New York Fall and The Impending Winter.

This morning when I woke up and looked out the window I saw my very first Fall tree that had lost every single leaf and, against the rainy day gray sky, looked so sad. I sighed and counted and named the months ahead in my mind. November, December,January....I just stopped because I didn't want to torture myself with the cold and tree-less outlook. It was 48 degrees, rainy, gray and bleary here today. No green, no blue sky, no sunshine is just no fun. The philosophy that we 'need the bad to appreciate the good' (ie: dark gray and cold makes you appreciate warm and sunny) is CRAP! I was speaking to a guy the other day from Barbados and just as another guy was preaching that philosophy, he chimed in and said in his warm as tropics accent "I grew up in Barbados my whole life, 33 years, and I NEVER got tired of it, it was beautiful and it made me so happy. I miss it!" I high fived him and told him I was with him! So, here's to making it through the Fall and Winter with grace...ugh...

The 7 Dollar Wedding Ring

You would really have to know me to know the full effect of just how interested in people's stories I am and how unafraid I am to talk to anyone or ask a question if I am just so curious I have to know. This afternoon, I went to grab some lunch for everyone up the street at this little cafe/deli. The line was a little long and as I was waiting, I casually mentioned to the woman standing in front of me, "I like your scarf", which she in turn replied, "I like your hat". Because of the longish line, we began a casual conversation. Casual went to solemn when Frank Sinatra came over the speakers and she said "Oh, my husband loved Frank Sinatra, we saw him at the Cotton Club the day after we were married........he passed away 2 months ago." I said how sorry I was, to which she replied, "we were married 63 years. We met at the beach when I was 15 and he was 18 and I knew I loved him the minute I looked at him." She went on to tell me that he had been shipped off to World War II and she promised to wait for him and when he got back (she was 17), they ran off and eloped to City Hall, to the horror of her disapproving parents. I said, "Weren't you scared, weren't they angry" And cutie pie said "Oh hunny, I was in love, you know how you are when you are in love. He was the love of my life, I would have followed him to the ends of the earth." She said they had $75.00 IN TOTAL to their name, to put a down payment on an apartment, buy a week's worth of food, a wedding license AND a wedding ring! She said her wedding ring was $7.00 from a street vendor in Brooklyn and the most precious item that she has ever owned. In fact, when he once tried to replace it years later when he became an officer, she was offended and said that the one she already owned was just perfect.
And the whole time she told these stories with a smile. I could have listened to her life biography if I had had the time. All we had at the moment was my co-worker's phone camera and I made her stop for this picture. ***She pulled a chain from beneath her sweater just before I left and said "Oh, this is the ring, I wear it close to my heart." And there it was, a little tiny lookin' gold ring. A lifetime of love and memories circled inside. It warmed and broke my heart at the same time.

***This is just an interesting historical fact that I learned that I had to include. When she had said her husband was in WWII, she said that what he had been trained to do in combat, specifically, was drive those little boats to the shore to drop off soldiers and ammunition and that he was infact driving one of the boats on D-Day. Some of you may find it in odd that I asked this, but I did (and she was excited to answer!) I asked her if she had seen Saving Private Ryan. She said that she and her husband 'of course' had. I then asked her if the opening scene of the D-Day invasion was, according to her husband's recollection, totally overblown or pretty close to actuality. She said that throughout the whole opening of the movie her husband kept tugging on her arm and telling her, "that's what it was like, that's just what it was like!" She said that he had actually been driving his boat to shore and one soldier got shot and they really DID throw him overboard. (though she said that he laughed at the idea that guns were fired underwater as he was adamant that this would 'never work'. funny what you would notice after having been there.) Ittotally amazes me, and gives me great pause that these things were just not in the movies and that people really are able to thrive and survive through ordeals like that. Gives me alot of hope for life.

SOTD John Denver - Annie´s Song

To the right and to the left of me in Junior High Choir---oh yes, I was TOTALLY in the choir-were boys, who mostly mouthed the songs we had to sing because they really didn't want to be there. On Fridays, we had what were called "Pop Song' days- where we could raise our hand and pick any song from this kinda outdated 60's and 70's sheet music folder. I ALWAYS wanted to sing this one and everytime I would raise my hand, Stuart and/or Darren would pull it down or tug on my pigtails or step on my foot. I think this made everyone gag, but I loved it.

SOTD HIgh School Musical 3 - HSM3 - I Want It All (Extra, Exclusive, Full movie version video, HQ)

My niece loved these movies and I must admit, I like them too. Colorful, fashionable, musical, and young will always appeal to the girl in me. My friend Jane went to see this and loved it and she is one of the most pragmatic women I know, so you can't deny the appeal if you like music and performance! I just love it!

SOTD GWEN STEFANI - EARLY WINTER (Official Video)

I had the good fortune to see No Doubt really really early in thier career. They were the opening band for a ska festival that I went to see back in 1996. From the moment little Gwen walked onstage and opened her mouth to sing, I was in love. With her style, her voice, I don't think there has been a female 'pop' star that I adore more than her. The sound of her voice, I relate to and, for some reason, just makes me feel at home. And her style- take a look. I tried sooo hard a few years ago to just even get an interview with her fashion company L.A.M.B here in NY. Some snotty English guy always put me off, but maybe someday. Maybe.... I am sure you will see more of her on my blog.

SOTD I Believe - Stevie Wonder

ahhhh-- Stevie Wonder. This has always been my favorite Stevie Wonder song. It was also wisely and beautifully well placed by the ever musically evocative Cameron Crowe as the 'closing credits' song for the movie High Fidelity.
http://www.deezer.com/track/2505672

Ahhh, in an ideal world.......

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

Teddy Roosevelt

Isn't that the way it's spose to be? ;( What's wrong with a little idealism?
Big Sigh.