Elinor Nauen

= Meg. I was present at her birth, on this date back in 1980, at Sherri & Rick's house in Ellsworth, Maine.

= Gene Wilder, of the kind blue eyes.

= The sticky weather, kihons 8, 9, and 10, & lunch.

= That the problem was not that my computer is a lemon but  Read More 

We went to the Thai place around the corner on Second Ave & had a terrific lunch. We half-watched a strange TV show, I think called Bones, on a giant screen, sans sound, a foot away. It involved a medical examiner & poison. The best part was one of the characters was named Dr. Camille Saroyan. There were subtitles, & even if I looked up only occasionally, & even though I'd never seen it before, I could easily follow what was going on.  Read More 

More than 300 reindeer—who huddle together during storms—were killed by lightning in Norway. There is so much sadness going around but this is the one I'm highlighting.

Happy birthday, Ron Guidry, 66 today.

Happy birthday, Lou Piniella, 73 today. Anselm & I went to his last game, June 16, 1984 (I knew it was 1984, but had to look up the month: Bloomsday, no less!). I cried a little, & Anselm, age 12, opened his mouth to mock me & then shut it again. Not his first adult kindness/awareness, I'm sure, but an early one.  Read More 

I know it seems like I'm just recycling everything I wrote in the past, & maybe I am. But this is an odd little tidbit I thought I'd share.

I got an email that "Majenta" likes my review of Wild Strawberries on Goodreads. I suppose I didn't remember anything about it because it went up Apr 03, 2008. My review in full (if that's the word):

Wild Strawberries
by Angela Thirkell

She wrote a novel a year from around WWI through the '50s. Trollope meets E.F. Benson. A couple of duds but most are great. This is a good one to start with. Thirkell trivia: She was the model for Wendy Darling in Peter Pan, Barrie being her godfather.

 Read More 

Since I've been posting so much old stuff, I thought I should show that I'm living in 2016 & not the 1980s.

What did I do today? I finished & turned in an article. I went to the gym. I learned some Torah, none too soon. I washed my hair. I bought an ink cartridge & deodorant. I found out that the Blue Man is aka Gray Dave & is said to be a talented graphics artist. I got this from a friend of his who was standing outside my building & asked if I knew Dave. For some reason, I was sure it was the Blue Man, & it was. I started reading a book called White Trash: The 400-year untold history of class in America, by Nancy Isenberg. Pretty shocking how poor people were treated & even talked about in the earliest days. I went to a meeting & wasn't bored. I did a hundred other things.

From the same issue of Exquisite Corpse, & a perfect example of our sense of humor. Maggie & I have always known why we thought something was funny, even if no one else does.

This was in Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse in 1984. The days when it was a long skinny print mag.

Tomorrow I'll post another work from the same issue.

I love DuoLingo, the language-learning app. I randomly started learning Norwegian last year, which fascinates me intensely and has introduced me to some wonderful Norwegian friends & poets. I have also dabbled in Spanish, French & Italian on DuoLingo. Now I've started on German, & I must say, my ear is sharper there than in any other  Read More 

The text on the back of this undated ('67? '68?) and never-sent postcard:

The "Hashbury" Scene
The love-in community of the flower children is centered at Haight-Ashbury. Sometimes referred to as the world headquarters of the hippie revolution, here's where it all began.

I was grouchy when I got up—too muggy, spinning my wheels, no one getting back to me for an article that's due in less than a week, etc etc etc.

And then ... Something Happened.

Steve & I had tried many times to track down our old friend Bill from The House. We wondered if  Read More 

I need "real people" (why do we health writers put that in quotes?) for a couple of pieces. The foundation suggested their online community forum, which required me to join—& provide lots of information—before I could even look at the posts. I said I was born in 1900, so if I start getting a lot of geezer spam, I'll know who sold my information.  Read More 

Oh for heaven's sake. I had been thinking for months that this August 9 marks the 500th anniversary of Bosch's death, & then I forgot it on that date. I'm reading a strange & wonderful book about him & The Garden of Earthly Delights, Terry Tempest Williams's Leap, & I find references to him constantly:  Read More 

To shake things up a bit, I've been going out early. It started last week when I was hoping to see the Perseids. That was unsuccessful due to clouds. But I found that I liked getting air a little fresher than it's been the rest of the day. It's quiet & I see the sky—something I don't always remember to do.  Read More 

I felt a tickle on my neck & came away with this. Sarah, who's in the bug business, said:

My best guess is a little parasitic wasp. Those little threads coming out the non-head are likely ovipositors. She uses (used) those to lay eggs in prey (luckily, not humans, usually other insects). As the eggs hatch the wasp larvae begin to eat the prey. Sometimes parasitic wasps will paralyze the host with venom to keep them alive during the process so the flesh stays fresh. It is hard to find good refrigeration if you are a wasp.

What's next? Worm holes?  Read More 

I found a puddle on the bed.

Oh gross. Did the cat throw up?

What happened, it seems, was my brain melted in the 1,000° heat & a lot of it flowed out my ear.

Luckily, the electricity came back on, & with it the a/c, & I didn't lose everything.

David, who works at Downtown Bakery (cocina Mexicana, as it says) & makes these signs (a long-running one is "Say no to drugs—say yes to enchiladas"), told me this sign is running 50–1 in approval. Sounds about right for the East Village.

This is part of an email chain for something several people are working on.

From the manager (one of several similar requests over a couple of days to XXX):
Hi XXX,
I’m finishing the brochure and need to hear from you that pricing is correct. You were included in the emails this week with attached layout.
Please email me at your earliest convenience.

His response: Read More 

I have to say it's exciting to see the gymnastics. It doesn't seem even slightly possible for Simone Biles to do what she does—all those jumps & turns & twists. In the air. On the balance beam. On the unevens. Wow. WOW.

Men's volleyball? I don't think so. (That was on when we were having lunch out yesterday.) Why do they all huddle-hug after every play?

I know all the swimmers are fast but because they are all fast, it's hard to be impressed. It's what Bill Murray said: there should be a regular person doing things, for comparison.  Read More 

Not totally sure this is a work of perfect philosophic insight.

Life

Some catch the early show
and when they leave the theater
no one on line wants
to hear
how it came out
and it’s not the same
anyway even when
you know
the ending


Death

Some catch the late show
and when they die
there’s no waiting
but no one wants to bury them
standing up
besides
it’s the same
even if you don’t know the
ending

Elinor “Eco-System” Nauen and Johnny “Re-Echo System” Stanton
n.d.  Read More 

Cold? Allergies? Cold? Allergies? Yuck.

And I can't pack it in & go home, because it's kids' classes at the dojo.

I went to the store this morning. Is oolong tea supposed to be this grim? I guess I'm still a Hawaiian-punch kind of drinker.

Where's that library book?

These aren't very interesting questions.

Please feel free to supply interesting answers, after which I will handcraft the questions.

How's that? Read More 

I paused to let him walk by before I carried my bike down my stairs, but he stopped to say, Biker!

I said, I like that you're wearing your helmet & you're not even riding.

He's the guy whose skin is blue from  Read More 

I was walking east, into the sun, squinting hard, everything distorted from how bright the sun was. Then I realized I was wearing my reading glasses not my sunglasses.

I was sure it was a fake email—the color was off, there was an underscore instead of a hyphen, & most telling, Verizon takes money from checking not my credit card. But they had the last 4 digits of both my account & credit card right. So I called my credit card company &  Read More 

I had a boyfriend, I was 20, we went together for more than two years, which was a long time then, 10% of my entire life. This girl I hardly knew referred to my boyfriend's "snub nose," which I had somehow never noticed, & that was the end of my love for him.

I love the Cloisters more every time I go. Today I loved a 12th-century fresco of a camel with a modern & insouciant air; the glass (stained, painted); & a "Netherlandish" triptych of the Annunciation that I couldn't find the last time I was there. It is painted with exquisite clarity, & each panel has an inside & a window to the outside (clouds, towns). There's a mosquito-size angel flying in on a sunbeam & fabulous Dutch faces.

Also, I went with Bessie, the best traveling companion!  Read More 

“The trouble with committing political suicide is that you live to regret it.” —Winston Churchill

I often wonder why so many people (seem to) vote against their own self-interest, but not in a way that helps anyone. Unless their self-interest really is fear & hate? I don't understand the pleasure of wanton destruction.

I can't figure out how not to be cryptic here. I feel like I'm trying to understand why so many people are saying the sky is orange....  Read More