HAPPY NEW YEAR IN TIMES SQUARE
With cinnamon and butter and FUJI apples.
Internet photo.
TOO BAD BETTY WHITE HAD TO MISS IT.
Betty White (1922–2021), beloved star of “The Golden Girls”
Friday, December 31, 2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!
Internet photo.
The Hale and Hearty Alcott Family
Former wife of Michael Douglas. Catherine-Zeta Jones.
Beauty tips include eating salads, exercising - she needs no trainer.
My sister Ellen writes that December 30, my brother David was born. He was 15 yrs younger than me.
Louisa May Alcott. 1832-1888. Buried in Concord MA.
Watched a great show on PBS about her life and times.
Bronson Alcott, William David Thorough who was visited at night by Bronson and oh how they laughed.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
ART by the long-gone Philip Berman
When I worked for Art Matters, my boss, Doris Brandes, drove us around the Lehigh Valley, to see some of the Henry Moores. They were given by Philip and Muriel Berman. He owned the famous restaurant with the strawberrry pie and whipped cream at HESS DEPARTMENT STORE, down in the basement of the store.
From the Berman website:
The outdoor sculpture collection of the Berman Museum is comprised of more than 75 contemporary artworks spread over the grounds of Ursinus College, forming a unique perceptual and physical gateway to the campus at large.
Together Philip and Muriel Berman discovered a passion for sculpture, often commissioning outdoor works by such artists as Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick, and Tom Sternal for installation on the grounds of their Allentown home. As their enthusiasm for collecting grew they became known as some of the most generous donors of outdoor sculpture in the country, gifting works to museums, sculpture gardens, and universities across the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley region.
The Bermans valued art immensely in their everyday lives and wanted to share that love of art with a wider community. The Bermans made their first gift of outdoor sculpture to Ursinus College in 1980 with Glenn Zweygardt’s Bearkeeper and Upheaval II. In time, the pair donated over 90 percent of the Berman Museum of Art’s current outdoor collection. As a result, the collection is a unique record of a specific time and place in the trajectory of art history, as well as the taste and motivations of this fascinating couple.
There are three main strands of sculpture on the Ursinus campus, which reflect in part the Berman’s collecting and stewardship interests. These include works by British sculptor Lynn Chadwick, contemporary sculpture inspired by industry and industrial materials, and recent figurative sculpture by artists such as J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and George R. Anthonisen.
“We believe art should be seen; sculpture should be in public places and art should be in the arena of learning such as colleges and universities.”
—Philip Berman
Two procedures scheduled
Also had a bad dream that I left my side door open and wondered in the dream why I would do dat. It would actually be interesting to see what / who came in. Good short story if I survive the procedures.
I finally fell asleep after my appt today with Harvey Guttmann, MD, at the Rydal Park office and the scheduling of colonoscopy and endoscopy at the same time.
Scott of course drove me. We were there until 4:04 pm I remember reading on the dashboard.
Okay, sickening pic
Wounded vets often see the guts and other body parts blasted open and take their own lives.
Left a legacy message for RAY NAYOR and also CARL YEAGER. Now when I go in my bedroom I view the pink rose ensconced in a wooden frame.
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Look - I lived to 76 years old - thank you Marce for your phone call
Mom returned it to me.
Scott and I went on a long walk and had the entire YMCA to ourselves.
Marce, you took over Helene's role of singing me the birthday song and following with a swoop on your piano.
What fun !!!
Three of us visit TriValleyPrimary Care
STATINS, are a known cause of memory loss. Simply look it up on the net.
The new doctor never heard of that.
Scott knows the way to TriValley. My son Daniel follows. His wife Nicole was tested and does NOT have Covid 19.
But it is true. My memory is not good at all.
My Grandmother Lily - hello Gramma Lilly - who used to beat me with a strap - had dementia or Alz disease.
B/c Dr Foxhall was busy I had Dr. Anu Ramdas, DO.
She gave me a test for dementia.
At one point she put a finger stick on my index finger and jotted down my heart rate.
"What is it?" I said.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"Because I'm curious," I said.
Where was her empathy?
Just woke up in middle of night. I am officially 76 years old now.
I have a cramp in both my legs. Will look up what to do on the Internet.
I submitted to PURE SLUSH. Several stories. Did it through Submittable. Must know the password.
It's on bottom of my framed photo by the late Ronald B Abrams of the calf of a man w tattoo of - is it long haired John Lennon?
Looked up cramp medication. There is one called HYLANDS Cramp Medication you could order online in many places.
Just got off bike. Was biking with Rick Steves. Now I had been to many of the places he talked about.
And I said to myself, I sure enjoyed myself, but was it worth it?
I think Joan Didion, who just died at age 87, wondered that herself.
My sister Donna told me she died of raging Parkinson's, by her arms movements.
So now I know, or do I ?
Thursday, December 23, 2021
IN PRAISE OF PETER DINKLAGE who stars in a new film written by his wife
Why, it's Peter Dinklage, who I first saw in STATION AGENT.
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude
only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
This is one film I would gladly see again!
I myself am really into eating hot dogs. Hebrew National Beef Franks with healthy ingredients.
Really?
For sure, as my son/law would say.
But now I will hit the bed again and READ.
If I could watch the film again I would but it is not free.
Hmmm, wonder if TCM has it.
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Rambling around the house - THEN I left a POT BURNING ON THE STOVE
On the edge of my bureau the bright light of my date-reminder shines.
Here is what it says: THURSDAY, PreDawn, 2:09 am, December 23. I have been awake for hours listening to great music on WXPN FM.
Stretching out my legs on my comfy but very crowded bed, and listening to a Bob Dylan song, I got a terrible cramp in my left leg.
I rolled out of bed believing the cramp would subside.
When it didn't I ran into the pink bathroom down the hall and drank a glass of water.
Finally!
I took notice to see if the house smelled like smoke.
Earlier that night I was sauteeing mushrooms. I set the timer but had fallen asleep. I jumped up from red couch and Mannix and found the saute pan. Quickly I lifted it up and put it on another burner.
What should I do?
Slipped on my shoes, left home thru front door - Scott had locked my back door so it was impossible to get out - I propped open the front door - and raced over to Scott's.
Luckily his door was open.
My house is on fire I said.
He raced downstairs and raced over to my house.
I've never seen anyone run so fast.
He took charge. I felt like a fool. My mother was not allowed to cook on Gantt Drive for this very same reason.
Scott insists my medication affects my thinking.
Is this true?
He insists on contacting and visiting Foxhall on Thursday, which is today.
I also take a slew of vitamins and supplements, which also should be noted!
...
Just ran downstairs and poured out a bowl of peanuts.
In a moment will on my submission to PURE SLUSH due on Friday, December 31, 2021.
...
As you know, Scott and I walk around the perimeter of the WILLOW GROVE YMCA every afternoon.
Scuse me gotta refill my peanut bowl.
It was freezing but for the first time I wore layers. Two pair of pants - my loose blue patterned pants with some warm grey pants over the top.
Took me forever to get em on.
THE PROBLEM with Pure Slush is you must load your stories perfectly. There are no second chances.
Monday, December 20, 2021
Sunday, December 19, 2021
BUS TRIP TO THE NATIONS CAPITAL ON APRIL 7, 2021 - note the date - PLUS I FELL
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Trip to our Nation's Capital - Cherry Blossoms - African Art - Hirschhorn - Souvenirs
My boss gave me the day off so I took a Hagey Coach to Washington DC. Met the bus at Montgomery Mall. Unsure of where to go, I arrived 45 mins early after missing the first jughandle turn, but fort'ly there was a U-Tube, oops, U-turn.
Bob Bergey, our coach driver. His wife Glenna was in the last row so she couldn't be a backseat driver, said Bob, who not only had a great sense of humor but was very knowledgeable about just about everything.The name Bergey and also Hagey are common names in Perkasie where Bob lives. Here's his awesome website.
Our Hagey coach cost half a million dollars. It contains enuf diesel fuel - not cheap at over $5 a gallon - to drive to Florida and back.
Most of the cherry blossoms had already fallen off, but since there are dozens upon dozens of varieties Bob led us down an abandoned lane where there were scads of them.
Bonnie Woods took this photo of me. Four of us sat in the very front seat - the best place to sit b/c you can talk to the driver and also have a great view.Next to me was her dad Tom. Across the aisle was red-headed 25-yo Bonnie, who's an artist, and her mom, a woman in her 50s who had quadruple bypass surgery at Doylestown Hospital, of which she couldn't say enough. Symptoms were: she climbed up a flight of steps at work and couldn't catch her breath. Husband Tom took early retirement from Verizon.
Lincoln Memorial. Martin Luther King gave his "I Had a Dream Speech" here. I did not climb up the stairs as I was conserving my legs. I knew they would ache by day's end. But I didn't dream that I'd have a fall.
As I've said before, my photos are really meant to remind me of all the great times I've had, 66 years and counting!Roll em Ruthie!
Vietnam Memorial. Tom, the retired Verizon man sitting next to me, was in the Navy and was in a battleship and swam in the Gulf of Tonkin.
I knew several guys who fought in the war: My cousin Dan Sewell who was really messed up after he came home, David Moyer who was in a foxhole when the Vietcong came dangerously close, and Marine Frank Marrone whose wife died of cancer and he recently remarried.
This is a statue of the women who were in the Vietnam War. Never heard of it before.
The huge WWII memorial. Again, I was saving my legs so I just strolled by.
More WWII.There were LONG LINES at most of the Smithsonian museums. But the art museums were not crowded, so that's where I spend most of my time.
My friend Judy Diaz told me about the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Outstanding! My sister Ellen was a friend of the director's - Susan Fisher (now Susan Fisher Sterling) - when we lived in Shaker Heights. We lived on Glenmore Road, she lived on Shelbourne.
I took a taxi to the women's museum. Unlike Philly or NYC, the cabs are not government-regulated, so everyone can charge what they want. All the cabs look different. I had a nice guy from Nigeria drive me to the museum. He had a blue van with sliding doors. I couldn't shut the door myself so he had to get out. You also had to step very high up. Not good for old ladies.I told him about a movie Scott and I recently watched called The Bone Collector w/Denzel and Angelina. A cab driver kidnaps people and kills them, scraping out a bone for a souvenir. Tres suspenseful.
The above lithograph has an Emily Dickinson poem printed on it about a spider.
A book cut-out.The previous works were on the ground floor. Mary Grady, who sat at the reception desk, helped me choose what to view. She's coming to Philly for Easter to see her kids. I thanked her when I left, but didn't tell her about my fall.
I took the stairs to the old masters room.
The museum, founded 25 yrs ago, is exquisitely beautiful. Forgot to ask Mary what the bldg used to be. Every little detail was gorgeous. So much to feast your eyes upon. Sorta like my house - seriously - where every spot in my living room office is covered with something b'ful or interesting like this:
Air Force Pilot, cover of LIFE, July 19, 1943. Ten cents a copy.
What could be more b'ful than this? That's Mary at her reception desk.From their brochure I learned that the bldg, built in 1908, is Renaissance Revival and was formerly a Masonic temple.
Flowers in the cafe.
Contemporary art and sculpture.
Loved this foto of David slaying Goliath. It's hard to see his enemy's face but it's grotesque. BTW, did you watch The Ten Commandments on TV Saturday nite? Charleton Heston's son played baby Moses, an Egyptian name.I only watched bits n pieces cuz I was at a Passover seder at my 'inlaws.' The living room TV always has sports on, but we three women - Natalie (Scott's mom) and Debbie (his sister) had the Samsung kitchen TV on.
This one was a real beauty, full of great details: King Philip II of Spain Upon Hearing News of the Destruction of the Armada.
Mother and her son after a flood.
This is by famed artist Alice Neel (1900-1984). This young man has been shot by a bullet and will die shortly.
These are women in the Manhattan section of Soho. (South of Houston street. Houston pronounced HOW-ston. My sister Donna used to live there. She was a potter and gave live demonstrations that you could see from Macy's outside window.)
Loved this mystical painting of rainfall.
The always recognizable Louise Nevelson. Actually there's another sculptress I thought was Nevelson, but she's Louise Bourgeois.The young Louise Nevelson - birth name Leah Berliawsky - and her family immigrated from Czarist Russia to the US. They spoke Yiddish at home but Louise quickly learned l'anglais, as we say en francais.
The two sculptures on the right are by Nevelson. I love the one directly in front with all its interesting shapes. The painting in the back shows a powerful woman: Ruth as she was falling.
View out the window from the Nevelson room. Museum is at the corner of New York Avenue and 13th Street, NW.I'll tell ya, I was really enchanted by all the artwork. The museum was practically empty!
This work, made of wax and melted wax, hung from the ceiling by the window. The artist was raised Catholic and this gaily colored sculpture aspires to show the contradictions inherent in the Catholic religion. Celibate priests, pedophile priests, good priests, hatred of gays, which they say is espoused in the Bible. So what? The bible is merely one book out of millions in the world.Why not read books by gay authors such as James Baldwin, experience art work by gay men such as Andy Warhol, or poetry by gay women such as the late Adrienne Rich?
They have made enormous contributions to the world. Are they not God's children?
Fascinating painting. Look at the little man at the tail of the wounded bird and the skeletons grinning on the side.
Wonderful room of B&W photography.
I was fainting away when I saw these fotos. My friend Helene Ryesky uses that term.
Here I was really fainting away. I love abstract art.
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