Max always liked to snuggle among his toys. How he managed to arrange himself around them was always a mystery to me.
Jakesprinter Sunday Post- With Musical Instrument
Jakes Sunday Post -With Musical Instrument
I learned to play the guitar when I was 13.
In High School my BFF and I tried our hand at “collaborating”- she wrote lyrics,
I then added music.
We called the following song “For Danny”
Written for our mutual friend who was heading across country after high school.
I recorded the song in 1974 in a friend’s studio, and a few years ago was able to have the cassette recording transferred to CD .
Are You Decent?
My husband needed to drop something off at a friend’s house one day this week before going to work. He called first, as it was 8 o’clock in the morning, and said he’d like to come by, would it be okay. He apologized for coming so early, and then jokingly asked, “Are you decent?” To which she replied with a howl of laughter and said yes.I realized that the phrase, “Are you decent?” is something only people of a “certain age” would ever say, or understand. My husband and our friend are both in their 60’s. I am not sure someone in their 20’s would be familiar with the phrase, let alone the word decent. According to The Word Detective, “the phrase seems to have originated as a jocular usage among theater performers, as explained in a 1949 book by Ruth Harvey called “Curtain Time”: “Sometimes, if she knew one of the actors or actresses, she would knock at a door and call ‘Are you decent?’ (That old theatrical phrase startled people who didn’t belong to the theatre, but it simply meant ‘Are you dressed?’).” Given that actors would be well aware that government agencies as well as self-appointed Decency Cops were constantly monitoring stage productions for “indecency” during most of the 20th century, it’s likely that the “decent” in the phrase was a joking reference to the standards of propriety applied to performers on stage, and not just a random synonym for “dressed.”
Though “Are you decent?” is not an idiom, it made me think of idioms we use when speaking, and why we use them. An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally, like “bought the farm” has nothing to do with purchasing real estate, but refers to dying. Sometimes an idiom is used as a short way of expressing a more complicated idea. Idioms are recognizable because the literal meaning might not make sense. If someone says they will “turn over a new leaf” after getting into trouble, we know they are not taking up gardening but are making a start on becoming a better person. I do think the use of idioms today is far less then when I was growing up.
Other idioms and phrases that seem to have fallen out of use:
“It goes to show you.” something proves that something else is true. You can get a bigger car for twice the price, but it has the same features as the smaller one, it just goes to show you – bigger might not necessarily be better
“Have a chip on your shoulder” Being upset with something that happened in the past. Someone looking for a fight is said to have a ‘chip on their shoulder’. Originating with the nineteenth century U.S. practice of spoiling for a fight by carrying a chip of wood on one’s shoulder, daring others to knock it off.
Here’s a word I haven’t heard used in years:
“Forthwith” immediately; without delay. I remember going to have stationary and business cards printed up in the 1970’s. (Remember those days before Vistaprint?) The man doing it for me was then in his 70’s. When I asked him for a time frame on when they would be done, he replied, “Forthwith.”
So I will leave you by telling you that today I am not down in the dumps at all, nor feeling like a fish out of water. Rather, I am going to make hay while the sun shines, and be over the moon because the temperature is supposed to reach 77 degrees. It is now time to get down to brass tacks, and though a bitter pill to swallow I must get off Wordpress as I fear I have bit off more than I can chew for today, which may lead me to burn the midnight oil.
Wordless Wednesday
Daily Prompt: Making New Friends
Do you find it easy to make new friends? Tell us how you’ ve mastered the art of befriending a new person.
I have always been happy with a small circle of friends. They do not overlap- they are my friends individually, they are not friends with one another. They have all met over the years, as I have known them all for 25 years or longer, and various celebrations have brought them all together in one place. I am content spending time by myself and do not venture out looking for new friends. I go to the gym everyday and see many of the women chatting and making plans to go out after a class, that is just so not me. I am always friendly- will say hello to the many people I see there everyday, but it never goes further than that. When I was in my forties I did meet a few women through my volunteer work who I found I had things in common with, who I “connected” with. We have been friends now for almost 10 years, we play Mah Jong together once a week, we have filled in the missing pieces of the years we did not know each other.
Is there an art to making new friends? I don’t think so. It either happens naturally or it doesn’t. I know I gravitate towards people who have a similar mindset to mine, who are open and easy to be with. I guess you could say I am “selective”- I don’t need hundreds of friends, just a small circle who I can share with, who I know will always have my back. Who I can be myself with.
My friend Gitty
Daily Prompt: Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Daily Prompt: Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Tell us your tried and true techniques for focusing when that deadline looms and you need to get work done. In other words, how do you avoid wasted days and wasted nights?
If I have a deadline to meet- a definite date that something needs to get done by, I usually try to get it done well before. I just set aside some time each day and pace myself. The real challenge is stepping away from the computer and the lure of Facebook and WordPress. Not that WordPress is a time waster. Scrolling through the Reader and catching up on new posts and photos is stimulating and mind expanding in a good way. Every day I learn about something new through the insightful posts I read. When I am prompted to write it is also not a waste of my time as I gather my thoughts, and often look things up on the topic I am writing about. The downside is that I can spend 2 or 3 hours reading and writing when in truth I should be out doing the grocery shopping or cleaning the house.
Facebook, on the other hand, is really just a real waste of time. Especially since as of late most of what people are posting is just drivel- if I see one more post of what someone is eating for dinner I’ll scream. I like to log on to see if indeed there is something earth shattering happening in the life of my friends. Most often though, there is not. So I re focus, and move forward on the designated task with the deadline looming, finish it off, and then know I am free to get back to the world of WordPress!
ESE’ S WEEKLY SHOOT"E CHALLENGE – WINGS
“I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings.”
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
Follow Your Ambitions and Goals
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Patterns
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Patterns
Creating a Pattern Out of Pieces of Glass to Make a Dish – Before and After
Empathy-Learned Behavior or Innate?
Empathy is the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another, and feel for the person.
Is it innate? Or is it learned behavior? Are some of us just “wired” to be empathetic, while others of us have to learn how to become empathetic? I thought about this while watching the behavior of some of the 1st grade boys in my classroom last week. There are some boys who constantly bother other boys, and have to be told repeatedly to stop, and then to apologize for their behavior. I am not referring to bullying, I am talking about pushing their way past someone, knocking something over that doesn’t belong to them and never turning around to right it, that kind of thing. On occasion it is something that is hurtful to another boy’s feelings. When brought to their attention that they have not behaved kindly and need to apologize, they utter the required “sorry”- sometimes without even looking at the child they are apologizing to. I never allow that, I always make them face the person they are saying sorry to, and say exactly what it is they are sorry for. Then there are the kids who if they inadvertently knock something over, or knock into, they never need to be told to say they are sorry- they just automatically do it. They are quick to apologize. They will also speak up for another boy when they see a wrong being done to him. They are empathetic. They can sense the other child’s pain, recognize it. Sometimes they will ask if the boy is ok. Sometimes when they see something that I haven’t seen they will quietly let me know what happened- not in a “telling on” way, just letting the teacher know what has happened. So what makes one boy indifferent, and another so sensitive? Is it learned from what they see at home? Or are some kids going to grow up to be the rude adult, incapable of ever saying they are sorry, pushing their way through life with no apologies? I find it troubling to think that will be the case. But maybe it is just is reality.
Daily Prompt: Jealousy
The Daily Prompt asks: We all get jealous from time to time — what wakes the green-eyed monster for you?
Definition:
jeal·ous ˈjeləs/
adjective
1.feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages.
“he grew jealous of her success”
synonyms: envious, covetous, desirous; resentful, grudging, begrudging, green (with envy)
I have to honestly say I am just not a jealous person. I am happy for my friends when they accomplish something in their lives, or for what they have, they are my friends, envy has no place there. For the people I may know from afar, why should I be jealous of what they have that differs from what I may have? I am happy with what I have, and thankful too. It always bothers me when someone makes a post on Facebook saying they are going to some fabulous place for a vacation, and someone has to respond with “SO JEALOUS!” Really? I always want to ask them why they can’t respond with, “wow that’s great, so happy for you!” I think it speaks to a person’s character, or lack thereof, when they need to respond that way. It’s like they never grew up. Or worse, they haven’t come to a place in their own lives where they are content.
Cee’s Which Way Challenge
Wordless Wednesday
Daily Prompt: Math: My Land of Confusion
The Daily Prompt asks:
Which subject in school did you find impossible to master? Did math give you hives? Did English make you scream? Do tell!
Math. My brain is just not able to make any sense of it. I managed to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, but pretty much stopped there. Fractions? Adding them? Forget it. Word problems? That is when I would break out in a cold sweat. My brain could just not wrap itself around what was being asked.
It wasn’t bad enough I couldn’t do math, in 7th grade I ended up with the oldest, sternest math teacher in the school. He was tall and thin, NEVER smiled (of course not, he was a Math teacher) bald and wore small round wire rim glasses. While explaining some absurd mathematical concept to us he would take his glasses off, blow on them, and clean them with the hanky he kept in his pocket. I was usually more mesmerized by this ritual than whatever it was he was saying. He would tower over me as I sat at my desk with my brain exploding while reading some problem over and over and trying to decipher its meaning. The one time I ventured to ask, “Am I on the right track?” His booming voice responded, “Are you on the right track? You’re on the wrong railroad!!”
I managed through the rest of my school years barely passing, and not really caring as I didn’t think logarithms and cosines would be playing much of a part in my future.
As an adult my ability to figure out percentages became stronger with advent of 20% and 30% off sales- as an avid shopper I have no problem figuring out my final price in my head in a matter of seconds.
And I ended up marrying an Accountant.
Travel Theme: Statues
Travel Theme: Statues
Peter Pan
Bronze sculpture of Peter Pan made by Charles Andrew Hafner in 1928. It sits in Carl Schurz Park along the East River in Manhattan. In August 1999, Peter Pan disappeared. In a widely reported act of vandalism, the statue was dislodged from its base, to be subsequently recovered by the New York Police Department from the bottom of the East River.
Dozens of police officers investigated, and the day after the statue went missing a scuba team found it at the bottom of the East River. The New York Times reported, “Investigators said the disappearance of the beloved statue from Carl Schurz Park appeared, appropriately enough, to be the work of a band of overly high-spirited youths, perhaps latter-day Lost Boys who turned on their own icon.”
Cee’s Oddball Challenge
Cee’s Oddball Challenge
A Lighthouse Overlooking the Bronx Skyline
Atop a Building on the Major Deegan Expressway In New York
A Photo A Week Challenge -From Above
Nancy Merrill’s Challenge
FROM ABOVE
Looking down into the sculpture gallery at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, NYC
Join the Challenge Here
Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life
The Daily Post- Weekly Photo Challenge
Street Life
Document the movement of a street: tell a story with your snapshot, capture a scene that reveals a bit about a place.
The Diversity of Jerusalem, Israel
The Suit Fund
The letter arrived in the mail the other day. Just as it has in countless mailboxes for the last 60 years. Every year before the Jewish holiday of Passover the letter arrives from the parochial elementary school my husband attended, with a request for a donation to the “Suit Fund.” The donations are used to buy new suits before the holiday, for the boys whose families cannot afford to do so. My husband was one of those boys back in 1956.
My husband was 10 years old when his father died. It was sudden and with no warning. His father had gone into the hospital with a kidney problem, nothing life threatening. My husband and his mother had gone to visit him in the afternoon, he remembers his father joking and kidding as he always did. Four hours later they got a phone call saying he had died. He had been given some kind of injection that had caused a heart attack. He was 46 years old. Today there would be malpractice suits, and investigations, but the year was 1956 and there was none of that happening. What was happening was a young mother of 36 was left with 2 sons ages 17 and 10 and alot of grief. She and her husband had opened a retail dry goods store in Brooklyn just a year before, which fortunately meant there would be some income. But not much. My husband remembers being left alone in the store once a week when his mother had to go to New York to buy merchandise from the wholesalers. If someone asked for something that he couldn’t find he would tell them, “Please come back tomorrow when my mother is here.” He was 12.
So he was one of the boys who would be a recipient of the Suit Fund. He and six other boys would pile into the Principal’s Car and head off from Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Lower East Side to get new suits. It was handled in a very discreet manner, but he said he remembers feeling a bit embarrassed, knowing that being one of the boys who got a suit this way did set him apart. Once at the store they could pick out whatever they wanted, it was then tailored to fit, and they all got a new shirt and tie too. He made this trip for a new suit from 4th grade until 8th grade when he graduated.
There are events that happen in our lives that change us, shape us, define who we will become. Experiencing the death of a parent at a young age is one of those events. The ramifications run deep and are far reaching. It set my husband apart from the other boys in his class, but at the same time made him more aware of the needs of others, more sensitive to the hardships people can experience that come about not because of anything they have done, but because of circumstances beyond their control.
My husband has given to the suit fund from the day he began working, close to 50 years ago. Every year as he writes out that check, he is reminded of the blessings in his life, and thankful that he is able to give back. Knowing that a young boy will feel good about having a new suit to wear on the holiday in 2014, just as he did in 1956.
Daily Prompt: Wash Your Troubles Away
The Daily Prompt today:
We all feel down from time to time. How do you combat the blues?
What’s one tip you can share with others that always helps to lift your spirits?
Sometimes I just want to wallow in it when I am feeling down, just “let it be.” Think about what is making me sad, cry it out, ruminate on it. Then it is able to pass. I don’t try to fight it.
Other times I find getting out in the fresh air and taking a brisk walk and focusing on what is good around me helps.
But the one thing I seem to always find myself doing when I am feeling a bit down is cleaning. There is something therapeutic in washing things down, dusting, straightening, getting everything in its place, that allows me to clear my head. Once the things around me are in order, I can feel my spirits lift, and move forward.
Daily Prompt: The Great Pretender
Today’s Daily Prompt: The Great Pretender
Are you full of confidence or have you ever suffered from Imposter Syndrome?
“The impostor syndrome, is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck and timing.”
Growing up hearing a lot of no, you can’t, why can’t you, led to feeling I couldn’t. I never got to the ” I do not deserve the success I have achieved” part of Imposter Syndrome. I just didn’t think I was capable of doing many things, and so never tried. Slowly as I got older I started testing the waters and found there were things I was good at. I do not dismiss these accomplishments. I do not consider myself a haughty person, or over flowing with confidence, but am proud of the things I know I can do well.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Texture
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
Texture
I can see this old tree from one of my second floor windows.
I looked out on a rainy day to see a squirrel had taken refuge from the rain (in the hole on the left)
all but for his tail.
The Last Stop
I met her when I was 16. She was the mother of the guy I was dating, and was not so happy about the fact that we were dating and didn’t hesitate to hide it.
1977- Neither of us sure what to say…
Eventually she warmed to me, and we got along pretty well. I dated her son for many years and became like part of the family. I remember having to attend a business party when I was 20 years old and couldn’t find something to wear. She told me to go look in her closet and pick something out. I had always loved her sense of style and fashion and couldn’t believe she was being so generous. Lucky for me we wore the same size. I borrowed a beautiful suit and blouse, which I can still picture today. A few years later my relationship with her son ended, and I didn’t see her again for about 10 years, at which point she told me she wished her son had married me. I laughed to myself thinking you just never know how some things will turn out, here is the woman who could barely look at me years ago and now she was saying she wished her son had married me.
She worked for 40 years as the head administrator in the early childhood department of a school. She was constantly going back to school to get yet another degree. She instituted many innovative programs during her years there, and encouraged the teachers who worked under her to also further their educations, attend conferences, continue to grow. She was a real dynamo, full of energy and constantly going. Then in her early 60’s she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. She continued to work for a few more years, but then decided it was time to retire. However, she didn’t slow down. She focused on working out, as she had done all her life, but with more vigor, fighting against the Parkinson’s was her mission now. And it worked. She remained mobile long after her Doctors had thought she would be able to. Through the many times she has fallen and injured herself, she has recovered when we in truth we never thought she could. She is amazingly strong. Both in flesh and spirit.
We reconnected three years ago when her son came back to her home to live with her. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer and I was helping him out every day. It was during this time we got to know each other again. We would sit in the afternoon on her deck and talk about the days when I dated her son, she spoke openly about how she treated me then, and how it pleased her that now we could sit together as friends. She shared some of her own struggles throughout her life, the difficulties in her marriage, with her son who was now sick. I was there with her when her son died in her home. A moment that will be forever ingrained in my memory. I was so afraid to to have to tell her, but when I did she said right away she wanted to see him. She looked at him and asked if I was sure he was gone. We had had many close calls during his time on hospice. I said I was sure, so she took his hand, said a prayer, and quietly left the room. Stoic and strong as always, not one to shed tears in public. Her strength palpable. Giving us all strength at that time.
But the years were beginning to catch up with her, mild dementia from the Parkinson’s, the walker traded in for a wheelchair. She has had an aide by her side for the past 7 years, who has been her constant and loving companion. I am sure my friend has continued to do as well as she has because of her. I have never seen anyone go to the lengths for someone as I have seen her go. Pure love.
But now sadly, her home has become a financial burden, and too isolating, so she must leave. Today we packed up her things, some photos, clothes, to take to the assisted living facility she will move into. It is a beautiful place, with activities and music, which she will enjoy. But as her son, her aide and I readied her to go we were filled with the dread of knowing this move was the last stop. She is leaving the home she has lived in since the 1970’s, where her 2 boys were raised, where holidays were celebrated with overflowing guests around her dining room table, where her door was always open to friends. A new step into an unknown world lies ahead, with hopes that she will be treated kindly, that there will be new experiences to help this transition go easy, to make her miss the past less perhaps. Her strength has always gotten her through the challenges she has faced, and I hope will continue to now.
2013 Happy To Be In Each Other’s Company
Share Your World – 2014 Week 12
Cee’s Share Your World
Cee asks 4 questions each week
So all of us bloggers can get to know each other better.
What is your most favorite smell/scent?
I love the smell when I first enter a bakery
I usually just stand for a moment and breathe it in.
I love the scent from a Magnolia Tree
It signals the real beginning of spring for me.
How do you write: computer, longhand or other?
I find it quicker to write on the computer. I am still old school though and send hand written thank you notes and write letters in longhand to my nieces when they are away at camp.
Your favorite blog post that you have written? (add link)
I can’t say I really have a favorite. The posts I have written that are about my interactions with people in my life are the ones that hold the most meaning for me. This is one of them about a young girl with cancer
What’s one of your favorite books from childhood?
I was always reading as a child and really can’t remember a favorite. I do remember reading
The Little Prince, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, To Kill A Mockingbird, I read them all more than once.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week,
and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up
Last week I got to know my 11 year old great nephew better as we spent a weekend together.
We both have a great love for dogs in common.
This week I am looking forward to spring weather warmth making its arrival- finally!
Join In The Fun by Clicking the Photo Below!
One Word Photo Challenge: Black
Memorable Moments-Daily Prompt
The Daily Prompt :
What are the three most memorable moments — good or bad, happy or sad — in your life? Go!
There are so many memorable moments in a life… to narrow it down to just three is hard. Milestones we have reached, things we set out to accomplish and were successful in doing so, births, deaths. Here are three that stand out for me in that I remember them like they happened yesterday. I believe they count among “most memorable” for this reason.
Buying My First Car
The year was 1978 and I remember it like it was yesterday. A friend took me to a dealer he knew, and we spent hours in the showroom. I decided on an Oldsmobile Starfire. Back then there were a myriad of colors to choose from, as well as interior colors. I chose silver with burgundy interior. I went for air conditioning which in those days wasn’t standard, and added more onto the price. I had enough to pay for half of what the car cost, so my father came with me to the bank and co-signed a loan for me. When I paid off the two year loan I felt I was a real grown up. I was 23.
My Wedding Day
I remember every detail of the day. The year was 1991. I can still remember the total feeling of happiness and joy- sharing it with all my closest friends. They all seemed so happy for me. I was FINALLY getting married! I was 33.
My First Time On An Airplane
Memorable because it was a first. I flew New York Air from LaGuardia Airport to visit a friend in Washington DC. The cost of the flight was $25.00. There was a logo of an apple on the plane. I remember we hit turbulence and thinking, oh we must have hit some bumps, then realizing I was in the air, not on a bus on the ground. The man next to me must have seen my expression and talked to me the rest of the flight to take my mind off it. The year was 1980.
A Day In The Life 
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