The welfare-fraud link
April 9, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
Corner groceries -- the ones tagged with graffiti and plastered with advertisements like "Chorizo $2.89" and "Eggs 89¢ a dozen" -- dot Chicago's neighborhoods. But some of these stores aren't making their money on sausage and eggs.
More and more of these tiny pantries claim to sell millions in merchandise a year through the food-stamp program. Federal investigators are after dozens of them for ringing up phony sales and illegally handing customers cash -- and pocketing a sizable cut -- all courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.
This fraud puts money in the hands of the poor to buy drugs and might even be helping to fund terrorism. Phyllis Fong, the watchdog for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says anti-terrorism investigators across the country are focused on some of these crooked grocers, who authorities say reap a staggering amount of cash.
In recent years, federal prosecutors in Chicago have charged 22 store owners and employees with ripping off at least $16 million from the food-stamp program, court records show. Three went to prison. Three more got probation. One case was dismissed; the rest await trial.
This electronic food-stamp program -- called Link -- was launched in Illinois in 1997 to combat rampant fraud in the paper food-stamp program. The stamps were often used illegally, as black-market currency, to buy drugs. But cheaters quickly found a way to steal from the new, electronic food-stamp system, too.
The latest scam works like this:
A welfare recipient goes to a store with a Link card credited by the government with a dollar amount for groceries -- say, $100. The store clerk swipes the card through a government computer and takes credit for $100 in phony food sales. Then, the clerk hands $70 to the welfare recipient, keeping the rest as profit.
Typically, a Link participant receives $200 to $500 a month on his or her card, depending on household size. The program does not allow a participant to use a Link card to get cash.
Such Link fraud is being rooted out by the USDA -- the administrator of the program -- along with the U.S. attorney's office here, the Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois Health and Human Services Department.
Ringing up charges
Investigators in Chicago have stepped up surveillance of the small groceries in the Link program, looking for huge spikes in electronic food-stamp redemptions and tracking them on computers.
"We recognize how serious a problem this is in Chicago," said James Barz, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecutes Link cases. "With the aggressive work of the USDA and Secret Service in the last nine months, we have made great strides in shutting off the flow of money to stores that would engage in illegal activity."
Tom Moriarty, special investigator with the U.S. attorney's office, said about $120 million in Link benefits are redeemed monthly in Illinois.
Since September, federal authorities have served a flurry of search warrants on stores and kicked 57 of them out of the Link program, Barz said. Those stores did $27 million in sales in the year before they were barred from the program. Criminal investigations of those stores are under way and more prosecutions are expected, he said.
"It's like using a high-priced ATM machine," Barz said. "When was the last time you went to a 7-Eleven, and the person in front of you bought $150 worth of groceries?"
For every $100 redeemed in the scams, $70 typically goes back to the Link cardholder, he said.
"If the question is, 'Has a portion of taxpayer money gone to pay for drugs?' the answer is yes," Barz said.
Amar Abu Siessi is among the latest store owners charged in Chicago. After a mix-up with his bail a week ago, Abu Siessi was accidentally let out of a federal lockup. Now, he's a fugitive. Abu Siessi, a Jordanian, is accused of running a scam dating to the late 1990s, making millions from a half dozen small grocery stores he's owned.
He's charged in two separate Link-fraud cases. In one, Abu Siessi's corner store at 3000 W. Addison didn't have scanners to ring up food quickly, shopping carts or a large inventory. Yet the store claimed to do hundreds of dollars in sales a minute, court records show.
One figure jumped out at investigators: From May through October 2000, Abu Siessi's store redeemed $383,000 in Link-card benefits -- 82 percent of what a Dominick's in the same neighborhood redeemed.
Federal prosecutors said Abu Siessi used fake names -- Khaled Beh and Khaled Al Mara Beh -- to set up bank accounts to which he'd funnel the money he stole from the Link program.
They said he paid off an inspector to lie about the size of his business. The inspector worked for "Greet America," which was under contract by USDA to evaluate stores applying for authorization to participate in Link. The inspector was caught taking bribes from store owners. After she was arrested, the inspector worked undercover and implicated Abu Siessi, prosecutors said. The inspector still could face criminal charges.
Terrorists getting a piece?
Abu Siessi's lawyer, Joseph Di Natale, said his client actually was the victim, scammed by family members. They lent him money to open grocery stores, made money off his Link sales and then fled the country, Di Natale said. He said Abu Siessi's uncle sometimes sent his nephew to lunch, then rang up hundreds of thousands of dollars in Link sales without his knowledge.
Di Natale, who has represented about a dozen of the Link-fraud defendants, acknowledged that some of the money sent overseas might end up in the hands of terrorists. But it's not necessarily because store owners agree with terrorists' ideology, Di Natale said. In some countries, a ruling group might demand a cut of money wired overseas, sort of like paying "juice" on a mob loan, he said.
"If the money goes to the other side, the terrorist is getting a piece of it," Di Natale said.
Most of the store owners he dealt with had used their ill-gotten money for legal investments, Di Natale said. They bought used car lots, strip malls, big homes, pricey cars and sometimes paid off mistresses, he said. Banks often caught the fraud after noticing a huge spike in deposits, Di Natale said.
Like lining up for Cubs tickets
Blue Bird Food Market on the Southwest Side is another store targeted by the government. The bodega sits on the corner of 24th and Hamlin in Little Village. Federal investigators suspect most of the money the store earned last year was from welfare fraud.
Blue Bird representatives are accused of paying an inspector to exaggerate the grocery's inventory to qualify for the food-stamp program, court records show.
Blue Bird allegedly redeemed $139,000 in benefits over the last five months of 2005 -- 20 times the monthly sales estimate the store gave the government to get into the program, according to a federal affidavit for a warrant to seize money from a bank account Blue Bird held.
No criminal charges have been brought against the store or the owner. Prosecutors would not comment because the investigation is ongoing. The owner could not be reached for comment.
Poor people often line up outside such stores like a crowd camping out for Cubs' tickets, officials say. During one investigation in 2002, federal agents counted about 80 Link users standing outside one South Side grocery -- R & F Foods near the Englewood police station -- to get cash.
It was late on July 31 and they were waiting for the state to credit their cards with benefits after midnight -- the first day of the month.
Federal agents watched the cardholders "yelling, jostling and shoving in line" outside the store in the 6000 block of South Racine.
A store employee came outside to say everyone would be let in one at a time, according to a federal agent's affidavit to back up fraud charges brought against the store's owner, Anwar Haddad.
When the store opened, agents saw people going inside and leaving without groceries, except for an occasional soda or bag of chips.
Later that day, an informant wearing a hidden recorder presented his Link card, which had $360 in benefits on it. He received $180 in cash and Haddad took the remaining $180 by making eight phony food sales, prosecutors said.
Haddad was sentenced to 51 months in prison for fraud and ordered to repay $801,000 to the government.
Food-stamp benefits can be legally used only to buy "food or food products for human consumption, plus seeds and plants for use in home gardens to produce food," according to the USDA.
But over and over, federal authorities have watched food-stamp recipients, who find out about crooked stores through word of mouth, use illegal cash from their Link cards to feed their drug habits, not their families.
Sylvester Baker, a former sheriff's sergeant who unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for Cook County sheriff this year, said he would have cracked down on Link fraud if he had won.
"It's rampant in the black community," Baker said. "They do this in Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn, just to name a few neighborhoods. It's common knowledge in our community."
Baker said the fraud is especially insidious because the family members of Link cardholders often wind up having to stand in line at food pantries for handouts because the Link benefits have been squandered on drugs.
Meanwhile, investigators have watched some shopkeepers send their illegal windfalls overseas.
In a detention hearing last year for Munthir Hamad, who faces charges related to food-stamp fraud, prosecutors alleged that he sent thousands of dollars a month to his girlfriend in Palestine.
Experts stress such money transfers can simply involve a shopkeeper feathering the nest for retirement in his native country. But investigators are looking at the possibility that some of the fraud is financing terrorists.
Tracking terror
Chicago Police officers going through a five-day training session on terrorism have been taught that Link fraud is one of the ways terrorists are suspected of raising money, along with sales of counterfeit cigarettes and baby formula. No one, however, has been charged with financing terrorism through Link fraud in Chicago.
One law enforcement source said at least 25 percent of the Chicago food-stamp fraud cases he has reviewed showed bank transfers to overseas accounts.
"We have investigated a number of food stamp trafficking cases involving the transfer of monies overseas," said Phyllis Fong, the USDA's inspector general, in testimony before Congress.
Nationally, her office was responsible for 116 convictions, 115 indictments and $16.2 million in money recovered in 2005 in connection to Link fraud across the country.
She gave Congress an estimate of $395 million in food-stamp fraud nationally, or 2.5 cents for every dollar issued, between 1999 and 2002 -- the latest figures.
The USDA has worked with joint terrorism task forces across the country and in Operation Green Quest, which tracks overseas money transfers to terrorists, Fong said. In testimony before Congress in 2003, Fong said her office was working on active Link-fraud investigations with many of the 44 terrorism task forces across the country. Chicago is among them.
In one case, $1 million was transferred overseas and two of the retailers fled the United States, Fong said.
A USDA spokesman said Fong would not comment and referred the Sun-Times to her testimony.
Though prosecutors in Chicago have made no direct links from food stamp fraud to aiding terrorism, Hatem Fariz is charged with both.
Fariz, a Chicago grocery owner, has been charged with ripping off $1.6 million from the Link program at his store T & T Foods in the 2700 block of West North Avenue between May 1999 and December 2000. He is expected to plead guilty to that charge, his lawyer has indicated.
Fariz also is accused of helping terrorists in a federal case in Florida.
Prosecutors have not publicly linked his suspected welfare scam in Chicago to his alleged funding of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The group is on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. Fariz faces a retrial on a conspiracy charge in the Tampa, Fla., case after a jury there deadlocked on the same charge last year. The jury acquitted him on 25 other counts.
Food-stamp fugitives
As authorities in Chicago keep searching for stores scamming the program, they're also hunting for at least five other fugitives besides Abu Siessi who are charged with food-stamp fraud.
Investigators believe Fouad Al Awawada, Ismael Hussein, Saleh Suliman Mashal, Raafat Ezaldin and Mohamad Aburkbeh have fled overseas.
Al Awawada, for instance, was sentenced in 2004 to 70 months in prison for stealing $801,000 from the food-stamp program at his store, Sam's Super Save 99 at 5419 S. Ashland. A federal judge let Al Awawada attend his daughter's wedding before he was supposed to surrender to prison. He never returned.
"We think they're in Jordan," deputy U.S. marshal Rich Walenda said of Al Awawada, Mashal and Hussein.
"Who knows what they're up to now?"
Sunday, April 09, 2006
inside Man
'Inside Man,' a Crime Caper Starring Denzel Washington
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: March 24, 2006
FOR most of his career, the great and maddeningly unreliable Spike Lee has been anything but — to borrow the title of his diverting new film — an inside man. Mr. Lee, who hit the scene in the mid-1980's with "She's Gotta Have It," a barbed independent comedy that jump-started the black film movement and made him a national brand, has preferred to be seen as an outside man, a rebel who said what he wanted, when he wanted, far from the industry establishment. To judge from this precision-tooled amusement, Mr. Lee may have missed his calling (one of them, anyway) as a studio hire.
"Inside Man" is a jolt, partly because it comes equipped rather incongruously with the name of Mr. Lee's company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, but mostly because this is the kind of seamless diversion that should be a stock item in Hollywood, but isn't. Much like Richard Donner's recent actioner, "16 Blocks," another effective piece of genre showmanship, "Inside Man" works because it takes a familiar setup — in this case, a Wall Street bank heist that mutates into a hostage crisis — and twists it ever so slightly. A particularly solid screenplay helps here, as do stars who can actually act — this film's holy trinity being Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster — along with an excellent supporting cast and the best lineup of pusses and mugs outside "The Sopranos."
Here's how it goes down: Mr. Owen stares into the camera and announces that he is about to commit "the perfect bank robbery." Whether his character, Dalton Russell, succeeds is immaterial to how he gets from the first act to the third, which is where Mr. Lee's movie love comes in. This is the least overtly personal of Mr. Lee's films, but it's also his most polished and satisfying work in years, with none of the raggedness that sometimes mars even his best intentions. Taking his cue from the surprising, witty screenplay by the newcomer Russell Gewirtz, the filmmaker frames the heist and subsequent standoff as a really big show — namedropping "Dog Day Afternoon" along the way — then cuts his actors loose and lets them play.
As the action pings between Russell working his wicked ways inside the bank (beating hostages, forcing them to wear unflattering coveralls); Mr. Washington's smooth operator, a veteran detective named Keith Frazier; and Ms. Foster's Madeline White, a fixer hired by the bank, you might find yourself trying to unknot the increasingly tangled plot. Don't bother. Filled with playful noise and nonsense, clever feints and digressions, "Inside Man" has a story to tell, but its most sustained pleasures come from its performances, especially the three leads. To watch Mr. Washington breeze into a scene smooth as silk, smooth as Bogart and Easy Rawlins combined, or to listen to Mr. Owen murmur sweet nothings into the camera, is to experience the ineffable pleasures that only big-screen stars can provide.
Mr. Lee rarely treats his actresses or female characters as well as their male counterparts, but whether by design or neglect, he helps Ms. Foster deliver her wittiest, most relaxed performance in ages. Part Mata Hari, part Ilsa the She Wolf, she stalks the sets in form-fitting suits and nose-bleed heels that show off her spectacular legs wonderfully. (She could kill with those things!) In a story dominated by men, in which most of the women are either desexualized or double-D babes, her character presents an amusing fantasy of female power. One of those mysterioso brokers who circumvent both the law and the criminal element for the deepest pockets in town, Madeline isn't the equal of any man: she's superior. And you thought dominatrixes wore only black leather.
Like everyone else in the film, Madeline seems interested only in getting hers. Russell wants his ill-gotten gains, Detective Frazier wants his promotion, and the bank bigwig (Christopher Plummer) wants his secrets kept — it's a Hobbesian world, after all. Mr. Lee, meanwhile, most likely wants the respect that he has always been due. Consistently underrated and underappreciated, this filmmaker is an erratic talent, if no more so than many ensconced in Hollywood, and his insistence that race matters has cost him dearly with the mainstream (i.e., white) audience. He's right, of course, that race matters, which is why, in between plot points and star turns, he gently and, at times, rather hilariously, insists on reminding us that it does. He may have sublet this "Spike Lee Joint" to out-of-towners, but it's good to see that he hasn't left the neighborhood.
"Inside Man" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Some gun violence, some sexual innuendo and a lot of bad, bad words.
Inside Man
Directed by Spike Lee; written by Russell Gewirtz; director of photography, Matthew Libatique; edited by Barry Alexander Brown; music by Terence Blanchard; production designer, Wynn Thomas; produced by Brian Grazer; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 128 minutes.
WITH: Denzel Washington (Detective Keith Frazier), Clive Owen (Dalton Russell), Jodie Foster (Madeline White), Christopher Plummer (Arthur Case), Willem Dafoe (Capt. John Darius) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Detective Bill Mitchell).
_______________
spike lees foray into hitchcock turf with better product placement... SONY, MAC And an IPOD
it is witty and smart not who dunit but WHY DUN IT
its not linear but circular...
well done SPIKE
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: March 24, 2006
FOR most of his career, the great and maddeningly unreliable Spike Lee has been anything but — to borrow the title of his diverting new film — an inside man. Mr. Lee, who hit the scene in the mid-1980's with "She's Gotta Have It," a barbed independent comedy that jump-started the black film movement and made him a national brand, has preferred to be seen as an outside man, a rebel who said what he wanted, when he wanted, far from the industry establishment. To judge from this precision-tooled amusement, Mr. Lee may have missed his calling (one of them, anyway) as a studio hire.
"Inside Man" is a jolt, partly because it comes equipped rather incongruously with the name of Mr. Lee's company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, but mostly because this is the kind of seamless diversion that should be a stock item in Hollywood, but isn't. Much like Richard Donner's recent actioner, "16 Blocks," another effective piece of genre showmanship, "Inside Man" works because it takes a familiar setup — in this case, a Wall Street bank heist that mutates into a hostage crisis — and twists it ever so slightly. A particularly solid screenplay helps here, as do stars who can actually act — this film's holy trinity being Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster — along with an excellent supporting cast and the best lineup of pusses and mugs outside "The Sopranos."
Here's how it goes down: Mr. Owen stares into the camera and announces that he is about to commit "the perfect bank robbery." Whether his character, Dalton Russell, succeeds is immaterial to how he gets from the first act to the third, which is where Mr. Lee's movie love comes in. This is the least overtly personal of Mr. Lee's films, but it's also his most polished and satisfying work in years, with none of the raggedness that sometimes mars even his best intentions. Taking his cue from the surprising, witty screenplay by the newcomer Russell Gewirtz, the filmmaker frames the heist and subsequent standoff as a really big show — namedropping "Dog Day Afternoon" along the way — then cuts his actors loose and lets them play.
As the action pings between Russell working his wicked ways inside the bank (beating hostages, forcing them to wear unflattering coveralls); Mr. Washington's smooth operator, a veteran detective named Keith Frazier; and Ms. Foster's Madeline White, a fixer hired by the bank, you might find yourself trying to unknot the increasingly tangled plot. Don't bother. Filled with playful noise and nonsense, clever feints and digressions, "Inside Man" has a story to tell, but its most sustained pleasures come from its performances, especially the three leads. To watch Mr. Washington breeze into a scene smooth as silk, smooth as Bogart and Easy Rawlins combined, or to listen to Mr. Owen murmur sweet nothings into the camera, is to experience the ineffable pleasures that only big-screen stars can provide.
Mr. Lee rarely treats his actresses or female characters as well as their male counterparts, but whether by design or neglect, he helps Ms. Foster deliver her wittiest, most relaxed performance in ages. Part Mata Hari, part Ilsa the She Wolf, she stalks the sets in form-fitting suits and nose-bleed heels that show off her spectacular legs wonderfully. (She could kill with those things!) In a story dominated by men, in which most of the women are either desexualized or double-D babes, her character presents an amusing fantasy of female power. One of those mysterioso brokers who circumvent both the law and the criminal element for the deepest pockets in town, Madeline isn't the equal of any man: she's superior. And you thought dominatrixes wore only black leather.
Like everyone else in the film, Madeline seems interested only in getting hers. Russell wants his ill-gotten gains, Detective Frazier wants his promotion, and the bank bigwig (Christopher Plummer) wants his secrets kept — it's a Hobbesian world, after all. Mr. Lee, meanwhile, most likely wants the respect that he has always been due. Consistently underrated and underappreciated, this filmmaker is an erratic talent, if no more so than many ensconced in Hollywood, and his insistence that race matters has cost him dearly with the mainstream (i.e., white) audience. He's right, of course, that race matters, which is why, in between plot points and star turns, he gently and, at times, rather hilariously, insists on reminding us that it does. He may have sublet this "Spike Lee Joint" to out-of-towners, but it's good to see that he hasn't left the neighborhood.
"Inside Man" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Some gun violence, some sexual innuendo and a lot of bad, bad words.
Inside Man
Directed by Spike Lee; written by Russell Gewirtz; director of photography, Matthew Libatique; edited by Barry Alexander Brown; music by Terence Blanchard; production designer, Wynn Thomas; produced by Brian Grazer; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 128 minutes.
WITH: Denzel Washington (Detective Keith Frazier), Clive Owen (Dalton Russell), Jodie Foster (Madeline White), Christopher Plummer (Arthur Case), Willem Dafoe (Capt. John Darius) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Detective Bill Mitchell).
_______________
spike lees foray into hitchcock turf with better product placement... SONY, MAC And an IPOD
it is witty and smart not who dunit but WHY DUN IT
its not linear but circular...
well done SPIKE
dream
i dreamed that i had to write a valedictorian speech about being born in the 60s or growing up in the 70s. I was drafting ideas about being inbetween generations. I am not a babyboomer and i am not part of generation X. i was detailing what i perceived growing up with and what i was missing because i was born inbetween generations.
i saw some people to the left and right but i was focussed on the task of writing the speech
i saw some people to the left and right but i was focussed on the task of writing the speech
Saturday, April 08, 2006
oddest Dar mention
New Jersey Jewish News
Passover Feature Story
If Elijah the Prophet had a wife, she would be cleaning, too
by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer
Mrs. Eliahu never comes to my house before Passover. I don’t even know what she looks like. But sometimes I have other guests.
I have now reached that moment in the year when I catch myself casting furtive glances over my shoulder at my cabinets, feeling them whisper their truths. “We’re crumby,” they say. “We’re full of crushed crackers and chips and Cheerios,” they murmur. “It’s time to clean us.”
Like the bleary-eyed donut maker, I know. Others look for crocuses in their gardens, or grow hopeful about casting off their down jackets. I descend into the grueling ritual of Passover cleaning. Every year, I am asked, Why? What is the meaning of this ritual that you follow? What satisfaction does it bring you?
I have no easy answer. Although I would like to say I do it because that is what Jews do this time of year, that’s not true. Many don’t. I would like to say I do it because it is written in the Torah, but it’s not. I could say I do it because the rabbis have said it is what we do. Perhaps.
Some years, I look at all of the storage boxes on the floor in my kitchen, and think, “It looks like we’re moving.” Some years I feel we are — moving from winter to spring, from some lower place to a higher one, to some kind of freedom. I’d like some freedom from the bondage of Pesach cleaning, I think.
In those moments, I would like to feel the easy joy of a former colleague, who one day gleefully entered the office and announced that Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi stands by her side as she cleans. I am stung. Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi doesn’t come to my house to help me clean.
Who stands at my side? Most years, just Mr. Clean, accompanied by plenty of sponges, a wet floor, and some rubber gloves. Dar Williams croons in the background about getting lost in February and forgetting what flowers look like.
One year, I try to imagine Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi. What would she say to me? What would she look like? It was useless. She would not be visiting the likes of me. I cast her out of my thoughts and focused on the refrigerator shelves — until, ever so slightly, something shifted.
That was the first time I felt my grandmother watching, shaking her head gently to encourage me. And later, when I really needed her, Auntie Betty came to my rescue. “It’s okay, it’s enough, you don’t have to scrub anymore,” she said.
Sisters, I have always imagined them as my boat to a distant shore of small villages, a shtetl in Russia, where they all cooked one big pot of soup for Shabbat, where their father was the sofer, where everyone in the village cleaned their kitchens for Pesach.
Who stood by their sides as they cleaned? I wondered. They are not Mrs. Eliahu, but they are enough. Now, they come to help me every year. And when I finish my work in the kitchen, they are gone.
Passover Feature Story
If Elijah the Prophet had a wife, she would be cleaning, too
by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer
Mrs. Eliahu never comes to my house before Passover. I don’t even know what she looks like. But sometimes I have other guests.
I have now reached that moment in the year when I catch myself casting furtive glances over my shoulder at my cabinets, feeling them whisper their truths. “We’re crumby,” they say. “We’re full of crushed crackers and chips and Cheerios,” they murmur. “It’s time to clean us.”
Like the bleary-eyed donut maker, I know. Others look for crocuses in their gardens, or grow hopeful about casting off their down jackets. I descend into the grueling ritual of Passover cleaning. Every year, I am asked, Why? What is the meaning of this ritual that you follow? What satisfaction does it bring you?
I have no easy answer. Although I would like to say I do it because that is what Jews do this time of year, that’s not true. Many don’t. I would like to say I do it because it is written in the Torah, but it’s not. I could say I do it because the rabbis have said it is what we do. Perhaps.
Some years, I look at all of the storage boxes on the floor in my kitchen, and think, “It looks like we’re moving.” Some years I feel we are — moving from winter to spring, from some lower place to a higher one, to some kind of freedom. I’d like some freedom from the bondage of Pesach cleaning, I think.
In those moments, I would like to feel the easy joy of a former colleague, who one day gleefully entered the office and announced that Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi stands by her side as she cleans. I am stung. Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi doesn’t come to my house to help me clean.
Who stands at my side? Most years, just Mr. Clean, accompanied by plenty of sponges, a wet floor, and some rubber gloves. Dar Williams croons in the background about getting lost in February and forgetting what flowers look like.
One year, I try to imagine Mrs. Eliahu Hanavi. What would she say to me? What would she look like? It was useless. She would not be visiting the likes of me. I cast her out of my thoughts and focused on the refrigerator shelves — until, ever so slightly, something shifted.
That was the first time I felt my grandmother watching, shaking her head gently to encourage me. And later, when I really needed her, Auntie Betty came to my rescue. “It’s okay, it’s enough, you don’t have to scrub anymore,” she said.
Sisters, I have always imagined them as my boat to a distant shore of small villages, a shtetl in Russia, where they all cooked one big pot of soup for Shabbat, where their father was the sofer, where everyone in the village cleaned their kitchens for Pesach.
Who stood by their sides as they cleaned? I wondered. They are not Mrs. Eliahu, but they are enough. Now, they come to help me every year. And when I finish my work in the kitchen, they are gone.
Friday, April 07, 2006
one of my favorite poems
one winter afternoon
(at the magical hour
when is becomes if)
a bespangled clown
standing on eighth street
handed me a flower.
Nobody,it's safe
to say,observed him but
myself;and why?because
without any doubt he was
whatever(first and last)
mostpeople fear most:
a mystery for which i've
no word except alive
--that is,completely alert
and miraculously whole;
with not merely a mind and a heart
but unquestionably a soul--
by no means funereally hilarious
(or otherwise democratic)
but essentially poetic
or ethereally serious:
a fine not a coarse clown
(no mob,but a person)
and while never saying a word
who was anything but dumb;
since the silence of him
self sang like a bird.
Mostpeople have been heard
screaming for international
measures that render hell rational
--i thank heaven somebody's crazy
enough to give me a daisy
(at the magical hour
when is becomes if)
a bespangled clown
standing on eighth street
handed me a flower.
Nobody,it's safe
to say,observed him but
myself;and why?because
without any doubt he was
whatever(first and last)
mostpeople fear most:
a mystery for which i've
no word except alive
--that is,completely alert
and miraculously whole;
with not merely a mind and a heart
but unquestionably a soul--
by no means funereally hilarious
(or otherwise democratic)
but essentially poetic
or ethereally serious:
a fine not a coarse clown
(no mob,but a person)
and while never saying a word
who was anything but dumb;
since the silence of him
self sang like a bird.
Mostpeople have been heard
screaming for international
measures that render hell rational
--i thank heaven somebody's crazy
enough to give me a daisy
Thursday, April 06, 2006
day 2 - of unemployment
i slept til 845 and i started working on finding a job
i have been sending out resumes by email til today. Since Nixmary Brown died, i have been waiting for the ACS Training academy positions to break. Commissioner Mattingly promised to increase the Training Academy staff and i found the positions today. There are over 40 positions. Trainers, supervisors, Provider Training Coordinator..
i emailed my resume to the Executive Director of the Academy and she sent to the Director of Training. I also was advised to send paper resumes so i applied for 8 jobs with multiple openings.
i also applied to LAguadia community college and the city parks department working with WEP workers
i have applied for 60 jobs and send out emails to about 5 contacts to let them know i am looking for work.
i had an interview on monday at ACS program consultant for a consultant position that is not at my level. I spoke to the Director of PROMIS and asked her to take me wiht her at her new foundation job. she told me to send my resume to the Programming Department at ACS for her job.
i printed cover letters and resumes at adelphi tonight and will send her one tomorrow.
i keep combing the net and posted my resume on the NASW site and Socialservice.com
ill keep searching til it pays off
i went for a walk and got ready for school and after school came home...
i know that i dont have to get up tomorrow so i can hang out but i am not used to that and i want to get up for the exterminator in teh morning
so i came home and stayed out of Target, so i wouldnt spend any money
i have been sending out resumes by email til today. Since Nixmary Brown died, i have been waiting for the ACS Training academy positions to break. Commissioner Mattingly promised to increase the Training Academy staff and i found the positions today. There are over 40 positions. Trainers, supervisors, Provider Training Coordinator..
i emailed my resume to the Executive Director of the Academy and she sent to the Director of Training. I also was advised to send paper resumes so i applied for 8 jobs with multiple openings.
i also applied to LAguadia community college and the city parks department working with WEP workers
i have applied for 60 jobs and send out emails to about 5 contacts to let them know i am looking for work.
i had an interview on monday at ACS program consultant for a consultant position that is not at my level. I spoke to the Director of PROMIS and asked her to take me wiht her at her new foundation job. she told me to send my resume to the Programming Department at ACS for her job.
i printed cover letters and resumes at adelphi tonight and will send her one tomorrow.
i keep combing the net and posted my resume on the NASW site and Socialservice.com
ill keep searching til it pays off
i went for a walk and got ready for school and after school came home...
i know that i dont have to get up tomorrow so i can hang out but i am not used to that and i want to get up for the exterminator in teh morning
so i came home and stayed out of Target, so i wouldnt spend any money
ill play
Where were you 1 hour ago?
leaving my organizational context class and getting to my car
2.When is the last time you filled up your gas tank?
Last Sunday off 287 in NJ coming back to NYC
3. What is the most amount of money you spent in one store?
I spent 999 on a computer at office max in 1999. that doesnt count the day i paid cash for my car
4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you
Lottery tickets have pink in them
my hairdresser's card is on my computer table
and my nightgown has pink in it
5. When is the last time you went to the mall?
i havent been to the mall since i saw dar in huntington.. i went to the walt whitman mall on March 3
6. Are you wearing socks right now?
YUP- some big old mans boot socks from the gap
7. Do you have a car worth over $5,000?
are you crazy...
unless you want to steal that tercel for parts
8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
i drove to school in garden city long island tonight.
9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
No... i was gonna go monday but blew it off
10. are you popular?
no- i pretty much keep to myself
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
diet pepsi with lime
12. What was the last thing you mailed in the mail?
i mailed some resumes, some bills and returned a cd to circuit city today
13. Do you wash your car?
no way.. my trunk leaks so i let nature do it
14. Last fast food you ate.
couscous and boca burger and cauliflower in the microwave
15. Where were you last week at this time?
same place, school and home
16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
no- bought some book and cds on monday and fruit
17. What bank do you use?
independance, citibank, middlesex, mutual of america, chase
18. Do you own any land?
i will when my parents die
19. What do you want to be when you "grow up"?
i am still trying to figure that out...
20. Your dream vacation?
europe, spain
lying on the beach thinking about nothing but tanning my body
21. Last boat ride you went on?
the circle line around manhattan last summer
22. How old are your parents?
Dad is 75 in May; Mom will be 70 in december
23. Are you in love?
no....
24. Do you have any single friends?
most of them are attached, some are single
25. Last play you saw?
i saw bernarda alba at lincoln center with felicia rashad and Ring of Fire the cash musical
26. Have you been to New York?
i live here...everyday..
27. What are your plans for tonight?
school and then home to send out resumes and watch food channel.
28. Last concert you went to?
Dar benefit for planned parenthood sunday
29. Next trip you are going to take?
the only trip i am allowed is to manhattan or to the store..
30. Ever go to camp?
yup when i was a teenager i went to B'nai B'rith camp
31. Were you an honor roll student in school?
every single time...
32. What is your current GPA?
i teach so i decide the GPA
33. Are you wearing any purfume or cologne?
body lotion
34? Uhh...Screw u 34. No one likes u anyway.
i loved 34...it was 38 that made me lose my mind.. no..it was the quitting of the cigarettes that freaked me
35. Where is your best friend located?
eugene oregon
36. Do you own a cowboy hat?
yup-
37. Do you have a tan?
You can see through my skin...
38. How old do you want to be when you have kids?
i passed on that one.. i thought it was gonna be 33 but i am beyond healthy eggs.
they are scrambled and fried...i am stil not ready for kids
39. Do you collect anything?
i used to collect NBA teeshirts from NBA cities but not anymore..
i dont what i collect..
40. Is this quiz annoying?
its getting to be boring
41. Last time you got pulled over?
in iowa going 10 miles beyond the limit with suzi.
42. Ever been arrested?
yup
43. Been to Mexico for Spring Break?
ive been to mexico 3x but not for spring break
44. Do you like hot sauce?
chipolte is best.. the hotter the better.
45. Last time you got drunK?
oh my gawd..its been at least 10 years or more...
i gave up drinking
46. Do you need to do laundry?
no..i do it twice a week or is it YEP
i do it twice a week
47. How many friends do you have?
not many
48. Are you someones best friend?
dsometimes.. im not a very good friend
49. Are you rich?
no..way.. as a social work..
50. When was your last paycheck?
march 31 and i have two more left..
april 15 and april 30
leaving my organizational context class and getting to my car
2.When is the last time you filled up your gas tank?
Last Sunday off 287 in NJ coming back to NYC
3. What is the most amount of money you spent in one store?
I spent 999 on a computer at office max in 1999. that doesnt count the day i paid cash for my car
4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you
Lottery tickets have pink in them
my hairdresser's card is on my computer table
and my nightgown has pink in it
5. When is the last time you went to the mall?
i havent been to the mall since i saw dar in huntington.. i went to the walt whitman mall on March 3
6. Are you wearing socks right now?
YUP- some big old mans boot socks from the gap
7. Do you have a car worth over $5,000?
are you crazy...
unless you want to steal that tercel for parts
8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
i drove to school in garden city long island tonight.
9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
No... i was gonna go monday but blew it off
10. are you popular?
no- i pretty much keep to myself
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
diet pepsi with lime
12. What was the last thing you mailed in the mail?
i mailed some resumes, some bills and returned a cd to circuit city today
13. Do you wash your car?
no way.. my trunk leaks so i let nature do it
14. Last fast food you ate.
couscous and boca burger and cauliflower in the microwave
15. Where were you last week at this time?
same place, school and home
16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
no- bought some book and cds on monday and fruit
17. What bank do you use?
independance, citibank, middlesex, mutual of america, chase
18. Do you own any land?
i will when my parents die
19. What do you want to be when you "grow up"?
i am still trying to figure that out...
20. Your dream vacation?
europe, spain
lying on the beach thinking about nothing but tanning my body
21. Last boat ride you went on?
the circle line around manhattan last summer
22. How old are your parents?
Dad is 75 in May; Mom will be 70 in december
23. Are you in love?
no....
24. Do you have any single friends?
most of them are attached, some are single
25. Last play you saw?
i saw bernarda alba at lincoln center with felicia rashad and Ring of Fire the cash musical
26. Have you been to New York?
i live here...everyday..
27. What are your plans for tonight?
school and then home to send out resumes and watch food channel.
28. Last concert you went to?
Dar benefit for planned parenthood sunday
29. Next trip you are going to take?
the only trip i am allowed is to manhattan or to the store..
30. Ever go to camp?
yup when i was a teenager i went to B'nai B'rith camp
31. Were you an honor roll student in school?
every single time...
32. What is your current GPA?
i teach so i decide the GPA
33. Are you wearing any purfume or cologne?
body lotion
34? Uhh...Screw u 34. No one likes u anyway.
i loved 34...it was 38 that made me lose my mind.. no..it was the quitting of the cigarettes that freaked me
35. Where is your best friend located?
eugene oregon
36. Do you own a cowboy hat?
yup-
37. Do you have a tan?
You can see through my skin...
38. How old do you want to be when you have kids?
i passed on that one.. i thought it was gonna be 33 but i am beyond healthy eggs.
they are scrambled and fried...i am stil not ready for kids
39. Do you collect anything?
i used to collect NBA teeshirts from NBA cities but not anymore..
i dont what i collect..
40. Is this quiz annoying?
its getting to be boring
41. Last time you got pulled over?
in iowa going 10 miles beyond the limit with suzi.
42. Ever been arrested?
yup
43. Been to Mexico for Spring Break?
ive been to mexico 3x but not for spring break
44. Do you like hot sauce?
chipolte is best.. the hotter the better.
45. Last time you got drunK?
oh my gawd..its been at least 10 years or more...
i gave up drinking
46. Do you need to do laundry?
no..i do it twice a week or is it YEP
i do it twice a week
47. How many friends do you have?
not many
48. Are you someones best friend?
dsometimes.. im not a very good friend
49. Are you rich?
no..way.. as a social work..
50. When was your last paycheck?
march 31 and i have two more left..
april 15 and april 30
Capricorn Horoscope for week of April 6, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of April 6, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Things you DON'T particularly need right now: excuses to procrastinate; urges to retreat into hardened positions and fixate on the way things used to be; a willingness to politely tolerate control freaks; fantasies about changing the personalities of people you love. Things you DO need: a windy day, a meadow, and a dragonish kite; more raw curiosity and better questions; a slightly irrational diversion that fires up your imagination; an idiosyncratic altar in your bedroom; more gratitude for and intimacy with your muse; finger paint and five large sheets of paper so you can illustrate your life story.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Things you DON'T particularly need right now: excuses to procrastinate; urges to retreat into hardened positions and fixate on the way things used to be; a willingness to politely tolerate control freaks; fantasies about changing the personalities of people you love. Things you DO need: a windy day, a meadow, and a dragonish kite; more raw curiosity and better questions; a slightly irrational diversion that fires up your imagination; an idiosyncratic altar in your bedroom; more gratitude for and intimacy with your muse; finger paint and five large sheets of paper so you can illustrate your life story.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
another journey
call it what you may, call it downsize, rightsize, no size, wrong fit, or whatever. the facts are that i went to work yesterday after a day off and found myself out of a job.
i was asked to pack my office and leave. I was frozen out of my computer and asked to turn in my ITEMS... the office manager came to get the Palm Pilot, credit cards and my court pass and keys. I still have to locate my work ID. i asked for my Assistant Director and informed her where things were in my department. I sent messages to the staff. the Mediation Director came by and he and i chatted about his time being up and how prophetic his words were about how Directors leave CMS. they get left...
so i got left.
i cried and packed and called some people about jobs.
i called some friends to tell them and my friend Dave came over to help me set up my printer, all in one. we cancelled my cable internet and i signed up with Verizon Broadband..
i went for a walk.. i didnt want the noise of my MP3 player so i walked silently in the midnight blue of a spring night. I showered and ate and went to sleep after taking two tylenol.
I got up and without TV or radio or reading hte paper, I filed for unemployment and i started searching for jobs to apply for. I applied for about 20 jobs, full time, and fee for service.
I called FUV and added some volunteer work assignment and Called Tribeca film festival and increased my availability.
I have to control spending and limit expenses and look for work
i have not had a significant vacation in 9 or so years where i am not rushing somewhere or on a hill at falcon ridge or racing behind Dar for a longish weekend..
i am exahausted and have been. GOing to work has been hard. My motivation has been to go to the library or weight watchers. I am sure that my energy has been reflected. I worked hard but not in the direction taht my bosses wanted. I couldnt motivate or move people to do things that they needed to .
I felt so much yesterday, liberation, humiliation, anxious and defeated. I wanted my leaving to be in my control
i have been thinking alot for months if not years, as my friend Dave reminded me about how i was leaving CMS. well CMS left me, after all
i will not look for work in management. I am looking for training, or teaching or supervising positions. I dont want to be the boss... i want to be the one bossed. i have some contracts to call about training..
while in my office, i called a person i know at NYC and asked her if she like assistance in her new Foundation work job.
i know what i dont want to do, i will find what i want to do. I would like to work in program development and policy or teaching and training.
i have only gotten through socialservice. com
if you are reading this then you are a friend and i guess we will go through the process together..
i was asked to pack my office and leave. I was frozen out of my computer and asked to turn in my ITEMS... the office manager came to get the Palm Pilot, credit cards and my court pass and keys. I still have to locate my work ID. i asked for my Assistant Director and informed her where things were in my department. I sent messages to the staff. the Mediation Director came by and he and i chatted about his time being up and how prophetic his words were about how Directors leave CMS. they get left...
so i got left.
i cried and packed and called some people about jobs.
i called some friends to tell them and my friend Dave came over to help me set up my printer, all in one. we cancelled my cable internet and i signed up with Verizon Broadband..
i went for a walk.. i didnt want the noise of my MP3 player so i walked silently in the midnight blue of a spring night. I showered and ate and went to sleep after taking two tylenol.
I got up and without TV or radio or reading hte paper, I filed for unemployment and i started searching for jobs to apply for. I applied for about 20 jobs, full time, and fee for service.
I called FUV and added some volunteer work assignment and Called Tribeca film festival and increased my availability.
I have to control spending and limit expenses and look for work
i have not had a significant vacation in 9 or so years where i am not rushing somewhere or on a hill at falcon ridge or racing behind Dar for a longish weekend..
i am exahausted and have been. GOing to work has been hard. My motivation has been to go to the library or weight watchers. I am sure that my energy has been reflected. I worked hard but not in the direction taht my bosses wanted. I couldnt motivate or move people to do things that they needed to .
I felt so much yesterday, liberation, humiliation, anxious and defeated. I wanted my leaving to be in my control
i have been thinking alot for months if not years, as my friend Dave reminded me about how i was leaving CMS. well CMS left me, after all
i will not look for work in management. I am looking for training, or teaching or supervising positions. I dont want to be the boss... i want to be the one bossed. i have some contracts to call about training..
while in my office, i called a person i know at NYC and asked her if she like assistance in her new Foundation work job.
i know what i dont want to do, i will find what i want to do. I would like to work in program development and policy or teaching and training.
i have only gotten through socialservice. com
if you are reading this then you are a friend and i guess we will go through the process together..
Monday, April 03, 2006
weekend
my weekend started off with a stumble and a stammer and then saturday, i woke up and did my errands. I spoke to my friends in california while they were on a Chapin weekend and i was having coffee and starting my baking of tofu, roasting chickpeas and baking oatmeal squares. I also sliced some green beans.
Rather than going shopping, i walked to the bank at up by the park and back. i then got dressed and drove to Yonkers. I went to the GAP and Best Buy and then tried to find Sarah Lawrence. I shot past it and while turning around, i ran over this huge rock. I was afraid i punctured my oil pan and looked under my car and so no leak. I was freaked out that i did some damage to my undercarrriage of my car.
i went to the show, saw a very sick Dar and got her aspirin and put her to sleep... once she hit hte stage she came to life and except for her few mistakes she was flawless.
while she was signing, i took the liberty to pack up her stuff including the birthday presents i brought for her and stephen. I packed her Fishman, and makeup bag and clothes to get her on the road.
i saw suzie schwinner and her daughter hannah at the show and mr and mrs williams.
i asked dar for Rainy Night House and she said she would sing it sunday.
i drove home and saw the clock change to 315 from 215
sunday, i got up and got out and went to new hope. I got there in about 2 hours and was met by the group of kids who i found out were volunteers. They were the kids of the rainbow room of the planned parenthood of bucks county. They were gay and straight and bisexual and in the wrong bodies. There was an energy and excitement from these kids. They were positive and stable, though had their own stuff to get through. They were gothic and hip hop though most were white. They were clean and held their heads high... they were so opposite of hte kids i see all day. those kids are depressed and oppressed and repressed. These kids were not.
i watched their skits and drama presentation and watched the Gay mens choir. i then saw Dar join them for Somewhere over the rainbow. I had never heard her sound better. she told me she would not sing RNH but would sing something that would make susan moss jealous...
Dar was charming and in great voice and put on teh great show. she made the kids proud and won over the crowd as only dar can. She was on and she ended up with a room full of new fans. Dar dazzled them
i drove home and got home for desperate housewives
i dreamed about being on a train that was the wrong train that became the right train. I got above ground and knew i had to go to school but didnt have my lecture notes. I looked down and saw a 1980s book on organizations and i realized i could use it. I was thinking about what i would teach when the book came to me...I then thought i would be late but i was in the manhattan campus and saw Sheila a past student who asked me about her paper. I told her that her writing was improved significantly and the best of my memory she got an A- or B+. i thought that she didnt get lower than a B, no one got lower than a B. my alarm went off and i went back to sleep.
i got up at 905 and had to be in manhattan at 1100...
i kept my appointment and went to the strand downtown. I walked to j&R and to chinatown. I bought peaches and walked up to Bath and Body works for some lotion and on to get some soy cheese and then to whole foods. I was having a great time. I stopped for coffee at Dean & Deluca on broadway. i needed that coffee..
i saw a woman who was walking a huge dog.. i looked up and i swear it was felicity Huffman... if she is as large as the woman i saw, i know why she was tapped for Transamerica. she is a woman of size and depth and hte most beautiful blue eyes.
i kept walking and came home and went to the grocery store and did my wash and got my taxes, paid my bills, watched supernanny and watched florida win the NCAA tourney..
it was great weather all weekend and today it rained-
it was a good weekend and though i need more rest, it couldnt have been more perfect
Rather than going shopping, i walked to the bank at up by the park and back. i then got dressed and drove to Yonkers. I went to the GAP and Best Buy and then tried to find Sarah Lawrence. I shot past it and while turning around, i ran over this huge rock. I was afraid i punctured my oil pan and looked under my car and so no leak. I was freaked out that i did some damage to my undercarrriage of my car.
i went to the show, saw a very sick Dar and got her aspirin and put her to sleep... once she hit hte stage she came to life and except for her few mistakes she was flawless.
while she was signing, i took the liberty to pack up her stuff including the birthday presents i brought for her and stephen. I packed her Fishman, and makeup bag and clothes to get her on the road.
i saw suzie schwinner and her daughter hannah at the show and mr and mrs williams.
i asked dar for Rainy Night House and she said she would sing it sunday.
i drove home and saw the clock change to 315 from 215
sunday, i got up and got out and went to new hope. I got there in about 2 hours and was met by the group of kids who i found out were volunteers. They were the kids of the rainbow room of the planned parenthood of bucks county. They were gay and straight and bisexual and in the wrong bodies. There was an energy and excitement from these kids. They were positive and stable, though had their own stuff to get through. They were gothic and hip hop though most were white. They were clean and held their heads high... they were so opposite of hte kids i see all day. those kids are depressed and oppressed and repressed. These kids were not.
i watched their skits and drama presentation and watched the Gay mens choir. i then saw Dar join them for Somewhere over the rainbow. I had never heard her sound better. she told me she would not sing RNH but would sing something that would make susan moss jealous...
Dar was charming and in great voice and put on teh great show. she made the kids proud and won over the crowd as only dar can. She was on and she ended up with a room full of new fans. Dar dazzled them
i drove home and got home for desperate housewives
i dreamed about being on a train that was the wrong train that became the right train. I got above ground and knew i had to go to school but didnt have my lecture notes. I looked down and saw a 1980s book on organizations and i realized i could use it. I was thinking about what i would teach when the book came to me...I then thought i would be late but i was in the manhattan campus and saw Sheila a past student who asked me about her paper. I told her that her writing was improved significantly and the best of my memory she got an A- or B+. i thought that she didnt get lower than a B, no one got lower than a B. my alarm went off and i went back to sleep.
i got up at 905 and had to be in manhattan at 1100...
i kept my appointment and went to the strand downtown. I walked to j&R and to chinatown. I bought peaches and walked up to Bath and Body works for some lotion and on to get some soy cheese and then to whole foods. I was having a great time. I stopped for coffee at Dean & Deluca on broadway. i needed that coffee..
i saw a woman who was walking a huge dog.. i looked up and i swear it was felicity Huffman... if she is as large as the woman i saw, i know why she was tapped for Transamerica. she is a woman of size and depth and hte most beautiful blue eyes.
i kept walking and came home and went to the grocery store and did my wash and got my taxes, paid my bills, watched supernanny and watched florida win the NCAA tourney..
it was great weather all weekend and today it rained-
it was a good weekend and though i need more rest, it couldnt have been more perfect
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
another dream
i was in a sound sound sleep and didnt want to wake up. I am worn out and exhausted and need a break... weekends arent enough and luckily i have monday off...
the dream parts i remember. There was a room with 4 beds. A double bed and a single bed at the head and another bed across the room. I want to say that Amy Whipple was to be in the bed at the far side of the room. the twin bed at the head of the larger bed was to be occupied by Mary Beth Augier, tour manager for Mary Chapin Carpenter. That left the double bed with My blue sheet for Me and Mary Chapin
(another mary chapin dream you say) i dream about her all the time
she took the right side of the bed and pulled the sheet from their fitted corner, making a mess of the sheets. i took left side. in the dream, i thought it was weird that i was sharing a bed with MCC but seeing that i have shared my double bed with many friends and women ( and i finished that little quiz that asked whether you slept wiht a person of the same sex) i thought nothing of it except that i was sharing a bed with Mary Chapin Carpenter...i wondered how her back would take sleeping on the bed ( she has a bad back and has recently suffered from back problems)
she clearly was restless and uncomfortable... i knew she had hot flashes and disrupted the sheets because of it. I offered to switch sides. I offered her some Evening Primrose and a few tylenol PM but couldnt locate them. so most of the dream was my searching in my duffel bag and in smaller makeup bags for the pills i was looking for. when i finally found them, i popped out two blue tylenol PM and offered them to her. while searching i was talking to mary beth about looking for the pills..
i wanted to fix the sheets and arrange the comforter and then the alarm clock went off and i wanted to get back into the dream and stay asleep.
I definately need to sleep more. I am tired and exhausted... my weeks are strenous and draining and i am glad to have monday off...
the dream parts i remember. There was a room with 4 beds. A double bed and a single bed at the head and another bed across the room. I want to say that Amy Whipple was to be in the bed at the far side of the room. the twin bed at the head of the larger bed was to be occupied by Mary Beth Augier, tour manager for Mary Chapin Carpenter. That left the double bed with My blue sheet for Me and Mary Chapin
(another mary chapin dream you say) i dream about her all the time
she took the right side of the bed and pulled the sheet from their fitted corner, making a mess of the sheets. i took left side. in the dream, i thought it was weird that i was sharing a bed with MCC but seeing that i have shared my double bed with many friends and women ( and i finished that little quiz that asked whether you slept wiht a person of the same sex) i thought nothing of it except that i was sharing a bed with Mary Chapin Carpenter...i wondered how her back would take sleeping on the bed ( she has a bad back and has recently suffered from back problems)
she clearly was restless and uncomfortable... i knew she had hot flashes and disrupted the sheets because of it. I offered to switch sides. I offered her some Evening Primrose and a few tylenol PM but couldnt locate them. so most of the dream was my searching in my duffel bag and in smaller makeup bags for the pills i was looking for. when i finally found them, i popped out two blue tylenol PM and offered them to her. while searching i was talking to mary beth about looking for the pills..
i wanted to fix the sheets and arrange the comforter and then the alarm clock went off and i wanted to get back into the dream and stay asleep.
I definately need to sleep more. I am tired and exhausted... my weeks are strenous and draining and i am glad to have monday off...
Thursday, March 30, 2006
my students
my students are not on the lacrosse team, my students do not belong to the greek letters, my students do not wear flip flops or pajamas to class, my student do not have expensive meal plans that they indulge themselves and all their friends with expensive junk food, My students dont live on campus, my students arent in the 20s, my students arent undergraduates, they dont wait for the campus bus to take them to the train, they dont attend campus movies or student activities events, they dont belong to the gym or play in the sports center, my students dont wear teeshirts with slogan like "taste me" or "life is better in the hamptons", my students dont walk the campus talking on their cell phone about how drunk they got last night, or when they last saw their significant other or arguing with the same significant other.
my students are over 30, my students have full time jobs, my students are raising children, my students are commuting to school from work, they are struggling to graduate with a Masters degree, my students are in debt, my students wear the clothes of adults, they act like professionals, they are caring persons who are building on their careers, my student drive to school- my students are working hard to get their degrees-
they arent like the mainstream adelphi students
my students are over 30, my students have full time jobs, my students are raising children, my students are commuting to school from work, they are struggling to graduate with a Masters degree, my students are in debt, my students wear the clothes of adults, they act like professionals, they are caring persons who are building on their careers, my student drive to school- my students are working hard to get their degrees-
they arent like the mainstream adelphi students
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
the sights of spring
the sights of spring in new england is the return of the robins or the nesting of robins, snow melting and the smell of wet mud or dirt turned mud. The first day without winter coats is always a memorable one. I remember the feeling of Passover and Easter as spring. the melting snow and wet ground and Matzah...
but in NYC the first sights of spring are not tulips or daffodils or crocuses or robins but Mr Softee Trucks....pulled over to the curb with lines of kids to get their ice cream cones or treats
mr softee made his appearance today, it must be spring.
THank you mayor bloomberg for silencing MR SOFTEE.. no more annoying song or tune that sticks in your head, interrupts your meetings or dinner and over and over and over plays like a broken recording.... NO MR softee music...but like the birds fly north, mr softee returns to mark another spring
but in NYC the first sights of spring are not tulips or daffodils or crocuses or robins but Mr Softee Trucks....pulled over to the curb with lines of kids to get their ice cream cones or treats
mr softee made his appearance today, it must be spring.
THank you mayor bloomberg for silencing MR SOFTEE.. no more annoying song or tune that sticks in your head, interrupts your meetings or dinner and over and over and over plays like a broken recording.... NO MR softee music...but like the birds fly north, mr softee returns to mark another spring
dream
i was in a sound sound sleep dreaming about Rosie Odonnell and her wife Kelly at an adoption agency when my alarm rang... the alarm became part of the dream til i woke up and realized it my alarm
okay...ill play
Taken a picture naked? No
Made out with a member of the same sex? Yes
Danced in front of your mirror? Yes
Told a lie? Yes
Gotten in a car with people you just met? No
Been in a fist fight? yes
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
Been arrested? yes
Left your house without telling your parents? Yes
Ditched school to do something more fun? Yes
Slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? Yes
Seen someone die? No
Kissed a picture? Yes
Slept in until 3? Yes
Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? Yes
Played dress up? Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Felt an earthquake? yes
Touched a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? Yes
Had detention? No
Been in a car accident? Yes
Pole danced? No
Been lost? Yes
Sang karaoke? no
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Got your tongue stuck to a pole? yes
Ever gone to school partially naked? No
Sat on a roof top? Yes
Played chicken? yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? yes
Been told you're hot by a complete stranger? Yes
Broken a bone? yes
Mooned/flashed someone? Yes
Forgotten someone's name? Yes
Slept naked? yes
Blacked out from drinking? yes
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Felt like killing someone? no
Made a parent cry? Yes
Cried over someone? Yes
Had sex more than 5 times in one day? No
Had/Have a dog? no
Been in a band? No
Drank 25 sodas in a day? No
Made out with a member of the same sex? Yes
Danced in front of your mirror? Yes
Told a lie? Yes
Gotten in a car with people you just met? No
Been in a fist fight? yes
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
Been arrested? yes
Left your house without telling your parents? Yes
Ditched school to do something more fun? Yes
Slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? Yes
Seen someone die? No
Kissed a picture? Yes
Slept in until 3? Yes
Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? Yes
Played dress up? Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Felt an earthquake? yes
Touched a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? Yes
Had detention? No
Been in a car accident? Yes
Pole danced? No
Been lost? Yes
Sang karaoke? no
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Got your tongue stuck to a pole? yes
Ever gone to school partially naked? No
Sat on a roof top? Yes
Played chicken? yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? yes
Been told you're hot by a complete stranger? Yes
Broken a bone? yes
Mooned/flashed someone? Yes
Forgotten someone's name? Yes
Slept naked? yes
Blacked out from drinking? yes
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Felt like killing someone? no
Made a parent cry? Yes
Cried over someone? Yes
Had sex more than 5 times in one day? No
Had/Have a dog? no
Been in a band? No
Drank 25 sodas in a day? No
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 30, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 30, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
The still, small voice within you usually just provides you vague platitudes about how to be a better citizen. But in the coming days, it will offer you truly useful information that could help you become richer, sexier, more popular, and more powerful. It may even give you the winning numbers of the lottery. Make damn sure you tune in. APRIL FOOL! The still, small voice within you does not just provide vague platitudes about how to be a better citizen. If you believe that, you're listening to the wrong still, small voice. In fact, the real one is always overflowing with extremely practical information about how to run your day-to-day life in a way that's fun and meaningful. Listen harder and faster than usual, please.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
The still, small voice within you usually just provides you vague platitudes about how to be a better citizen. But in the coming days, it will offer you truly useful information that could help you become richer, sexier, more popular, and more powerful. It may even give you the winning numbers of the lottery. Make damn sure you tune in. APRIL FOOL! The still, small voice within you does not just provide vague platitudes about how to be a better citizen. If you believe that, you're listening to the wrong still, small voice. In fact, the real one is always overflowing with extremely practical information about how to run your day-to-day life in a way that's fun and meaningful. Listen harder and faster than usual, please.
i maybe stupid but i am also a Tribeca Film Festival volunteer
How cool is that... I am assigned to the Screening unit.. i will enter Planet Volunteer and get my wardrobe of my Tribeca Film Festival Laminant and teeshirt. Each shift i work will earn me screening or movie vouchers.. i can trade them in for tickets to screenings. I am with the screening unit so i get to answer questions, run errands, seat people, tell where to pee and NO FOOD ALLOWED and crap like that..
i will get my PLanet Volunteer invite and place to pick up my TEE and Laminant soon..
stay tuned... .all for the Love of Dar... her birthday present is volunteering the Tribeca FIlm fest
now how can i get to see Patty Griffin... GO AND STAND ON LINE.. i guess...
whhhoooooo Whoooooo YOu can now say YOU KNOW A TRIBECA FILM FEST VOLUNTEER
i will get my PLanet Volunteer invite and place to pick up my TEE and Laminant soon..
stay tuned... .all for the Love of Dar... her birthday present is volunteering the Tribeca FIlm fest
now how can i get to see Patty Griffin... GO AND STAND ON LINE.. i guess...
whhhoooooo Whoooooo YOu can now say YOU KNOW A TRIBECA FILM FEST VOLUNTEER
shoe store dream
i went to bed at 10pm last night after supernanny transcended and transpired another family on its way to healthy communication and untangled skewed roles to make parents the adults and kids receive consistant discipline and understand their roles and respect the parental heirarchy... YEAH JO....
so i went to bed and fell asleep right away....two extra strenght Tylenol PM and being exhausted help...
i dreamed i was in a shoe store. first as a patron then as a member of the staff with an undefined role. The store was an upscale shoe store with expensive shoes. There were many people wandering around from the world of modeling. it looked more like backstage at a fashion show. I looked around. in the middle of the dream there was a cat sequence.
i saw my cat running around and she was with a grey striped tabby. In the distance i saw three little kittens who resembled Whoopi running and playing and having a great little time... just running after each other. I thought that the tabby had to go, so i went to put it outside but i could not abandon it and realized it, formed a relationship wtih my cat and the kittens so it had to stay.
I then was sitting in the shoe store seats with a large garbage bag. I was watching and defined my role among the models and people who were looking to purchase the shoes. i was not a patron but on the payroll
i remember talking to the proprietor of the store about meeting the needs of the patrons and how that changed over time...
and my alarm clock went off
so i went to bed and fell asleep right away....two extra strenght Tylenol PM and being exhausted help...
i dreamed i was in a shoe store. first as a patron then as a member of the staff with an undefined role. The store was an upscale shoe store with expensive shoes. There were many people wandering around from the world of modeling. it looked more like backstage at a fashion show. I looked around. in the middle of the dream there was a cat sequence.
i saw my cat running around and she was with a grey striped tabby. In the distance i saw three little kittens who resembled Whoopi running and playing and having a great little time... just running after each other. I thought that the tabby had to go, so i went to put it outside but i could not abandon it and realized it, formed a relationship wtih my cat and the kittens so it had to stay.
I then was sitting in the shoe store seats with a large garbage bag. I was watching and defined my role among the models and people who were looking to purchase the shoes. i was not a patron but on the payroll
i remember talking to the proprietor of the store about meeting the needs of the patrons and how that changed over time...
and my alarm clock went off
Sunday, March 26, 2006
a day in the life and night
i got up and baked some oatmeal and baked acorn squash and some chickpeas. got ready to drive to long island and noticed a screw in my front tire. I went to MR Tire where they know my name and face and the screw did penetrate so they pulled it out, no patch needed and a three dollar tip and i was on my way.
i rode out to WEstbury music fair on the BQE and grand central to get a linda ronstadt ticket for june. when i got there, there was a line to get Tony Bennett, Howie Mandell, Doobie Brothers tickets. The place is a pit but for the same money i spent i could get 8th row in the round, vs balcony at the beacon. I could drive out after work and its a short drive home. I can park rather then come home and take the train to manhattan on a friday night.
i went into westbury and went to Target and bought some pants and other toiletries and drove home.
it was early and it was still pleasant so i went for a walk. I walked to the park and back, as it was too early or too late for a movie..
i came home and read a paper, watched the NCAA and food network and tried to go to bed early.. i guess 10pm was too early because i had interrupted sleep
i did have some odd dreams..
i dreamed about Kinia one of the social workers that i work with. She was working with a man who was going deaf. She helped him learn sign by showing him the sign for a number of words. She showed him the sign for Latin man. in the dream, she took a pencil and showed him the sign by drawing it out on the paper. it was the sign for a stick figure man.
later in the dream, i was at a desk in the court and there was a window like at a doctors office and there were clients being assigned to workers
i woke assorted times.. and dreamed i was at a directors meeting and i was reporting that there was an RFP on Court related services. I kept getting interrupted. i had already had the RFP and was working on it. some woman named renee told me that she was located on another floor and was available to do Emergency Mental health screenings for clients in need at the court house. she gave me her number and in the dream i wrote it down..her extension was 11. i said i would pass on the information.
i could sleep longer or harder but i didnt want to lose time on this wonderful day.
going to bed later is better..going to bed too early feeds in to repeated wakings..
even with the tylenol PM
i rode out to WEstbury music fair on the BQE and grand central to get a linda ronstadt ticket for june. when i got there, there was a line to get Tony Bennett, Howie Mandell, Doobie Brothers tickets. The place is a pit but for the same money i spent i could get 8th row in the round, vs balcony at the beacon. I could drive out after work and its a short drive home. I can park rather then come home and take the train to manhattan on a friday night.
i went into westbury and went to Target and bought some pants and other toiletries and drove home.
it was early and it was still pleasant so i went for a walk. I walked to the park and back, as it was too early or too late for a movie..
i came home and read a paper, watched the NCAA and food network and tried to go to bed early.. i guess 10pm was too early because i had interrupted sleep
i did have some odd dreams..
i dreamed about Kinia one of the social workers that i work with. She was working with a man who was going deaf. She helped him learn sign by showing him the sign for a number of words. She showed him the sign for Latin man. in the dream, she took a pencil and showed him the sign by drawing it out on the paper. it was the sign for a stick figure man.
later in the dream, i was at a desk in the court and there was a window like at a doctors office and there were clients being assigned to workers
i woke assorted times.. and dreamed i was at a directors meeting and i was reporting that there was an RFP on Court related services. I kept getting interrupted. i had already had the RFP and was working on it. some woman named renee told me that she was located on another floor and was available to do Emergency Mental health screenings for clients in need at the court house. she gave me her number and in the dream i wrote it down..her extension was 11. i said i would pass on the information.
i could sleep longer or harder but i didnt want to lose time on this wonderful day.
going to bed later is better..going to bed too early feeds in to repeated wakings..
even with the tylenol PM
Saturday, March 25, 2006
yo sally me too
You Should Be a Joke Writer |
 You're totally hilarious, and you can find the humor in any situation. Whether you're spouting off zingers, comebacks, or jokes about life... You usually can keep a crowd laughing, and you have plenty of material. You have the makings of a great comedian - or comedic writer. |
a dream
i went to bed around midnight. the tylenol PM work great and i found myself waking abotu 7am and i went back to sleep til 9am. I got up to use the bathroom and went back to sleep and reentered the same dream so this is an extended dream
i dreamed that i was at a place like the Biltmore estate. There were lots of rooms in an old castle or old estate type place. I saw Mary Chapin Carpenter who was performing there in the dream. She grabbed and hugged me hard, though i was not the first person she saw. she said she wanted to see me later and would i go to a ...... with her. I remember thinking in the dream...that she want to spend time with me? i was honored flattered and surprised. i was more than willing to hang out and then hang around with her. She needed to see other people and ofcourse was performing later but would be around for a few days.
i then saw a series of dorm rooms that reminded me of the trappist monk retreat place that i went to on a management retreat at st joesphs. Mideval in style and i laid my luggage on the bed in a room. I had to go to the bathroom. I was talking to a man who was in his 30s and in the dream had to find the bathroom
i think that i have had this sequence in a dream before... same place, same person, need to go to the bathroom..
i dreamed that i was at a place like the Biltmore estate. There were lots of rooms in an old castle or old estate type place. I saw Mary Chapin Carpenter who was performing there in the dream. She grabbed and hugged me hard, though i was not the first person she saw. she said she wanted to see me later and would i go to a ...... with her. I remember thinking in the dream...that she want to spend time with me? i was honored flattered and surprised. i was more than willing to hang out and then hang around with her. She needed to see other people and ofcourse was performing later but would be around for a few days.
i then saw a series of dorm rooms that reminded me of the trappist monk retreat place that i went to on a management retreat at st joesphs. Mideval in style and i laid my luggage on the bed in a room. I had to go to the bathroom. I was talking to a man who was in his 30s and in the dream had to find the bathroom
i think that i have had this sequence in a dream before... same place, same person, need to go to the bathroom..
Thursday, March 23, 2006
my big idea
i was in class tonight and out of my mouth came the following idea
for clients on public entitlements, they should get a prompt when they swipe their card that they have 90 days to renew, or 60 days to renew or 30 days to make their recertification appointment... it would happen each time they swipe the card. and they would have to click... Read before they could deduct food stamps or get their monies.. therefore the Administration would have a record that they got the message and were alerted to recertify..
i cant believe i am the first person to think of this.
for clients on public entitlements, they should get a prompt when they swipe their card that they have 90 days to renew, or 60 days to renew or 30 days to make their recertification appointment... it would happen each time they swipe the card. and they would have to click... Read before they could deduct food stamps or get their monies.. therefore the Administration would have a record that they got the message and were alerted to recertify..
i cant believe i am the first person to think of this.
dreams
i have been sleeping well and have been in deep sleeps with little waking up til my alarm clock rings.. Thank you Tylenol PM and no hot flashes...
i have been dreaming about joni mitchell and her songs. i have had other music related events in my dream but i really cant remember then
i have been dreaming about joni mitchell and her songs. i have had other music related events in my dream but i really cant remember then
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 23, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
It's the Introspection Season, Capricorn. I encourage you to write copiously in a journal. Here are several themes that would be fruitful to explore: (1) Your most amazing qualities and your worst qualities. (2) The hundred things you want to accomplish in the next 30 years. (3) Your bitter complaints, horrendous pain, and lost dreams. (4) Everything you love and everything that's beautiful and everything that works. In addition to writing your heart out and your ass off, paste in cut-out pictures from magazines, draw pictures, and ask friends to write messages to you.
It's the Introspection Season, Capricorn. I encourage you to write copiously in a journal. Here are several themes that would be fruitful to explore: (1) Your most amazing qualities and your worst qualities. (2) The hundred things you want to accomplish in the next 30 years. (3) Your bitter complaints, horrendous pain, and lost dreams. (4) Everything you love and everything that's beautiful and everything that works. In addition to writing your heart out and your ass off, paste in cut-out pictures from magazines, draw pictures, and ask friends to write messages to you.
Monday, March 20, 2006
I bit the George Clooney Blog Phoney
Link by Link
A Guest Blogger, and an Unwritten Law
By TOM ZELLER Jr.
Published: March 20, 2006
ONE could almost imagine George Clooney, robed and slippered, taking to the veranda of his Italian lakeside villa and hunkering over a laptop for his maiden voyage into the blogosphere, which appeared in the form of a passionate left-wing call to arms at HuffingtonPost.com last week.
Skip to next paragraph
Related Link to the Entry Purported to Have Come From George Clooney
Transcript From George Clooney's Feb. 16 Interview With Larry King
Article from The Guardian Unlimited
"We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, 'But please don't say bad things about us,' " the Oscar-winning actor wrote, adding his voice to dozens of other luminaries that Arianna Huffington, the columnist, former candidate for governor of California and freelance liberal gadfly, has drawn to her blog fold since starting The Huffington Post nearly a year ago. "You gotta be a grown-up and take your hits," Mr. Clooney concluded. "I am a liberal. Fire away."
But just as the great digital chinwag was taking note of the newcomer ("If Clooney blogs, does that make it sexy?" wondered the wits at Gawker), Mr. Clooney dropped a bomb, asserting that although the sentiments in the post were his, they were cobbled together from past interviews with Larry King of CNN and The Guardian, a British newspaper.
And more important, the blog was not written by him.
So was born Clooneygate, which began the week looking like a minor collision between a celebrity's handlers and a celebrity pundit's ambitions for her Web site, and ended amid knotty questions of journalistic integrity and the nature of blogs.
The basic facts are not in dispute. Ms. Huffington wanted Mr. Clooney — an outspoken critic of the war and American foreign policy — blogging on her site, but the actor, she said, wasn't familiar with the form.
So she culled some published Clooneyisms — essentially answers to questions he'd been asked in previous interviews — fashioned them into an essaylike blog entry, and added a few flourishes of her own, including the punchy "I am a liberal. Fire away" bit.
She then e-mailed it to one of his representatives, Lisa Taback. (The original post has since been removed from HuffingtonPost, but it can still be viewed here: snipurl.com/ClooneyBlog.)
"Lisa, here is a blog put together from different interviews George has given," Ms. Huffington wrote in a Feb. 17 e-mail message, which she shared to help clarify what happened. "Would love to get his approval with any changes he wants and then we'll post it on HuffPost and send to Yahoo."
Ms. Taback responded the same day, saying "I will get it to him and get back to you as soon as I hear anything," and then three days later: "Of course this is fine, Arianna! Thank you."
The scant 360-word blog posting that Ms. Huffington had put together was untouched, and that's how it appeared at The Huffington Post — packaged like every other posting there, topped with a pithy headline ("George Clooney: I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!"), and accompanied by a picture of the author and a short biography.
The ensuing bluster signified different things for different people.
For Mr. Clooney and his representatives — and for a growing brood of loyal "HuffPo" fans who proved, over the course of the week, to be even more loyal to blog purity — it was a simple matter of honesty. Indeed, as early as Tuesday, Mr. Clooney had issued a statement that cut directly to the heart of the matter.
"These are not my writings — they are answers to questions and there is a huge difference," Mr. Clooney said.
But that difference seemed to be lost, at least at first, on Ms. Huffington, who repeatedly pointed to the clear breakdown in Mr. Clooney's public relations machinery, and then later suggested, in a post on her blog, that in any case, "the medium isn't the message; the message is the message."
And that's where, it seems, Ms. Huffington disconnected from many of her readers, blog purists and media critics — all of whom seemed to know, tacitly or otherwise, that the medium carries a message, too.
At The Huffington Post, the colors, logos, headshots, bios, rubrics and timestamps visually unify all of the blog postings and say "we are of a kind." And it is to Ms. Huffington's credit that the quirks of each individual's posting at the site — Mr. Clooney's name and picture, as well as his syntax, his supposed choice of paragraph breaks and punctuation and his gathering rhetorical pitch — have the same implications as those of any reputable publication.
They say, "Hello, I'm the person responsible for putting these ideas together in this way. I then posted them to this blog. Or I e-mailed them to Arianna. Or I scribbled them onto a cocktail napkin and sent them to her by carrier pigeon. But at some point I crafted this train of thought in this way, and now I'm sharing it with you here."
It's not printed anywhere, of course, but the medium — the blog — carries that message.
It was a point that an increasing number of Ms. Huffington's readers and fellow bloggers — from Elizabeth Snead at The Los Angeles Times to Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine — were looking for her to acknowledge by week's end.
"Say you're sorry, Arianna," Ms. Snead wrote at The Envelope blog (theenvelope.latimes.com). Jeff Jarvis, who blogs at BuzzMachine.com and has served as a consultant to The New York Times on Web matters, condemned the puppetry of assembling a blog post for Mr. Clooney.
"If you're not really writing your blog, if you're having or allowing someone else to do it for you," Mr. Jarvis wrote on Friday morning, "then you're gaming me, lying to me, insulting me."
And dozens of Huffington Post readers agitated for an apology. "I think that the whole George Clooney thing was appalling on your part," one commenter wrote. "Regardless of the communication that you had with George's people, you misled your readers."
On Saturday morning, admirably, Ms. Huffington came to agree, admitting in a post titled "Lessons Learned" to a "big mistake" for failing to source the quotes and for writing the post for Mr. Clooney in the first place.
This will not happen again, she wrote, because "it diminishes the amazing work of bloggers who day in and day out put their hearts and souls into writing their blogs."
Ms. Huffington also suggested that, going forward, when she comes across a published interview, or when someone prominent says something to her that she thinks is "really important and should have as wide an audience as possible," she will quote it in her own section of the blog — much as James Boswell documented the comings and goings of Samuel Johnson, she said.
Indeed, she intends to name the form for Boswell: "BozBlogging."
Or, you could just call it journalism.
A Guest Blogger, and an Unwritten Law
By TOM ZELLER Jr.
Published: March 20, 2006
ONE could almost imagine George Clooney, robed and slippered, taking to the veranda of his Italian lakeside villa and hunkering over a laptop for his maiden voyage into the blogosphere, which appeared in the form of a passionate left-wing call to arms at HuffingtonPost.com last week.
Skip to next paragraph
Related Link to the Entry Purported to Have Come From George Clooney
Transcript From George Clooney's Feb. 16 Interview With Larry King
Article from The Guardian Unlimited
"We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, 'But please don't say bad things about us,' " the Oscar-winning actor wrote, adding his voice to dozens of other luminaries that Arianna Huffington, the columnist, former candidate for governor of California and freelance liberal gadfly, has drawn to her blog fold since starting The Huffington Post nearly a year ago. "You gotta be a grown-up and take your hits," Mr. Clooney concluded. "I am a liberal. Fire away."
But just as the great digital chinwag was taking note of the newcomer ("If Clooney blogs, does that make it sexy?" wondered the wits at Gawker), Mr. Clooney dropped a bomb, asserting that although the sentiments in the post were his, they were cobbled together from past interviews with Larry King of CNN and The Guardian, a British newspaper.
And more important, the blog was not written by him.
So was born Clooneygate, which began the week looking like a minor collision between a celebrity's handlers and a celebrity pundit's ambitions for her Web site, and ended amid knotty questions of journalistic integrity and the nature of blogs.
The basic facts are not in dispute. Ms. Huffington wanted Mr. Clooney — an outspoken critic of the war and American foreign policy — blogging on her site, but the actor, she said, wasn't familiar with the form.
So she culled some published Clooneyisms — essentially answers to questions he'd been asked in previous interviews — fashioned them into an essaylike blog entry, and added a few flourishes of her own, including the punchy "I am a liberal. Fire away" bit.
She then e-mailed it to one of his representatives, Lisa Taback. (The original post has since been removed from HuffingtonPost, but it can still be viewed here: snipurl.com/ClooneyBlog.)
"Lisa, here is a blog put together from different interviews George has given," Ms. Huffington wrote in a Feb. 17 e-mail message, which she shared to help clarify what happened. "Would love to get his approval with any changes he wants and then we'll post it on HuffPost and send to Yahoo."
Ms. Taback responded the same day, saying "I will get it to him and get back to you as soon as I hear anything," and then three days later: "Of course this is fine, Arianna! Thank you."
The scant 360-word blog posting that Ms. Huffington had put together was untouched, and that's how it appeared at The Huffington Post — packaged like every other posting there, topped with a pithy headline ("George Clooney: I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!"), and accompanied by a picture of the author and a short biography.
The ensuing bluster signified different things for different people.
For Mr. Clooney and his representatives — and for a growing brood of loyal "HuffPo" fans who proved, over the course of the week, to be even more loyal to blog purity — it was a simple matter of honesty. Indeed, as early as Tuesday, Mr. Clooney had issued a statement that cut directly to the heart of the matter.
"These are not my writings — they are answers to questions and there is a huge difference," Mr. Clooney said.
But that difference seemed to be lost, at least at first, on Ms. Huffington, who repeatedly pointed to the clear breakdown in Mr. Clooney's public relations machinery, and then later suggested, in a post on her blog, that in any case, "the medium isn't the message; the message is the message."
And that's where, it seems, Ms. Huffington disconnected from many of her readers, blog purists and media critics — all of whom seemed to know, tacitly or otherwise, that the medium carries a message, too.
At The Huffington Post, the colors, logos, headshots, bios, rubrics and timestamps visually unify all of the blog postings and say "we are of a kind." And it is to Ms. Huffington's credit that the quirks of each individual's posting at the site — Mr. Clooney's name and picture, as well as his syntax, his supposed choice of paragraph breaks and punctuation and his gathering rhetorical pitch — have the same implications as those of any reputable publication.
They say, "Hello, I'm the person responsible for putting these ideas together in this way. I then posted them to this blog. Or I e-mailed them to Arianna. Or I scribbled them onto a cocktail napkin and sent them to her by carrier pigeon. But at some point I crafted this train of thought in this way, and now I'm sharing it with you here."
It's not printed anywhere, of course, but the medium — the blog — carries that message.
It was a point that an increasing number of Ms. Huffington's readers and fellow bloggers — from Elizabeth Snead at The Los Angeles Times to Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine — were looking for her to acknowledge by week's end.
"Say you're sorry, Arianna," Ms. Snead wrote at The Envelope blog (theenvelope.latimes.com). Jeff Jarvis, who blogs at BuzzMachine.com and has served as a consultant to The New York Times on Web matters, condemned the puppetry of assembling a blog post for Mr. Clooney.
"If you're not really writing your blog, if you're having or allowing someone else to do it for you," Mr. Jarvis wrote on Friday morning, "then you're gaming me, lying to me, insulting me."
And dozens of Huffington Post readers agitated for an apology. "I think that the whole George Clooney thing was appalling on your part," one commenter wrote. "Regardless of the communication that you had with George's people, you misled your readers."
On Saturday morning, admirably, Ms. Huffington came to agree, admitting in a post titled "Lessons Learned" to a "big mistake" for failing to source the quotes and for writing the post for Mr. Clooney in the first place.
This will not happen again, she wrote, because "it diminishes the amazing work of bloggers who day in and day out put their hearts and souls into writing their blogs."
Ms. Huffington also suggested that, going forward, when she comes across a published interview, or when someone prominent says something to her that she thinks is "really important and should have as wide an audience as possible," she will quote it in her own section of the blog — much as James Boswell documented the comings and goings of Samuel Johnson, she said.
Indeed, she intends to name the form for Boswell: "BozBlogging."
Or, you could just call it journalism.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
thank you for smoking
I liked it....
Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em; His Career Depends on It
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: March 17, 2006
Glibly funny and eager to please, the film version of Christopher Buckley's novel "Thank You for Smoking" is not unlike the down-and-dirty habit of its title. Like cigarettes, this wisp of a film from the newcomer Jason Reitman won't do much for your brain cells, but it may provide some transitory pleasure from its ostensible equal-opportunity political skewering. Certainly for admirers of its star, the consistently reliable Aaron Eckhart, who plays Nick Naylor, the fast-jiving, fast-running cigarette lobbyist who holds the story together even as he almost falls apart, there is something rather nice about lighting up together, as it were, even by proxy.
Set in the recent past, not long before Big Tobacco started cutting checks for its sick and dying former customers, the film tracks the ups and mostly downs of a Washington lobbyist who's consistently on the hunt for new and inventive ways to rebrand cancer sticks for public consumption. As a Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation memo explained decades ago, "Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public." Wearing a million-dollar smile and tailored suit, Nick uses that doubt like a weapon, building on the work done by his employer, the Academy of Tobacco Studies, which Mr. Buckley based on the Tobacco Institute, the onetime trade association for the tobacco industry.
What makes Nick run? There's the money, of course, but mostly, as he confesses in voiceover, he's just good at it. Watching Mr. Eckhart, who appears in almost every scene in the film, such confidence is easy to believe. The actor moved into the small spotlight in 1997 as a seductive villain in Neil LaBute's scabrous "In the Company of Men." Since then, he has ranged across genres, roles and production levels, setting his square jaw to play equally well the nice and the reprobate. Although his blond good looks suggest that he could find steady employment as a B-list romantic lead, there is something overly hard about the cut of his jaw, something too intense in his gaze, which may explain why he routinely shows up as the heavy.
"Thank You for Smoking" isn't his best film (that would be "Erin Brockovich," in which he played a sensitive motorcycle dude), but this is the first role that has given him the room to play both ends of his usual character types, to turn his ingratiating smile into a leer, to charm even as he repels. Indeed, Mr. Reitman keeps the character moving at such a clip that there isn't much time for contemplation, and just when you think you've put a finger on the character and his tar-black heart, Nick is already out the door. Whether he's hanging out with his fellow lobbyists, the other members of a self-anointed troika called the Mod Squad (Merchants of Death, natch), or chauffeuring around his son (played by Cameron Bright), Nick never sits still long enough to become a target.
The film is another matter. Mr. Reitman, who also wrote the screenplay, has a background in television advertising, and it shows. Although he steers his cast through its paces with facility, he tends to oversell jokes that were already plenty loud in the book. His visual gags, somewhat curiously, are generally weak, as if he had absorbed the wrong lessons from his time around the sets of his father's comedies. (As his studio-furnished biography announces rather too eagerly, his father is the director Ivan Reitman.) When Nick delivers a presentation about his job at his son's school, the kid's embarrassment ("please don't ruin my childhood") is funny enough even if the younger Mr. Reitman, who, to judge by the presence of two more fathers dressed as a pilot and a fireman, doesn't know it.
Save for Katie Holmes, straining credulity as a newspaper reporter who beds Nick for a story, the cast is exceptionally fine. To watch and listen as Maria Bello (as an alcohol lobbyist), David Koechner (defending our right to bear semiautomatics), J. K. Simmons (Nick's immediate boss), Robert Duvall (as a Big Tobacco legend) and an excellent Rob Lowe (as a Hollywood agent) put some topspin on their lines or execute a nice bit of business is to witness the satisfactions of a well-oiled movie machine. It's especially pleasant to watch the actors hustle and flow, since thinking too hard about "Thank You for Smoking" and the exact nature of its gored sacred cows can prove, if not dangerous to your health, more than a little irritating.
"Thank You for Smoking" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes mild violence, discreet sex and, of course, countless cigarettes.
Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em; His Career Depends on It
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: March 17, 2006
Glibly funny and eager to please, the film version of Christopher Buckley's novel "Thank You for Smoking" is not unlike the down-and-dirty habit of its title. Like cigarettes, this wisp of a film from the newcomer Jason Reitman won't do much for your brain cells, but it may provide some transitory pleasure from its ostensible equal-opportunity political skewering. Certainly for admirers of its star, the consistently reliable Aaron Eckhart, who plays Nick Naylor, the fast-jiving, fast-running cigarette lobbyist who holds the story together even as he almost falls apart, there is something rather nice about lighting up together, as it were, even by proxy.
Set in the recent past, not long before Big Tobacco started cutting checks for its sick and dying former customers, the film tracks the ups and mostly downs of a Washington lobbyist who's consistently on the hunt for new and inventive ways to rebrand cancer sticks for public consumption. As a Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation memo explained decades ago, "Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public." Wearing a million-dollar smile and tailored suit, Nick uses that doubt like a weapon, building on the work done by his employer, the Academy of Tobacco Studies, which Mr. Buckley based on the Tobacco Institute, the onetime trade association for the tobacco industry.
What makes Nick run? There's the money, of course, but mostly, as he confesses in voiceover, he's just good at it. Watching Mr. Eckhart, who appears in almost every scene in the film, such confidence is easy to believe. The actor moved into the small spotlight in 1997 as a seductive villain in Neil LaBute's scabrous "In the Company of Men." Since then, he has ranged across genres, roles and production levels, setting his square jaw to play equally well the nice and the reprobate. Although his blond good looks suggest that he could find steady employment as a B-list romantic lead, there is something overly hard about the cut of his jaw, something too intense in his gaze, which may explain why he routinely shows up as the heavy.
"Thank You for Smoking" isn't his best film (that would be "Erin Brockovich," in which he played a sensitive motorcycle dude), but this is the first role that has given him the room to play both ends of his usual character types, to turn his ingratiating smile into a leer, to charm even as he repels. Indeed, Mr. Reitman keeps the character moving at such a clip that there isn't much time for contemplation, and just when you think you've put a finger on the character and his tar-black heart, Nick is already out the door. Whether he's hanging out with his fellow lobbyists, the other members of a self-anointed troika called the Mod Squad (Merchants of Death, natch), or chauffeuring around his son (played by Cameron Bright), Nick never sits still long enough to become a target.
The film is another matter. Mr. Reitman, who also wrote the screenplay, has a background in television advertising, and it shows. Although he steers his cast through its paces with facility, he tends to oversell jokes that were already plenty loud in the book. His visual gags, somewhat curiously, are generally weak, as if he had absorbed the wrong lessons from his time around the sets of his father's comedies. (As his studio-furnished biography announces rather too eagerly, his father is the director Ivan Reitman.) When Nick delivers a presentation about his job at his son's school, the kid's embarrassment ("please don't ruin my childhood") is funny enough even if the younger Mr. Reitman, who, to judge by the presence of two more fathers dressed as a pilot and a fireman, doesn't know it.
Save for Katie Holmes, straining credulity as a newspaper reporter who beds Nick for a story, the cast is exceptionally fine. To watch and listen as Maria Bello (as an alcohol lobbyist), David Koechner (defending our right to bear semiautomatics), J. K. Simmons (Nick's immediate boss), Robert Duvall (as a Big Tobacco legend) and an excellent Rob Lowe (as a Hollywood agent) put some topspin on their lines or execute a nice bit of business is to witness the satisfactions of a well-oiled movie machine. It's especially pleasant to watch the actors hustle and flow, since thinking too hard about "Thank You for Smoking" and the exact nature of its gored sacred cows can prove, if not dangerous to your health, more than a little irritating.
"Thank You for Smoking" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes mild violence, discreet sex and, of course, countless cigarettes.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 16, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 16, 2006
This would be an excellent week to tilt all the paintings on the walls of your home so they're hanging a bit crooked, refer to yourself as the "Wizard of Desserts," and stand in a mud puddle up to your ankles. I suggest that you further take advantage of the astrological opportunities by using a felt-tip pen to draw tattoos of magic symbols on your body, making love with grocery bags over your heads, and reciting dirty limericks in front of people who think you're too serious. It's high time for you to lose your cool.
This would be an excellent week to tilt all the paintings on the walls of your home so they're hanging a bit crooked, refer to yourself as the "Wizard of Desserts," and stand in a mud puddle up to your ankles. I suggest that you further take advantage of the astrological opportunities by using a felt-tip pen to draw tattoos of magic symbols on your body, making love with grocery bags over your heads, and reciting dirty limericks in front of people who think you're too serious. It's high time for you to lose your cool.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
the pink cadillac
i pulled into the walgreen parking lot to get soda before school and parked in the front spot was a Pink Cadillac. I looked at it and where it would have said Eldorado..it said Mary Kay. It also said Mary Kay on the front. I saw the woman who owned it and i was mezmorized by this car. it looked pink from a distance and when you got close it looked white like and opal with a tint of pink. it had a pimp my ride paint job But it was a MARY KAY cadillac - its calle pearlized pink and i couldnt take my eyes off it like i was in a trance or something...
Mary Kay CADILLAC
maybe ill sell mary kay so i can move merch in the pink cadillac..
how many greenstamps does it take to earn one?
Mary Kay CADILLAC
maybe ill sell mary kay so i can move merch in the pink cadillac..
how many greenstamps does it take to earn one?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
MAKE MINE A DIET PLEASE
| You Are 7 Up |
 Understated and subtle, people warm up to you slowly. But once they're hooked, they can't imagine going back to anyone else! Your best soda match: Diet Coke Stay away from: Mountain Dew |
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
the depiction of Jeffrey Skilling in Enron the Smartest Men in the room
The definitions given below are from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, 1994 (American Psychiatric Association, 1400 K Street NW, Suite 1101, Washington, DC 20005-2403 USA).
Bipolar I Disorder--Diagnostic Features (DSM-IV, p. 350)
The essential feature of Bipolar I Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Manic Episodes or Mixed Episodes. Often individuals have also had one or more Major Depressive Episodes. Episodes of Substance-Induced Mood Disorder (due to the direct effects of a medication, or other somatic treatments for depression, a drug of abuse, or toxin exposure) or of Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition do not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder. In addition, the episodes are not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and are not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Bipolar II Disorder--Diagnostic Features (DSM-IV, p. 359)
The essential feature of Bipolar II Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Major Depressive Episodes accompanied by at least one Hypomanic Episode. Hypomanic Episodes should not be confused with the several days of euthymia that may follow remission of a Major Depressive Episode. Episodes of Substance- Induced Mood Disorder (due to the direct effects of a medication, or other somatic treatments for depression, a drug of abuse, or toxin exposure) or of Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition do not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder. In addition, the episodes are not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and are not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Criteria for Major Depressive Episode (DSM-IV, p. 327)
A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.
Note: Do not include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.
depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g. appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.
markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others)
significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.
insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down)
fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick)
diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)
recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
B. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.
C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).
E. The symptoms are not better accounted for by bereavement, i.e., after the loss of a loved one, the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.
Criteria for Manic Episode (DSM-IV, p. 332)
A. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 1 week (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary).
B. During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable) and have been present to a significant degree:
inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
distractibility (i.e., attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli)
increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)
C. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.
D. The mood disturbance is sufficiently severe to cause marked impairment in occupational functioning or in usual social activities or relationships with others, or to necessitate hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others, or there are psychotic features.
E. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication, or other treatments) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).
Note: Manic-like episodes that are clearly caused by somatic antidepressant treatment (e.g., medication, electroconvulsive therapy, light therapy) should not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder.
Criteria for Mixed Episode (DSM-IV, p. 335)
A. The criteria are met both for a Manic Episode and for a Major Depressive Episode (except for duration) nearly every day during at least a 1-week period.
B. The mood disturbance is sufficiently severe to cause marked impairment in occupational functioning or in usual social activities or relationships with others, or to necessitate hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others, or there are psychotic features.
Bipolar I Disorder--Diagnostic Features (DSM-IV, p. 350)
The essential feature of Bipolar I Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Manic Episodes or Mixed Episodes. Often individuals have also had one or more Major Depressive Episodes. Episodes of Substance-Induced Mood Disorder (due to the direct effects of a medication, or other somatic treatments for depression, a drug of abuse, or toxin exposure) or of Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition do not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder. In addition, the episodes are not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and are not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Bipolar II Disorder--Diagnostic Features (DSM-IV, p. 359)
The essential feature of Bipolar II Disorder is a clinical course that is characterized by the occurrence of one or more Major Depressive Episodes accompanied by at least one Hypomanic Episode. Hypomanic Episodes should not be confused with the several days of euthymia that may follow remission of a Major Depressive Episode. Episodes of Substance- Induced Mood Disorder (due to the direct effects of a medication, or other somatic treatments for depression, a drug of abuse, or toxin exposure) or of Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition do not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder. In addition, the episodes are not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and are not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Criteria for Major Depressive Episode (DSM-IV, p. 327)
A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.
Note: Do not include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.
depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g. appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.
markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others)
significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.
insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down)
fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick)
diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)
recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
B. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.
C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).
E. The symptoms are not better accounted for by bereavement, i.e., after the loss of a loved one, the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.
Criteria for Manic Episode (DSM-IV, p. 332)
A. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 1 week (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary).
B. During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable) and have been present to a significant degree:
inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
distractibility (i.e., attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli)
increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)
C. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.
D. The mood disturbance is sufficiently severe to cause marked impairment in occupational functioning or in usual social activities or relationships with others, or to necessitate hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others, or there are psychotic features.
E. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication, or other treatments) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).
Note: Manic-like episodes that are clearly caused by somatic antidepressant treatment (e.g., medication, electroconvulsive therapy, light therapy) should not count toward a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder.
Criteria for Mixed Episode (DSM-IV, p. 335)
A. The criteria are met both for a Manic Episode and for a Major Depressive Episode (except for duration) nearly every day during at least a 1-week period.
B. The mood disturbance is sufficiently severe to cause marked impairment in occupational functioning or in usual social activities or relationships with others, or to necessitate hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others, or there are psychotic features.
syncroncity
i opened outlook and could not find the appointment that i thought i had for next monday night where i speaking to a parents group at jamaica family services. I looked for the number for the program and couldnt find it either. I then listened to my voice mail and there was a call from the Director of that program who was calling me about the confirmation and something else. She doesnt call me frequently so her call was unusual but provided me the number i was looking for and she stated the date of the appointment. i opened outlook and the appointment was there on the designated day. How could i have missed it ?
i then found a letter on my desk from her that i thought i finished and through away where she was requesting a letter of support. when i needed it in decemeber i cuold not find it..when i needed it now, i found it readily and effortlessly.
i will call her back today
i then found a letter on my desk from her that i thought i finished and through away where she was requesting a letter of support. when i needed it in decemeber i cuold not find it..when i needed it now, i found it readily and effortlessly.
i will call her back today
dream
i was very full of popcorn and forced myself to go to sleep at 10pm because i had been going to sleep at 2am each weekend night and wanting to be fresh for work, i forced myself to sleep....but not to dream
i woke up groggy after dreaming about a hospital ward. I saw the floor, the rooms and a person who was on life support. In the dream, i knew it was cheryl wheeler. as the dream progressed, she seemed to come back to life and be filled out and not the emaciated person who was in the former part of the dream
i saw nurses and the nurses station and was vaguely connected to the dream activities though i was there and observing the dream.
i awoke and wanted to get back to sleep to finish the dream. i dozed off and the dream was furthering but then had to wake myself because i had to get up
i woke up groggy after dreaming about a hospital ward. I saw the floor, the rooms and a person who was on life support. In the dream, i knew it was cheryl wheeler. as the dream progressed, she seemed to come back to life and be filled out and not the emaciated person who was in the former part of the dream
i saw nurses and the nurses station and was vaguely connected to the dream activities though i was there and observing the dream.
i awoke and wanted to get back to sleep to finish the dream. i dozed off and the dream was furthering but then had to wake myself because i had to get up
Monday, March 13, 2006
George Clooney Blogs on the huffington post
am a liberal. And I make no apologies for it. Hell, I'm proud of it.
Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you'd whisper "I'm a Nazi." Like it's dirty word. But turn away from saying "I'm a liberal" and it's like you're turning away from saying that blacks should be allowed to sit in the front of the bus, that women should be able to vote and get paid the same as a man, that McCarthy was wrong, that Vietnam was a mistake. And that Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaeda and had nothing to do with 9/11.
This is an incredibly polarized time (wonder how that happened?). But I find that, more and more, people are trying to find things we can agree on. And, for me, one of the things we absolutely need to agree on is the idea that we're all allowed to question authority. We have to agree that it's not unpatriotic to hold our leaders accountable and to speak out.
That's one of the things that drew me to making a film about Murrow. When you hear Murrow say, "We mustn't confuse dissent with disloyalty" and "We can't defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home," it's like he's commenting on today's headlines.
The fear of been criticized can be paralyzing. Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."
Bottom line: it's not merely our right to question our government, it's our duty. Whatever the consequences. We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, But please don't say bad things about us. You gotta be a grown up and take your hits.
I am a liberal. Fire away.
HEY GEORGE...
im a liberal too
Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you'd whisper "I'm a Nazi." Like it's dirty word. But turn away from saying "I'm a liberal" and it's like you're turning away from saying that blacks should be allowed to sit in the front of the bus, that women should be able to vote and get paid the same as a man, that McCarthy was wrong, that Vietnam was a mistake. And that Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaeda and had nothing to do with 9/11.
This is an incredibly polarized time (wonder how that happened?). But I find that, more and more, people are trying to find things we can agree on. And, for me, one of the things we absolutely need to agree on is the idea that we're all allowed to question authority. We have to agree that it's not unpatriotic to hold our leaders accountable and to speak out.
That's one of the things that drew me to making a film about Murrow. When you hear Murrow say, "We mustn't confuse dissent with disloyalty" and "We can't defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home," it's like he's commenting on today's headlines.
The fear of been criticized can be paralyzing. Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."
Bottom line: it's not merely our right to question our government, it's our duty. Whatever the consequences. We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, But please don't say bad things about us. You gotta be a grown up and take your hits.
I am a liberal. Fire away.
HEY GEORGE...
im a liberal too
in my world
in my world...
no one spits on the sidewalk
everyone picks up after their dogs
there are no stray feral cats
chocolate has no calories
carrots are available for the taking
people are forgiving and forgiven
no one spits on the sidewalk
everyone picks up after their dogs
there are no stray feral cats
chocolate has no calories
carrots are available for the taking
people are forgiving and forgiven
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
who would have thunk i am DC
| WASHINGTON DC! You scored 51% Style, 33% Climate, and 59% Culture! |
You are Washington, DC. The District of Columbia�identical with the city of Washington�is the capital of the United States. It is located between Virginia and Maryland on the Potomac River. The district is named after Columbus. The federal government and tourism are the mainstays of the city's economy, and many unions, business, professional, and nonprofit organizations are headquartered there. Among the city's many educational institutions are the Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, Howard University, and Gallaudet University. Cultural attractions include the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Alright, I'm biased. I practically live in DC, and I think it's a great city. You got DC because you love city life, you're stylish, and you appreciate culture and diversity. You don't mind crowds, in fact, you probably really like to people-watch. And I stuck you in a good place to do it. You like to go out and have fun and soak up the culture, whether it's to take in an artsy film, see a play, or even go shopping. I'm not too sure if you're a history geek or not, so if you don't like it, at least you can just look at the pretty monuments and take pictures. You probably have a very nice personality because you're accepting and more on the liberal side, and you know how to make a good impression. Well done. |
 |
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The Which Major U.S. City Are You? Test written by weeredII on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
random acts of kindness
i am discouraged at the negativity and toxic nature of my job. the people are not kind - they are not professional and not kind to each other. they can disagree but they are unforgiving and unkind...
then today, i was in the salad bar store buying lunch and the counter girl is an edgy, flirty girl who can be nasty with a smile. she was approached by a man who was clearly mentally ill and she rang up his order for 8.45. she asked him if he had money and he said he did.he asked me for a quarter and i didnt have it. he started to count out his money and he had enough. She looked at him and told him to take the meal. he thanked her profusely and blessed her.
she and i talked about what she did. She didnt have her bosses permission to give food away but knew i would not tell on her. They throw away more food at night, that she thought giving this man the food was harmless. I said it was a very kind act and from her heart and restored my faith in humans. I thanked her for making my week or improving it..
then i was in the train station to go to manhattan and two cops came down the stairs. one cop started talking to a mentally ill guy and helped him get on the train, keeping his eye on him while i talked to him about the events of my day. another man who acted in a kind manner towards someone disabled. he could have been a hard ass and could have harrassed this guy but his gentile style, helped keep the guy calm and the passengers safe.
he treated the person with respect and kindness...
then i was telling the usher the story at lincoln center and she told me a story she heard from wayne Dyer but a disabled kid who wanted nothing more than to play baseball with the kids in the park... one day he asked his dad, if he thought the kids would allow him to play. the father asked the kids and they welcomed the disabled kid, helped him to hit the ball but soft throwing and helped him run the bases so he hit a homerun...they lifted him on their shoulders and applauded his successes. the father knew that day why his son was disabled...and knew that day, that the other kids hit perfection that day.
kindness has been the thoughts of the day if you are open to them. living in a kind spirit is easier than living in the toxic one.
then today, i was in the salad bar store buying lunch and the counter girl is an edgy, flirty girl who can be nasty with a smile. she was approached by a man who was clearly mentally ill and she rang up his order for 8.45. she asked him if he had money and he said he did.he asked me for a quarter and i didnt have it. he started to count out his money and he had enough. She looked at him and told him to take the meal. he thanked her profusely and blessed her.
she and i talked about what she did. She didnt have her bosses permission to give food away but knew i would not tell on her. They throw away more food at night, that she thought giving this man the food was harmless. I said it was a very kind act and from her heart and restored my faith in humans. I thanked her for making my week or improving it..
then i was in the train station to go to manhattan and two cops came down the stairs. one cop started talking to a mentally ill guy and helped him get on the train, keeping his eye on him while i talked to him about the events of my day. another man who acted in a kind manner towards someone disabled. he could have been a hard ass and could have harrassed this guy but his gentile style, helped keep the guy calm and the passengers safe.
he treated the person with respect and kindness...
then i was telling the usher the story at lincoln center and she told me a story she heard from wayne Dyer but a disabled kid who wanted nothing more than to play baseball with the kids in the park... one day he asked his dad, if he thought the kids would allow him to play. the father asked the kids and they welcomed the disabled kid, helped him to hit the ball but soft throwing and helped him run the bases so he hit a homerun...they lifted him on their shoulders and applauded his successes. the father knew that day why his son was disabled...and knew that day, that the other kids hit perfection that day.
kindness has been the thoughts of the day if you are open to them. living in a kind spirit is easier than living in the toxic one.
dream
i have been sleeping through the night due to the Tylenol PM and later bed time.
i dreamed that i was in an open air market or indoor flea market type place with stalls. I started talking to this man who was blonde - he was large build and tall
and then reached in to kiss him. his kiss was wet and sloppy- i thought his kiss needs work but i wandered what it would be like to have sex with him
the next scene i was at a school and i was presented with a bill for a book. I saw the bill but not the amount - someone went off to find out about getting the bill paid and i asked about teaching next semester. someone went off to get Dr Fenster who would be able to talk to me next semester..
my alarm clock went off
i dreamed that i was in an open air market or indoor flea market type place with stalls. I started talking to this man who was blonde - he was large build and tall
and then reached in to kiss him. his kiss was wet and sloppy- i thought his kiss needs work but i wandered what it would be like to have sex with him
the next scene i was at a school and i was presented with a bill for a book. I saw the bill but not the amount - someone went off to find out about getting the bill paid and i asked about teaching next semester. someone went off to get Dr Fenster who would be able to talk to me next semester..
my alarm clock went off
Bernarda Alba
Sex and a Monster Mother Seething in Sunny Spain
By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: March 7, 2006
"Seven Sex-Starved Women Found Festering in Sealed-Up Mansion!" Thus might a tabloid headline or a B-movie trailer sum up "The House of Bernarda Alba," Federico García Lorca's 1936 tragedy of repression in provincial Spain. This simple, sensationalist sentence also captures, more or less, the tone of "Bernarda Alba," Michael John LaChiusa's musical adaptation of the play, which opened last night at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center.
Not that this production, directed by Graciela Daniele and starring a miscast Phylicia Rashad in the title role, exactly courses with erotic energy or the sort of luridness that demands exclamation points. On the contrary, this latest offering from the prolific Mr. LaChiusa, already represented this season by "See What I Wanna See" at the Public Theater, often feels wan and weary.
But the show's central focus is unmistakably what can happen to women when they are deprived of the chance to pursue what comes naturally with the opposite sex. Much that is implicit in Lorca's text is made noisily and redundantly explicit. The all-female cast members are given to running their palms over their haunches, making strident noises suggesting animals in heat and solemnly singing, "My pains, mother, are not the pains of hunger." Yet the ominous, oppressive atmosphere that makes Lorca's poetic play so much more than a potboiler is mostly missing in inaction.
This crucial lack of tension comes in large part from the characterization of Bernarda herself, a steel-girded, cane-wielding, scandal-fearing matriarch who locks her daughters up in a house of mourning after the death of her husband. She has been memorably portrayed in London by such forbidding powerhouses as Glenda Jackson and, more recently, Penelope Wilton as a scary, proto-Franco Fascist in a mantilla.
In his rendering of her, Mr. LaChiusa has allowed empathetic access into Bernarda's heart and loins, so that she seems less a terrifying tyrant than a passion-singed victim of the husband who betrayed and humiliated her. ("You took my love, my love, my love/ And made me your whore!" she sings to his spirit.) This Bernarda responds wistfully to the hopeful romantic ditties of her servants, remembering that she too was once young and juicy.
This is not difficult to credit, given that Ms. Rashad — whose gallery of strong maternal figures ranges from "The Cosby Show" on television to her Tony-winning performance in "A Raisin in the Sun" on Broadway — looks pretty juicy herself in her widow's weeds. (Toni-Leslie James did the all-black costumes.) Generously curved and luscious-faced as she adjusts her capacious bosom or bathes her arms, she seems less her daughters' jailer than their secret competitor. And instead of conveying a dried-up martinet, Ms. Rashad brings to mind a generally jolly suburban matron in a bad mood.
The same mismatching of actress and role is evident in the portrayal of Poncia, Bernarda's earthy peasant housekeeper, by Candy Buckley, a slim, brittle woman who here vaguely suggests how Florence Henderson might look in a "Zorro" film. An even larger problem, though, is that neither of these talented actresses, and most of the younger ones who play Bernarda's daughters and servants, seem at ease with Mr. LaChiusa's brooding, flamenco-steeped score.
The music, though superbly orchestrated (by Michael Starobin) and played (by a finely coordinated ensemble led by Deborah Abramson), goes places that singers used to hard-sell Broadway pizazz cannot follow. The punctuating yelps; the wavering sustained notes in minor keys; the labyrinthine interior musical paths; the eruptions into antimelodic harshness — these are all more the stuff of mid-20th-century chamber operas than conventional show tunes.
The touchingly game performers, who include musical pros like Daphne Rubin-Vega (a haunting presence as the ugly daughter) and Yolande Bavan (as Bernarda's senile mother), inevitably stumble over such challenges. (It would probably take someone with the training and vocal variety of Audra McDonald, a prime LaChiusa interpreter, to make the songs take flight.) Even the percussive stomping and clapping that often set the rhythm for the numbers come across as self-conscious, a damning quality for a score meant to be visceral.
Sally Murphy, as the most naïve of the daughters, plies her crystalline soprano to winning effect in a sweetly sensuous account of watching a boy by a stream. And Mr. LaChiusa's softer variations on Spanish folk motifs, especially in the songs chanted by the servants as they clean, are lovely. The big arias of confrontation and recrimination verge on self-parody, as when Poncia sings, "You may lock us all behind your prison walls./ But who will you turn to when/ The house of Bernarda falls!"
Ms. Daniele's flamenco-ish choreography, too, sometimes leans toward the unintentionally comic. But her story-theater staging makes efficient use of Christopher Barreca's dramatically spartan wooden set, and she keeps the narrative clear, even when the performers double as other characters (including a randy stallion and a receptive mare).
What she does not achieve is the hypnotic aura of fatalism that would keep the audience riveted. Nor does Mr. LaChiusa's music, at least as sung here, avoid a nagging repetitiveness. This makes it all too easy to identify with Judith Blazer as the seemingly narcoleptic daughter who has a habit of nodding off as the women around her scrap and seethe.
Bernarda Alba
Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa; based on the play "The House of Bernarda Alba" by Federico García Lorca; direction and choreography by Graciela Daniele; sets by Christopher Barreca; costumes by Toni-Leslie James; lighting by Stephen Strawbridge; sound by Scott Stauffer; orchestrations by Michael Starobin; music direction, Deborah Abramson. Presented by the Lincoln Center Theater, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten. At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200. Through April 9. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
WITH: Phylicia Rashad (Bernarda Alba), Saundra Santiago (Angustias), Judith Blazer (Magdalena), Sally Murphy (Amelia), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Martirio), Nikki M. James (Adela), Yolande Bavan (Maria Josepha), Candy Buckley (Poncia), Laura Shoop (Young Maid), Nancy Ticotin (Servant and Prudencia).
By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: March 7, 2006
"Seven Sex-Starved Women Found Festering in Sealed-Up Mansion!" Thus might a tabloid headline or a B-movie trailer sum up "The House of Bernarda Alba," Federico García Lorca's 1936 tragedy of repression in provincial Spain. This simple, sensationalist sentence also captures, more or less, the tone of "Bernarda Alba," Michael John LaChiusa's musical adaptation of the play, which opened last night at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center.
Not that this production, directed by Graciela Daniele and starring a miscast Phylicia Rashad in the title role, exactly courses with erotic energy or the sort of luridness that demands exclamation points. On the contrary, this latest offering from the prolific Mr. LaChiusa, already represented this season by "See What I Wanna See" at the Public Theater, often feels wan and weary.
But the show's central focus is unmistakably what can happen to women when they are deprived of the chance to pursue what comes naturally with the opposite sex. Much that is implicit in Lorca's text is made noisily and redundantly explicit. The all-female cast members are given to running their palms over their haunches, making strident noises suggesting animals in heat and solemnly singing, "My pains, mother, are not the pains of hunger." Yet the ominous, oppressive atmosphere that makes Lorca's poetic play so much more than a potboiler is mostly missing in inaction.
This crucial lack of tension comes in large part from the characterization of Bernarda herself, a steel-girded, cane-wielding, scandal-fearing matriarch who locks her daughters up in a house of mourning after the death of her husband. She has been memorably portrayed in London by such forbidding powerhouses as Glenda Jackson and, more recently, Penelope Wilton as a scary, proto-Franco Fascist in a mantilla.
In his rendering of her, Mr. LaChiusa has allowed empathetic access into Bernarda's heart and loins, so that she seems less a terrifying tyrant than a passion-singed victim of the husband who betrayed and humiliated her. ("You took my love, my love, my love/ And made me your whore!" she sings to his spirit.) This Bernarda responds wistfully to the hopeful romantic ditties of her servants, remembering that she too was once young and juicy.
This is not difficult to credit, given that Ms. Rashad — whose gallery of strong maternal figures ranges from "The Cosby Show" on television to her Tony-winning performance in "A Raisin in the Sun" on Broadway — looks pretty juicy herself in her widow's weeds. (Toni-Leslie James did the all-black costumes.) Generously curved and luscious-faced as she adjusts her capacious bosom or bathes her arms, she seems less her daughters' jailer than their secret competitor. And instead of conveying a dried-up martinet, Ms. Rashad brings to mind a generally jolly suburban matron in a bad mood.
The same mismatching of actress and role is evident in the portrayal of Poncia, Bernarda's earthy peasant housekeeper, by Candy Buckley, a slim, brittle woman who here vaguely suggests how Florence Henderson might look in a "Zorro" film. An even larger problem, though, is that neither of these talented actresses, and most of the younger ones who play Bernarda's daughters and servants, seem at ease with Mr. LaChiusa's brooding, flamenco-steeped score.
The music, though superbly orchestrated (by Michael Starobin) and played (by a finely coordinated ensemble led by Deborah Abramson), goes places that singers used to hard-sell Broadway pizazz cannot follow. The punctuating yelps; the wavering sustained notes in minor keys; the labyrinthine interior musical paths; the eruptions into antimelodic harshness — these are all more the stuff of mid-20th-century chamber operas than conventional show tunes.
The touchingly game performers, who include musical pros like Daphne Rubin-Vega (a haunting presence as the ugly daughter) and Yolande Bavan (as Bernarda's senile mother), inevitably stumble over such challenges. (It would probably take someone with the training and vocal variety of Audra McDonald, a prime LaChiusa interpreter, to make the songs take flight.) Even the percussive stomping and clapping that often set the rhythm for the numbers come across as self-conscious, a damning quality for a score meant to be visceral.
Sally Murphy, as the most naïve of the daughters, plies her crystalline soprano to winning effect in a sweetly sensuous account of watching a boy by a stream. And Mr. LaChiusa's softer variations on Spanish folk motifs, especially in the songs chanted by the servants as they clean, are lovely. The big arias of confrontation and recrimination verge on self-parody, as when Poncia sings, "You may lock us all behind your prison walls./ But who will you turn to when/ The house of Bernarda falls!"
Ms. Daniele's flamenco-ish choreography, too, sometimes leans toward the unintentionally comic. But her story-theater staging makes efficient use of Christopher Barreca's dramatically spartan wooden set, and she keeps the narrative clear, even when the performers double as other characters (including a randy stallion and a receptive mare).
What she does not achieve is the hypnotic aura of fatalism that would keep the audience riveted. Nor does Mr. LaChiusa's music, at least as sung here, avoid a nagging repetitiveness. This makes it all too easy to identify with Judith Blazer as the seemingly narcoleptic daughter who has a habit of nodding off as the women around her scrap and seethe.
Bernarda Alba
Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa; based on the play "The House of Bernarda Alba" by Federico García Lorca; direction and choreography by Graciela Daniele; sets by Christopher Barreca; costumes by Toni-Leslie James; lighting by Stephen Strawbridge; sound by Scott Stauffer; orchestrations by Michael Starobin; music direction, Deborah Abramson. Presented by the Lincoln Center Theater, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten. At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200. Through April 9. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
WITH: Phylicia Rashad (Bernarda Alba), Saundra Santiago (Angustias), Judith Blazer (Magdalena), Sally Murphy (Amelia), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Martirio), Nikki M. James (Adela), Yolande Bavan (Maria Josepha), Candy Buckley (Poncia), Laura Shoop (Young Maid), Nancy Ticotin (Servant and Prudencia).
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 9, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 9, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
A reader named Christy McMunn wrote to tell me that she'll be running for president of the U.S. in 2016. She promises that she will ruthlessly express the raw, naked facts, whatever the consequences may be. Her motto: "If you cannot handle the truth, be careful of what you ask." I urge you to make that your modus operandi in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Be a greedy hunter in quest of the genuine story, the inside dope, and the piercing revelation. In preparation, strip yourself of any belief that might interfere with your receptivity to and enjoyment of the raw, naked facts.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
A reader named Christy McMunn wrote to tell me that she'll be running for president of the U.S. in 2016. She promises that she will ruthlessly express the raw, naked facts, whatever the consequences may be. Her motto: "If you cannot handle the truth, be careful of what you ask." I urge you to make that your modus operandi in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Be a greedy hunter in quest of the genuine story, the inside dope, and the piercing revelation. In preparation, strip yourself of any belief that might interfere with your receptivity to and enjoyment of the raw, naked facts.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Reds are motivated by POWER, seek productivity, and
need to look good to others. Simply stated,
REDS want their own way. They like to be in
the drivers seat and willingly pay the price
to be in a leadership role. REDS value
whatever gets them ahead in life, whether it
be at work, school, or in their personal
relationships. What REDS value, they get
done. They are often workaholics. They will,
however, resist being forced to do anything
that doesnt interest them.
Reds need to appear knowledgeable. They crave
approval from others for their intelligence
and insight. They want to be respected even
more than they want to be loved. They want to
be admired for their logical, practical
minds. REDS are confident, proactive,
visionary, and can be arrogant, selfish, and
insensitive. When you deal with a RED, be
precise, factual, and direct.
What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Academy Award acceptance speech- Reese Witherspoon
: Reese Witherspoon FILM: "WALK THE LINE" Oh, my goodness. I never thought I'd be here my whole life growing up in Tennessee. I want to say Johnny Cash and June Carter had a wonderful tradition of honoring other artists and musicians and singers, and I really feel that tradition tonight. It is very important, and I really feel it. So I want to thank the Academy for this incredible honor. I want to say thank you to so many people who helped me create this role. Everyone at Fox, Cathy Konrad, James Keach, for producing the film. A very special thank you to Jim Mangold who directed the film and also wrote this character. Who is a real woman. Who has dignity and honor, and fear, and courage, and she's a real woman. And I really appreciate that. It was an incredible gift that you gave me. So thank you. And T-Bone Burnett for helping me realize my lifelong dream of being a country music singer. Thank you T-Bone. And I want to say thank you to Joaquin Phoenix who just put his heart and soul into this performance. His commitment and passion for this character and for this performance was just remarkable, and I feel so lucky to have gone on this journey with you. I am so blessed to have my family here tonight. My mother and my father are here. And I just want to say thank you so much for everything, for being so proud of me. It didn't matter if I was making my bed or making a movie. They never hesitated to say how proud they were of me. And that means so very much to a child. So thank you, Mom and Dad. I want to say thank you to my wonderful husband and my two children who should be going to bed. And thank you for loving me so much and supporting me. And I want to say that, my grandmother was one of the biggest inspirations in my life. She taught me how to be a real woman, to have strength and self respect, and to never give those things away. And those are a lot of qualities I saw in June Carter. People used to ask June how she was doing, and she used to say -- "I'm just trying to matter." And I know what she means. You know, I'm just trying to matter, and live a good life and make work that means something to somebody. And you have all made me feel that I might have accomplished that tonight. So thank you so much for this honor.
Monday, March 06, 2006
dreams?
i was in a sound sound sleep when the alarm went off. I remember dreaming about 10,000 dollars...i am not sure if it was a charge or i was getting 10,000.
i will take two tylenol PM again tonight....
staying up til 11pm helps me sleep ... going to bed early means waking up in the middle of the night though i did wake up to get a drink of soda...darn you hot flash
i will take two tylenol PM again tonight....
staying up til 11pm helps me sleep ... going to bed early means waking up in the middle of the night though i did wake up to get a drink of soda...darn you hot flash
Sunday, March 05, 2006
dreams?
i dreamed that i was working for Hillary Clinton who was known by one name Hillary. I saw her husband in my dream and i was at an estate in the hamptons. THere was a discussion about swag and i suggested that they use something the size of a record album jacket perfectly square. I suggested or connected the event to Prairie Wind and suggested Neil Young's movie as swag. I then saw the same concert hall room from a previous dream.
my cat woke me up.... i wanted to go back to sleep and get back to the dream or i woke up and got back into the dream and got the neil young piece as the second half of the dream... they may not have been connected
my cat woke me up.... i wanted to go back to sleep and get back to the dream or i woke up and got back into the dream and got the neil young piece as the second half of the dream... they may not have been connected
Saturday, March 04, 2006
finding money
my day started with getting up cuz the kitty wanted to eat. I could not eat as i was going to my Dr for a follow physical to the bacterial infection i have had. I saw that Rufus wainwright will be at carnegie hall recreating the famous Judy garland comeback concert two nights in June. HOW did i miss that one? so i ordered a ticket with carnegie hall to get my butt there to see RUFUS sing Judy sing cole porter, rodgers and hart and Arlen. I hope RW doesnt camp it up...its during Pride week so all the boys will be out to see Rufus..
i then showered and dressed and walked to my Dr to find 25 people ahead of me. i brought coffee and on the way i found 3 pennies. Just when i was stressing over something at work, i looked down and found pennies. I then found a nickel... the DOCTOR took my blood and i suggested i go on a coffee run for the office staff and my DR.
she has been my physician for over 20 years so it was 3 coffees and one for me and a toasted bagel for the receptionist. The billing Clerk, Betty who has been there as long as me, asked me to get paper towels. SO i walked down Caton ave towards ocean parkway to a deli and i looked to my left and saw a garbage can..on top of the garbage was a ten dollar bill. THe wind was brisk but the bill didnt move. i put it in my back pocket, bought the towels, a few lottery tickets and the papers... i got coffee and returned to the doctor to wait to be seen.
i got my check up...i have to do some tests due to acid reflux and i got a script for Ambien for all those sleepless nights that i bitch about due to the hotfalshes. My blood results will be ready in a bout a week.. historically i am anemic so i am not surprised if i am . SHe thinks i have low blood sugar due to my symptoms of buring in my stomach when i eat sometimes. and my EKG was fine
i walked to the pharmacy, bank, grocery store and home and i am waiting for my accountant to call to do my taxes tonight... who knows maybe more found money....
i then showered and dressed and walked to my Dr to find 25 people ahead of me. i brought coffee and on the way i found 3 pennies. Just when i was stressing over something at work, i looked down and found pennies. I then found a nickel... the DOCTOR took my blood and i suggested i go on a coffee run for the office staff and my DR.
she has been my physician for over 20 years so it was 3 coffees and one for me and a toasted bagel for the receptionist. The billing Clerk, Betty who has been there as long as me, asked me to get paper towels. SO i walked down Caton ave towards ocean parkway to a deli and i looked to my left and saw a garbage can..on top of the garbage was a ten dollar bill. THe wind was brisk but the bill didnt move. i put it in my back pocket, bought the towels, a few lottery tickets and the papers... i got coffee and returned to the doctor to wait to be seen.
i got my check up...i have to do some tests due to acid reflux and i got a script for Ambien for all those sleepless nights that i bitch about due to the hotfalshes. My blood results will be ready in a bout a week.. historically i am anemic so i am not surprised if i am . SHe thinks i have low blood sugar due to my symptoms of buring in my stomach when i eat sometimes. and my EKG was fine
i walked to the pharmacy, bank, grocery store and home and i am waiting for my accountant to call to do my taxes tonight... who knows maybe more found money....
Thursday, March 02, 2006
dreams
i have had two dreams about getting my period. Both involve the loss of blood.
i have been sleeping through the night almost. my noctural awakenings are lessened and i dont get out of bed. I roll over, look for something to drink and go back to sleep. I didnt wake at all last night. when i awake, its because a certain kitty cat wants food or to play.
last night, i dreamed i was at some sporting event. College basketball or football and i had to go away from the stadium or arena to get to a drug store because i believed i was getting my period. I saw myself in the bathroom, and spotting blood so i went on a bus to the downtown area and went into a CVS type store. ONce inside it looked like an old woolworth counter or any of those old diners. people were sitting at the counter eating and i ordered something, i asked the counterhelp where hte drugstore was and got up and went over. I saw two banners for the teams playing. Panthers in red with white print and another team. i heard someone say the price and thought i didnt want those because after the game they would be meaningless to me. someone said i could rent them. i got back to my focus of looking for tampons.
and the alarm went off
i have been sleeping through the night almost. my noctural awakenings are lessened and i dont get out of bed. I roll over, look for something to drink and go back to sleep. I didnt wake at all last night. when i awake, its because a certain kitty cat wants food or to play.
last night, i dreamed i was at some sporting event. College basketball or football and i had to go away from the stadium or arena to get to a drug store because i believed i was getting my period. I saw myself in the bathroom, and spotting blood so i went on a bus to the downtown area and went into a CVS type store. ONce inside it looked like an old woolworth counter or any of those old diners. people were sitting at the counter eating and i ordered something, i asked the counterhelp where hte drugstore was and got up and went over. I saw two banners for the teams playing. Panthers in red with white print and another team. i heard someone say the price and thought i didnt want those because after the game they would be meaningless to me. someone said i could rent them. i got back to my focus of looking for tampons.
and the alarm went off
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 2, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of March 2, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
You will soon experience an upsurge in brainpower--perhaps as much as a 10-point increase in your IQ. I believe the events that heighten your intelligence will involve you doing something brave and resourceful. It's possible, for instance, that you'll dive into a frigid river to save a drowning child or race into a burning building to rescue a beloved animal. Or perhaps your courage will be more subtly expressed: You will offer forgiveness to someone who has wronged or you will speak the difficult but necessary words that everyone has been afraid to articulate.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
You will soon experience an upsurge in brainpower--perhaps as much as a 10-point increase in your IQ. I believe the events that heighten your intelligence will involve you doing something brave and resourceful. It's possible, for instance, that you'll dive into a frigid river to save a drowning child or race into a burning building to rescue a beloved animal. Or perhaps your courage will be more subtly expressed: You will offer forgiveness to someone who has wronged or you will speak the difficult but necessary words that everyone has been afraid to articulate.
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