PERSONAL NEWS #68
On Saturday, August 6th, I had an enjoyable time hanging out with Jackie and Becca from LOTR/Tolkien group. Arrived at Central Park West and 77th Street before 3pm and found Jackie waiting at the entrance to museum. [NY Historical Society Museum] We chatted about health issues while waiting 10 to 15 minutes for Becca to arrive. Beccas Mom lent her membership card and we all got in for free. Sweet deal! I'd never been to this particular museum before, so this was a treat for me. We decided to hangout on the fourth floor, which is known as the "Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture". So many beautiful pieces [ie: sculpture, furniture, Tiffany, toys, decorative objects, jewelry, coins, paintings, etc] to gaze upon; have a laugh, plus several in depth discussions. By the time we got done with that and check out the terrific gift shop, it was going on 5:30pm and the museum was closing.

We head over to Columbus Avenue [slowly as it was warm out] and strolled down until we found a really nice restaurant [City Grill] between 73rd & 72nd Street. Good service, great food and the prices aren’t too bad. I noshed on their New England clam chowder, which was quite delicious. Whenever the three of us get together we’re discussing many topics, as well as LOTRs & Tolkien. Brought with me my "Tolkien & the Great War" book and showed it to the gals. Much interest as the germination of Middle Earth et al came about while Tolkien was at university and a soldier in WW1. Afterwards we strolled through Central Park [south] along the horse paths and by this time a breeze was cooling off some of the heat. At one of the numerous small bridges in the park was a crowd of folk taking photos. As we got closer, we realized it was a hawk calmly perched on the bridge. New Yorkers and tourist alike seemed awed by the calm beauty of the hawk. After about 10 minutes the hawk flew off and everyone dispersed. We finally reached out destination, which was the R/N/W subway line near Carnegie Hall. We said our "goodbyes" and parted company at the subway.

The next day, August 7th, I headed up to South Norwalk on the 11:07am Metro North and my dear friend Katherine met me at station. We walked the few blocks to attend the annual SoNo Art & Craft Festival. Another warm summer day greeted us, with some clouds in the sky and very little breeze. Silly me forgot to put on sunscreen, so I ended up with abit of sunburn on shoulders/arms. Sigh! Before checking out the many exhibits we found restrooms and purchased delicious fruit smoothies. Oh la la! Ever so refreshing! Took us over two hours to see all the wonderful exhibits [ie: sculpture, jewelry, paintings, clothing, decorative objects, etc] by talented artists. Several artists had their watercolors on display and I engaged in conversation with them on style, technique and the use of 300lb weight paper. It’s been one and half years since I last did a watercolor. I've been so preoccupied with activism, political campaigns and committees. Its time to get back into the groove and work on a new art project with a "peace" theme. After we finished the Festival we took a taxi to where Katherine’s daughter Aimee is staying these days, as her car was parked there.

We drove up to Shelton were Katherine and her hubby Maurice live. For the rest of the afternoon we relaxed on the back porch, sipped juice, talked and had dinner. Maurice whipped up BBQ chicken, green salad, sautéed mushrooms/onions and for dessert we noshed on sherbet. [Katherine’s daughter Cherie joined us, plus took care of cleanup.] After dropping me off at the Stratford Metro North platform, NYC bound, I ran into an ex co-worker of mine [Kristine] from my days at KOLL. [What a stressful nightmare it was working at that place. Only certain people were such bastards and they'll remain nameless. But there were good folk there and Kristine was one of them.] Kristine was waiting on the platform and heading back to NYC with her boyfriend. [They were spending the weekend with his family.] She looks great and is wearing contacts. While waiting for the train and riding to NYC ... we talked about days at KOLL, caught up on lots of news, theater stuff and exchanged email addys. The hour and half ride goes by quickly when enjoying good conversation.

QUOTE OF THE DAY - We have it in our power to begin the world over again. Thomas Paine

On Tuesday, August 9th, after work I had a good workout at a nearby gym I belong too. Then home in time to whip up dinner and take care of email/snail mail before jumping on the NY DoP conference call at 9pm. Kevin and Ellen were again hosting the call ... others tapping in were Carol, David, Hector, Liz, Tracey, Rhiannon, Marnie and I. The call was predominately on the upcoming September Peace Conference in DC. Who would be car pooling with whom and on what dates et al. As for me, I'm traveling with Joe and Ellen on September 9th, after the NY Chapter DoP mini press conference on the steps [hopefully] of City Hall. More on that topic closer to the date in question. Everyone on the call has been busy working on connecting and trying to obtain meetings with their respective congressperson. As for me, I've sent out faxes to my District 12 office on August 5th and 8th. Not only on the Dept of Peace and Peace Conference, but on several other hot topics. More "news" on this topic down the road.

On Thursday, August 11th, I attended another "Support Group" session as Karen’s home. I actually arrived abit early and before anyone else. While Karen tidied up we talked about numerous things like work and health. It was another warm day outside, so I was enjoying the refreshing powers of a nice tall glass of cold spring water. Sadly Carol and Maria could not join us this evening and only five of us were on hand. It was a good session and sort of like a "show & tell". I brought with me a terrific book [ie: Unstuff Yourself - Finding Joy on the Road to Wellness] by my good friend Dr Nancie Barwick.


[http://www.doctornancie.com] I talked about the book, my friends Hypnotherapy work and how I truly need to "unstuff" my life so as to move on. Not only to heal in many ways, but grow spiritually. Everyone has mental and emotional baggage, or stuff, as Nancie refers to it. As she says, unstuffing yourself can change your life and lead to better health. After the session I walked with Ellen and Liz to the subway up at Grand Central Station. [Peace & Joy]


Friday, August 12th, was a half day at work due to summer hours. Hurray! Shortly after 1pm I headed off to the local cinema to see THE ISLAND which stars Ewan McGregor and Sean Bean. Yep, one of my fav talented British actors is in this film and that is the main reason I went to see it. If Sean wasn't in it I'm not sure I would have bothered. I'm glad I went as it was a fascinating film, in many ways, about human cloning in the future. That was quite intriguing. There were some exceptional performances in this film, besides Sean [Below as Merrick], that deserve mention.

They are Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ewan McGregor and Djimon Hounsou. I was not at all impressed with Scarlett Johansson ... just a boring pretty blonde actress. [What a yawn] Also felt that the director [M.Bey] could have toned down the over long and much too violent chase scene halfway thru the film. Would I go see the film again in the cinema, probably not? I'll wait for it to come out on sale via DVD. Just so I can watch Sean Bean's scenes ... as the man just dominates the screen with his skillfully subtle acting. [“Two of our products have gone missing............”]

P.S. More "personal news" coming soon ... stay tuned.