Dear Martha and Rachel...
But for the last three weeks "this time" never happens. I'm not taking it personally, but my feelings are starting to be a little bruised. It brings back every memory of childhood kickball games and gym classes, when almost invariably I was among the last chosen, and I'd stand looking at the kids who had been chosen and wishing I wasn't among the last. It got a little better in high school, but it doesn't take much to bring back those memories. I thought somehow being the last chosen was gone with elementary school. I never dreamt it would still be with me on the cusp of Social Security and Medicare.
Dear Martha and Rachel, I'm appealing to you. Please! I would be a great member of your audience, absolutely great. I'm cute, I'm perky and I will clap wildly on cue. I've got a big smile and will laugh and nod at all the right time. I won't embarrass you, I promise. Just give me a chance, you won't be sorry.
In One Day...
One Day to V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N...
Thanks all, for your terrific support for my healthy eating. This is about the time I start to get frustrated that my progress isn't going faster and just go off to eat anything I want, generally with lots of sugar and salt. Today's "vices" included spinach, carrots, banana and grapes and no diet soda. No matter what the scale says tomorrow, I know I ate well today.
I'm going to get the new chip for my camera tomorrow and promise lots of wonderful pictures when I get back from the North Country.
Weekend Update
No-Errand Saturday
I did go to services and then to lunch with friends in the neighborhood. Casual, spiritual, lovely and restful, as it should be. I did have plans afterwards to come home and start a short round of errands. Instead I joined a friend -- spontaneously -- for an iced coffee and watching folks walk on Broadway. It felt like being on vacation.
I do go to services regularly and I generally join friends for lunch, but I don't take the entire day as a sabbath. I have friends who do and they are unfailing in their endorsement of the concept. The new year begins in the Jewish calendar in three weeks. The month preceding the new year is a time of reflection. I hadn't focused on any specific goal -- we make spiritual resolutions in our congregation -- but I think I have mine and will be looking at how to make no-errand Saturdays a more frequent part of my life.
More to Come...
Hurry, Autumn...
And the Winner is...
Mystery Weekend
A few hints...I'm not going to solve a mystery; I'm not going to the beach and I'm not visiting family in Connecticut.
The answer, complete with pictures will appear Sunday night. Have a great weekend!
Buttercup's Television Project (1)
On one of many sleepless nights in the last few months I decided to try and get tickets to other shows filmed in NYC. I've sent my name in to several and tonight I saw my first show, "The Colbert Report." What fun! Stephen Colbert is both cuter and funnier in person than on the show and I think he's funny on television. The guest was Mark Devlin, a cosmologist looking at the cosmos (what else would he look at?) via a telescope sent up in a balloon. The only minus is a lot of standing, but a small price to pay for a fun glimpse into a different world than my daily life.
No cameras permitted during the taping, but I will get photos of the studio buildings in the future. Next on my list -- waiting to hear from Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart!
My Evening with the Mayor...
A Relic of the Past Right Outside my Door
I love my neighborhood. In the mornings people are walking dogs, walking to the bus or subway and walking with their children. Lots of baby carriages and little ones. Now each morning the bus to day camp waits on the corner across from my building and parents are knocking on the windows and waving goodbye to their children. It's probably not the image most people have of New York, but in my corner of the city there are lots of children.
Buttercup Counts her Calories or Goodbye 30
I turn 60 next summer and a gift I would like to give myself is to be 30 pounds thinner. Right now I am thinking about posting once a week on my progress to my goal. Would anyone like to join me? If not in a weekly post, I appreciate encouragement or even, as Penniwig might say, a good flailing when needed.
Buttercup will now be counting blessings and calories!
"Julie and Julia"
When I visited Washington in March I saw Julia Child's kitchen at the Museum of American History. I was so taken with it that I even blogged about it and posted one of the photos above. Tonight I went with my friend, Mary to see "Julie and Julia" which is both about how Julia Child came to write "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and how Julie Powell of Queens, NY (the neighborhood near my office) wrote a blog about cooking all the recipes in "Mastering the Art..." in a year.
10 Favorite Places (3) Grand Central Station
Soon I'll be singing "Autumn in New York," and posting photos of red and yellow leaves in Central Park, but for now I'm happy it's summer.
I Lift up My Eyes Unto the Hills
Dancing in the Street
Took a subway trip yesterday to the bank closest to my office. While waiting for the train I took this picture of the Manhattan skyline, as seen from Queens. The Empire State Building is to the left of the water tower, and the "S" in the right of the photo is the first letter of Silvercup, a film studio where a number of television shows are filmed.
The Soup Nazi is a real soup store, though it was closed for quite awhile and I'm not sure if it's reopened. It's on either West 54th or 55th St., off Eighth Avenue. This is just a few blocks from one of my previous -- and much lamented -- office locations. I bought soup there once and it was very good, but the thought of standing in line for at least a half an hour to buy a cup of soup made it a once in a lifetime experience. But I did have to try it!
Hurray for Raisin Bran!
In the mornings either I buy my coffee at this stand and try to refrain from indulging in a danish, or I go to this deli. The deli has iced hazelnut decaf and that is my favorite.
I do love living in New York. I moved here in 1975 intending to stay for only a few years and a few years became a decade and then decades and I really set down roots. I've come to understand how expensive New York can be. Everything has to be trucked onto this island, through crowded streets. But sometimes at heart, I'm just a kid from Connecticut marvelling at life in the big city.
Reflecting on this I'm going to go out after work tomorrow and buy myself a cut up pineappple and savor every bite.
P.S. Thinking over today...the high point was an email from my friend, Marcia, who became a grandmother for a second time. Ethan Anthony was born yesterday, healthy and thriving, and cute as can be.