i have been defining myself as a story collector for the past few years. THere are stories all around, you just have to listen and collect them.
Meeting Patrick O'Donnell
i went to the Patrick O'donnell signing for his new book Art. I showed up soaking wet and asked the person who wanted 4 books signed if i could say hello to mr Odonnell. I stepped up to the table, where he was signing ART after ART after ART and i introduced myself and told him that i travelled especially to tell him HOW much i appreciated what he did and how much i enjoyed his characters and reading his strip. I them told him the story of naming my cat and asked him if he was familiar with Noahswish.org or rescue efforts to save katrina Animals(a topic in his strip)i felt myself babbling and couldnt really stop it... I started to tell him a story about my cat drinking her water out of a bowl in the bathtub..his drinks water from the faucet and i told him i see only her ears like Schnelly, a character...sensing something... he asked me if i had a book he could sign... i said no... he asked if i had something i wanted signed.. Stalker turf.. i feared so i said, i am sure i had something in my backpack...he asked if i wanted a PETA bookmark signed.. i said okay...
he found a blank postit and signed it and drew me a MOOCH... My own Mooch cartoon signed by Patrick ODonnell on a post it...
i am a stalker...
today, i walked up to the park on this magnificent monday in april and stopped at the Terrace cafe to use the bathroom. I saw a woman sitting drinking coffee and reading a book while she cut and ate the biggest black and white cookie.. as i came out of the bathroom, i asked her if she needed help with the book. It was an early intervention book on Austism and PPD. she told me her grandson recently has been diagnosed with autism NOS and as her daughter was in denial and not willing to do anything or even read the book, she would. I tried to encourage her to get a second opinion as autism is a catch all phrase that is being over diagnosed these days and to get to NYU or Columbia Presbytarian for a second opinion. She is using this orthodox agency named Challenge. (there are lots of agengies privately owned in early intervention where they are owned by orthodox jews and making a ton of $$ from medicaid.- i didnt tell her that) this agency will be closed for 10 days and her grandson is stuck with out services. I recommended that she contact a PPRS agency and the closest was the Center for Family Life in sunset park because he was gonna need a case manager and the last thing her daughter needs is a neglect case. This is a free service
I then saw the woman who volunteers on the community garden at the intersection of Caton Ave and Coney Island Ave. she was putting up fencing and i stopped to help her or rather to talk to her. Her name is Barbara Rosen and is also a streetsinger and cat rescue expert
http://www.geocities.com/~johnhetland/
Since 1973, The Renaissance Street Singers of New York, directed by John Hetland, have sung 15th- and 16th-century music a cappella on the sidewalks and in the public spaces of New York City. The motivation is love for the music and the wish to share it with others. Concerts are two or three Sundays a month, usually from 2 to 4 pm, always free.
The current repertoire is polyphonic motets, hymns, magnificats, Psalms, mass sections and other sacred music by Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin Desprez, Ludwig Senfl, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, William Byrd, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Manuel Cardoso and their contemporaries.
she explained to me that she attended HIgh school of Arts and was asked by a music student to audition for the choir during her 4th period lunch and doesnt know why she did as an art student but her friend was scared to audition alone so she went and loved music. she majored in music in college but nightmares made her give it up and go back to Art. she taught in the new york school system for over 20 years
since joining the street singers, she has returned to music and understands what she learned in college and got a computer and writes her own rounds and ancient music.
she asked me if i wanted to be a deputy as a cat rescue..she has a vet who she pays to spay and neuter stray cats and she has traps and all i would need to do is get the trap and get the animal and bring it to her vet and pick it up and return it to the street spayed... i am not sure i am ready to be a deputy...i will keep her card
we talked about me and about her and both of us have Epstein Barr. she and i talked about menopause. I am 46 and she is 61. we worked on the fence and she told me HOW she got involved in teh community gardens and teh dilemnas from the parks department and how she stays on course to nurse her garden. after we were done, she thanked me for keeping her company and as i had no real place to go, she offered to show me the space. I asked for a tour and she gave me a tour and pointed out the plants and fruit trees and strawberrys. I told her the story of how i was out of work and i walk by and i would like to continue to help her. she keep no real hours, just works as she finds the time between other things. I said i would look for her as a streetsinger and i would continue to walk and if i saw her out gardening, i would love to help her...
i then came home and showered and went out of asparagas and came back and found a woman in my building bored so she started to share with me her experiences in Aushwitz. she was in the warsaw ghetto for a year, and concentration camps for 2. she started to tell me stories... she lost her parents and 2 sibs to the crematorium and had her cousins and two women who she worked the fields with . She told me about the potato and carrot mash, the germans made and how they used bacon to season it. she ate it..
this started as we talked about steamed veggies and carrots and cabbage and potatoes.
she said little things like that flood the memories of the camps. Her cousin had tatoo numbers, she had numbers sown on her dress and still has a letter from switzerland with her numbers. she said the isolation stated way before she was deported to the camps... she wore a gold star and was in the ghetto way before.
she sang me a child's song in yiddish and like a nursery rhyme that had teh word pear in it...and i had just bought pears so i gave her one..
this is the woman i gave 4 boxes of matzoh to this week. Her daughter tells her i am smart and read alot... i dont read as much as i used to.. maybe ill start reading in the park..
today, i collected stories of all sorts.. makes me want to get to more stories tomorrow...
