Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Poetry from the Atlantic - How to Prevent Gun Violence

 From the Atlantic

Poem by Melissa Kundieff

Sitting on the porch of the house  
the father doesn’t remember is his own,
the daughter confides to the father
that her love for him has become
a trapped animal. The father, almost deaf,
doesn’t hear the daughter. In the daughter’s
humid periphery, the father becomes
a younger version of himself. Hovering
near the hinge between real and imaginary,
the daughter and her young father
exist only as long as the trapdoor’s
capacity to touch gravity. The father,
also imagining, snaps the daughter out
of her vision. He says, I want to go home.
Can you please take me home now.

......

Our writer argues that students should not return to school in the fall until Congress passes new gun-control laws. 



NARCAN

 

Treating a Drug Overdose With Naloxone

 Medically Reviewed by Smitha Bhandari, MD on June 29, 2020

medication called naloxone can reverse the effects of an overdose of heroin or some types of painkillers. Paramedics and emergency room doctors have used it for years to save lives.

Murphy Beds

 


How would you like your very own MURPHY BED?

That is a real bed that fits inside the wall.

Special price THREE GRAND. 

When I lived in California I had a Murphy Bed. 

How I miss AUNT HY, COUSINS DAN AND RAY and the life at THE FILLMORE and other places.

I remember meeting a woman in the park who was clearly on drugs and had a little girl with her.

Sure we have rehabs up here in Pennsylvania.

RECOVERY CENTERS OF AMERICA. 

MALVERN INSTITUTE. 

It is advisable to carry the antidote to overdosing. It could easily save someone's life. 

Monday, May 30, 2022

DIABETES MELLITUS

 

A person with diabetes should ALWAYS carry glucose tabs in their backpack and also keep them in their bedroom and kitchen.

Why?

Your life may be at stake!

When I was first diagnosed and went to the WILLOW GROVE GIANT SUPERMARKET, Bob Mazda - was that his name - told me his pharmacist roommate - went LOW in the night and was found dead on the floor.

When I was pregnant with Sarah, my diabetes doctor told me I had the disease.

Surely, though, in the future, we will find a way to get rid of it !

Loads of Millard's relatives had it or their relatives. Bonnie and Van.

Van used to find WATCHES in the middle of the street.

For many years I kept the baby blanket that Margie Smith Deming knitted for baby Sarah.


This blanket I bought at a thrift shop in neighboring Hatboro, PA. 

Went on bike for half an hour or more.

Sugar was normal - 124.

Gonna check one of my favorite programs. 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1999/


Today Biden is remembering the death of his son, BEAU, of cancer. 

Wasn't he the attorney general of Delaware? 

MOM'S ASHES COME HOME TO ROOST

 Sister Ellen and I go shopping.

AND thanks, Ellen, for this delicious coffee.

Oops, I just sipped on Ada's BIG HEART COFFEE N TEA.

Not bad.

Yesterday, May 29, was a big day for us.

Mommy's ashes returned home. Visiting were Sister Lynn, friend Carlos Guerrero, boyfriend Scott and sister Ellen who now lives here. 

Twas also the birthday of the late Wendy Golden Davidson I met at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT.

Like my friend Lorraine S, my electrologist, both of them were frightened by what was ailing them, SO THEY DIED.

Tis delightfully cool in my house.

Ellen drove us to TUESDAY MORNING, which is like an old Woolworth's Department Store. It is located near Robin Hood Restaurant, which features great matzoh ball soup, or as we call it, Knedlach Soup, right Mom?

Before Ellen and I left, I smeared on Neutrogena lotion, number 50. I remember my kidney doctor telling me to wear this amount and to always wear GLOVES when I garden.

Am sipping water in a cup I bought a couple yrs ago at a local garage sale. 

Looks sort of like this:


Ellen and I drove past our old house on Gantt Drive. The phone number was 215 947 2311.

Ellen is getting used to watching passersby. Who is that man with bare chest and tattoos?

Undoubtedly Bob. 

What? You want me to write a poem?

Be right back. 

MOM AND AUNT ETHEL bought me this house on Cowbell Road

If only they could come and see it

It's not quite fair, but is often how the world works

Aunt Ethel's photo lies on my white dresser that was once hers

Mom's photo is in my bedroom on the closet door

And yes we remember all the people - thousands -

who passed through our lives - including Aunt Sylvie and Uncle Maury -

Life! It ain't what we thought it was when we was born. 


Great nature show on Netflix. Again, the South African Penguin.

Done in humorous yet frightening manner.


Sunday, May 29, 2022

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - with loads of films on TCM

 https://paulbeckmanstories.com/about

Can you read PAUL BECKMAN'S SHORT STORIES?

I have never heard of him but he has published dozens and dozens of short stories on the above link.

...

This morning, which seems like eons away, I watched BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK on Turner Classic Films.


Watched about 20 minutes and then fell fast asleep.

Eddie Muller kept mentioning in the film that everyone was afraid of him. He knew a secret, that a Japanese man had been viciously killed. Eddie Muller in the afterward said president Reagan passed a law to forbid that.

Then I went back to Scott's to watch a war film called STEEL HELMET.

It was a 1951 film about the Korean War and was awful. 


I never knew Spencer Tracy was an alcoholic. Did you?

Finally had a few moments alone. Sat on Scott's bench and read a book by Haruki Murakami called AFTER DARK.

Took place at Denny's. That is right. Denny's Diner.

We used to eat there and thought nuffin of it. Okay, so the food was not very good. It still was a blast eating there.


If you want, you can buy stock in the place.

HARUKI MURAKAMI. Gonna practice writing his name. 

Last night I practiced MICHAEL CRUPAIN and MICHAEL ROIZEN. These may or may not be correct. 

These fellers tell you 'the right way to eat.'

Using circadian rhythms.

...

Two things are bothering me now. When I came in the house from Scott's bench, there were dozens of ants on the outside of my door.

And the death of Iris Goodman from Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Possibly sister Lynn's friend Jeanne left sympathy cards in the huge bag.

Ellen and I will sign one.

...

Imperative we go outside and bury a bulb which will turn into - tulips?


Otherwise the water will fester.

Was that Fester Parker?


And of course I had my own Coonskin hat.

And you? 



Friday, May 27, 2022

The wonderful feeling of reading LIBRARY BOOKS and more

 Remember how I fell for a scam recently?

So I get this note from an attorney of my acquaintance.

Checking in, she calls it.

And then, Hi Ruth, can you do me a favor?

DELETE !!!

Ellen and I were amazed !

The afternoon is simply crawling. 

My darling Scott came over to check on me.

I was reading upstairs in my bed.

Told him I was not enjoying one of the books. That is because Brook, I think is her name, had recommended some books for me.

One of them was familiar

STUART WOODS 


This is a Tesla. How would you get in the car? Well, I don't have to worry about that... yet ! Of course I would love one. Where is a dealership?  I will find out off line. 


This is an original painting by Fred Danziger. 

Please pass the burger, fries and ketchup.


SO LONG EVELYN KOBLER

 

Obituary

Evelyn Kobler (nee Evelyn Martha Exner) died peacefully on November 6th, 2020 at Samaritan Hospice (Voorhees) of natural causes.

Evelyn was predeceased by her sister Janice Fry (nee Janice Margaret Exner) of Mt. Laurel, NJ, and her cousin Dottie Lutz of Philadelphia, PA. In addition, Evelyn left behind two nieces, Carol Graham-Toland (Bill Toland) and Elaine Thompson (Cliff Thompson), and two nephews, David Fry (Stephanie Fry) and Robert Fry (Terri Fry). She was formerly married to John Kobler (predeceased) of New York.

Evelyn earned a B.A from Hunter College in New York, and took a variety of courses throughout her years in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Evelyn spent many years in the publishing industry as an editorial and administrative assistant. Even after retiring, she enthusiastically pursued her artistic endeavors by exploring countless art forms and media. Evelyn’s interest in art, literature, nature, and natural history never wavered; she was truly a life-long learner. Evelyn’s love of the written word ignited her passion for playing Scrabble—in both English and French. Most recently, Evelyn enjoyed spending time with her close friends at Weston Club (Voorhees), which included spirited rounds of Scrabble.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Evelyn’s name to The Nature Conservancy.

EVELYN was a fantastic person, so very talented. Scott and I drove and visited her a couple of years ago.

She lived in an artist's condominium. 

Let's see if I can find it.

We both worked at ART MATTERS. 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3497533264000861118/1893288593334735553

Read the above blogpost of visiting Evelyn

Memorial Day Weekend

 Went outside and said hello to John, Allison's husband. She is doing well. A few months pregnant, I would say. What a happy time,

They have FLORIDA license plates. She wanted to work at Disney World. 


Ages ago when I lived with Aunt Hy in California, I visited Disneyland.

Really spectacular.

When Curtis and I left, I gave a family the rest of our tickets.

E x p e n s i v e !  They thanked us profusely.

Was up at the crack of dawn and walked around the block, the long way. Had energy to spare.

The previous night I opened my BEST SHORT STORIES and read TO BUILD A FIRE by Jack London.

While we don't like the main character as he thinks he can beat the system, we feel sorry for him as he is losing ground and his blood is freezing.

Yes he is freezing to death. 


Here I am sipping my HOT COFFEE and enjoying myself.

Mr Eugene, the mail man, put a heap of mail in the mail box, all with a rubber band around it.

Hard to have a philosophical discussion in three seconds!

Just ate a can of tuna, in which I put Hellmann's mayo, and grape tomatoes.

Do you know the volume called THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN by Thomas Merton?

Yes I love religious literature. 


ELEGY for Iris Goodman

They were good people, my cousins,

Everyone loved Iris, Goodman, a woman

not expected to die.

We ask ourselves, Where do you go when you die?

Does the Lord await you

Enfold you in his golden arms

Same ones that met you at the Well

A millennium ago, or two.

Perhaps all we will get is a piece of

buttered matzoh with salt

do not forget the salt

I fear we will get nothing

nothing at all when we die.

Tell us, Judy Diaz, are you swinging on a star

while I look after your porcelain pot in my front yard

the remains of the dead.

...

Scott and I were driving home from GIANT and we saw little kids playing at an outdoor nursery school.  Happy as pie. But you can bet what we were all thinking.

The Texas shooting in Uvalde.  

Thursday, May 26, 2022

GET READY FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND !!!!

 Seen lurking behind the STAIRCASE of the new NANCY DREW book.

Hold on while I finish my POWDERED FOLGER'S COFFEE with a dash of COWBELL HONEY.

Ain't it good to be alive?

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

AN EYE FOR BEAUTY

 Nancy Wolen has always had an eye for beauty. Here are pink bearded iris one of dozens of flowers
that surround her building in Columbus, Ohio.

When Nancy's mom, the late Elsa, found out her daughter had diabetes she was dreadfully upset. Then Nancy's brother, Lee, also got the condition.

Lee is famous, however, and he never uses needles to prick himself or inject.

He is THE IRON CHEF and is on the go all day long.

LEE WOLEN

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Lee Wolen decided to pursue a career in the kitchen when he was in high school. During his early career, Wolen worked as Sous Chef at Moto and Butter in Chicago before spending time in Europe at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and the famed El Bulli.

After his time in Europe, Wolen returned to the States and spent three years as Sous Chef at Eleven Madison Park in New York. During his tenure, Eleven Madison Park achieved The New York Times' coveted four stars, earned multiple Michelin stars, and a Top Ten ranking in San Pellegrino's "World's 50 Best Restaurants."

In 2012, Wolen returned to his midwestern roots, joining The Lobby at The Peninsula Chicago as Chef de Cuisine. Under Wolen, The Lobby received a five-star rating from Time Out Chicago, a four-star review from Chicago Magazine, three stars from the Chicago Tribune, and a Michelin star.

In 2014, Wolen joined Boka Restaurant as Executive Chef/Partner, where he was named "2014 Chef of the Year" by Chicago Tribune and Eater Chicago, one of Plate Magazine's "30 Chefs to Watch," and was nominated as a finalist for a James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Boka was named semifinalist in the 2020 James Beard Award for "Outstanding Restaurant." Boka has maintained a Michelin star from 2011 to 2022.

Wolen will open GG's Chicken Shop brick and mortar Fall 2022. With a streamlined menu of rotisserie chicken, chicken sandwiches, and familiar homestyle sides, this concept stems from Wolen's own childhood dinner table.

I will talk to Lee Wolen soon as folks are worried about the low blood sugar I had this morning.

BTW, I could not photograph Lee bc I have an ad blocker.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Great report from Dr Victor Elias Ghantous - Mom's Ashes arrive home


He said write your daughter in BANGLA DESH and thank her for the kidney transplant I had on April 1, 2011.

All my meds were in order. Told him I continue to take a low-dose aspirin every day.


The office staff is very nice.... Sally, whose sister is now vacationing in Hawaii ... Jeanette. 

Told Jeanette there is a Xmas song with lyrics BRING A TORCH JEANETTE ISABELLA, bring a torch to ....

"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" (FrenchUn flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle) is a Christmas carol which originated from the Provence region of France in the 17th century. The song is usually notated in 3/8 time.

The carol was first published in France, and was subsequently translated into English in the 18th century. The song was originally not meant to be sung at Christmas; it was considered dance music for French nobility.

The carol first appeared in print with the Provençal text Venès lèu, Vèire la piéucello; Venès lèu, Genti pastourèu![1] in 1668 in a collection of twelve Provençal noëls by Nicolas Saboly.[2] The popularity of the melody is attested by the fact that it was used four years later by Marc-Antoine Charpentier for the drinking song Qu'ils sont doux, bouteille jolie in a 1672 revival of Molière's Le médecin malgré lui.[3]

Jeannette and Isabelle/Isabella in the song title are two female farmhands who have found the baby Jesus and his mother in a stable. Excited by this discovery, they run to a nearby village to tell the inhabitants, who rush to see the new arrivals. Visitors to the stable are urged to keep their voices quiet, so the newborn can enjoy his dreams.

To this day, on Christmas Eve in the Provence region, children dressed as shepherds and milkmaids carry torches and candles while singing the carol, on their way to Midnight Mass.

ENOUGH ALREADY!


The heavy package that Mailman Sean brought was MOM'S ASHES.


Too bad she is not alive.


I miss her more than I thought.


SCOTT AND I ARE GONNA DO SOMETHING NOW.


Perhaps walk around the WILLOW GROVE   Y M C A.







Guessing games

 

HOW MANY PENNIES ARE IN THESE JARS?

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87530710826?pwd=VWJYajN4TStZRjVWVlZseEFLNHFUQT09

DID YOU KNOW WE WERE ONCE KNOWN AS THE HOUSE OF PENNIES? 

They are on the living room walls. I went to the bank and asked for rolls of pennies and chose the shiniest.

Then I swallowed the rest.

Am gonna go off stage now and write a CONDOLENCE POEM for my cousin IRIS GOODMAN. 

Another lovely person who was not supposed to die.








Monday, May 23, 2022

THE VIEW FROM HERE

 THE VIEW FROM HERE


Standing at the window

Possibly the best mise en scene is by James Agee's Knoxville Summer of 1915:

Knoxville: Summer of 1915Op. 24, is a 1947 work for voice and orchestra by Samuel Barber, with text from a 1938 short prose piece by James Agee. The work was commissioned by soprano Eleanor Steber, who premiered it in 1948 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky. Although the piece is traditionally sung by a soprano, it may also be sung by tenor. The text is in the persona of a male child.

My late friend Bob Levine shared the piece with me and also gave me a DVD of the piece. We loved sharing music. I think he also introduced me to FAURE'S REQUIEM. 



More on Ron Renzi, DPM - Doctor of Podiatric Medicine

Again, I got a great report from Dr Renzi. 

The circulation in my feet is very good. He tested it with some sort of a needle.

I am glowing right now! Diabetes as I have frequently said, controls my life.

My last visit there was in 2018, I believe, though I know how important it is. Pandemic was on and I also had Covid.

Mom would be very proud of me. 




From his website - and btw, my feet are killing me !

News!

Dr. Renzi's research was recently quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 


3.19.2012 - Temple team dedicated to preventing foot amputations  (Page 2)
1.2.2012- Supermarket tour shows how shopping selections promote health  (Page 2)


For more on his research please see the Publications and Research tab. 
 

Dr. Ronald Renzi's Biography

Picture
Dr. Ronald Renzi has been practicing podiatric medicine in the Philadelphia area for over 25 years.  The services he offers range from diagnosis for foot pain, orthotics, diabetic shoes, podiatric deformities and orthopedics. Treatments include podiatric disorder treatment, podiatric paralytic treatment, podiatric surgery and podiatric sports therapy.

Dr. Renzi started the Save Your Soles campaign to reduce amputations in the male African-American community.  He has served on the Global Lower Extremity Amputation Study Group and his work with this group has been published in the British Journal of Surgery.  Recently he has been working with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health looking at racial disparities in amputations of black diabetic males.  

He graduated from Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine and completed surgical residency at Kensington Hospital.  He lives in Abington with his wife, Maureen.  He has two children in their 20s and his hobbies include biking and basketball. 




2002 Woodland Rd, Abington, PA 19001 - (P) 215.884.0140

Great report from podiatrist RON RENZI

 

Scott and I drove to Dr Renzi's office. Scott had never been there, but I told him, STOP, that's his circular drive. 

I joked and said, Oh, I came to the wrong office. I came to the dentist.

Similar chairs.

The reason my feet hurt me is b/c over time we lose the BABY FAT in our feet. 

My feet are still very sensitive and I feel the needle clicking away. To keep my feet healthy, I should wear pads in the bottom of my shoes.

Told Renzi that my late mother recommended him.

I want to write a composition now and will in a moment.

I should get my feet checked once every 6 months, which I will now.

Medicare will pay.

I am 76 yrs old.

Just turned on the AC in my house, but I also like to train the fan on me.

WHY ISN'T MY FAN WORKING? 

Sunday, May 22, 2022

More have entered the Halls of Valhalla, says Doctor Doolittle with a HARRUMPH

 


More have entered the Halls of Valhalla

We learn through family members or monkeys clapping  from tall branches

We brew a cuppa Joe to get us situated and then the Roll Call begins anew

Terrible when my father was the first to go

Who dad? With the strength of a Serengeti tiger? He'd bring a thermos with hot water

to The Shop every day and curled up like a fetus at the moment of death

59 remember that number

He would like the fragrant honeysuckle twining round my bushes

When my first mania arrived and I looked in the mirror

Why did I see him? Dad, the man who called me Ruthie and told me

to stop whistling, it was annoying.

Every day I thank Helene for her gifts of forks and bowls and bigger bowls

The coffee she'd make when I'd visit, the Davey Ire Pancakes that baked in the oven

That gorgeous marbelized orange pitcher I keep on the living room credenza

and I have been halfway round the world, harrumph, but gone are Simon, Cardinale,

Weinstein, the coffee's too cold now, like the once living bodies

The oldest of two sisters just passed

Iris Goodman, age 78. She'd had two heart attacks. 

And don't tell me of the Peaceable Kingdom, it remains still as a sheet of glass

and have I mentioned Mom, Mommy, Marmee in Little Women

winsome woman, beloved by all, from childhood poverty she used her Yiddish

set a nice table at the Holidays and visited Aunt Tay the day after the Towers

toppled. She wasn't much for coffee, maybe powdered Nescafe, but fell asleep anyway

even if I lay in bed with her, searching for the remote.

Today is Sunday. If I could, I would bring her some Dunkin and a cardboard box

of doughnuts and would explain the meaning of 'film noir.'

It's all film noir, don't you think? She would always set a special place

for Simon and ask me to tell Helene: Stay on Bauman Drive and don't ever ever

move into a nursing home.




Saturday, May 21, 2022

Return to Sender

 As expected the letter came back to me.

Melvin and Cheryl Hill from Flagstaff, Arizona.

Tolani Trail. We were in touch a dozen years ago. Melvin had worked for Majestic Specialties, where my dad worked.

Where are they now? Are they still alive?

Same thing with my friend DENNIS FARMER. 

The card I sent him came back.

On a brighter note I did start the book THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY by Amor Towles.

Fiction.



Yes, hello there, Miss. I'll have a BLT on toasted whole wheat, a glass of cold water with ice, and lemon meringue pie like Gramma Lily used to make for dessert. 


Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Candy anyone? Or dyou wanna keep your teeth? Poetry book - Paterson, NJ - I still have this book, somewhere - Mom's Ashes

 Ellen received a note from THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE to mail us the ashes of the late Bernice Greenwold.

MOMMY !!!

Ellen will sign and date the form.

Also sister Donna, at the library I finally picked up AMOR TOWLES book THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

Can't wait to start reading.


Actually while I was in bed waiting to read this, I had absolutely NO ENERGY. That is because my sugar was low.

One of the worst. 38.


Almond crackers to the rescue. 

PLUS Kind Bars.

Was on phone for a couple hours arguing to have my blood tests picked up by my BCBS health insurance. First spoke to India, then David, then Rachel.

Possibly the reason MEDICARE blocked initial payment was the WRONG CODE was written in.


It's impossible to provide more than a synopsis of the thought behind the work Paterson, and more than a fragment of it's lines, on one simple web page. We leave you, the reader, with an excerpt from Book One, and hopefully an understanding of the heart underlying our musical and visual response.

"Paterson lies in the valley under the Passaic Falls
its spent waters forming the outline of his back. He
lies on his right side, head near the thunder
of the waters filling his dreams! Eternally asleep,
his dreams walk about the city where he persists
incognito. Butterflies settle on his stone ear.
Immortal he neither moves nor rouses and is seldom
seen, though he breathes and the subtleties of his machinations
drawing their substance from the noise of the pouring river
animate a thousand automations. Who because they
neither know their sources nor the sills of their
disappointments walk outside their bodies aimlessly
for the most part,
locked and forgot in their desires-unroused.

—Say it, no ideas but in things—
nothing but the blank faces of the houses
and cylindrical trees
bent, forked by preconception and accident—
split, furrowed, creased, mottled, stained—
secret—into the body of the light!

From above, higher than the spires, higher
even than the office towers, from oozy fields
abandoned to gray beds of dead grass,
black sumac, withered weed-stalks,
mud and thickets cluttered with dead leaves-
the river comes pouring in above the city
and crashes from the edge of the gorge
in a recoil of spray and rainbow mists-

(What common language to unravel?
. . .combed into straight lines
from that rafter of a rock's
lip.)

A man like a city and a woman like a flower
—who are in love. Two women. Three women.
Innumerable women, each like a flower.

But only one man—like a city."

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

 Maybe 'THE BOSS' should also win the Nobel Prize. 

My friend Judy has been to most of his concerts. 

Good for you, Jude!

Guess what? Ellen found us a lawn mowing service!

They will be here the morrow, May 18, in the afternoon.

My timer is set for 37 minutes for AMY'S ENCHILADA DINNER.

Am finally reading the JOAN DIDION issue of the Atlantic.

Thank you, Remdidion. 

Sister Ellen had NO IDEA that the bird houses outside on my front lawn have baby birds in them.

Chickodees, I think.

Hold on.

Pic from Internet. 

WHY SHOULD BRUCE WIN THE NOBEL? 

His music and lyrics are part of the American Songbook.

Never repetitious. 

Does he still live in Remsen NJ.

Does he mow his own lawn? 

While his voice is recognizable to most Americans, he uses it in new ways, often with his harmonica.

I hold you in my arms, I saw you baby or is it just a grim disguise.

Concerns of most Americans. 


Thank you Alexa, for playing BRUCE FOR US.

Only 23 more minutes till chow time.

BORN IN THE USA


A rock & roll true believer with a poet's heart, the Boss defined mainstream American rock in the late 20th century. Wikipedia