Shake It Up

Ok I'm kind of bored.  I have decided to shake-it-up a little.

I moved the two family room chairs so they face the TV instead of the sofa.  Much more useful.

I gave my blog a new look.  Now I don't have to waste so much green ink printing it out (I always crop it to get just the text part and not the background). 

Lincoln Park After Dark

I went with a fashionable dark nail color this weekend, something I have never tried.  Supposedly this shade - "Lincoln Park After Dark" - is Kim Kardashian's favorite color which alone should have told me to stay away. What can I say, I was intrigued by the name.  Lincoln Park holds many happy memories for me.  On me, "Lincoln Park After Dark" looks more like Lincoln Park after a total electric blackout hit Chicago.

These exciting changes have not done much to assuage my restlessness...

:-) 

One For The Money

There is a certain breed of mean-spirited people who are not happy unless other people are made to feel stupid or inferior.  They are called movie critics ;-)  

So when the Sun-Sentinel baddie gave the movie I was looking forward to seeing one star and said "you'll want your money back" I knew it would be great!  I was right, it was almost 100% dead-on with the casting and lots of fun.

Books made into movies can never just be judged for themselves because they are always being compared to the "original".  Kudos to the folks on the long list of credits for One For The Money.

:-)

Broken Heart

Is it possible to die from a broken heart?  I think maybe yes. 

I read this interesting article today about a couple that lived a few miles away.  If I read it right, it sounds like they were married at 13 and 15 and together for almost 70 years. 

The article caught my eye because I thought of Coach Joe Paterno.  Did he die from a broken heart?  Medically, his death is attributed to lung cancer. Emotionally, there are those who believe a major life trauma, like losing a life partner or child or seeing your 50+ year career end in disgrace, can trigger physiological changes that start a downward spiral to death. Or perhaps just provide the extra push that summons the Grim Reaper.

When I am under extreme stress I know my body is telling me things are not normal.  One time I even forgot to eat!

;-)

The Hunt

So I hear J.C. Penney is eschewing sales in favor of "everyday low pricing".  Big Mistake.

Obviously their new CEO, Ron Johnson, formerly the Senior Vice President of Retail Operations at Apple, thinks that ladies' lingerie and handbags can be sold using the same marketing strategy - single "low" pricing - as iPhones.  Get Real!  The world is filled with a zillion outlets for soft goods, all of them engaged in cut-throat competition.  There's only one source of iToys (Apple), not counting inferior Chinese knock-offs.

Worst of all, Mr. Johnson completely misses the mark on the female (biggest J.C. Penney shoppers) psyche.  We love a bargain.  A big score.  An unexpected surprise (like a coupon for 30% off). The thrill of The Hunt.  In short, a SALE!

I like to shop at J.C. Penney and especially at the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Store.  But only when there's a S-A-L-E!

;-)

You Made My Day

Homemade chopped liver last night! Made from a slightly modified (no wine) adaptation of the Barefoot Contessa's recipe. Yum! The scale was up almost 2 pounds from yesterday!

It reminded me that I have another source of recipes, a cookbook penned by Evelyn Gold (sadly, not me) titled "You Made My Day - Four Generations of Kosher Cooking". 

I also have this prized possession - a gift from Mom. It's a collection of her favorite recipes and includes things she never made but wished she had, like the Pillsbury Bake Off winners. Also included are clippings from the newspaper like "Low Cholesterol Jewish Cooking" (an oxymoron). How carefully she made dividers for the different categories and even thoughtfully included an index! I guess this was like her "blog". Thanks Mom!

Isn't it true that every generation in every culture values their recipes so much that passing them to the next generation is almost a sacred duty?

;-)

Evi

I just learned about a new artificial intelligence app that promises to be smarter than me and works like Siri does but with my one-generation-back iPhone4.  Super cool, it even has my name!

How folks spell the shorthand version of my name always makes me smile.  I'm Evie, Evi, Evy, Eve, Evvy or Ev.  I don't care, they are all cute.

Eve seems to be a popular name for sexy robots with advanced artificial intelligence.  I'm thinking of the cute girl robot in WALL-E and the 1990 film EVE OF DESTRUCTION.

This Evi is very polite, probably because she was developed in England where I hear they are "civilized".   :-)  

The State Of The Union

Last night President Obama gave the annual State Of The Union address. 

It is a lot to comprehend how the entire country is doing so most folks, like me, rely on the "gut feeling" indicator.  We check out how we are doing, how the younger generation is doing and how our friends are doing.  

Even though Florida has been hard hit in the last few years, and certainly my own salary and benefits have taken a big hit, I'm going to go out on a limb and say things are not so bad, or least they're improving.  I see folks are still eating out, going to the movies, shopping and buying cars, smartphones and iToys.  Even better, I sense we are on the cusp of a brighter tomorrow.

Having lived through decades of hot and cold wars, gas shortages, erratic interest rates and unemployment lines, threats of both nuclear apocalypse and the demise of "family values", financial bubbles and busts and a host of other ups and downs, I'm fairly confident that we will survive.

:-)

At Sea

When I was a girl and went to overnight camp we sang a horrible song around the campfire about the Titanic.  The chorus included the frightful line "husbands and wives, little children lost their lives".  I will spare you, Dear Diary, the rest of the lyrics.  Suffice it to say, it left a lasting impression.  I must be the only person in America who did not watch the movie Titanic or see the Poseidon Adventure.

With the news of the Costa Concordia disaster, many folks are rethinking their love of cruising.  I am not one of them.  I adore cruising, notwithstanding my old campfire sing-alongs. 

Since Port Everglades is only a piece down the road (located here in Hollywood) it's not necessary to worry about flights or hotel stays to grab a cruise.  It's a relatively cheap vacation when you consider food (lots of food), entertainment, exotic ports of call and accommodations are all included.  Best of all, when you step on a cruise ship you are instantly disconnected from your smartphone, laptop and the rest of your obligations.  After all, there is not much you can do about anything from the middle of the ocean.

Anchors Away!

Psychic Friends

I've had my fortune told three times, not counting the cookies that come with dinner.

Fortune #1
When I was 7 or 8 and living in Toronto a fortune teller told me I would go to Chicago and meet my future husband. Who knew?

Fortune #2
In 1987 a fortune teller told me to beware of gas fumes in my house. I knew this could not be true because we were living in an all electric apartment while our new house was being built. It was January and one day I went to the new house to check on the progress. To cure the drywall in the cold weather the contractor had brought in huge gas heaters and the smell was unmistakeable. Wow!

Fortune #3
Many years ago a psychic told me that when I like something a lot I buy one in every color. Ya think???

Forks Over Knives

My friend John Pryor's daughter has a small role in Forks Over Knives, a documentary about our crappy eating habits and all the diseases that result from same eating habits. 

After ordering it from Netflix and watching it this morning I can sum it up pretty easily: Eat a plant based diet or Die.

Sheesh!  And I just finished writing about my love affair with Popeye's Chicken!!  I guess I'll have to switch to Popeye's Spinach instead.

Can't write much.  I'm hurrying out to the Hollywood Yellow-Green Farmer's Market to buy veggies.

;-)

Web Design 101

Designed By Me

I designed the City's website home page myself and I must admit I am very proud of it.  It has won lots of awards and is certainly the far cry from the mish-mash I found when I started here almost 12 years ago.

The website is scheduled to be ripped from my tender, loving, nurturing hands soon and re-designed and hosted by professionals.  I do admit they have a cool content management system and are artistically talented.  I am going to keep this screen print for my nostalgic musings. 

The New Proposed City of Hollywood Website

Is this what a parent feels like when their child leaves home?? 

 :-/

Chicken and Me

Everyone has a favorite food and I do too.  It's chicken, prepared almost any way.  Boiled or baked or chopped in a salad, doesn't matter.

My favorite is fried chicken but I try to go easy on the breading.  And my favorite fried chicken is Popeye's (spicy) but that is partly because I can get it with the yummy Cajun Rice side.  I must admit that Golden Corral does a super job as well.

I make a mean Southern Fried chicken myself with my "secret" recipe.  Truth be told, I eat chicken almost every day which is why when I eat out I opt for seafood as a change of pace.
 
OK I'll let you in on my "secret recipe".  It's almost the same as Paula Deen's and my results look almost the same as hers. 

Yum! Yum!

Betty

You just GOTTA love this gal!!!  Betty White was 90 on 1/17 and President Obama demanded to see her "long form" birth certificate to prove it!  What a hoot!

Of course Betty is every woman's image of where they'd like to be at 90 - spry, involved, working even.  Most would settle for not being incontinent and remembering where they left the house keys.

She claims she didn't "do" anything, or "accomplish" being 90, it just happened.  I think she's accomplished a ton, making people happy and earning the love and respect of, uh, Everyone.

Happy Birthday Betty. And many, many more!

BFF

Tomorrow would have been my BFF's 61st birthday.  She's been gone over 5 years and I still miss her everyday.

She and I had a plan for our very old age.  Since the odds greatly suggest we would both be without husbands (poo poo poo) at some advanced age, we decided we would live together and take care of each other.  She would cook (her specialty) and I would clean (definitely NOT her specialty) and we would flirt with old men at the senior center and get our hair and nails done and travel to places we had never been to.  If we found ourselves poor or in need of extra help, we would move into son/godson Scott's basement and mooch off of him.  ;-) 

The year Sheryl died, she sent me a plaque with two old ladies standing together.  She had it engraved with our names. The plaque says "If we live to be a hundred and three, best friends we still will be".

Damn you Sheryl for leaving me!  And Happy Birthday in Heaven Sweetheart.

Affection for the Election

I try to be an informed voter.  I follow the issues and try to keep an open mind. 

I used to be a registered Independent until I realized that meant I could not vote for anyone in the the Florida primaries.  A few months ago I changed my registered voter status from Democrat to Republican so I could make sure ultra "socially conservative" candidates would not win the Republican nomination. In Florida, how you are registered makes a difference in who you can vote for. 

I am a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.  I support a woman's Right To Choose and Gay Marriage. But most of all, I support Israel.

When I was a decade away from having the right to vote, my father told me how I should vote in all elections.  He told me to vote for whomever undeniably supports Israel.  He told me that if Israel fails my life would be worthless.  What a strange thing to tell a child! But I think I understood what he was getting at.  To survive as a people, with so much hatred in the world, we need a country, a political identity and a strong military.  The Holocaust and the war for Israeli independence was very fresh in his mind.

Can't wait to do my part to Rock The Vote again on Tuesday January 31st.

Kotel

This video (link below) brought tears to my eyes.  Seeing our soldiers rush to the Wall, being there for the first time in centuries!

If there was no other reason to pilgrimage to Israel, seeing the Kotel was reason enough. 

And I still see it everyday.  This picture is my screensaver.


http://www.aish.com/jw/id/The_Heart_of_the_Jewish_People.html

Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch today at Giorgio's Grill on the fabulous Hollywood Intercoastal with one of my favorite people, Cousin Jeannie.  We'll celebrate her 62nd birthday from a few days ago, her Chai (8th) anniversary with her beloved Marek on January 2nd and raise our Bloody Marys and Mimosas (included with brunch) to toast his 85th birthday, which is today. Marek himself however is in Switzerland on business for his chain of jewelry stores.  Can you believe it? What a guy!

Sunday brunch on the water sounds so civilized doesn't it?  There is even valet parking!  And seeing my dear cousin - a Liz Taylor lookalike - sitting next to me, dripping in diamonds (after all Marek DOES own jewelry stores) completes my happy fantasy of the Good Life. 

All well and good, you say, but of course the Best Part is this menu, no???

;-)

Turbo Tax

It's January and the start of the three month period I joyfully refer to as Tax Time.  The mail brings new things almost daily which I dutifully enter into Turbo Tax. I watch with dread as the red number on the top of each screen grows bigger and bigger.

I have always done our taxes and as the years went by and they got more and more complex my knowledge of the tax code grew commensurately.  Owning rental property, earning money for consulting, paying estimated taxes and having an S corporation increased the paperwork tenfold. 

Before tax software made its blessed arrival I would do the taxes in pencil with a giant eraser by my side.  When something necessitated a change on one form I would have to go back and change almost all the other forms as well. 

I have never filed online because I am afraid all our personal information would then be housed in some giant database, available for who-knows-what nefarious purpose and susceptible to hacking. 

After all, who can trust the IRS??  ;-)

A Fearful Thing

I have a Facebook friend, Rikki, a widow about my age.  January 11th was her wedding anniversary and she posted a gorgeous picture of herself and her husband, happy and smiling and looking at each other with obvious great affection.  She wrote how very sad she was and how much she missed the love of her life.  I could feel her pain. 

I have read many poems about death and missing your loved ones and of course I say Kaddish on Friday nights in shul.  The most powerful poem/prayer I've found is also from the Reform Shabbos Siddur.  I posted it under Rikki's picture.  I hope it helps her in some small way.

It is a fearful thing
to love what death can touch.

A fearful thing
to love, hope, dream:
to be--

to be,

And! to lose.

A thing for fools, this,
and
a holy thing,

a holy thing
to love.

For your life has lived in me,
your laugh once lifted me,
your word was gift to me.

To remember this brings painful joy.

'Tis a human thing, love,
a holy thing,
to love
what death has touched.

--Anonymous

The Joy of OY

A sigh. A groan. A surprise! An exclamation of joy! A word you can use to commiserate with a friend.

Express your anguish. Confusion. Boredom. Dismay. Empathy. Fear. Sadness.

The all-purpose thing to say when you don't know what else to say.  What a wonderful invention!

HOWEVER: If you are not Jewish, do not try interjecting OY into just any situation.  It will probably come out wrong and land you in hot water.  OY!

Today

Today is Wednesday, just about as ordinary a day for me as there is.  Same old, same old.  I checked my calendar and the only thing on it are business meetings (3). 

I am not complaining.  I have a wealth of wonderful stuff to fill up my day, ordinary things like write my blog, drink coffee, hear the news and read the paper, plan for tomorrow's girls night out, play Zynga games, watch some TV off the DVR and shmooze with real and virtually delivered people.  Walk the dog.  Make an appointment to have my nails done.  Small stuff.  Such is my life. 

And I love it!  ;-)

HAIR

HAIR (the musical not the follicle) opens at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach today.  Although I enjoy seeing live entertainment, I truly do not feel the desire to see it mainly because I can recite the lyrics from its every song by heart.  

I harbor a sentimental soft spot for HAIR.  I think of it as the sound track for my generation. 

I remember skipping up the streets of downtown Chicago linked arm-in-arm with my BFF Sheryl after seeing it live almost 40 years ago.  I guess we were on a "natural high" although perhaps the high was not so natural since there was a cloud of marijuana smoke in the second balcony where we were all sitting (the cheap seats).

HAIR evoked mixed feelings because it touched on my duelling desires of wanting to support our military and simultaneously wanting the war to be over and all our boys to be home safe and sound. It also spoke to my generation's love of freedom, our acceptance of all races, and the belief that tomorrow would bring us into a new age where peace shall guide the planets and love will steer the stars.

It was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius...

Monday Monday

It's Monday morning, just about 6 a.m.  I am running a bit behind because it was sooo hard to get out of bed and face the world.  But a happy text left over from last night and the scale not punishing me for my gluttonous weekend cheered me up.  If I take a few aspirin I'm sure I'll be back on track soon.

The first order of business today is a an appointment with the dermatologist.  I want him to check the scar from where he burned off a basal cell carcinoma in May and have him check another tiny mark on my arm.  I must admit, I am a little nervous. 

My old work colleague June had a blurb on Facebook this morning - "Back to work tomorrow after vacation. I am grateful for a job and look forward to the challenges it brings. :)"

OK Monday, I'm ready!  Bring it on!

Smiles

Isn't great to have a few things you can pull out of your memory bank that instantly bring a smile to your face?  There is absolutely no better quick pick-me-up.  You just have to think of a happy time or place or favorite person or how you felt at a joyous moment and it seems like all is right (or at least better) with the world.

And there is nothing, nothing, nothing better than bringing a smile to the face of someone else. 

:-)

Standing Room Only

There's been a lot of buzz lately about the dangers of sitting at one's desk or in front of the boob-tube all day.  Some articles actually call sitting a "lethal activity"!

My team and I have embraced the "standing workstation" for a variety of reasons and now there are five of us standing at desktops that are raised up by stacks of printer paper.  I must admit, my back does feel better after a long day.

The City's strapped budget is not about to provide real standing workstations or replace our motley assortment of "desk chairs", most of which were swiped from conference rooms and are not designed for long hours at a computer.  But we are looking at catalogs to see if we can provide inexpensive stools for the "standers".

Welcome to our version of the ergonomic cubeland  ;-)

Balaboosteh

There is an old saying: "My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy". I strive to attain this happy medium.

I get up an hour early each day to do laundry, take out garbage, walk the dog (if she's up), mop the floor, unload the dishwasher, scrub toilets and dust. Early is when I have the most energy so this works out pretty well. I estimate I spend about 10 hours a week on various grungy chores but my motto is "do a little bit every day".

Now comes a great article that says I can clean my whole (rather large) house in less than an hour! It occurred to me I have been wasting my life cleaning when I could have been say sleeping, playing Zynga games or watching TV!

Small catch - if I actually followed these "easy" directions I would need a week in a rest home to recuperate from the one hour of meshuganah cleaning frenzy!

;-)

Cold Spell

This month marks 16 years since we moved to Florida.  And how am I rewarded for making this milestone?  With temperatures in the 40s!

The incentive for moving to Florida was not only my desire to be near my aging mother but to escape the dreaded Chicago winters.  I remember sleeping in sweat pants and a sweat shirt, with double socks, under an electric blanket turned to max-blast after imbibing a hefty dose of NyQuil to assuage the symptoms of my ever present winter cold.

No more turning the car on and running back into the house to let it warm up for a half hour!  No more digging out of the driveway, slipping on the ice, feeling my fingers and toes go numb or sloshing around in my moon boots (I wore them long after they had gone out of style).  I traded the fireplace (which I must admit I loved) for the swimming pool and the hot tub.

I have the Cold Spell to thank for the (hopefully) brief reminder of why I love Florida.

;-) 

Jaxson's

There is absolutely no place like Jaxson's!  It's a one of a kind old fashioned ice cream parlor with a collection of authentic stuff that would make the American Pickers on the History channel drool, oodles of ice cream flavors all made from scratch in the warehouse behind the store and a huge display of penny candy that us Baby Boomers remember from our childhoods -Bonomo Turkish Taffy, Charleston Chews, Dots, Pez and those little wax bottles you bite the top off and suck the liquid out of.  Best of all - it's only 3 miles from home!

Jaxson's opened in the same location in 1956 and guess what? The original owner, Monroe Udall, is still the owner and even more amazing, you can still see him working when you come to visit.  I don't think he has missed a day in 56 years!

The City of Hollywood is recognizing Monroe for all he's done for the Joe Di Maggio Children's Hospital here in Hollywood by proclaiming today, January 4th, Monroe Udall Day.  Hats off to our hometown hero!

What's In A Name?

I hear that the "Baby Name of the Year" for 2011 is (wait for this) Siri.

Perhaps the parents of little Siri are not really naming their child after an Apple app but intended to use the Scandinavian diminutive of Sigrid.

When I am truly so bored that even Zynga games do not interest me, I play around with the Baby Name Wizard.  "Evelyn" was ranked number 39 in 2009 down from number 12 in the 1910's but up from it's low of 262 in the 1970's. 

I must admit I like my name.  It is not too "girly" and would be acceptable if say I wanted to run for President.  It is unusual enough so that I was almost always the only Evelyn in my class or at work but still not too over the top.  It doesn't rhyme with anything nasty (although Evvy rhymes with heavy) and it was not too difficult to learn to spell.

I think that if I had a child I would have leaned toward names of Biblical orgin.  They seem to weather the test of time... 

How I Found Freedom

This 1973 self-help book still graces my bookshelf along with The J.A.P. Handbook and Every Girl Is Entitled To A Husband. It's message is that if you are shackled by circumstances or by obligations that you yourself undertook and are now desperately seeking a way out but are troubled by nagging little messages from your conscience, Do Not Worry. Your spouse, boss, aging parents, needy relatives and whiny children will be more self sufficient and better off if you are enjoying yourself on a permanent vacation in say the Keys on a charter fishing boat.

This manifesto of abdication and isolation was, believe it or not, a seed in the Libertarian movement and it's author, Harry Browne, went on to run for President many times on that ticket.

When applied on a nationwide scale this philosophy means things like non intervention in foreign affairs and the curtailing of any social "safety nets".

And now we have Ron Paul...

Book Signing

Not too many authors would get me to a live book signing.  In fact, there has been only one, Sara Paretsky.  Her fabulous mysteries set in Chicago featuring hard-boiled female P.I. V.I. Warshawski made me a fan thirty years ago. An added bonus was V.I.'s background in insurance. I could relate to her because I was then the Claim Systems Manager at Kemper Insurance.

I see in Sunday's Book Review section that Sara will be in Coral Gables at a book signing of her latest novel tomorrow night. It is quite a shlep to the heart of Miami and will put me past my bedtime if I go.  But I'd love to add her 2012 signature to her 1988 signature!

Advice To The Lovelorn

When my BFF was going through her decades of relationship angst, I was there for her, listening for hours on end to her tales of woe and offering my excellent but rarely taken advice.  She owed me big time (and she knew it)!

Recently, a young FB friend posted this article chock full of tidbits on how to cope with a dysfunctional relationship.  I, of course, just had to comment: "if anyone needs to read more than one or two of these RUN!" 

I do realize that I may not have the full perspective on struggling love affairs even with all my vicarious experiences. But I don't think I am too far off. If you really have to think that much about it, your romance is probably irrevocably kaput.

:-(