Art is up

Finally got three pieces of art up. Only took a year. Not bad time really.

First one is in kitchen. Second in bathroom. Third in hallway. Really it took me about 10 yrs. I've been holding onto these things for years.

I feel defined.

I really like A Word A Day. It's a great site.  Today's word really hit home for some reason.

http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html

Xanthippe or Xantippe

PRONUNCIATION:

(zan-THIP-ee, -TIP-) 

MEANING:

noun: A nagging, ill-tempered woman.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Xanthippe, wife of Socrates (c. 5 BCE) who has been portrayed as a nagging, quarrelsome woman. The name Xanthippe is from xanthos (yellow) + hippos (horse). Also see xanthodontous. Earliest documented use: 1691.

NOTES:

Socrates is said to have advised, "By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." It's not known what Socrates thought would happen if the roles were reversed. Also, there's the question of which came first: philosophizing or being ill-tempered. Would being married to a philosopher turn a woman into a shrew?

USAGE:

Mistress Foster is a grasping shrew, a Xanthippe, who bosses her husband about."
Jean Howard; Theater of a City: The Places of London Comedy; University of Pennsylvania Press; 2009.

(c) 2013 Wordsmith.org

Where did Jersey go?

fun weekend in nyc

My friend Fren came to visit last weekend and we started off the weekend with dinner with Frike and Fraul at one of my favorite restaurants, Marseille.  It's a part of the Tour de France restaurant chains, and is solid in my book.

Then Saturday morning, we decided to start the day off right with breakfast at Sylvia's.  We both had the breakfast of champions, fried chicken and grits.

Then we walked our way down to the Met with Frussell, Frob and their friend Frarry.  We saw lots of interesting things:

Then, Frynn suggested a great exhibit to go to:  Ann Hamilton's Event of A Thread.  It was closing last weekend so we of course got in line to see it.

Me and Fren

Frynn who refuses to be photographed

For more information about this exhibit go here:  Ann Hamilton's Event of A Thread

I don't want to go into the details, but will just show you the videos and photos:

 It was an excellent exhibit and a great weekend.  Thanks for visiting, Fren!

And of course, what post isn't complete without a photo of Nomi.

I may be sick...

but my feet are happy

FOUR YEARS SMOKE-FREE!

I can't believe it's been four years.  Actually I thought last year was four years, but one of my smoke-free rehab partners reminded us all that it was in 2009 that we were holed up at Kripalu in the first week of January, snow all around us.  I had joined this smoke-free workshop that included talk therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture and meditation.  Well, our group wandered around together like a bunch of rehabers, dragging ourselves around in sweats, in a nicotine-withdrawal fog.  It was hard, but there was something about being isolated in the snowy Massachusetts woods, going through this with a bunch of other people that pulled me through.  That and I was seriously determined to stop.  I was driven to do it.

It was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and I struggle with it still.  I think once an addict, always an addict.  I still have my moments when I think, I want a cigarette, but I have to remind myself why I quit.  I will always be smoke-free.

Ye Olde PSAs from the 80s

PSA - Time for Timer - Breakfast

PSA - Time For Timer - Hanker For A Hunk O Cheese

Vaccinations SAVE LIVES

This is in response to The New York Times article, "Vaccine Rule Is Said to Hurt Health Efforts" (12/17/12)

Please educate yourselves before making a foolish decision as forcing single dose vaccines or not giving your child the chance to survive against many deadly diseases. These multidose vials are the best way to counteract childhood diseases across the world. Yes, it is the least expensive as well, but for those who don't know, to change to single dose vials would raise the price of vaccines exponentially. Childhood diseases once rare are now coming back with a vengeance. For example, whooping cough is running rampant across the nation. 

I can't stress this enough:  THIMEROSAL DOES NOT CAUSE AUTISM. Many clinical trials have proven that thimerosal does not cause autism. Per one clinical investigator: 

"Most of the children in the study had blood mercury levels of 1 or 2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml); the highest level, found in one child, was 4.11 ng/ml. By comparison, the most stringent public safety limit, established by the Environmental Protection Agency, is above 5.8 nanograms per milliliter. That number itself is a small fraction of the amount that scientists believe is the level of mercury that would actually harm a child." 

TV Is addictive

MILIZARD

(c) 2006 Pockafwye

dream before I woke:  i was back at school, first day, moving into my dorm room, which looked like a ratty new york apartment with bad windows.  I had roommates but they weren't around and I didn't know who they were. My friends were hanging with me when some of the lights go out.  We find the fuse and they weren't blown.  Then I see the vacuum plugged into the wall.  The super comes up and says that is the problem.  even though the vacuum wasn't runnning, leaving it plugged in the wall made the electricity in the room overload.  (is this some sort of dire warning to me? i got lotssss of outlet strips) Also I had a pet mouse/lizard which freaked out everyone in the dorm.  I didn't know how to take care of her.  I went to the outdoor fair where there was a vet stall and they said she will need this leaf-shell like home .  I asked if she would make her own, and they said yes, eventually (oops - she had, but I had stepped on it) and I got some special canned food.

Then I woke up.

I am going to fix all of the electrical cords in my apartment now.  Have a good day.

Cats

Because I don't want to talk about my cat all the time on Facebook or in person, I am going to post pictures of her here.  Because she is adorable.  And crazy.  And sweet. I lurrrrrrve her.



She loves this bag.  She's been hiding in things lately.  She also has been hiding underneath a blanket on the couch.  She's so weird.

Nomi is in there somewhere

Joining in on the action

Dance (I)

Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954) at the MOMA

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER

The Scream by Edvard Munch from the MOMA exhibit

Only in New York

I was in a cab going uptown and I couldn't help myself from photographing a couple of gems

My favorite is the deli which has cartoon character food who look frightened to soon be eaten. And just to make sure you understand what they are selling, they have the tag line: "Beer and Healthy Food Bar."

I love this city.

HI ALL - I survived Sandy quite well, but so many people around the tri-state area have lost homes, some of lost lives and many are without power, fresh water, etc. It's a real mess here in the tri-borough area but it's devastating in NJ.   It's not great but people are pulling together.  

As for me, it's been health crisis 2012, but luckily I've been bouncing back.  There is no real other way to bounce really.  Anyway, the new thing this year is sleep apnea!  So I went for my apnea test and then I went for my cpap test.  here's me during my cpap (I almost wrote clap) test.  i look like a robotic pig.  

So I hope you are all well, wherever you are.  And keep bouncing...

I'm back from outer space!

I'm all drugged up so I may not make sense.  I have to retype every third word because I push the wrong buttons.

So the surgery went well. I don't remember any of it and I only found out what the exact procedure was a couple of days ago:  the procedure I had is called an anterior cervical discectomy.

And over all it's good.  I still have pain around the left side of neck, but it's nothing like it used to be.  Now I only have problems swallowing.  So I am spending my time eating popsicles and reading some books that have been building up in my kindle queue.

One new thing I did learn about myself is I am VitaminD deficient and was told to go sit out in the sun as soon as I can. Who's with me?

Cats & Surgery

Hi all -

I.  CATS

I publicly promised to not get another cat until way after my spinal surgery (which is tomorrow), but you know I have no will power.

I returned Auggie to the place I adopted him because he need a lot more attention than I can give him and he deserves that.  And I deserve to sleep through the night without getting my feet and head chewed on every hour.  Siamese cats need, crave and demand attention and I think the person at said adoption org should have heard me when I said, "I am not home for 12 hours per day.  Will this cat be ok???"  When I retuned Auggie, the ASPCA intake person said, "Oh, they shouldn't have matched you with Auggie."  YOU THINK?

Well, we said goodbye and I am sure Auggie will find a more appropriate home - he's just too damn beautiful.

Auggie

And Auggie likes to bite and scratch, which he did when I put him in the carrier.  And he broke skin - so I had to find a GP to give me a tetanus shot and antibiotics. While I was having lunch, wasting time before my MD appt, another very respectable adoption org called me, excited about my application.  Now I must mention that I was VERY honest on my application - I wanted a lazy cat, who wanted lots of affection, a lap cat, and who could tolerate being alone for 12 hours a day.  The org said they had the perfect cat for me and can I come see the cat?  Now, I was just planning to just see the cat.  Really.  Truly.

Since I had time to kill before the MD appt and the org was on my way, I stopped in.  Now the org is famously known for being ridiculously picky about who gets to adopt their pets.  They have rejected many and have turned away pets that people want to give up for adoption because they are picky about the ones they choose for in-take.  And they never allow same-day adoption.  Except for me :)  Because I got a 50-foot neon "Sucker" sign on my forehead.

And seriously, Nomi was as advertised.  Lazy, loving cat.  Now she also is ridiculously timid and she is  SLOOOOOWLY getting used to the noises in my apartment/building. However, she hides when people show up.  I hope that..oh say in a year, maybe 2, she will be less timid.  :)

In the meantime, she is one terrific cat and I have stopped my search.   Seriously.

Meet Nomi

II.  Surgery

My spinal surgery is tomorrow morning, bright and early.  I am so sick of this neck pain that I am actually looking forward to this procedure.  For those who haven't heard me moan on about this, I have several herniated discs in my neck.  I've lived with neck spasms and such for more than 10 years and after 6 months of PT last year, I decided to get my neck checked out by another orthopedist who knew their stuff. [Lesson of the day - ALWAYS get a second opinion.] That's when I heard of the disc degeneration.  After trying some non-invasive stuff, which didn't work, I finally decided to have surgery. 

My stepmom is coming up to help me out, as well as friends Frob, Frussell, and others.  I will be recuperating at home by Friday, barring any incidents.   Wish me luck :)  I'll be back online as soon as I can.

Meet Auggie

I got yet ANOTHER cat.  To those keeping track, Boo Radley passed away suddenly (xo, Boo); and Laurie, who I was fostering, was thought to be depressed was actually sick with chronic renal disease (The adoption org found her another foster who could care for her needs).  Not a good run so far.

This is Auggie (nee Armando), originally from the ASPCA.  He's a healthy, 4-y/o, 9-lb. Siamese male cat who is too smart for his own good.  Someone at work said that Siamese cats are so smart, that when I get home tonight, Auggie will have solved 10 Rubix cubes and stacked them in a pyramid-shape.  I think it is true.  It's taking a while for him to warm up to me and it's keeeeling me.  Although I want to scoop him up and squeeze him and pet him and call him George, I am trying really hard to just be calm and encouraging and provide lots of mental stimulation.  Right now, we are in the middle of a game of Trivial Purrrrsuit.

Good night, everyone in the Catskills!  I'm here all weeeek!  Try the veal!

Two Dogs Dining in a Restaurant