And a great time was had by all at Chris's Jazz Cafe

My poor camera forgot how to take pictures in the dimly lit club.

Dan picked me up at 5:30 for the 7 pm show and we drove up busy York Road and on until it became Broad Street. We watched for Einstein Hospital on the left. Right across the street was a Greyhound Bus Station, which I'd never seen before, during the many times I'd driven to Kidney Clinic at the hospital.

Dan, I said, forget about Chris's Jazz Cafe. We can go anywhere in the country by bus - Chicago, Kansas City, El Paso - hey, we can go see Russell in Texas! What dyou say?

His Homer Simpson air-freshener just bobbed on his rear-view mirror. He was telling me how great it is to be a father. Grace learned two new signs, he said. Nicole teaches her sign language.

Lotsa traffic. "I'm glad you're driving," I said. "Otherwise I'd be nervous as hell."

At one point, he picked up his Apple iPhone, and said into it, "Tell Sarah we'll be there in half an hour." An inanimate secretary, well-paid.

"Mom!" he called out. "There's "Occupy Wall Street. Look at all the tents."

"What do they think they're gonna do? Overturn capitalism?"

Here's a New Yorker story about how the Occupy movement began. Kalle Lasn is co-founder of the idea. His family fled Estonia.

Lasn is sixty-nine years old and lives with his wife on a five-acre farm outside Vancouver. He has thinning white hair and the small eyes of a bulldog. In a lilting voice, he speaks of “a dark age coming for humanity” and of “killing capitalism,” alternating gusts of passion with gentle laughter. He has learned not to let premonitions of apocalypse spoil his good mood.

Nothing could spoil my good mood either. Especially when we finally arrived.

Here's the band doing a sound check. Ethan Iverson on left, Corcoran Holt on bass, and Steve Williams, drummer. Ethan announces the tunes and some history behind them. He also writes a great musical blog Do the Math.

Periodically, Ethan would announce that this is a fundraiser for New Directions Support Group. Our table would hoot and applaud. Not shy are we.

Our New Directions' table was filled. Here's Dan, my niece Nikki who came with her husband Steve and a couple of friends from NJ, Helen and Ada.

Earlier that day, Helen and husband Larry were at a fundraiser at a hotel to support Elizabeth Warren, a woman of intelligence and integrity, who is running a tough race for gov of Mass. against the well-heeled, super-fundraising incumbent.

America turned a corner decades ago, recently confirmed by our Supreme Court, that corporations count as individuals, so there's no limit on campaign contributions.

I don't know how to get rid of this big space, so scroll down. It's all the Republicans' fault.



Here's Terez and husband Dutch. These are their cool jazz names that Dutch suggested we all have. My cool name was Little Ruthie. Terez and Dutch actually own this company.

Here's Carole, head of our Family Member group sitting next to Erik. Sarah is in background talking to guest pianist Orrin Evans, barely visible. Dutch roared w/approval when he came on. He's a big jazz afficionado.

Here's a better pic of Orrin from the Internet:

Sarah also invited two former teachers she had at Abington Friends School. Fern Moffatt lives in Montgomeryville and babysits her 14-month-old grandson twice a week. She was Sarah's English teacher in the Upper School. She said Sarah was the smartest kid she ever taught. We always really loved Fern. I mentioned that I knew Sarah was smarter than me when she was three.

Chris Long was also there. A real sweetheart, Chris was her Lower School English teacher. She lives in Jenkintown. I mentioned to Chris that as Dan and I drove to the club, we saw all these businesses that had been closed down in Jenkintown. Amazing!

It's not do to the economy, she said. It's due to Jenkintown politics that make it difficult for businesses to say open - high taxes, unrealistic leasing arrangements.

We also discussed the former headmaster of AFS who I erroneously referred to as Bruce Henderson, who was my first editor when I began writing for newspapers.

"Whenever I talked to Bruce," I told Fern and Chris, "he never looked me in the eyes. He was always looking for someone more important to talk to."

"He never looked anybody in the eyes," the girls said. He's now at another Quaker institution. He must have great fund-raising ability.

After the show I asked Sarah to introduce me to Corcoran Holt and Steve Williams.

Very warm individuals! We all hugged. Corcoran will be spending Thanksgiving w/his large family in DC.

For sure, I'm buying their CDs. Ethan will send me suggestions.

And now, I've gotta work on my kidney book. Am writing about how I got 302'd. It's amazing how when you begin writing, it traces a pathway thru your brain and you remember more and more things. In my Yes I Can book about my manic-depression, I had to omit certain things that happened to me at Building 16.

In the real rendering, however, I can tell the truth about the shenanigans that happened among the inmates.