repellent...and doesn't stink like most I've tried. In fact it's almost odorless and is even a moisturizer, too! As a person whom mosquitoes find to be most delectable, I assure you I've put it to the test and it's WONDERFUL!

more soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

GRANDMA'S BACK - IN HOT, STICKY NEW YORK

Part 215

If you hate gushing - please stop reading now.

Orion helps me channel my inner three-year-old and boy do we play - puzzles (he's a wiz) and big big big lego block towers. Not to mention singing favorite nursery school songs - HEAVEN! Atticus reminds one that there is absolutely NOTHING like an adorable one-year old. You won't believe this, but we play ball together! I bat it to him, he bats it back! I've never seen anything like his hand/eye coordination! And I've been around LOTS AND LOTS of young children!

Below are some pics :-)

In Facebook, some of my friends have been listing fifteen books that shaped their growth. So for a lark I decided to dredge up the past - here's my list:

Fifteen Books:

Nancy Drew (all of the original titles) because reading about a feisty girl in the '50's was so exhilarating

The Second Sex - because, while I didn't totally agree, it was both thrilling and terrifying to have such a contrary opinion of traditional female roles.

Les Miserables - my first "classic" which held me spellbound at 15

Peg Bracken's "I Hate To Cook Book" - it made me laugh and laugh and had good recipes too (for the '50's)

"Saucepans and the Single Girl" - a how-to-land-a-man book I thought was gospel

"Lady Chatterly's Lover" - my first "banned in Boston" book - read the "good" parts first (whew!) and then re-read it and re-read it for its bitter view of England after WWI (honest!)

"The Little Prince" - so poignant and my first brush with existentialism

Canterbury Tales - mostly because it illustrated so clearly how Latin, French and Anglo-Saxon shaped our English language and also because it provides an alibi for my terrible spelling (in the Chaucerian style)

Fahrenheit 451 - a terrifying and prescient book which still troubles me

anything by Hemmingway - my first serious brush with misogyny

Gertrude Stein's "Alice B. Toklas" - a very amusing and fascinating bio and a glimpse of Paris and the art world of the early 1900's

"Goodnight Moon" - where would this parent of three have been without it?

"Where the Wild Things Are" - ditto

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" - it made me what I am today

Proust's "Rememberance of Things Past" - Kilmartin translation - taught me how to read! And savor the written word!

Charles Dickens' "American Notes" - a stellar and bemused view of the America of the early 1800's

More soon
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

J.C. PENNY - IN MANHATTAN! J.C. PENNY??????????????

Part 214

Once upon a time, Macy's had Gimbel's as its rival and nemesis . They were across the street from each other and "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?" was the arch phrase of the day (ok. so they were simpler days.)

As time passed, Gimbel's passed away into merchandising memory, and Macy's was left with the bigger chunk of the 34th Street, Largest Store In The World pie and expanded its brand into the farthest reaches of suburban America, diluting its cachet but obviously increasing its market share. And even in lean times, like today, tourists flock to Macy's as one of the must-sees in New York City. They even have some local shoppers too.

J. C. Penny has also had a long mercantile history...but, perhaps, reflecting its old Wyoming (where is Wyoming, anyway?) beginnings, has never had the distinction or status of Macy's...or Sears, or even Target...in fact, it has been a very bland, uninspired, albeit, economical place to shop.

But wait, folks...this little milktoast of a store, unlike its flashier competitors like Target and Nordstroms (whoa. how did Nordstroms get into this?) has DARED to make a glamorous and very large presence in Manhattan! And not just any location! But across the street from Macy's! - the very site (well maybe just a bit behind) where the old Gimbel's stood.

Are they CRAZY? Well, maybe yes - like a fox (another old waggish phrase of my youth). You could argue that this is a hellava time to open a new department store...but then again, you could argue that lower end stores are doing much better in this economy than their luxurious, glam sisters... AND, upon visiting this daring, adventurous, nouveau status seeker, they've been able (due to high unemployment rates, I'm sure) to hire the most gracious, educated spiffy sales help I've encountered in a long while. It's fun to enter a sleek storefront on street level, and then escalate down (is that an oxymoron?) to the retail floors - two of them actually - (these large box stores keep their footprint and rent small and square footage large by going down into the basement to their sales floors. Just knowing that even I can afford to buy just about anything I see here is heady. Do I want to? Well, the merchandise is very Target-like - some cute things, some stylish things, but mostly everyday stuff and polyester prosaic things. But I did find a "turquoise" bib necklace that was quite chic (I bought it for the sale price of $17). And the store was buzzing with customers and helpful sales people and all in all, was a fun experience. Should Macy's be worried? Should TJ Maxx be worried? Does Gimbel's tell Macy's?

I had dinner with a very old friend last night and she recalled an incident that she said has stayed vivid all these years. Our children were very young - maybe 6 or so - and my sons went to play with her son. Those old large condos were short on living space, but offered mighty convenient play dates - just up or down the elevator. My little sons came home and told me about the vanilla cookies they'd eaten at Lea's house. They raved and raved about them. So I called her up to ask for the recipe. She laughed out loud and said you go to Safeway and buy a box of "Nilla Wafers" . I don't think I was as embarrassed then as I am now.

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

JURY DUTY AND OTHER STUFF

Part 213

So. All the anxiety about what I might be asked to do for my jury duty summons was:

a) easy, quick, and very straightforward and less than the two days required. PLUS I think I got paid for doing essentially nothing but showing up.

b) sooooo disappointing, even though I was worried that I'd be qualified to sit on a case that would last for longer than a week and miss my baby grandson's first birthday, secretly I kinda, sorta hoped that I would experience a real case.

c) I rediscovered lower Manhattan and historic City Hall, and walked and walked and walked...and saw a darling couple having pictures taken by friends before they got married at City Hall (or nearby, which is where it's happening now).

d) All the above. (Hard, huh?)

TWO DVD'S you may want to check out:

Babette's Feast - If you're interested in food - especially historic, classic French food, and love allegories about - well - life and pleasure and choices - well...it's a very grown up, very delicious film.

Showboat - Wow - did Ava Gardner ever look more luscious? Was there ever a darker, more weighted musical dealing with racial issues and addictions than this 1951 (three years before Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision) Technicolor extravaganza? And can you remain unmoved when William Warfield sings "Ol Man River"? In the service of full disclosure, I will confess that when I first saw this movie (I was 8 or 9 years old), I fell totally in love with Gower Champion and Howard Keel - and upon recent viewing, fully applaud my taste!!!!!

Another glorious few days in my City.

More soon.
love
s

(c) susan rhoades, 2009

MY LAST POST SHOULD HAVE READ "MORE SOONER OR LATER"!

part 212

Wow! It's been ages since I wrote. No excuses, really. Although I've been volunteering much more lately - an office project that reminded me there are some jobs you can't PAY someone to do...ugh...

I've been called to jury duty tomorrow. I'm so ambivalent about this: Part of me imagines a Perry Mason drama where I have a front row seat!!! Another part of me cringes to think of having to evaluate a violent crime....no. No. Another part of me is afraid they'll want me...another part, that they'll reject me. Do I need judicial therapy or what?

Well, if California president is followed, I'll call the answering machine number tonight and they'll say they don't want or need me. Oh well.

It's raining and outside my open window I heard a lovely tenor voice down on street level, singing "Singin' in the Rain" - I love New York!

My volunteer work takes me to Wall Street - and my blood boils at the fat bonuses of some of the smug fat cats I see there, on the street. A small group leaving a downtown Cartier's reminded me that life is neither fair nor just. But I guess fat cats will always be with us. Til they're caught...at least the grossly dishonest ones.

I'll try to post once more before I go to Austin for little Atticus' FIRST BIRTHDAY. All those hugs and kisses that await!

More soon.
love
s