The Famous

My folks lived in a wonderful retirement community that offered dirt-cheap living with tons of activities, clubs, swimming pools, congenial neighbors and free bus service to almost anywhere one could possibly need to get to.  Although they are both long gone, I still have kept and maintained their condo.  I am not exactly sure why I have been reluctant to part with it except that it represents a happy and affordable place I could go to in my worst possible case scenario. 

One benefit of this little place is that it is close to the The Famous, a huge Jewish grocery/deli (owned and run by Pakistanis) that titillates my senses and quickly transports me back to my youth and a ton of happy memories, all associated with Food.  The food of our ethnic heritage - no matter what that heritage is - is like the cement (pun intended) that binds us (pun intended) to our past, our traditions, our inheritance and our legacy.

The Famous boasts every variety of lox, pickles, matzo balls, chopped liver, knishes, kreplach, smoked fish, rye bread, rum balls, challah, rugaleh, cabbage soup, potato pancakes, corned beef, cucumbers-in-vinegar and every other yummy treat I could imagine. I guess even if my worst case scenario comes to pass (poo-poo-poo) I won't have it too, too bad!

;-)

The Big Easy

Hurricane Isaac is pummeling New Orleans ("Nawlins") as I write this.

New Orleans is my favorite city, aside from my two hometowns of course.  I adore all things Nawlins, from the French Quarter to the Cafe du Monde (beignets!).  I have Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana cookbook and have tried to recreate those great Cajun dishes. 

My second favorite movie is "The Big Easy" with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin.  My favorite dress (now over 25 years old) is still the fabulous black shirtwaist with the wide belt I just-had-to-buy when I last visited New Orleans.  I still get compliments whenever I wear it. 

This photograph - taken in the rain when I was up but the French Quarter was still asleep - hangs in the bedroom where it can quickly transport me back in time.  And of course, I visit Popeye's whenever I feel the urge (often).

I've visited New Orleans three times and have seen Mardi Gras live twice.  I hope and pray this incredible corner of the world will be safe from this storm and still there for me to visit and enjoy again and again.

Trending Now

I'm surfing the net, a fabulous time waster.  Here are my "finds" for this morning.

"BIC For Her" pens.  Ha ha.  How silly. Imagine these technical specs: "designed to fit comfortably in a woman's hand" with an "attractive barrel design available in pink and purple".  This borders on sacrilegious for me - I have a soft spot for the original BIC pens with the clear crystal barrels that got me through college at a cost of $.19 each. Not to mention being slightly sexist...

Anti-Semitic Attack at Michigan State.  Oh, excuse me, the ALLEGED Anti-Semitic Hate Crime. 

Butterball Turkeys Abused.  I love my Butterball turkey which is my only choice at Thanksgiving.  I even name them (before I stuff them and cook them and eat them).

Urban Outfitters T-shirts glorify alcohol drinking.  What parent will buy these for their teen?  It's enough to drive a parent to drink.

Maybe I need a drink.  Time for coffee.  End of surfing (for today).

;-)

Miss You

I've been retired exactly 6 months and I can honestly say I am happy not to have to set the alarm clock or cram tons of errands and chores into a day that is already filled with ten hours of work.  I liked that when we got a hurricane warning I didn't face hours at the Emergency Operations Center.  I love being able to do whatever I want anytime I want and to include volunteering at the shul and shopping at the thrift store and laying by the pool in my day.  And I like wearing my tank tops and blue jeans and flip flops every day.

But I miss my staff.  I worry about Donald and his health problems and I wonder how his grandson is doing since Donald's daughter, his mom, died.  I want to hear about Alessandro's new house and his four kids and his wife (who I adore).  I miss Leonid's wacky sense of humor and his advice on the latest techie gadgets (we owe the slingbox to his advice - he uses one to get Russian TV for his grandparents and parents here in Florida).  I miss Angie, even though we meet for lunch frequently.  I miss Denis whose little boy Mateo has been in a nursing facility since he was born a year ago. I miss Sheila and Maria and Willie and Cathy and Bill and Ricardo and all the other propeller-heads in IT.

They invited me to their pot-luck lunch on Thursday!  Yay!  I can't wait!


 

Life in Paradise

I spent a lot of last week preparing for Tropical Storm Isaac, stocking up on gas and food, following the NOAA hurricane map, pulling the shutters at the beach, that kind of thing.  After  almost 17 years in Florida, it's become rather routine and like the other seasoned residents here, it doesn't really cause me a lot of anguish. The folks in the Keys have this down to a science and they were "barely stirred from their famed nonchalance". 
 
But waiting out hurricane or tropical storm day is rough. It is a day out of time, away from my normal routine, and it seems to stretch out endlessly.  It is gloomy and spooky, and there's this weird calm even as rain and wind are out in full force.  I wander from room to room and watch TV as the storm pummels wherever it has decided to make its presence felt.  Even though I have productive things I might be doing, I don't feel like doing any of them.  I can hardly wait to stop languishing around and get back to "normal" and once again feel a rush of energy. They've lifted the warnings and watches as I write this, but the rain is still heavy and I am still in my funk.

Isaac could have been far worse and for that I am grateful.  And I still adore living in Paradise!

Political Junkie

OK I admit it, I think the cable news channels and all their screwball pundits are more interesting than those horrid reality and game shows.  It is especially fun to watch two or more talking heads with opposing views go at each other like it's the heavyweight boxing championship.

So when speculation abounded about Romney's "short list" for Veep, I of course had an opinion.  I said he should pick Paul Ryan.  Not that he would pick Paul Ryan but that he should.  My reasoning?  Mitt Romney is dull as dishwater, has a (well deserved) reputation as a flip-flopper and although being tall, handsome and Presidential looking, he has the personal magnetism of vanilla pudding.  Paul Ryan, whatever one thinks of his convictions (I am personally waaay to the left of his social policies) at least HAS convictions.  Also energy, personality and a reputation as a straight shooter who is not afraid to tell-it-like-it-is.  Exactly what Romney lacks.  Romney's choice also elevated his standing as a risk taker and not just someone who does the politically advantaged thing.

I think if I hadn't had a great career in IT I would have liked to have been a back-office political strategist, run campaigns, crunch numbers, that kind of thing.  But now I'm content to watch the drama from my comfy reclining sofa.

;-)

Happy Birthday Hubby

Hubby is 65 today. OMG he even has a Medicare card!  What happened to that tall, skinny, 18-year-old?

His hair is still rusty brown, although strands of silver run through it.  His eyes are still green but now I see them through his Transitions progressive bifocals.  He's no longer skinny but hey, he still thinks I'm smart and pretty and funny and - to complete his delusion - a good cook.

Happy Birthday Hubby.  And many, many, many more!

Late Life Surprises

These usually refer to surprise babies but in my case "late life surprises" are those things that entered my life in the last few years, like reconnecting with old friends (some whose names I had forgotten) and learning to play poker.

I never thought I could learn play poker although I have always harbored a secret desire to play.  Once you know the basics, it's just a matter of playing a zillion games and honing your instincts and skill.  This could only have been accomplished (by me) by playing free poker online (thanks Zynga!) otherwise I would be broke by now. 

I strive to break even and maybe inch ahead in my virtual chip stash.  I've even met virtual poker "buddies" (not to be confused with virtual friends-of-friends whom I also have never met) that I look forward to playing with. 

Poker seems to be a universal language that the whole world knows. It is not unusual to find a Mohammad or Abdul playing with an Avi or Yitzak in a virtual poker room.  It's kind of cool to have joined this happy multinational consortium who come to the table and bring their chips.

;-)

As Seen On Israeli TV

I have a free subscription to Entertainment Weekly, compliments of the points I earn for recycling.  I may even pay for it after the free subscription ends because it's given me so many great tips on books, movies and TV shows.

The best one was a tip that Hulu has been showing Prisoners of War, the series that inspired Homeland, one of my top 3 or 4 favorite TV shows. Prisoners of War is an Israeli series so I need to play close attention to the English subtitles - no mopping the floor or grabbing a snack while I watch TV from the corner of my eye.

I enjoy it so much I've put other Israeli movies on my Netflix list - Out of Sight, Time of Favor and Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story.  If I watch enough perhaps I may come to understand a bit of Hebrew?!?  In any case, I'll enjoy a good (hopefully) movie.

;-)

 

My Prayer, Part 2

Remember I said that my Dad would say my night-time prayers from my little childhood prayer book until I was no longer a child?  On my 12th birthday (when other girls were having expensive Bat Mitzvahs) my Dad gifted me with a more adult prayer book to serve as a guide through my life.  I also have this Bible, dated 1919, a family heirloom. 

Who covers these precious gifts with sticky contact paper in a flocked olive green (disgusting) and a tiger print (totally inappropriate)??  You guessed it, little Evelyn. 

The Jewish calendar (thank you Dignity Memorial Chapels) hanging  in the mud room will be replaced next month so I used this opportunity to recycle the absolutely gorgeous artwork into new book covers for these two treasures.  I must admit I feel great about showing my books the respect they deserve and also by figuring out a way to still see the Year 5772 calendar's artwork!

 

The Long and Winding Road

Another birthday is less than a month away, oh dear.  I use this milestone to reflect on my life and assess if it's heading in the right direction.  Sort of like that "right direction, wrong direction" question pollsters ask the voting populace. 

Well, I'm officially "old".  And retired.  But I don't feel old.  I know I look older but I still like what I see in the mirror.  I don't know everything, but I'm certainly wiser than I've ever been.  I think I'm strong but I know that losing loved ones would flatten me. I look around and I am happy with my home, my closet, my bank account, the places I've been to, the things I've done, my stuff, and the people in my life.

But the world still holds so many interesting things and I want to be around for many more birthdays to see what's next!

;-)

Save A Lot

This morning I visited the local Save-A-Lot, a no frills grocery store where you can buy no-name brands of the basic essentials and bag them yourself (in your own bags of course). 

I shop there at least twice a month and stock up on things like spaghetti, instant rice, brats, biscuits in cans, cheese, eggs, stir fry veggies, stuff like that.   Their pasta sauce is the best, as good as Prego any day.  I can't get everything there but I can make a good dent in providing our provisions at rock bottom prices.

I love Save-A-Lot and not just for the 10, 20 or 30% I save there.  I love it because it provides a great service to the working folks of our city whose grocery budget needs to stretch mightily to provide food for a family. 

Today there was Cuban lady in front of me in line.  She needed to take out at least ten items so that her debit card would cover her purchases.  I waited patiently.  Out in the parking lot, while we loaded our groceries in our respective cars, she said she was disabled and not working right now and didn't Save-A-Lot have the best prices?  I agreed and added their quality was terrific too.

Thanks Save-A-Lot! 

Sex and the Single Girl

Helen Gurley Brown, longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, died today at age 90.  She may be the person most responsible for the great "Sexual Revolution" of the 1960s which us young, hormone-infused Baby Boomers embraced with a passion (pun intended).

In 1962 HGB published Sex and the Single Girl.  In 1962 I was twelve so I definitely qualified as a single girl.  Naturally I was eager to read and embrace this opus, the new direction for all the single ladies. 

Funny, the messages I remember from the book were not about having sex - her "radical, new ideas" about sex would be considered older-than-old-fashioned today.  But they also included such gems as "buy cheap shampoo in big bottles because all shampoo is basically the same" and "nearly every glamorous, wealthy, successful career woman you might envy now started out as some kind of schlepp".  That last one gave me the chutzpah to date the best looking boys and apply for (and get!) jobs I was barely qualified for.

Rest in Peace HGB.

Big Guys

I watched "Three Days To Open" with Bobby Flay on the Food Network yesterday.  They were trying to open a Chicago Sausage stand in Berwyn called "Big Guys". 

I adore Chicago hot dogs and have a special weakness for Maxwell Street Polish sausage and actually, sausage in general.  And this place promised to be as authentic Chicago and blue collar as I could have hoped for. 

But even as I salivated over the caramelized onions, kraut and Bobby Flay inspired toppings on those extra juicy high-calorie sausages, I marveled at the chutzpah it took to invest one's life savings and the investments of friends and family, take out a big bank loan and try to come up with a quality product at a reasonable price.  A lot has been said lately about the "job creators" and the "small businesses" and the "risk takers".  I say, Hats Off to them. 

The American Dream is alive and well in Berwyn, Illinois, USA.

Minnie Mars

Schools are named for people, a great honor, unless they are named for their boring locations like Maine Township East (Scott's Alma Mater).  My schools were named for exciting personalities like Minnie Mars Jamieson (1870-1928) and Stephen Tyng Mather (1867-1930).  

Minnie was a Chicago teacher and Principal of the Budlong School for twenty-three years.  The Principal of MMJ when I attended?  Miss Hyancinth Drechny (who could forget that name?)

Stephen T. Mather promoted Borax (the mineral) and through his interests in nature and friendships with influential people, procured a sweet patronage job and became the first Director of the National Park Service.

Perhaps we could take a page from all those sports arenas that sell naming rights for Big Bucks? 

It might just solve our problems in funding quality education ;-)

My Prayer

When I was a little girl my father would say my night-time prayers with me. I had this little prayer book (it's dated 1954 when I was 4 or 5) and it's filled with Jewish prayers for children and pretty illustrations. This ritual continued until I reached that inevitable point when I was no longer a child, at least on the outside.

I still pray. I ask God to bestow my loved ones with health and long life. I ask Him to bless the Children of Israel, the State of Israel, all sick people and all humankind.  I thank God for my many, many blessings, my wonderful life and our health.

Thank you Dad for teaching me to pray.

Ladies Who Lunch

Left to right, me, Jen, Marj, Julie

What a wonderful expression!  I pictured a different time (the 50s) and a different place (Chicago on Michigan Avenue) and a different restaurant (one with white tablecloths) and us wearing different clothes (knit suits, nylons, hats, high heels and clutching small purses).

But no, here we are, at Bo Kamper's Sports Grill, ladies I met 15 years ago, all of us happily retired now.  The fun part of my fantasy is still there and I do so enjoy catching up with the girls every few weeks or months (depending on our highly busy schedules!)

Thanks Ladies!

2059

Friend-of-Friend Gil sent me an email with "Headlines from 2059", meant to be humorous of course.  Check them out at the bottom, in italics.

I have to say, some do not seem totally outside the realm of some kind of possibility.  Of all of them, here are ten I think we'll see (OK so I probably won't be around for my 110th birthday but maybe someone else will see them).

1.  Spanish WILL be recognized as the USA's second language for legal purposes, at least in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida.

2.  Whites WILL be a very small minority and racial lines will be so blurred that "race" as a concept will be almost non-existent.

3.  Another Bush and/or Clinton WILL run for President.

4.  Smoking tobacco will be in the same category as smoking marijuana today - done in secrecy.

5.  Yes indeed, postal delivery will be only a few times a week.

6.  Taxes WILL go up.

7.  Americans WILL be fatter.

8.  Castro WILL live to 112.

9.  Diet and exercise will still be the only way to lose weight.

10. Floridians will still have trouble voting ;-)

From Gil:

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia, formerly known as California .

White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

Baby conceived naturally! Scientists stumped.

Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica . No other country comes forward to help the beleaguered nation!

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2060.  

Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.

Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.

Global cooling blamed for citrus crop failure for third consecutive year in Mexifornia and Floruba. 

Abortion clinics now available in every High School in United States .    

Senate still blocking drilling in ANWR even though gas is selling for 4532 Pesos per liter and gas stations are only open on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

Average height of NBA players is now nine feet seven inches with  only 3 illegitimate children.  

New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2060. 

IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

Floruba voters still having trouble with voting machines.

Kids Today

You KNOW you are OLD when you start saying (or thinking) "Kids Today have so much more than We had when We were kids".  This is quickly followed with a litany of "I remember when I was young..."

I see the grand-god-kids and my friends' children or grandchildren with elaborate backyard playgrounds and homes overflowing with toys and age-appropriate electronics in every room.  

I remember when I was young:

If I wanted to get somewhere I had three choices: my bike, walking or the CTA bus.  Mom never learned to drive so getting chauffeured around was never an option.

If I wanted to swing or slide there was the nearby park. 

No cable or DVDs but I did have Howdy-Doody, Romper Room, Garfield Goose, Kukla, Fran & Ollie and, of course, the Mickey Mouse Club.

My toys? A hula hoop (I was pretty good at it), ice skates (Greenbriar Park in winter), my Lena-the-Cleaner doll (complete with mini Spic-and-Span), jump ropes (I could even double-dutch), strap on roller skates and books (Trixie Belden!  I had them all).  I also had an extensive paper doll collection, a 45 rpm record player, and Barbie & Ken.  And I had my pet, a turtle named Letty (actually a series of Letty's).

Ah, to be a kid in the 50's and 60's!