Why I Love The New York Times

This is not a paid advertisement or any other kind of advertisement - just something that occurred to me this morning as I leisurely read through the Sunday New York Times.

I learn something every week. I learn more than one thing. The logo subtitle is "Expect the World"and that is what you get. I believe that most ignorance and bigotry stems from a lack of a world knowledge and awareness that there is a whole planet out there, full of life and humans that are nothing like yourself.  Once you gain a larger perspective your mind and world opens up in glorious ways.

But I digress. (Again, my worldview is complete in posts from a year ago)

Today I read about schools "flipping". This means that students watch videos of teacher lectures at home, on their smartphones or computers. If they lack technology they can access them at the school tech lab. When they are in school they do projects and homework in small groups with teacher support. Teachers say it is a way to reach every child, to help kids with homework when there is no support at home. Students can view the lectures as many times as they want at home. It is timesaving and, although the article didn't say this, my guess is eliminates a lot of time taken up in social drama in the daily school hours.  Apparently, in some schools they are seeing great success with students who had previously failed classes. Failure rates have declined and graduation rates have increased.

I read an excellent article by Nicholas Kristof who writes nothing but excellent articles on the world's marginalized, underprivileged and forgotten - especially women and girls in sexual trafficking. Today it wasn't about some third world country - it was Nashville.

I read an article about Tim Gunn, of Project Runway fame, who never came out to his parents, but tried to commit suicide at 17.  Again, acknowledging that no one would choose to be gay, bullied, repressed and hidden. At the end of the article he said if he had succeeded killing himself he wouldn't have had the wonderful life he's had.

There is a whole page about German words that express the inexpressible in English. New proposed German words like herbstlaubtrittvergnugen which means kicking through piles of leaves - made up of the words autumn-foliage-strike-fun.  I like plauschplage - the pressure to make small talk with people you interact with every day. From prattle-plague.  That tells you something about me....

Another article delved into the connection between success and musical training
. Examples of many high achievers in government and media (like Condoleeza Rice who trained to be a concert pianist) were included. Makes a lot of sense.

The Arts and Leisure section, while giving me a yearning to be back in New York City, is always inspiring. The amount of human creativity exhibited in this section is a beautiful thing. I feel relieved that I cannot see all these wonders since I am not there - as opposed to when I see them in Cleveland papers and wonder why I am not going to all of them )usually a lack of someone to go with that would truly enjoy it as well.)

I put aside and savor the Sunday Magazine and the Book Review section to take into my week. I find a list of books each week to add to my reading list.

I could go on and on - that's just snippets of October 13, 2013 in The New York Times.

Project Runway

I am not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination. But my daughter has a degree in fashion design and worked for the iconic designer Betsey Johnson (if you're not familiar look her up on the web). I have learned to appreciate fashion and all the creativity and skill that it takes. So I started watching "Project Runway" a few years ago, and then my daughter and I could chat about it the next day. The show is definitely set up to entertain, with infighting and drama - but the talent of these designers blows me away. Each week they're given an imaginative challenge, maybe $100 and 12 hours or so to create something FABULOUS! While in NYC a couple weeks ago my daughter and I walked past a candy store window that displayed one of the Project Runway challenges from last season. They had to create dresses from candy wrappers! If you're interested a new season starts on Bravo in July. (The photo on the right has a dress made of the brown Reese's cup holders.)

Carnival

A weird thing happened to me while in NYC. My daughter and I were at the Gershwin Theater waiting for Wicked to start. It is apparently quite an historic theater with memorabilia displayed and many, many photographs of all the actors that have performed there over the years. Across the second floor lobby I spotted something familiar - I said (out loud) - "There's Horrible Henry!" My daughter followed me, having no idea what I was talking about. There, in a glass case were four worn-out puppets. So what?

During my senior year in high school I had the starring role in the musical Carnival. I played a waif named Lili who wanders into a carnival and befriends the people there. A puppet show was central to the plot and there were four puppets - Horrible Henry, Renardo, Marguerite and Carrot Top. I loved working with the puppets so much that after the show closed my father asked the director if he could buy Horrible Henry for me. He couldn't because they were rented. The fact that he wanted to do that is special to me because people just didn't buy things much back then like they do now.

Anyway, here in the glass case were the original puppets. They had been owned by Jerry Orbach - who worked the puppets and did all the voices. You may know the late Orbach if you've ever seen "Law and Order" on TV. The only famous song from "Carnival" was Love Makes the World Go Round. The original Lili was Anna Maria Albergetti and it was later made into a movie called "Lili" with Leslie Caron.

It was kind of surreal to see those puppets after so many ( and I mean many) years, and strange that they, of all things, would be displayed. There wasn't that much memorabilia! Don't be too impressed though, because "Carnival" was the beginning and the end of my acting career. The photos show me and the puppets then -and now at the Gershwin Theater.

The Cloisters

My trip to New York and spending three days with my daughter was well - priceless - in every way. It can be exhausting being in the city because you walk and walk and walk. But then the next day you get up and you can't wait to go back into the chaos again. The sensory overload is intoxicating to me. We went far uptown to The Cloisters. It is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to medieval art and architecture. Built in a medieval style, it sits atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River. We were there on a perfect summer day. A cloister is in a monastery. It is a square or rectangular open-air courtyard surrounded by covered passageways and situated next to the monastic church. Its use is limited to the monks or nuns. Most of the art and architecture came French and Spanish monasteries. The architecture is actually built into the building, so you feel as if you are in the real thing. There are a number of chapels and cloisters. It was fascinating. We spent several hours there in the peaceful beauty and had an audio tour to guide us. Here are photos of the building itself and one of the cloisters. More highlights tomorrow!

Wicked

After the show last night I was speechless, but now I can think of a few words, well, maybe one - WOW. Also, stunning, incredible, visually spectacular. If you can ever go see it -do. Experiencing it with my daughter was wonderful. Wicked is the story of what happened before Dorothy got to Oz. It's about the relationship between Glinda, the good, and Elphaba (her name is derived from the initials of L. Frank Baum, author of Wizard of Oz.) It explains how Elphaba became wicked and it ties in many elements from the Wizard of Oz, all with a clever twist. I have a lot more to say, but just a little post. The play came from a book by Gregory MacGuire if you're into fantasy. I bought the tickets off of a sort of eBay for tickets and was nervous that they were legitimate - but they were and we had seats in row J in the orchestra section!

New York, New York

I realize that everyone is not as enamored of New York as I am. I trace my adoration back to my teens when I read so many novels set in the New York of the 40's and 50's. I just fell in love with it through other people's eyes. It seemed exciting and romantic. My aunt and uncle lived about an hour north of the city near West Point, so at seventeen I got to experience NYC first-hand, right in the midst of my novel-reading frenzy. My cousin actually lived in Manhattan at the time in an apartment near Central Park with his French girfriend! And he was an artist! How much more romantic could it get for a 17 year-old!

The fascination continued through movies and television and numerous visits. And now I can visit my daughter there. (I hate that she lives so far away - but if it had to be anywhere . . . .)

Last summer I dragged my husband there (he was a good sport, but a beach is his idea of a vacation) because I think New York City is a place everyone should experience at least once in their life. My favorite thing on that trip was taking a ferry boat around Manhattan. It was a beautiful July day and I couldn't get enough of the sites of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's spectacular! I took more pictures of the bridge than anything else. I have a goal of walking across it on one of these trips.

So I'm off to a place I never tire of experiencing. We all have certain senses that dominate what stimulates us - I'm visual and auditory - that's why the excitement never ends for me in New York City. Spending time with my girl is always delicious.

I might be back to blog over the weekend, so check back - but if I don't I'll see you Monday!

Getting Ready to Go

My brain is a little too chaotic right now to think clearly about an intelligent post (why start now?) So here is a poem I wrote after a New York visit last year.

From a Sidewalk

Moving against consciousness
beckoned repeatedly into the crosswalks
of neon-lit, variegated turmoil
going both ways at once

the assault on the senses
diminishes with the days
into a rhythm of walking, smelling
stopping, hearing languages

bodies don't touch or bump
get rammed by a taxi
or knocked down by a bike-weaver
on their personal paths to a million destinations

from the New York sidewalk
I called my daughter's cell phone
she was right across the street
but we couldn't see each other

Coexist VII - Imagine

Imagine no Memorial Day.

Imagine all children growing up in loving nurturing

homes, children never growing up to become Hitlers

or Husseins or Bin Ladens. Imagine God wiping

every tear from every eye - that will be Heaven,

and we must wait for heaven.

In the last days -they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Isaiah 2:4

Imagine there's no countries. It's easy if you try. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one. John Lennon

John wasn't the only one. If you go to Strawberry Fields in Central Park now you will see other dreamers - every day of every week - just sitting there - imagining.

g

I Love New York

I am sitting here in New York City - well actually Astoria, Queens - with my beloved daughter. For the last two days we shopped in Manhattan till we dropped and now (as of the fifth inning) we are watching the Indians kick butt. I got to chat with the glorious fashion designer Betsey Johnson. We bought my Italian hubby Italian cookies in Little Italy (and he'll get the ones we didn't eat.) But the highlight was watching Tori Amos sing her beauty for two solid hours last night at Madison Square Garden. Life is good.
Oh! they're playing Cleveland Rocks on the TV - but I'm rambling - a good dinner, a little too much wine and great people will do that to ya. More tomorrow when I come back to the real world.
Kate fell down and got four boo-boos.

It's all good (except the boo-boos - but it was funny.)