October 2021 – Waking up on the Wrong Side of 50

Posted on October 31, 2021October 31, 2021 by LA · 35 Comments

What Inspired Me: October 31

886- Scallion Pancake Beef Wrap/The Notorious T.F.C

I saw two Hitchcock movies this week- Yet I can’t decide which Hitchcock is my favorite. I’ve seen Strangers on a Train more times, plus studied it in a film class, so I can’t help but look for certain motif’s when I watch it. Doesn’t matter. All good!!
If anyone wants to buy me the Jaguar that was at MOMA….it does bring up a now talked about point- should beautiful cars be considered art? I say a big resounding yes- for beauty and engineering- but some are against that. Can cars be considered art?
Kim- couldn’t help but throw in a little surrealism…
So I was at the Met- for my weekly gallery by gallery tour, and I was approached by people in the digital media department of the Met who asked if I wanted to share my opinion about the Met. Hmmm…do you think I want to share my opinion about the Met?
We did a tourist walk this week: Bowery, SOHO and Little Italy. Once again we went to neighborhoods that we frequent on the regular. However, I did see a statue outside the Basilica that I’d never noticed.
I am a huge fan of Schitt’s Creek. Had the opportunity to see Eugene and Dan Levy talk about their new book. They are as warm and charming and hilarious in person as they are on TV. Love them. And the pride and love that Eugene shows for both Dan and Sara is just heart warming. FYI- if you’re a fan of the show or know one- the book is a great holiday gift
886 is a Taiwanese comfort food place in the East Village Manhattan. The chicken sandwich was about the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever eaten! Two words- potato starch. I’ve never used it but they use it ibn the batter- crisp and not greasy chicken. It was soooo good. They dress it with pickled daikon…
Korean corn dogs are a thing in NYC right now. We tried Two Hands (SOHO) and the dogs were delicious- had spicy one and one coated in rice crispie treats. Yum…but needed more than two napkins
Szechuan Mountain house came recommended to us as authentic szechuan food. It was delicious. I didn’t mark down the dishes we ate, and when I tried to get them from website it wouldn’t let me open menu because they’re not open now. But – everything yummy. The thing with Szechuan food isn’t so much the spice as the tingle of the peppercorns. So good. They also serve delicious green tea, and the place is a little haven of tranquility.
I am trying to cut down my mindless TV viewing. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that I am LOVING Ted Lasso (appletv) and Great British Baking Show (Netflix). Also- Dune (HBOMAX) is worth a watch- really well done!!!

Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 30, 2021October 28, 2021 by LA · 53 Comments

So I’ve been having some odd stomach cramping. It’s not continuous and nothing in particular triggers it and it’s annoying. I’ve have ultra sounds and ct scans and it’s all quite annoying and frustrating.

At my ct scan (with and without contrast if you are interested) they noticed a hernia and gallstones. I asked my gastro what the next step is- was referred to general surgeon.

Fine.

Go to general surgeon who looked at my scans very closely (along with a very bright and ambitious resident). The surgeons remarks:

You have a pristine gall bladder. I see one gall stone. One. I will not operate on a perfectly fine bladder with one teeny tine stone. That is not causing cramping.

Pristine.

As you your bowels, frankly, from the scans they are beautiful.

Doesn’t every woman want to be told that they have beautiful bowels?

As to your hernia- while you do have one, it is minor, and frankly you could probably push it back in yourself if you need to. Your hernia is not causing your cramping.

So- what is causing my cramping?

Well, you still have your colonoscopy coming up, which will give us one more look to make sure we haven’t missed anything, but outside of that…my medical opinion as to what’s causing your cramping?

Some people are naturally gassy. You appear to be one of those people.

So there you have it. There is now medical proof that I am full of hot air.

I am grateful that my bowels are beautiful and my gall bladder is pristine.

I am grateful that as of now I do not need surgery.

I am grateful for a general surgeon with a pleasant personality.

I am grateful for all those who read this post about my gassy nature.

Posted on October 29, 2021October 27, 2021 by LA · 31 Comments

My Month in Books: October

This is how I know I’m returning to what used to be: Five books in a month. That’s 2019 numbers.

Book	Author	How I Heard About It	Rating
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane	Lisa See	Tea Book Club	1
Apples Never Fall	Liane Moriarty	Author I’ve read before,	2
Out of Love	Hazel Hayes	Barnes & Noble recommendation	3
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos	Dominic Smith	Building Book Club	4
Salvage the Bones	Jesmyn Ward	College Book Club	5

The listing is how well I liked a book personally, not a judge of how good a book is. The following one liners are numbered as the books appear above.

Engaging look into a world I knew nothing about. Book has many facets and would be thought provoking book club choice.
As you’re reading, you’re not quite sure about anything. If second guessing yourself is your game, then give this a try. I used to love Moriarty and then I thought her last three books were phoned in. This one makes it appear she’s getting back on her game, but not quite there yet.
Unique way of looking at a love story- sort of backwards. Props to author for finding a different way to tell an old tale. Good if you want a realistic look at love.
Told from a few different perspectives, some more intriguing than others. I found it hard to really get behind any of the characters. It’s historical fiction light. Good only if you have a real interest in art, yet don’t know much about art.
I know that this won awards. I also know that I don’t care that it won awards. This is a book for someone who LOVES long, poetic descriptive passages that move the story along at a glacial pace. I felt its trying to compare itself to Greek tragedy to be tedious and not well placed. However, there were some in my book club that loved it. Not for readers who want a fast paced book.

Posted on October 28, 2021October 27, 2021 by LA · 59 Comments

Chow Wow Meow

My daughter was, once again, an orientation counselor at her college. As an orientation counselor, she needs to go through training on a variety of things, one of which is ice breakers.

I kind of love these ice breakers. As someone who has trouble interacting with people I don’t know, I think they are invaluable. As someone who often struggles with small talk even amongst family, I think they are cute. At our dinner table each night I used to make all of us say our high and low point of the day. It was a reminder that we all have good and bad moments, but we can choose how we get over them.

This years ice breaker:

Chow Wow Meow

Chow- Something good you ate

Wow- Something that amazed you

Meow- Something cute

For me, if I were to think back to yesterday, mine would be as follows:

Chow: I met up with friends at a diner. My club sandwich came with perfectly cooked fries (for me perfectly cooked means steak fries that are just slightly overfried)

Wow: I saw Eugene and Dan Levy talk about their new book last night. Amazed at how the audience knew more about Schitt’s Creek than they did. And I sat next to a superfan. When I get the hearing back in my left ear there will be a blog about that.

Meow: My daughter’s sorority did the “Big” reveal over the weekend. They “wrapped” the bigs under sheets and had the littles unwrap them. I know it sounds odd but it was really cute in the pictures.

So…

Chow

Wow

Meow

Go!!

Posted on October 27, 2021October 26, 2021 by LA · 64 Comments

Parenting is Hard

Parenting is hard….says my daughter.

She came to this realization this year, as she navigated parenting our puppy.

You need to watch what they eat

You need to pull things out of their mouths

You need to watch what they’re doing

You spend your days telling them No

You worry about them all the time

My daughter ended her diatribe with a question to me:

How did you parent me and not go crazy? Wait – not crazy because we aren’t supposed to use that word anymore. How did you parent me and still function every day?

I didn’t really have to think about the answer to that: You parent because you love. And love is stronger than anything else- except for maybe hate, but that’s a whole other post.

Parenting is a blessing and a curse. You get the opportunity to raise a child. You get to watch them grow and learn things and you get to see those adorable smiles and the tinkle of their giggles. You also get to wipe their butt after they poop. You get to smell them when they go through the adolescent phase of not showering. You get to hear them berate you.

So how do we parent and still function?

We remind ourselves that parenting a child is a privilege. When you have the opportunity to raise a child it is a gift. We know that even though there are some rocky moments, there is so much joy to be had with a child.

Being a parent is being an eternal optimist. When there are issues, it’s keeping the positive attitude that things will get better. It’s reminding ourselves of all the good moments of the past, and if we can just hold on a little, we will see more good moments ahead.

Being a parent is hard. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It has also been worth every moment: both good and bad.

Posted on October 26, 2021October 24, 2021 by LA · 72 Comments

The Air Fryer

Early in pandemic, with everyone in the house 24/7, I had to make new rules for the new world order. One rule was that I would be willing to cook dinner, but everyone was on their own for breakfast and lunch. I was not about to become a short order cook and spend my day flipping meals for everyone.

After I made this decree, my Husband and Daughter bought themselves an air fryer. They put everything in the air fryer. My daughter was watching videos about things that can be fried. My Husband invested in about every frozen appetizer that Trader Joe’s makes.

They were happy- they easily prepared their meals. I was happy. I didn’t have to prepare their meals. They shopped for these things and cleaned up after themselves.

Win. Win. Win.

About the first week of August 2021, we noticed that the air fryer shorted out the fuse. Three times I had to flip the switch. After three times I knew enough to know that the air fryer had fried its last meal.

I asked my family if they wanted to replace it.

My daughter shook her head no. I’m going back to college in a few weeks she said. I’m not going to need it anymore.

My Husband thought about it and agreed with my daughter. No. I’m in the office three days a week now. I can figure out something else for lunch when I’m home.

We didn’t need an air fryer anymore.

So in some weird way, it was like the air fryer was telling us that it’s time to move on- Sometimes you need something for a period of your life. They are extremely important until one day they aren’t. But you think fondly about whatever it was that filled a much needed hole in your life.

Not everything is permanent.

It’s OK to let go of anything that you don’t need anymore, whether it’s people, ideas, clothes or a small kitchen appliance.

Sometimes we just need to move on. Moving on doesn’t mean that something wasn’t important or valuable: moving on simply means we are at a different place in our lives, and we need different things to get us through.

Try no to hold on to anything that has lost it’s usefulness or purpose.

Try to find what you really need.

Posted on October 25, 2021October 23, 2021 by LA · 72 Comments

Now I’m Mad

I was going to write a post today about if I actually read reviews before I buy things. I actually tracked my purchases for the past ten days…. the short answer is “NO” but you aren’t going to hear about that till February…

But today…

Today I am mad…

Today I am irate…

First off- I will start with the fact that I have not done really any due diligence (read a few blog posts about it and one or two news articles) about this specific issue, but I know that this has happened before, in other cities, recently, and that a pattern has already emerged.

A woman was sexually assaulted on a Philadelphia train last week. People taped it, but did nothing.

They taped it.

They %^%$&* recorded it and stood by and watched someone get assaulted.

Maybe they thought that if they helped the woman, they would get COVID…I guess that’s a legit concern, right? They might get sick…because we know how disgusting people who don’t get vaccinated are…

You know what disgusts me?

The person who sexually assaulted someone.

You know what disgusts me?

The fact that no one helped this woman.

You know what disgusts me?

That people taped it.

A few months ago I witnessed a man on a scooter get hit by a car. My fingers dialed 911 before I even realized what I was doing. Me and another guy called. Everyone else took out their phones…you know…to tape it. To make sure they had the gory details for posterity. To make sure they taped the plain clothes officer who announced himself on the scene. Because you know that was going to help the victim.

People who watch criminal acts and do not do anything are disgusting.

People who see something and do not report it are disgusting.

People who are righteous in their condemnation of others are disgusting.

I don’t care if you disagree with me. What I do care about is those around me. If you really care about those around you, do something when you see a wrong is being committed in person in front of you.

Don’t let anyone drive drunk.

Watch for those who are drunk or high all the time.

Talk to people you know having unprotected sex.

Watch for signs of physical or emotional abuse.

Watch for people contemplating suicide.

Drugs, alcohol, abuse all kill people. They kill people every year. They ruin families. They have probably ruined someone in YOUR family, your neighbors family, your best friends family. If you think that everyone you know hasn’t been touched in some way by any of these things I’d say you are either a liar or a loner or an ostrich.

It is easy to pick on a group of people and say that they’re bad.

It is far harder to think about the problems that have affected us for years and will continue to affect us.

You want to be a good neighbor? Watch for ALL the things that kill people. Unless you just want to be “on trend”. Or you think you shouldn’t get involved if someone drinks too much. Or is assaulting someone on a train. Because those things are hard…it is hard to tell someone else what to do, isn’t it?

It is easy to stand on the soapbox and shout out about people that you can “categorize”

It’s just as easy to live in a glass house.

Posted on October 24, 2021October 22, 2021 by LA · 39 Comments

What Inspired Me: October 24

So- I was in DC visiting my daughter!! We had a wonderful time! Lots of great food. Great museums! Theater!! Hadestown is touring right now- if it comes to a theater near you, go see it!! It was very kitschy to see a play at Ford’s Theater. Of course, we did not see “Our American Cousin”… DC is awesome for trying different cuisines. We decided Jaleo was our best mean, though Das made an incredible cinnamon tea. We were getting back to the hotel from sightseeing and it started to rain, so we needed to make a pit stop at a doughnut place…I mean…it was raining…Loved all the art and such that we saw- oddly on my train down to DC I was reading a book that talked about Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, so that was a cool coincidence. Of course, I think the Hope Diamond was my favorite…
There is a Kusama exhibit at the New York Botanic Garden- work was very fun to look at, especially as they had it intermingled with flowers and such. One of the pieces allowed us to add a flower to the work- I’m not quite sure how I feel about interactive art. Expect a post about it.
Rick Bayliss finally opened a restaurant in NYC- yay…
Bond- James Bond
Saw Vertigo on the Big Screen- Hitchcoctober baby…Such a good film…

Posted on October 23, 2021October 21, 2021 by LA · 31 Comments

Gratitude Saturday

Last weekend I went to DC to visit my Daughter.

I am grateful that I got to spend time with her.

I am grateful that her University had Parent’s Weekend and all sorts of activities. I am grateful that her sorority had nice things planned. I am also grateful that we decided to blow off all formal university and sorority events…

I used Amtrak to get to and from DC. On my train home, you know, when you’re tired and exhausted and just want to get home and get into your jammies with a cup of tea (remember- you’re me in this moment) my train, which had been humming along quite nicely, came to a stop somewhere between Philly and Trenton.

We sat for about fifteen minutes.

We came to find out that another northbound train had become disabled. We were to take their passengers.

This was frustrating as we were given no timeline for how long this would take.

Arghh…

When I reached Penn Station in NYC, and I became rational again, I realized that I was glad that our train was able to take those people. All I could think about was what if I had taken that train instead…

So I’m grateful that my train was able to take all the passengers from the other train. Sometimes we forget that we often need to help out others who are in a tough situation.

Posted on October 22, 2021October 20, 2021 by LA · 48 Comments

Anything Can Happen Friday: Crosswords

Fun Fact: I do the New York Times crossword puzzle every day. I have a subscription and either at 10pm or 6pm, depending on the day, I receive a notification about the puzzle for the next day.

Monday and Tuesday puzzles are very easy- I finish them rather quickly. But the rest of the week can be any degree of challenging. Suffice to say, I tend to start the puzzles in the evening but finish sometime the next day.

This past week I was working on Sunday’s puzzle. For those of you who are not puzzle fans, in a weekly newspaper, Sunday is the biggest puzzle. So I had 3/4 of the puzzle completed, but I was struggling with the lower right corner. The central clue that I was struggling with was:

76 (across) Posted One’s Thoughts

I finally got 76 (down) Abacus Piece- BEAD

So I knew my word at 76 Across started with a B…

hmmmmmmmm- I thought…What is “posted one’s thoughts” that begins with a B????

BLOGGED

And then I was able to compete the puzzle…